Nehemiah 9:21

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [and] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְאַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֛ה כִּלְכַּלְתָּ֥ם בַּמִּדְבָּ֖ר לֹ֣א חָסֵ֑רוּ שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ לֹ֣א בָל֔וּ וְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א בָצֵֽקוּ׃

Transliteration

*wə-ʾarbāʿîm šānāh kilkaltām bammidbar lōʾ ḥāsērû śalmōtêhem lōʾ bālû wə-raglêhem lōʾ bāṣēqû

Grammar Details

*wə-ʾarbāʿîm*: conjunction + cardinal number - and forty
*šānāh*: noun, feminine singular - year
*kilkaltām*: pilpel perfect, 2ms + 3mp suffix - you sustained them
*bammidbar*: preposition + definite article + noun, masculine singular - in the wilderness
*lōʾ*: negative particle - not
*ḥāsērû*: qal perfect, 3cp - they lacked
*śalmōtêhem*: noun, feminine plural + 3mp suffix - their garments
*bālû*: qal perfect, 3cp - they wore out
*wə-raglêhem*: conjunction + noun, feminine dual + 3mp suffix - and their feet
*bāṣēqû*: qal perfect, 3cp - they swelled

Word Meanings

*kilkaltām*: sustained them/maintained them/provided for them
*ḥāsērû*: lacked/were in need/wanted
*bālû*: wore out/became ragged/deteriorated
*bāṣēqû*: swelled/became swollen/blistered

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Deut 2:7 : 7 For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Deut 8:4 : 4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Deut 29:5 : 5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot.
Ps 34:10 : 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.
Amos 5:25 : 25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Acts 13:18 : 18 And for about the time of forty years as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness.
Deut 8:2 : 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or not.
Exod 16:35 : 35 And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
Num 14:33-34 : 33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Deut 8:2-4
3 verses
87%
2And thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or not.
3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.
4Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Deut 29:5-6
2 verses
86%
5And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxed old upon thy foot.
6Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God.
Neh 9:19-20
2 verses
80%
19yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.
20Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
Acts 13:18
79%
18And for about the time of forty years as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness.
Deut 2:7
79%
7For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.
Neh 9:15
76%
15and gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commandedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
Deut 1:31
74%
31and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Jehovah thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.
Josh 5:6
74%
6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation, even the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, were consumed, because they hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah: unto whom Jehovah sware that he would not let them see the land which Jehovah sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Exod 16:35
73%
35And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
Deut 8:15-16
2 verses
73%
15who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, [wherein were] fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end:
Heb 3:9
73%
9Where your fathers tried [me] by proving [me], And saw my works forty years.
Amos 5:25
73%
25Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Neh 9:22-23
2 verses
73%
22Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
23Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which thou didst say to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.
Josh 9:5
72%
5and old and patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become mouldy.
Deut 11:5
72%
5and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place;
Amos 2:10
72%
10Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
Acts 7:36
72%
36This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in {G1093} Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Neh 9:11-12
2 verses
72%
11And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their pursuers thou didst cast into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
12Moreover in a pillar of cloud thou leddest them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
Heb 3:17
72%
17And with whom was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Num 14:33-34
2 verses
72%
33And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
34After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation.
Ps 78:40
72%
40How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!
Deut 2:14
72%
14And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah sware unto them.
Neh 9:30
71%
30Yet many years didst thou bear with them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
Isa 48:21
71%
21And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
Jer 2:6
71%
6Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?
Num 32:13
71%
13And Jehovah's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of Jehovah, was consumed.
Ps 95:10
71%
10Forty years long was I grieved with [that] generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways:
Deut 9:9
70%
9When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water.
Josh 24:7
70%
7And when they cried out unto Jehovah, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days.
Deut 1:33
70%
33who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
Josh 9:13
70%
13and these wine - skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
Num 32:11
70%
11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
Neh 9:17
69%
17and refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and forsookest them not.
Ps 106:14
69%
14But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.
Josh 14:10
69%
10And now, behold, Jehovah hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty and five years, from the time that Jehovah spake this word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.
Ezek 20:17
69%
17Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
Hos 13:5
69%
5I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
Num 9:22
69%
22Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
Num 9:19
69%
19And when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of Jehovah, and journeyed not.
Deut 1:46
69%
46So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode [there].
Deut 1:19
68%
19And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.