The Hyperlinked Bible
Intertextuality Pair
Allusion
Later text
So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished. They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
Earlier text
with houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, with wells that you did not dig, and with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied,
Deuteronomy 6:11 describes God giving Israel "houses full of every good thing with which you did not fill them, wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant." Nehemiah 9:24-25 acknowledges this fulfillment in a prayer of confession: "they captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance." The Levitical prayer echoes the Deuteronomic language virtually word for word to confess that God faithfully delivered what He promised—yet "they ate and were filled and grew fat, and reveled in Your great goodness" (9:25), followed by rebellion. Nehemiah's prayer uses the fulfilled Deuteronomic promise to heighten the tragedy of Israel's ingratitude.