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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Nehemiah 8:1 - 8:8
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The Law Read and Heard
v. 1. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man, with entire unanimity of mind, into the street that was before the Water Gate, a large open square near the subterranean water galleries of Ophel; and they spake unto Ezra, the scribe, who had come to Jerusalem some thirteen years before with about three thousand returned exiles, to bring the book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had commanded to Israel. Ezra may have returned to Babylon after instituting his reform measures, and now had made the trip a second time to assist Nehemiah in the further restoration of the Temple worship.
v. 2. And Ezra, the priest, brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, either because they were old enough, or because they were within reach of Ezra's voice, upon the first day of the seventh month. The beginning of the seventh month of the church-year, the new year of the civil year, was known as the Feast of Trumpets, which was held as a great day. It speaks well for the Jews at that time that there was a desire for hearing the Law of God read, for such public reading of the Word was required every seventh year. Cf Lev_23:24; Num_19:1-6.
v. 3. And he read therein, from the roll of parchment on which the Books of Moses were written, before the street that was before the Water Gate, before the great assembly in the public square, from the morning, from the time it became light, until midday, for some six hours, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the Book of the Law, whose principal sections could be read in that time.
v. 4. And Ezra, the scribe, stood upon a pulpit of wood, a high platform with space for more than a dozen men, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. These priests not only gave Ezra their moral support, but probably also relieved him from time to time in the reading of the Law.
v. 5. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, unrolling the parchment as he progressed with his reading; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
v. 6. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God; he opened his reading with a solemn prayer, during which the people stood, and at the conclusion of which they gave their assent with the word used for that purpose to this day. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, in a gesture of supplication; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground, the attitude of reverent adoration.
v. 7. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, that is, other Levites, for the first thirteen were leaders among the Levites, caused the people to understand the Law, by explaining the sections read by Ezra to smaller groups, or by translating unusual Hebrew words into Aramaic, the language now chiefly spoken by the people; and the people stood in their place.
v. 8. So they, Ezra and his assistants, read in the book, in the Law of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. That is the right kind of religious service, when the Word of God is read and explained, and when all who hear it accept it in all sincerity, with praise and thanksgiving to God.