Bible Commentaries

Public Reading of the Law. theFeast of Tabernacles. A Public Fast Held,and a Covenant Madeto Keep the Law - Nehemiah 8:1

These three chapters form a connected whole, and describe acts ofworship and solemnities conducted by Ezra and other priests and Levites,Nehemiah as the secular governor being only twice mentioned in them(Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 10:2). The contents of the three chapters are as follows: On theapproach of the seventh month, which opened with the feast of trumpets,and during which occurred both the feast of tabernacles and the great dayof atonement, the people were gathered to Jerusalem; and Ezra, at therequest of the congregation, read to the assembled people out of the bookof the law on the first and second days. It being found written in the law,that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the seventh month, it wasresolved to keep the festival in accordance with this direction; and thisresolution was carried into execution by erecting booths made withbranches of trees on housetops, in courts, and in the public places of thecity, and celebrating the seven-days' festival by a daily public reading ofthe law (Neh 8). On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, thecongregation again assembled, with fasting and mourning, to make a publicconfession of their sins, and to renew their covenant with God (Neh 9, 10).

The second clause of Nehemiah 7:73 belongs to Neh 8, and forms one sentencewith Nehemiah 8:1. “When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel werein their cities, the whole people gathered themselves together as one manin the open space that was before the water-gate,” etc. The capitulardivision of the Masoretic text is erroneous, and makes the words, “and thechildren of Israel were in their cities,” appear a mere repetition of thesentence, “and all Israel dwelt in their cities.” The chronological statement,”when the seventh month came,” without mention of the year, points backto the date in Nehemiah 6:15: the twenty-fifth Elul, in the twentieth year ofArtaxerxes; on which day the building of the wall was completed. Elul, thesixth month, is followed by Tishri, the seventh, and there is nothingagainst the inference that the seventh month of the same year is intended;the dedication of the wall not being related till Neh 12, and thereforeoccurring subsequently, while all the facts narrated in Neh 8-11 might,without any difficulty, occur in the interval between the completion of thewall and its dedication. For, besides the public reading of the law on thefirst two days of the seventh month, the celebration of the feast oftabernacles, and the public fast on the twenty-fourth day of the seventhmonth (Neh 8-11), nothing more is recorded (Nehemiah 11:1, Nehemiah 11:2) than the execution ofthe resolve made by Nehemiah, immediately after the completion of thewall (Nehemiah 7:4), viz., to increase the inhabitants of Jerusalem, by appointing bylot one of every ten dwellers in the surrounding country to go to Jerusalemand dwell there. This is succeeded by lists of the inhabitants of Jerusalem,and of the cities of Benjamin and Judah, and lists of the priests and Levites(11:3-12:26):

Nehemiah 8:1-2. The public reading of the law. - Nehemiah 8:1-3. The introduction to thisnarrative (Neh 7:73b-8:1a) is identical with Ezra 3:1. The same matter, theassembling of the people on the approach of the seventh month, isdescribed in the same words. But the object of this assembling of thepeople was a different one from that mentioned in Ezra 3:1-13. Then they metto restore the altar of burnt-offering and the sacrificial worship; now, onthe contrary, for the due solemnization of the seventh month, the festalmonth of the year. For this purpose the people came from the cities andvillages of Judah to Jerusalem, and assembled “in the open space beforethe water-gate,” i.e., to the south-east of the temple space. On thesituation of the water-gate, see rem. on Nehemiah 3:26; Nehemiah 12:37., and Ezra 10:9. “And they spake unto Ezra the scribe” (see rem. on Ezra 7:11). Thesubject of ויּאמרוּ is the assembled people. These requested, through their rulers, that Ezra should fetch the book ofthe law of Moses, and publicly read it. This reading, then, was desired bythe assembly. The motive for this request is undoubtedly to be found inthe desire of the congregation to keep the new moon of the seventh month,as a feast of thanksgiving for the gracious assistance they had receivedfrom the Lord during the building of the wall, and through which it hadbeen speedily and successfully completed, in spite of the attempts of theirenemies to obstruct the work. This feeling of thankfulness impelled themto the hearing of the word of God for the purpose of making His law theirrule of life. The assembly consisted of men and women indiscriminately(אשּׁה ועד אישׁ, like Joshua 6:21; Joshua 8:25; 1 Samuel 22:19; 1 Chronicles 16:3), and לשׁמע מבין כּל,every one that understood in hearing, which would certainly include theelder children. The first day of the seventh month was distinguished abovethe other new moons of the year as the feast of trumpets, and celebratedas a high festival by a solemn assembly and a cessation from labour; comp. Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6.

Nehemiah 8:3

Ezra read out of the law “from the light (i.e., from early morning)till mid-day;” therefore for about six hours. Not, however, as is obviousfrom the more particular description Nehemiah 8:4-8, without cessation, but insuch wise that the reading went on alternately with instructive lectures onthe law from the Levites. “And the ears of all the people were directed tothe law,” i.e., the people listened attentively. המּבינים must beunderstood according to לשׁמע מבין כּל of Nehemiah 8:2. In Nehemiah 8:4-8 the proceedings at this reading are more nearly described.

Nehemiah 8:4

Ezra stood upon a raised stage of wood which had been made forthe purpose (לדּבר, for the matter). מגדּל, usually atower, here a high scaffold, a pulpit. Beside him stood six persons,probably priests, on his right, and seven on his left hand. In 1 Esdras,seven are mentioned as standing on his left hand also, the name Azariahbeing inserted between Anaiah and Urijah. It is likely that this name hasbeen omitted from the Hebrew text, since it is improbable that there wasone person less on his right than on his left hand. “Perhaps Urijah is thefather of the Meremoth of Nehemiah 3:4, Nehemiah 3:21; Maaseiah, the father of the Azariahof Nehemiah 3:23; Pedaiah, the individual named Nehemiah 3:25; the Azariah to be inserted,according to 1 Esdras, the same named Nehemiah 3:23; a Meshullam occurs, Nehemiah 3:4, Nehemiah 3:6;and a Malchiah, Nehemiah 3:11, Nehemiah 3:14, Nehemiah 3:31 ” (Bertheau).

Nehemiah 8:5

Ezra, standing on the raised platform, was above the assembledpeople (he was כּל־העם מעל). When he opened the book, it was “inthe sight of all the people,” so that all could see his action; and “all thepeople stood up” (עמדוּ). It cannot be shown from the O.T. that it had been from the days of Moses a custom with the Israelites tostand at the reading of the law, as the Rabbis assert; comp. Vitringa, deSynag. vet. p. 167.

Nehemiah 8:6

Ezra began by blessing the Lord, the great God, perhaps with asentence of thanksgiving, as David did, 1 Chronicles 29:10, but scarcely byusing a whole psalm, as in 1 Chronicles 16:8. To this thanksgiving the peopleanswered Amen, Amen (comp. 1 Chronicles 16:36), lifting up their hands(ידיהם בּמעל, with lifting up of their hands; the formמעל occurring only here), and worshipping the Lord, bowingdown towards the ground.

Nehemiah 8:7

And Jeshua, Bani, etc., the Levites, expounded the law to thepeople (הבין, to cause to understand, here to instruct, byexpounding the law). The ו copulative before הלויּם mustcertainly have been inserted in the text by a clerical error; for thepreviously named thirteen (or fourteen) persons are Levites, of whomJeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, and Hodijah occur again, Nehemiah 9:4-5. The namesJeshua, Sherebiah, Shabtai, and Jozabad are also met with Nehemiah 12:14; Nehemiah 11:16,but belong in these latter passages to other individuals who were heads ofclasses of Levites.

Nehemiah 8:8

“And they (the Levites) read in (out of) the book of the law ofGod, explained and gave the sense; and they (the assembled auditors) wereattentive to the reading.” The Rabbis understand מפרשׁ = theChaldee מפרשׁ, of a rendering of the law into the vulgar tongue,i.e., a paraphrase in the Chaldee language for those who were notacquainted with the ancient Hebrew. But this cannot be shown to be themeaning of פרשׁ, this word being used in the Targums for the Hebrewנקב (קבב), e.g., Leviticus 24:16, and for בּאר; Deuteronomy 1:5. It is more correct to suppose a paraphrastic exposition andapplication of the law (Pfeiffer, dubia vex. p. 480), but not “a distinctrecitation according to appointed rules” (Gusset. and Bertheau). שׂום is infin. abs. instead of the temp. finit.: and gave the sense, madethe law comprehensible to the hearers. במּקרא ויּבינוּ, not with older interpreters, Luther (“so that what was read wasunderstood”), and de Wette, “and they (the Levites) made what was readcomprehensible,” which would be a mere tautology, but with the lxx,Vulgate, and others, “and they (the hearers) attended to the reading,” or,”obtained an understanding of what was read” (בּ הבין, like Nehemiah 8:12, Daniel 9:23; Daniel 10:11). Vitringa (de syn. vet. p. 420) already gives the correct meaning: de doctoribus narratur, quod legerint et dederint intellectum, de autitoribus, quod lectum intellexerint. The manner of proceeding with this reading isnot quite clear. According to Nehemiah 8:5-8, the Levites alone seem to have readto the people out of the book of the law, and to have explained what theyread to their auditors; while according to Nehemiah 8:3, Ezra read to the assembledpeople, and the ears of all were attentive to the book of the law, while weare told in Nehemiah 8:5 that Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people. If,however, we regard Nehemiah 8:4-8 as only a more detailed description of what isrelated Nehemiah 8:2, Nehemiah 8:3, it is obvious that both Ezra and the thirteen Levitesmentioned in Nehemiah 8:7 read out of the law. Hence the occurrence may well havetaken place as follows: Ezra first read a section of the law, and the Levitesthen expounded to the people the portion just read; the only point stilldoubtful being whether the thirteen (fourteen) Levites expounded insuccession, or whether they all did this at the same time to differentgroups of people.

The celebration of the feast of the new moon. - Nehemiah 8:9 Then Nehemiah, theTirshatha (see remarks on Ezra 2:63), and the priest Ezra the scribe, andthe Levites who were teaching the people, said to all the people, “This dayis holy to the Lord our God. Mourn not, nor weep; for all the people weptwhen they heard the words of the law.” היּום is the new moonof the seventh month. The portion read made a powerful impression uponthe assembled crowds. Undoubtedly it consisted of certain sections ofDeuteronomy and other parts of the Thorah, which were adapted toconvict the people of their sin in transgressing the commands of the Lord,and of the punishments to which they had thus exposed themselves. Theywere so moved thereby that they mourned and wept. This inducedNehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites, who had been applying what was read tothe hearts of their hearers, to encourage them.

Nehemiah 8:10

And he said to them (viz., Nehemiah as governor and head of thecommunity, though the fact that his address is mentioned does not excludethe participation of Ezra and the Levites): “Go, eat the fat, and drink thesweet, and send gifts to them for whom nothing is prepared, for this day isholy to our Lord; neither be ye sorry, for joy in Jahve is your refuge.”משׁמנּים, fatnesses ( λιπάσματα , lxx), fat pieces of meat, not”rich cakes” (Bertheau); comp. שׁמנים משׁתּה, Isaiah 25:6. ממתּקּים, sweetened drinks. The sense is: Make gladrepasts on good feast-day food and drink; and send portions to the poorwho have prepared nothing, that they too may rejoice on this festival. מנות, gifts, are portions of food; Esther 9:19, Esther 9:22; 1 Samuel 1:4. Hencewe see that it was customary with the Israelites to send portions of foodand drink, on festivals, to the houses of the poor, that they too mightshare in the joy of the day. נכון לאן for נכון אין לאשׁר (see rem. on 1 Chronicles 15:12), to them for whom nothing isprepared, who have not the means to prepare a feast-day meal. Becausethe day is holy to the Lord, they are to desire it with holy joy. יהוה חדות is a joy founded on the feeling of communion withthe Lord, on the consciousness that we have in the Lord a God long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6). This joy is to beto them מעוז, a strong citadel or refuge, because the Almightyis their God; comp. Jeremiah 16:19.

Nehemiah 8:11

The Levites also strove to pacify the people, saying: “Hold yourpeace, i.e., give over weeping, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.”

Nehemiah 8:12

This address had its effect. The people went their way, some totheir houses, some to their lodgings, to partake of festal repasts, and tokeep the feast with joy; “for they gave heed to the words that weredeclared to them,” i.e., they took to heart the address of Nehemiah, Ezra,and the Levites.

Celebration of the feast of tabernacles. - Nehemiah 8:13 On the second day weregathered together the heads of the houses of all the people, of the priests,and of the Levites to Ezra the scribe, to attend to the words of the law. The infinitive להשׂכּיל may indeed be taken (as by Bertheau) as thecontinuation of the finite verb, instead of as infinitive absolute (Ewald,§352, c); this is, however, admissible only in cases where the second verbeither states what must be done, or further describes the condition ofaffairs, while להשׂכּיל here states the purpose for which the headsof the people, etc. assembled themselves unto Ezra. Hence we takeלהשׂכּיל in its usual meaning, and the w before it as explicative. אל השׂכּיל, as in Psalm 41:1, expresses taking an attentive interestin anything. They desired to be further and more deeply instructed in thelaw by Ezra.

Nehemiah 8:14-16

And they found written in the law that the Lord hadcommanded Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths inthe feast of the seventh month; and that they should publish and proclaimin all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying: “Go forth to the mount, andfetch olive branches, etc. to make booths, as it is written.” This statementis not to be understood as saying that the heads of the people sought inthe law, fourteen days before the feast, for information as to what theywould have to do, that they might prepare for the due celebration of thefeast of tabernacles (Bertheau). The text only states that the heads of thepeople again betook themselves to Ezra on the second day, to receive fromhim instruction in the law, and that in reading the law they found theprecept concerning the celebration of the festival in booths, i.e., they metwith this precept, and were thereby induced to celebrate the approachingfestival in strict accordance with its directions. The law concerning the feast of tabernacles, of which the essentials arehere communicated, is found Leviticus 23:39-43. In Deuteronomy 16:13 they were onlycommanded to keep the feast with gladness. The particular of dwelling inbooths or bowers is taken from Leviticus 23:43; the further details in Nehemiah 8:15 relate to the carrying out of the direction: “He shall take you on the firstday the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs ofthick trees, and willows of the brook” (Leviticus 23:43). Go to the mountain, awoody district, whence branches may be obtained. עלי, stateconstructive plural of עלה, leaf, foliage, here leafy boughs orbranches of trees. זית, the olive, שׁמן עץ, thewild olive (oleaster), the myrtle, the palm, and branches of thick-leavedtrees, are here mentioned (the two latter being also named in Leviticus). כּכּתוּב does not relate to the preparation of the booths, but tothe precept that the feast should be kept in booths. In Nehemiah 8:16 the accomplishment of the matter is related, presupposing acompliance with the proclamation sent out into all the cities in the land,and indeed so speedy a compliance that the booths were finished by theday of the feast. The object (the branches of Nehemiah 8:15) must be supplied toויּביאוּ from the context. They made themselves booths,every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courtsof the house of God, and in the open space at the water-gate (see on Nehemiah 8:3),and the open space at the gate of Ephraim. On the situation of this gate,see rem. on Nehemiah 3:8. The open space before it must be thought ofas within the city walls. On these two public places, booths wereprobably made by those who had come to Jerusalem, but did not dwellthere; while the priests and Levites belonging to other places would buildtheirs in the courts of the temple.

Nehemiah 8:17

And the whole community that had returned from captivity(comp. Ezra 6:21) made themselves booths and dwelt in booths; for sincethe days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day, had not the children ofIsrael done so. כּן, so, refers to the dwelling in booths; and thewords do not tell us that the Israelites had not celebrated this festival sincethe days of Joshua, that is, since they had taken possession of Canaan:for, according to Ezra 3:4, those who returned from captivity kept thisfeast in the first year of their return; and a celebration is also mentionedafter the dedication of Solomon's temple, 2 Chronicles 7:9; 1 Kings 8:65. Thetext only states that since the days of Joshua the whole community hadnot so celebrated it, i.e., had not dwelt in booths. Neither do the wordsimply that since the days of Joshua to that time no booths at all had beenmade at the celebration of the feast of tabernacles, but only that this hadnot been done by the whole congregation. On former occasions, those whocame up to Jerusalem may have regarded this precept as non-essential, andcontented themselves by keeping the feast with solemn assemblies,sacrifices, and sacrificial feasts, without making booths and dwelling inthem for seven days.

Nehemiah 8:18

And the book of the law was read from day to day. ויּקרא with the subject indefinite, while Ramb. and others supply Ezra. The reading of the law was only ordered at that celebration of the feast oftabernacles which occurred during the sabbatical year, Deuteronomy 31:10. Thelast day was the seventh, for the eighth as a עצרת did not belongto the feast of tabernacles; see rem. on Leviticus 23:36. כּמּשׁפּט like2 Chronicles 4:20, and elsewhere.