-
Introduction open_in_new
VIII.
Nehemiah 7:73 — Nehemiah 8:12. — Ezra instructs the people in the law.
Nehemiah 7:73. — And when the seventh month came. — Here a new subject begins, as in Ezra, whom Nehemiah copies: adopting a sentence, just as Ezra adopted the last words of the Chronicles, and with similar slight changes.
-
Nehemiah 8:1 open_in_new
As one man. — The unanimity rather than the number is emphatic here.
And they spake unto Ezra. — Who appears in this book for the first time, having probably been at the court for twelve years.
-
Nehemiah 8:2 open_in_new
Both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding. — Men, women, and children who had reached years of discretion.
Upon the first day of the seventh month. — As the seventh was the most important month, in a religious sense, so the first day, the Feast of Trumpets, was the most important new moon (Leviticus 23:24).
-
Nehemiah 8:3 open_in_new
From the morning. — From daylight. The Book of the Law must have been a comprehensive one. Out of it Ezra and his companions read hour after hour, selecting appropriate passages.
And the ears of all the people... unto the book. — A general statement; the detail now follows.
-
Nehemiah 8:4 open_in_new
Pulpit of wood. — Literally, a tower of wood. Fourteen persons, however, were on what is afterwards called a platform, or stair, by his side.
-
Nehemiah 8:6 open_in_new
And Ezra blessed the Lord. — The book was formally and solemnly opened in the sight of the people. At this request the multitude arose, and, after a doxology offered by Ezra, they all uttered a double Amen, “with lifting up of their hands,” in token of their most fervent assent; and then “with faces bowed to the ground,” in token of adoration.
The great God is Nehemiah’s expression, not Ezra’s; the sentence used is not reported.
-
Nehemiah 8:8 open_in_new
Gave the sense. — They expounded obscurer passages, and in doing so naturally translated into the vernacular Aramaic dialect.
Caused them to understand the reading. — This simply explains the former: they expounded as they read.
-
Nehemiah 8:9 open_in_new
Mourn not, nor weep. — The days of high festival were unsuitable for public and, as it were, objective sorrow. The Day of Atonement was coming for that; as also the special day of fasting and covenant, which was already in the plan of Nehemiah and Ezra.
-
Nehemiah 8:10 open_in_new
For the joy of the Lord is your strength This beautiful sentence is, literally, delight in Jehovah is a strong refuge. It is capable of unlimited application in preaching and devotion.
-
Nehemiah 8:11 open_in_new
So the Levites. — As before, what Ezra said was repeated to the people in various directions by the Levites. But there was evidently an almost irrepressible emotion.
-
Nehemiah 8:12 open_in_new
They had understood. — They had caught the meaning of the command to rejoice.
-
Nehemiah 8:13 open_in_new
The chief of the fathers. — Not the vast multitude now, as the great feast was not yet.
Even to understand. — To consider, or give attention to: that is, to learn the full meaning of the almost forgotten festival. The dwelling in booths had fallen into disuse.
-
Nehemiah 8:13-18 open_in_new
(13-18) The Feast of Tabernacles.
-
Nehemiah 8:15 open_in_new
Saying. — There is no such command in Leviticus; the Septuagint inserts, “And Ezra spake.” But it is better to adopt Houbigant’s slight emendation of the text, which thus runs: “And when they heard it, they proclaimed,” &c. The command, then, is to go out to the Mount of Olives, and gather, not precisely the branches which the ancient law required, but such as circumstances allowed.
-
Nehemiah 8:16 open_in_new
And in their courts. — Not only on the roofs, but in the internal courtyards.
Of the house of God. — The ministers of the Temple made these; and strangers to Jerusalem made them in the streets or open spaces near the gates.
-
Nehemiah 8:18 open_in_new
According unto the manner. — For the Azereth, or supplementary feast day, see Leviticus 23:36.