Occurrences On The Second Day Of The Seventh Month (Nehemiah 8:13-16).
The Feast of Trumpets being over, the majority of the people returned home in order to fulfil their daily work responsibilities, mainly in the fields and among the flocks and herds. This was especially necessary due to the time spent by the adult males on building the wall. But the aristocrats, priests and Levites, who did not have the same responsibilities, again gathered, on the day after the Feast, in order to hear more of the Torah and what Ezra had to say concerning it. This was in fulfilment of the role assigned to him by the king of Persia. In consequence of this they found in Leviticus 23:40; Leviticus 23:42 the requirement for all Israel to live in booths over the Feast of Tabernacles.
‘And on the second day were gathered together the heads of fathers' (houses) of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the Law.'
The second day was the day following the Feast of Trumpets (Rams' Horns). On that day the leaders of tribes, sub-tribes, clans and wider families gathered together with the priests and Levites to hear a further reading of the Torah and to give attention to Ezra's expounding of it. They may well have been aroused by the previous day's experience to recognise their need to have a greater understanding so as to guide their people. Their unanimous response indicates Ezra's special and unique position. Even the High Priest would presumably be present.
‘And they found written in the Law, how YHWH had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive branches, and branches of wild olive, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
These words are not specifically citing the Law, but drawing out from it its meaning. The important point learned by them was that they were to dwell in booths made of tree branches in commemoration of the time in the wilderness after Israel had been redeemed from Egypt. “You shall dwell in booths seven days -- that your generation may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 23:42-43). The idea of proclamation is found in Leviticus 23:4, whilst the feast was to observed ‘in the place which YHWH your God shall choose (Deuteronomy 16:15-16). Thus the writer adds here that they were to ‘publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem'.
The command is made in terms of the actual type of branches that they would use, given what was available in the land (which had not been available in the wilderness, thus ‘olive branches, wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of thick trees'. Leviticus 23:40 cites ‘fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of thick trees' which would be available in the wilderness. In Nehemiah 8:15 the ‘goodly trees' are spelled out in detail. But note that in Leviticus they are not specifically said to be used in making the booths.
‘Go forth to the mount', in other words, to the place which YHWH has chosen (Deuteronomy 16-15-16). Thus they were to gather to Jerusalem to build their booths. So Ezra has expanded on the ideas in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 in order to give specific and detailed instructions concerning the building of the booths at Jerusalem.