Nehemiah 8 Study Notes

8:3 It is not stated why Ezra chose to have this assembly and reading of the Law at the Water Gate (see note at 3:26-27) rather than at the temple. Some speculate that tension between Nehemiah and the priests, some of whom were allied with Tobiah the Ammonite (6:17-19), may have encouraged Ezra and Nehemiah to have the meeting away from the temple complex. It is possible that the size of the crowd demanded a different location. Exactly what made up the book of the law has been the subject of intense discussion. Probably Ezra read the legal sections of a Pentateuch that was virtually identical to what we have today. It does not say that he read it in its entirety, but that he read out of it.

8:4 The term platform (Hb migdal) normally means “tower,” but it is used to designate a platform here and in 2Ch 6:13. Little is known about the men who stood on his right and his left. Usually in Ezra-Nehemiah priests and Levites are distinguished from the “laity,” so these people probably were prominent lay leaders, such as representatives from the elders or heads of families.

8:5 The phrase Ezra opened the book is a little anachronistic since the book (codex) did not appear until the Christian era. Literally the phrase is, “Ezra unrolled the scroll.” The apostle Paul specifically instructed, “Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching” (1Tm 4:13). Standing for the reading of the Word is as appropriate now as it was in Ezra’s time.

8:6 Worship for the people was not just a mental exercise, but it involved the whole worshiper, who stood, spoke, and kneeled in humility before God.

8:7 Many of the thirteen Levites who assisted Ezra were involved in the covenant renewal described in the following chapters. Eight of the thirteen took part in the public confession (9:3-5), and nine are listed as signers of the covenant (10:9-13).

8:8 The term translating is one of several possibilities in understanding the Hebrew term (parash). This verb’s basic meaning is “to separate” or “to distinguish”, reflected in the practice of the Jewish Masoretes, who divided the text of the Hebrew Bible into sections called parashoth. Thus, H. G. M. Williamson translates v. 8a as, “They read from the book of the law paragraph by paragraph.” Another possible rendering is to translate the verb as “to explain, make clear,” a usage of the term that is uncommon in Hebrew (Nm 15:34) but common in related Semitic languages (Aramaic, Syriac, Mandean, Nabatean). The CSB translation, which understands the Levites as “translating,” is supported by the ancient Jewish tradition that the Levites were reading the Hebrew text but then providing the people with an Aramaic translation of the passage. The Jewish Talmud (b. Megillah 3a) cites this passage (Neh 8:8) as the source of the Targums, the Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew texts that became increasingly important as fewer Jewish people could read Hebrew. Targums were prepared for most of the OT books, but not for Ezra-Nehemiah or Daniel.

8:9 This verse is important because it links the ministries of Nehemiah and Ezra. Many critical scholars regard the mention of these great leaders together as an anachronistic attempt to link together the ministries of two men who, according to these scholars, were not contemporaries. Yet there are no insurmountable problems, either textually or historically, that preclude the historicity of this event. Admittedly it seems odd that Nehemiah makes no mention of Ezra, a man of such prominence, until this point in the narrative. This does not necessarily mean that Ezra was not there. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were contemporaries who both prophesied to the people of Jerusalem and Judah, yet neither mentions the other. Here the author clearly attests to a joint ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah, who participated together in the covenant renewal (chaps. 8-10) and took part together in the great procession and dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (12:27-43).

Nehemiah’s command (or Ezra’s?), Do not mourn or weep, seems baffling since the leaders would have been encouraged by the contrition and repentance of the people. However, this dedication of the wall occurred on the “first day of the seventh month” (v. 2) during the New Year celebration. The feast days were to be days of joy (Lv 23:24; Dt 12:12; 16:11), not mourning.

8:10-12 Rather than mourning, the people were commanded to go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet. The term rich translates a Hebrew word (mashmannim) found in the OT only here in this verse but clearly related to the verb “to make fat, to be fat.” It refers to choice foods appropriate for a celebration. The “sweet” drink (Hb mamtaqqim) mentioned here may have been wine mixed with honey, a popular drink long before the time of Christ. The people were to stop grieving because their strength came from the joy of the Lord. True security—then as now—was found in the Lord alone.

8:13 It is clear from the following context (v. 15) that most of the people returned to their homes after Ezra’s reading of the Law. It was harvest time, and there was much work to be done. However, many of the leaders remained in Jerusalem to study the words of the law and its implications.

8:14-15 The Festival of Shelters is mentioned in four books of the law (Ex 23:16; Lv 23:39-43; Nm 29:12-38; Dt 16:13-15). Also called the Festival of Ingathering (Hb chag-haqqatsir), it was an eight-day agricultural festival that began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, during the grain and grape harvest (Dt 16:13). The legislation in Lv 23:39-43 is unique in two respects: (1) only in this passage are the Israelites commanded to dwell in a booth for the seven days of the feast, and (2) only in this passage is their dwelling in shelters given a theological connection, “so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lv 23:43).

Since the celebration of the Festival of Shelters required preparation, the leaders studying the law with Ezra spread this news throughout their towns and in Jerusalem. No passage in the OT expressly states the requirement to gather branches from olive and myrtle trees for the construction of shelters. This seems to be an explanation and application of the command of Lv 23:40 to gather from “majestic trees—palm fronds, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook.”

8:16 Those living in Jerusalem erected their shelters (Hb sukkoth) on . . . their rooftops because most homes had flat roofs. Those who came from outside Jerusalem used whatever space was available, such as the square by the Water Gate, where they had read the Law two weeks before, or in the square by the Ephraim Gate. The Ephraim Gate is not mentioned in the detailed description of the wall in chap. 3. However, its description in 2Kg 14:13 suggests it was on the north side of the wall. Thus, both locations provided easy access to the temple complex.

8:17 The celebration of the Festival of Shelters was even more significant because the people had not celebrated like this from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. The phrase had not celebrated like this is literally “had not done (so).” The literal translation suggests that the festival had not been observed at all since Joshua’s time, but this statement is incorrect and would have been understood as incorrect in Nehemiah’s time because many people who were present for the festival had in fact celebrated the Festival of Booths soon after arriving in Jerusalem with Ezra (Ezr 3:4). Thus most commentators and some translations (including the CSB) regard the statement as describing the manner in which the festival was celebrated. What made the present celebration different was likely the spiritual and theological emphasis that pervaded it. While earlier celebrations may have focused on the harvest and thanksgiving aspects, this observance under Ezra returned to its theological underpinnings to recall God’s provision and care during their forefathers’ flight from Egypt— just as the people in Nehemiah’s time rejoiced in God’s care and provision for them in their flight from Babylon.

The author of Ezra-Nehemiah described well the experience of the people at the festival: there was tremendous joy. Critics have sometimes unfairly stigmatized Ezra-Nehemiah as banal, lifeless, or legalistic, but repeatedly this book emphasizes the joy that comes from living in covenant relationship with the God of Israel.