8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform 18 constructed for this purpose. Standing near him on his right were Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masseiah. On his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 8:5 Ezra opened the book in plain view 19 of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, 20 all the people stood up. 8:6 Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people replied “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands. Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
8:7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites 21 – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it 22 and imparting insight. Thus the people 23 gained understanding from what was read.
8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, 24 Ezra the priestly scribe, 25 and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, 26 “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law. 8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. 27 Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
8:11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.” 8:12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food 28 with others 29 and to enjoy tremendous joy, 30 for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.
4:16 Now 31 Jesus 32 came to Nazareth, 33 where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue 34 on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. 35 He 36 stood up to read, 37
1 sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.
2 tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.
3 tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
4 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
5 tn Or “word.”
6 tn Or “encouragement.”
7 tn Or “give it.”
8 tn BDAG 12-13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b gives “not to know w. acc. of pers.” as the meaning here, but “recognize” is a better translation in this context because recognition of the true identity of the one they condemned is the issue. See Acts 2:22-24; 4:26-28.
9 tn Grk “this one.”
10 tn Usually φωνή (fwnh) means “voice,” but BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c has “Also of sayings in scripture…Ac 13:27.”
11 tn The participle κρίναντες (krinante") is instrumental here.
12 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
13 tn Heb “like one man.”
14 tn Heb “said [to].”
15 tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”
16 tn Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, TEV, NLT).
17 tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”
18 tn Heb “a tower of wood.”
19 tn Heb “to the eyes.”
20 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tc The MT reads “and the Levites.” The conjunction (“and”) should be deleted, following the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate. That the vav (ו) of the MT is the vav explicativum (“even the Levites”) is unlikely here.
22 tn The exact meaning of the pual participle מְפֹרָשׁ (mÿforash) in this verse is uncertain. The basic sense of the Hebrew word seems to be “to make distinct.” The word may also have the sense of “to divide in parts,” “to interpret,” or “to translate.” The context of Neh 8:8 does not decisively clarify how the participle is to be understood here. It probably refers to the role of the Levites as those who explained or interpreted the portions of biblical text that had been publicly read on this occasion. A different option, however, is suggested by the translation distincte (“distinctly”) of the Vulgate (cf. KJV, ASV). If the Hebrew word means “distinctly” here, it would imply that the readers paid particular attention to such things as word-grouping and pronunciation so as to be sure that the listeners had every opportunity to understand the message that was being read. Yet another view is found in the Talmud, which understands translation of the Hebrew text into Aramaic to be what is in view here. The following explanation of Neh 8:8 is found in b. Megillah 3a: “‘And they read in the book, in the law of God’: this indicates the [Hebrew] text; ‘with an interpretation’: this indicates the targum; ‘and they gave the sense’: this indicates the verse stops; ‘and caused them to understand the reading’: this indicates the accentuation, or, according to another version, the Masoretic notes.” However, this ancient rabbinic view that the origins of the Targum are found in Neh 8:8 is debatable. It is not clear that the practice of paraphrasing the Hebrew biblical text into Aramaic in order to accommodate the needs of those Jews who were not at home in the Hebrew language developed this early. The translation of מְפֹרָשׁ adopted above (i.e., “explaining it”) understands the word to have in mind an explanatory function (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, NLT) rather than one of translation.
23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.
25 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
26 tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
27 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
28 tn Heb “to send portions.”
29 tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
30 tn Heb “to make great joy.”
31 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
32 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 sn Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown (which is why he is known as Jesus of Nazareth) about 20 miles (30 km) southwest from Capernaum.
34 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
35 tn Grk “according to his custom.”
36 tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
37 sn In normative Judaism of the period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present. See the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2. First came the law, then the prophets, then someone was asked to speak on the texts. Normally one stood up to read out of respect for the scriptures, and then sat down (v. 20) to expound them.