John 7:8-10

7:8 You go up ¹  to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast ²  because my time ³  has not yet fully arrived.” ⁴  7:9 When he had said this, he remained in Galilee.

7:10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus ⁵  himself also went up, not openly but in secret.

John 12:1

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ⁶  had raised from the dead.

Ezra 3:1-6

The Altar is Rebuilt

3:1 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites ⁷  were living ⁸  in their ⁹  towns, the people assembled ¹⁰  in ¹¹  Jerusalem. ¹²  3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak ¹³  and his priestly colleagues ¹⁴  and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues ¹⁵  started to build ¹⁶  the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by ¹⁷  the law of Moses the man of God. 3:3 They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples, ¹⁸  and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings. 3:4 They observed the Festival of Temporary Shelters ¹⁹  as required ²⁰  and offered the proper number of ²¹  daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day. 3:5 Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord. 3:6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord’s temple was not at that time established. ²² 

Nehemiah 8:1-12

8:1 all the people gathered together ²³  in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked ²⁴  Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel. 8:2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.) 8:3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon ²⁵  before the men and women and those children who could understand. ²⁶  All the people were eager to hear ²⁷  the book of the law.

8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform ²⁸  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 ²⁹  of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, ³⁰  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 ³¹  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it ³²  and imparting insight. Thus the people ³³  gained understanding from what was read.

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ³⁴  Ezra the priestly scribe, ³⁵  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ³⁶  “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. ³⁷  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 ³⁸  with others ³⁹  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ⁴⁰  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

[7:8]  ¹ sn One always speaks of “going up” to Jerusalem in Jewish idiom, even though in western thought it is more common to speak of south as “down” (Jerusalem lies south of Galilee). The reason for the idiom is that Jerusalem was identified with Mount Zion in the OT, so that altitude was the issue.

[7:8]  ² tc Most mss (Ì^66,75 B L T W Θ Ψ 070 0105 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï sa), including most of the better witnesses, have “not yet” (οὔπω, oupw) here. Those with the reading οὐκ are not as impressive (א D K 1241 al lat), but οὐκ is the more difficult reading here, especially because it stands in tension with v. 10. On the one hand, it is possible that οὐκ arose because of homoioarcton: A copyist who saw oupw wrote ouk. However, it is more likely that οὔπω was introduced early on to harmonize with what is said two verses later. As for Jesus’ refusal to go up to the feast in v. 8, the statement does not preclude action of a different kind at a later point. Jesus may simply have been refusing to accompany his brothers with the rest of the group of pilgrims, preferring to travel separately and “in secret” (v. 10) with his disciples.

[7:8]  ³ tn Although the word is καιρός (kairos) here, it parallels John’s use of ὥρα (Jwra) elsewhere as a reference to the time appointed for Jesus by the Father – the time of his return to the Father, characterized by his death, resurrection, and ascension (glorification). In the Johannine literature, synonyms are often interchanged for no apparent reason other than stylistic variation.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Or “my time has not yet come to an end” (a possible hint of Jesus’ death at Jerusalem); Grk “my time is not yet fulfilled.”

[7:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

[3:1]  ⁸ tn The word “living” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied. Some translations supply “settled” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT).

[3:1]  ⁹ tc The translation reads with some medieval Hebrew MSS and ancient versions בְּעָרֵיהֶם (be’arehem, “in their towns”), rather than the reading בֶּעָרִים (be’arim, “in the towns”) found in the MT. Cf. Neh 7:72 HT [7:73 ET].

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds the phrase “like one man.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to.”

[3:1]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:2]  ¹³ sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his brothers.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “arose and built.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.

[3:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[3:4]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase אֶת חַג־הַסֻּכּוֹת (’et khag-hassukot, “festival of huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

[3:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “according to what is written.”

[3:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “by number.”

[3:6]  ²² tn Or “the foundation of the LORD’s temple was not yet laid.

[8:1]  ²³ tn Heb “like one man.”

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “said [to].”

[8:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”

[8:3]  ²⁶ 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).

[8:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”

[8:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a tower of wood.”

[8:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[8:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:7]  ³¹ 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.

[8:8]  ³² 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.

[8:8]  ³³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ³⁴ 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.

[8:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[8:10]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to send portions.”

[8:12]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to make great joy.”