Nehemiah 8:4-18

8:4 Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform ¹  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 ²  of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book, ³  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 ⁴  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. 8:8 They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it ⁵  and imparting insight. Thus the people ⁶  gained understanding from what was read.

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ⁷  Ezra the priestly scribe, ⁸  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ⁹  “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. ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  with others ¹²  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ¹³  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

8:13 On the second day of the month the family leaders ¹⁴  met with ¹⁵  Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law. 8:14 They discovered written in the law that the LORD had commanded through ¹⁶  Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, 8:15 and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message ¹⁷  in all their cities and in Jerusalem: ¹⁸  “Go to the hill country and bring back olive branches and branches of wild olive trees, myrtle trees, date palms, and other leafy trees to construct temporary shelters, as it is written.”

8:16 So the people went out and brought these things ¹⁹  back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple ²⁰  of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate. 8:17 So all the assembly which had returned from the exile constructed temporary shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day. Everyone experienced very great joy. ²¹  8:18 Ezra ²²  read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last. ²³  They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly ²⁴  as was required. ²⁵ 

[8:4]  ¹ tn Heb “a tower of wood.”

[8:5]  ² tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[8:5]  ³ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:9]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

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

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

[8:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to send portions.”

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

[8:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “to make great joy.”

[8:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[8:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “were gathered to”; NAB, NIV “gathered around”; NRSV “came together to.”

[8:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[8:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a voice.”

[8:15]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:16]  ¹⁹ tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the house.”

[8:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “And there was very great joy.”

[8:18]  ²² tn Heb “He”; the referent (Ezra) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ²³ tn Heb “the last day.”

[8:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “on the eighth day an assembly.” The words “they held” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “according to the judgment.”