Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said Who issued the command, we are not told. Clearly either Nehemiah or Ezra. Some think Nehemiah because as governor he would be the person to issue authoritative directions. But more probably Ezra is intended; for (1) Ezra's name is most conspicuous throughout this whole episode; cf. Nehemiah 8:5; (2) the language used is that of the teacher of the Law rather than that of the practical governor.

eat the fat, and drink the sweet A proverbial expression, meaning that the occasion was not one of fasting and grief. LXX. φάγετε λιπάσματα καὶ πίετε γλυκάσματα. Vulg. -comedite pinguia et bibite mulsum."

send portions&c. Doubtless with the thought of remembering the poor and needy more especially, as according to the law of Deuteronomy 16:14, where the Feast of Tabernacles is described, -And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy gates." But the allusion seems primarily to be to the custom of interchanging -portions" on festal occasions, e.g. Esther 9:19, -a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions to one another," Esther 9:22, -days of feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor." Nabal's churlishness was the violation of an almost sacred rule, 1 Samuel 25, cf. R. Smith, Relig. of Semites. For this custom of open-handed distribution on the occasion of great sacrificial feasts, cf. 1 Samuel 9:13; 2 Samuel 6:19; Ezekiel 39:17-20.

neither be ye sorry R.V. grieved. LXX. μὴ διαπέσητε. Vulg. -no-lite contristari". The R.V. gives the same rendering as in Nehemiah 8:11.

for the joy of the Lordis your strength R.V. marg. -Or, stronghold". This joy of the Lord is not the joy of the Lord over Israel; but Israel's joy in her Lord. Israel's joy at her great festivals is based on her confidence that the Lord ever protects her. Gladness in Him is in proportion to the faith in the protection which He gives. The English version is that of the Vulgate, -gaudium etenim Domini est fortitudo nostra." The LXX. ὅτι ἐστὶ κύριος ἰσχὺς ἡμῶν omitted to render the somewhat unusual word for -joy," which elsewhere occurs in 1 Chronicles 16:27; Ezra 6:16. The rendering -stronghold" in the R.V. marg. gives the more common meaning, cf. Psalms 37:39, -He is their stronghold in the time of trouble." He that rejoices in Jehovah has a strong fortress from which he can repel all adversaries.