Nehemiah 8 - Introduction
_A.M. 3559. B.C. 445._ The solemn reading and expounding of the law, Nehemiah 8:1. The joy of the people, Nehemiah 8:9. The keeping of the feast of tabernacles, Nehemiah 8:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 3559. B.C. 445._ The solemn reading and expounding of the law, Nehemiah 8:1. The joy of the people, Nehemiah 8:9. The keeping of the feast of tabernacles, Nehemiah 8:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Into the street that was before the water-gate_ Probably, in that space which was afterward called the court of the Gentiles. _They spake unto Ezra the scribe_ This Ezra, without all doubt, is the same person who came from Babylon in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. It is thought he had been at Baby... [ Continue Reading ]
_Upon the first day of the seventh month_ This was _the feast of trumpets_, which is called _a sabbath_, and on which they were to have _a holy convocation, Leviticus 23:24_. And it was on this day the altar was set up, after their return from captivity; in remembrance of which they had probably kep... [ Continue Reading ]
_He read therein, from the morning until mid-day_ In the Hebrew, the words are, _from the light_, that is, from the break of day, or the sun-rising, _until noon:_ Then, it is likely, they went to take some refreshment, it being a festival, and a day of great rejoicing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ezra stood upon a pulpit of wood_ To raise him higher than the people; that he might be better seen and heard by them all; whence, in the Hebrew, it is called _a tower of wood:_ but it was not like our pulpits, made to contain only one or two persons, but large and long, that many might stand in it... [ Continue Reading ]
_When he opened it, all the people stood up_ Either in reverence to God's word, or that they might hear his words more distinctly. _And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God_ He blessed him as _the great God_, superior to all other powers whatsoever; and gave honour to him by praising his perfections... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Levites caused the people to understand the law_ As well the words, which, being Hebrew, needed to be translated into the Chaldee or Syriac language, now the common language of that people; who, together with their religion, had also, in a great part, lost their language; as also the meaning of... [ Continue Reading ]
_So they read in the book of the law_ To wit, Ezra and his companions, successively. _And gave the sense_ The meaning of the Hebrew words, which they expounded in the common language _And caused them to understand the reading_ Or that which they read, namely, the Holy Scriptures; the action being pu... [ Continue Reading ]
_This day is holy unto the Lord your God_ Namely, as a day of feasting and thanksgiving to God, and rejoicing in his mercies; for otherwise even days of fasting were _holy to God_ in general, though not in the sense here meant. _Mourn not, nor weep Be not sorry, Nehemiah 8:10_. _Hold your peace: nei... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eat the fat, and drink the sweet_ Feast before the Lord, as the duty of the day requires you to do. _Send portions_, &c. For the relief of your poor brethren, who otherwise must mourn while you rejoice. Concerning this duty and practice, see Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14; Esther 9:10. _For t... [ Continue Reading ]
_So the Levites stilled the people_ Whose passions, being once raised, could not very soon be composed. _Saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy_ Cease from weeping and mournful cries, and turn your lamentations into thanksgivings. _And the people went their way to eat,_ &c. Their weeping was s... [ Continue Reading ]
_On the second day were gathered to him the chief of the fathers, the priests_, &c. Thus manifesting both humility and serious godliness, in that they chose rather to confess their ignorance, in order that they might be instructed, than vainly to pretend to more knowledge than they had, and were mor... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they found written in the law_ Upon Ezra's information, and through their discourse with him; _that the children of Israel should dwell in booths_ As a memorial of their dwelling in tents in the wilderness, a representation of the tabernacle state of God's people in this world, and a type of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every one upon the roof of his house_ Which, according to the law, was made flat, Deuteronomy 22:8. _And in their courts_ Those belonging to their houses: for the booths might be made anywhere in the open air. _And in the street of the gate of Ephraim_ The gate of the city which led to the tribe of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Since the days of Jeshua, had not the children of Israel done_ so The meaning here cannot be that this festival had never been observed since Joshua's time, because we are informed, (Ezra 3:4,) that it was kept at their return from Babylon; but the joy, since that time, had never been so great as i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Day by day he read in the book of the law of God_ The law was commanded to be read at this feast, Deuteronomy 31:10. But the reading of it was not enjoined to be continued every day, as was now done through their singular and very laudable zeal.... [ Continue Reading ]