^8:1all the people gathered together¹ in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked² Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had commanded Israel. ^8:2So 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.) ^8:3So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon³ before the men and women and those children who could understand.⁴ All the people were eager to hear⁵ the book of the law.

^8:4Ezra the scribe stood on a towering wooden platform⁶ 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. ^8:5Ezra opened the book in plain view⁷ of all the people, for he was elevated above all the people. When he opened the book,⁸ all the people stood up. ^8:6Ezra 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.

^8:7Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—all of whom were Levites⁹—were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing. ^8:8They read from the book of God’s law, explaining it¹⁰ and imparting insight. Thus the people¹¹ gained understanding from what was read.

^8:9Then Nehemiah the governor,¹² Ezra the priestly scribe,¹³ and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them,¹⁴ “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. ^8:10He 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.¹⁵ Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

^8:11Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.” ^8:12So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food¹⁶ with others¹⁷ and to enjoy tremendous joy,¹⁸ for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

^8:13On the second day of the month the family leaders¹⁹ met with²⁰ Ezra the scribe, together with all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to consider the words of the law. ^8:14They discovered written in the law that the LORD had commanded through²¹ Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month, ^8:15and that they should make a proclamation and disseminate this message²² in all their cities and in Jerusalem:²³ “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.”

^8:16So the people went out and brought these things²⁴ back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple²⁵ of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate. ^8:17So 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.²⁶^8:18Ezra²⁷ read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day to the last.²⁸ They observed the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly²⁹ as was required.³⁰

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Footnotes

1 Heb “like one man.”
2 Heb “said [to].”
3 Heb “from the light till the noon of the day.”
4 Heb “all who could hear with understanding.” The word “children” is understood to be implied here by a number of English versions (e.g., , , ).
5 Heb “the ears of all the people were toward.”
6 Heb “a tower of wood.”
7 Heb “to the eyes.”
8 Heb “it”; the referent (the book) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 The reads “and the Levites.” The conjunction (“and”) should be deleted, following the , Aquila, and the . That the vav (ו) of the is the vav explicativum (“even the Levites”) is unlikely here.
10 The exact meaning of the pual participle מְפֹרָשׁ (méforash) 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 (cf. , ). 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 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 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. , , , ) rather than one of translation.
11 Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 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.
13 Heb “the priest, the scribe.”
14 Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
15 The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
16 Heb “to send portions.”
17 The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
18 Heb “to make great joy.”
19 Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
20 Heb “were gathered to”; , “gathered around”; “came together to.”
21 Heb “by the hand of.”
22 Heb “a voice.”
23 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
24 The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 Heb “the house.”
26 Heb “And there was very great joy.”
27 Heb “He”; the referent (Ezra) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 Heb “the last day.”
29 Heb “on the eighth day an assembly.” The words “they held” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
30 Heb “according to the judgment.”