be seen and heard clearly, a wooden platform was constructed (Neh 8:4).16 The reading could not continue into the afternoon and perhaps the evening in order to cover the entire Pentateuch because the priests were needed during the afternoon to offer the required sacrifices for the Festival of Trumpets (Lev 23:25; Num 29:2–6). The men who flanked Ezra, six on his right and seven on his left, are all named (Neh 8:4). These apparently were important leaders of the Judean community, but we cannot identify