Nehemiah 8:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 8:18
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
a day (as the warm hours) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
assembly
עֲצֶ֖רֶת'a.Tze.ret
H6116
an assembly · noun, common feminine singular construct
manner
כַּמִּשְׁפָּֽטka.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Leviticus 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offe…
Numbers 29:35 On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
Deuteronomy 31:10-13 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 8:13–end
We have here,
I. The people's renewed attendance upon the word. They had spent the greatest part of one day in praying and hearing, and yet were so far from being weary of that new moon and sabbath that the next day after, though it was no festival, the chief of them came together again to hear Ezra expound (Neh 8:13), which they found more delightful and gainful than any worldly pleasure or profit whatsoever. Note, The more we converse with the word of God, if we rightly understand it and be affected with it, the more we shall covet to converse with it, and to increase in our acquaintance with it, saying, How sweet are thy words unto my mouth! Those that understand the scriptures well will…
Also day by day . . . he read in the book of the law of God--This was more than was enjoined (Deu 31:10-12), and arose from the exuberant zeal of the time.
on the eighth day was a solemn assembly--This was the last and great day of the feast (see on Num 29:35). In later times, other ceremonies which increased the rejoicing were added (Joh 7:37).
Next: Nehemiah Chapter 9
Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:17
Since the days of Joshua - No feast of tabernacles since Joshua's time had been so heartily and so piously celebrated. The story of the sacred fire now discovered, which had been hidden by the order of Jeremiah in a dry well, and now, some of the mud from the bottom being brought upon the altar, was kindled afresh by the rays of the sun, which suddenly broke out, though before covered with clouds, etc., is worthy of no credit. Those who wish to see the detail may consult 2 Maccabees 1:18-36.
On the subject in Neh 8:8, I beg leave to make a few observations: - So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. The Israelites,…
He read from the book of the law of God, etc. As far as the meaning of the text goes, the Feast of Tabernacles was typically celebrated for seven days, that is, from the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the moon, up to the twenty-first. Then on the eighth day, that is, the twenty-second of the month, a gathering of the people took place once more, marked by a greater festivity. For it is written in Leviticus: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the Lord's feast for seven days. The first day and the eighth day shall be a Sabbath, that is, a rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, etc. (Leviticus 23). So Ezra read to the people in the book of the law of God during the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles; because this truly is our genuine solemnity of mind in this life, that through each day, that is, through all the good works by which we are enlightened by the Lord, we may devote our attentive hearts to reading, hearing, and doing His words. This solemnity begins on the fifteenth day of the month, when the moon is at its fullest at night, whereupon all the shadows of our mind are resolved by the most brilliant light of Christ. And it follows with the eighth day of the Sabbath, that is, of rest, obviously at the time of the resurrection in the future life; the joys of which we are uplifted by hope for now, and then we will fully enjoy in reality, when that most longed-for gathering—the entire assembly of saints, both angels and men—rejoices together in the presence of their Creator, never to be separated.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ezra — Help. (1.) A priest among those that returned to Jerusalem under Zerubabel (Neh. 12:1). (2.) The “scribe” who led the second body of exiles that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459, and…
Tabernacles, Feast of — The third of the great annual festivals of the Jews (Lev. 23:33-43). It is also called the “feast of ingathering” (Ex. 23:16; Deut. 16:13). It was celebrated immediately after the harvest, in the…
Tabernacles, The Feast Of — (Exodus 23:16) (“the feast of ingathering”), the third of the three great festivals: of the Hebrews, which lasted from the 15th till the 22d of Tisri.
Feast Of Tabernacles, The · The law publicly read every seventh year at — The law publicly read every seventh year at
Law Of Moses, The · A means of national reformation — A means of national reformation
Sabbatic Year · Ordinances concerning instruction in the law during — Ordinances concerning instruction in the law during
Synagogues · Service of, consisted of: Reading the word of God — Service of, consisted of: Reading the word of God
Tabernacles, Feast Of · The law read in connection with, every seventh year — The law read in connection with, every seventh year
Word Of God · To be read publicly — To be read publicly
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God,.... That is, Ezra; this was done by him every day during the feast, whereas only the first and last days were the holy convocations on which it seems to have been read:
and they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the manner; prescribed in Leviticus 23:39.
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 8:13–end
Celebration of the feast of tabernacles. - Neh 8:13 On the second day were gathered together the heads of the houses of all the people, of the priests, and of the Levites to Ezra the scribe, to attend to the words of the law. The infinitive להשׂכּיל may indeed be taken (as by Bertheau) as the continuation of the finite verb, instead of as infinitive absolute (Ewald, 352, c); this is, however, admissible only in cases where the second verb either states what must be done, or further describes the condition of affairs, while להשׂכּיל here states the purpose for which the heads of the people, etc. assembled themselves unto Ezra. Hence we take להשׂכּיל in its usual meaning, and the w before it a…
Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God: The law was to be read every seven years at the Festival of Shelters (Deut 31:10-12). It reminded the people of the covenant stipulations and of God’s past acts of grace.
