Nehemiah 8:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 8:7
Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
Sherebjah · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Jamin
יָמִ֡יןya.Min
H3226
Jamin · proper noun, a man's name
Akkub
עַקּ֡וּב'a.Kuv
H6126
Akkub · proper noun, a man's name
Shabbethai
שַׁבְּתַ֣יsha.be.Tai
H7678
Shabbethai · proper noun, a man's name
Hodijah
הֽוֹדִיָּ֡הho.di.Yah
H1941
Hodijah · proper noun, a man's name
Maaseiah
מַעֲשֵׂיָ֡הma.'a.se.Yah
H4641
Maasejah · proper noun, a man's name
Kelita
קְלִיטָ֣אke.li.Ta'
H7042
Kelita · proper noun, a man's name
Azariah
עֲזַרְיָה֩'a.zar.Yah
H5838
Azarjah · proper noun, a man's name
Jozabad
יוֹזָבָ֨דyo.za.Vad
H3107
Jozabad · proper noun, a man's name
Hanan
חָנָ֤ןcha.Nan
H2605
Chanan · proper noun, a man's name
Pelaiah
פְּלָאיָה֙pe.la.Yah
H6411
Pelajah · proper noun, a man's name
Levites
וְהַלְוִיִּ֔םve.hal.vi.Yim
H3881
a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
understand
מְבִינִ֥יםme.vi.Nim
H995
to separate mentally (or distinguish) · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
law
לַתּוֹרָ֑הla.to.Rah
H8451
a precept or statute · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
people
וְהָעָ֖םve.ha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
place
עָמְדָֽם'a.me.Dam
H5977
a spot (as being fixed) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Nehemiah 9:4 Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a l…
Leviticus 10:11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.
Ezra 10:22-23 And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
Nehemiah 3:23 After him repaired Benjamin and Hashub over against their house. After him repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah by his ho…
Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Deuteronomy 33:10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
2 Chronicles 17:7-9 Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Ben-hail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Mic…
2 Chronicles 30:22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the LORD: and they did eat throughout the feast seven…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 8:1-8
We have here an account of a solemn religious assembly, and the good work that was done in that assembly, to the honour of God and the edification of the church.
I. The time of it was the first day of the seventh month, Neh 8:2. That was the day of the feast of trumpets, which is called a sabbath, and on which they were to have a holy convocation, Lev 23:24; Num 29:1. But that was not all: it was one that day that the altar was set up, and they began to offer their burnt-offerings after their return out of captivity, a recent mercy in the memory of many then living; in a thankful remembrance of that, it is likely, they had kept this feast ever since with more than ordinary solemnity. Divine…
caused the people to understand the law . . . gave the sense--Commentators are divided in opinion as to the import of this statement. Some think that Ezra read the law in pure Hebrew, while the Levites, who assisted him, translated it sentence by sentence into Chaldee, the vernacular dialect which the exiles spoke in Babylon. Others maintain that the duty of these Levites consisted in explaining to the people, many of whom had become very ignorant, what Ezra had read.
Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:6
Ezra blessed the Lord - In imitation of this, we say, when the gospel for the day is commenced, Glory be to God for his holy Gospel! and conclude this thanksgiving with, Amen.
John Gill on Nehemiah 8:7
Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites,.... That is, others of them besides those named; for they seem all to be Levites, unless they can be thought to be priests, and so the Levites are distinguished from them; but the former seems evident from Nehemiah 9:4 these also
caused the people to understand the law; as well as Ezra; from whence it is plain that he did not only read the law, but gave the sense of it, especially where there was any seeming difficulty, and these men were assisting in the same work: and the people stood in their place; to hear the law read and explained; they did not…
Dictionary and topics
Akkub — (another form of Jacob). (1.) The head of one of the families of Nethinim (Ezra 2:45). (2.) A Levite who kept the gate of the temple after the return from Babylon (1 Chr. 9:17; Ezra 2:42; Neh. 7:45).…
Azariah — Whom Jehovah helps. (1.) Son of Ethan, of the tribe of Judah (1 Chr. 2:8). (2.) Son of Ahimaaz, who succeeded his grandfather Zadok as high priest (1 Chr. 6:9; 1 Kings 4:2) in the days of Solomon. He…
Bani — Built. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:46. (2.) One of David’s thirty-seven warriors, a Gadite (2 Sam. 23:36). (3.) Ezra 2:10; 10:29, 34, 38. (4.) A Levite who was prominent in the reforms on the return from Babylon…
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…
Hanan — Merciful. (1.) A Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:23). (2.) One of David’s heroes (1 Chr. 11:43). (3.) Jer. 35:4. (4.) A descendant of Saul (1 Chr. 8:38). (5.) One of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:46). (6.) One of the…
Hodijah — Majesty of Jehovah. (1.) One of the Levites who assisted Ezra in expounding the law (Neh. 8:7; 9:5). (2.) Neh. 10:18, a Levite who sealed the covenant.
Jamin — (right hand).
Jeshua — (1.) Head of the ninth priestly order (Ezra 2:36); called also Jeshuah (1 Chr. 24:11). (2.) A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to distribute offerings in the priestly cities (2 Chr. 31:15). (3.) Ezra…
Jozabad — Whom Jehovah bestows. (1.) One of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:4). (2.) A chief of the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chr. 12:20).
Kelita — Dwarf, a Levite who assisted Ezra in expounding the law to the people (Neh. 8:7; 10:10).
Maaseiah — The work of Jehovah. (1.) One of the Levites whom David appointed as porter for the ark (1 Chr. 15:18, 20). (2.) One of the “captains of hundreds” associated with Jehoiada in restoring king Jehoash…
Neh 8:1-2. The public reading of the law. - Neh 8:1-3. The introduction to this narrative (Neh 7:73b-8:1a) is identical with Ezr 3:1. The same matter, the assembling of the people on the approach of the seventh month, is described in the same words. But the object of this assembling of the people was a different one from that mentioned in Ezr 3:1-13. Then they met to restore the altar of burnt-offering and the sacrificial worship; now, on the contrary, for the due solemnization of the seventh month, the festal month of the year. For this purpose the people came from the cities and villages of Judah to Jerusalem, and assembled "in the open space before the water-gate," i.e., to the south-east…
The Levites always had the role of teaching people God’s word (Deut 33:10; Mal 2:5-6). In this case, they probably explained the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures to smaller groups of people in Aramaic. Most of the people spoke Aramaic, the language of Babylon, rather than Hebrew as their first language. Jewish leaders eventually translated large portions of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, allowing people to hear and study the Bible in a language they understood.
Rashi on Nehemiah 8:7
explained...to the people meaning that they would translate the words of the Torah to the people.
in their place meaning that they were standing on their feet.
Pelaiah — Distinguished of the Lord. (1.) One of David’s posterity (1 Chr. 3:24). (2.) A Levite who expounded the law (Neh. 8:7).
Shabbethai — Sabbath-born, a Levite who assisted in expounding the law and investigating into the illegal marriages of the Jews (Ezra 10:15; Neh. 8:7; 11:16).
Sherebiah — Flame of the Lord, a priest whose name is prominent in connection with the work carried on by Ezra and Nehemiah at Jerusalem (Ezra 8:17, 18, 24-30; Neh. 8:7; 9:4, 5; 10:12).
Akkub · 2. A returned exile — 2. A returned exile
Bani · 5. A Levite of the returned exiles — 5. A Levite of the returned exiles
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hanan · 5. A Levite — 5. A Levite
Hodiah · 2. A Levite — 2. A Levite
Jamin · to — to
Jeshua · 7. A Levite who explained the law to the people when Ezra read it aloud — 7. A Levite who explained the law to the people when Ezra read it aloud
Jozabad · 5. Three Levites — 5. Three Levites
Kelaiah · assisted Ezra in expounding the law — assisted Ezra in expounding the law
Law Of Moses, The · Priests and Levites to teach — Priests and Levites to teach
Levites, The · Services of: Teaching the people — Services of: Teaching the people
Maaseiah · 10:18,21,22; — 10:18,21,22;
Pelaiah · law — law
Scriptures, The · Should be: Taught to ALL — Should be: Taught to ALL
Shabbethai · 2. An expoun — 2. An expoun
Sherebiah · 1. A Levite assistant to Ezra — 1. A Levite assistant to Ezra
Synagogue · The Scriptures were read and expoun — The Scriptures were read and expoun
Synagogues · Revival of, after the captivity — Revival of, after the captivity
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).
