Nehemiah 8:9

And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Nehemiah	נְחֶמְיָ֣ה ne.chem.Yah	H5166	Nechemjah · proper noun, a man's name
Tirshatha	הַתִּרְשָׁ֡תָא ha.tir.Sha.ta'	H8660	Tirshatha · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Ezra	וְעֶזְרָ֣א ve.'ez.Ra'	H5830	Ezra · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
priest	הַכֹּהֵ֣ן ha.ko.Hen	H3548	literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
scribe	הַסֹּפֵ֡ר ha.so.Fer	H5608	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Levites	וְהַלְוִיִּם֩ ve.hal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
taught	הַמְּבִינִ֨ים ha.me.vi.Nim	H995	to separate mentally (or distinguish) · definite article + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
people	הָעָ֜ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people	הָעָ֗ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day	הַיּ֤וֹם hai.Yom	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
holy	קָדֹֽשׁ ka.dosh-	H6918	sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
LORD	לַיהוָ֣ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם 'e.lo.hei.Khem	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
mourn	תִּֽתְאַבְּל֖וּ tit.'a.be.Lu	H56	to bewail · verb, hithpael jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
weep	תִּבְכּ֑וּ tiv.Ku	H1058	to weep · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
people	הָעָ֔ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wept	בוֹכִים֙ vo.Khim	H1058	to weep · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
heard	כְּשָׁמְעָ֖ם ke.sha.me.'Am	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
words	דִּבְרֵ֥י div.Rei	H1697	a word · noun, common masculine plural construct
law	הַתּוֹרָֽה ha.to.Rah	H8451	a precept or statute · definite article + noun, common feminine 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

Deuteronomy 12:12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the L…
Nehemiah 7:65 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.
Nehemiah 7:70 And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hun…
Deuteronomy 16:11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite…
Nehemiah 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the firs…
Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowi…
Deuteronomy 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the…
Deuteronomy 16:14-15 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stran…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 8:9-12

We may here observe, I. How the people were wounded with the words of the law that were read to them. The law works death, and speaks terror, shows men their sins, and their misery and danger because of sin, and thunders a curse against every one that continues not in every part of his duty. Therefore when they heard it they all wept (Neh 8:9): it was a good sign that their hearts were tender, like Josiah's when he heard the words of the law. They wept to think how they had offended God, and exposed themselves, by their many violations of the law; when some wept all wept, for they all saw themselves guilty before God. II. How they were healed and comforted with the words of peace that were s…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 8:9

THE PEOPLE COMFORTED. (Neh 8:9-15) This day is holy unto the Lord . . . mourn not, nor weep--A deep sense of their national sins, impressively brought to their remembrance by the reading of the law and its denunciations, affected the hearts of the people with penitential sorrow. But notwithstanding the painful remembrances of their national sins which the reading of the law awakened, the people were exhorted to cherish the feelings of joy and thankfulness associated with a sacred festival (see on Lev 23:24). By sending portions of it to their poorer brethren (Deu 16:11, Deu 16:14; Est 9:19), they would also enable them to participate in the public rejoicings.

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:9

Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha - This puts it out of doubt that, when the Tirshatha is mentioned, Nehemiah himself is intended, Tirshatha being the name of his office. Mourn not, nor weep - This is a holy day to God: a day appointed for general rejoicing in Him who has turned our captivity, restored to us his law, and again established among us his ordinances.

John Gill on Nehemiah 8:9

And Nehemiah which is the Tirshatha,.... Or governor, as Zerubbabel had been, and now Nehemiah, see Ezra 2:63 and Ezra the priest and scribe; see Nehemiah 8:1, and the Levites that taught the people; see Nehemiah 8:7 said unto all the people, this day is holy unto the Lord your God; being both the new moon and the feast of blowing of trumpets: mourn not, nor weep; which was unsuitable to a festival, and especially such an one as this, in which trumpets were to be blown, and gladness to be shown, Numbers 10:10 for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law; perceiving they had not kept it, but had broke it in many instances, and so liable to the wrath and judgment of God in…

The Church Fathers

"But all the people wept when they heard the words of the law." For the same holy teachers, who stir the minds of their hearers to tears with sacred readings and devout exhortations, also console those tears by promising them the eternal joys to come. Rightly it is added:
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

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…
Festivals — I. The religious times ordained int he law fall under three heads:
Festivals, Religious — There were daily (Lev. 23), weekly, monthly, and yearly festivals, and great stress was laid on the regular observance of them in every particular (Num. 28:1-8; Ex. 29:38-42; Lev. 6:8-23; Ex. 30:7-9;…
Sabbath — (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning “to rest from labour”), the day of rest. It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man was in innocence (Gen. 2:2). “The sabbath was made for…
Scribes — Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V.,…
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…
Tirshatha — A word probably of Persian origin, meaning “severity,” denoting a high civil dignity. The Persian governor of Judea is so called (Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65, 70). Nehemiah is called by this name in Neh.…
Tirshatha · A title of Persian governors — A title of Persian governors
Trumpets · .Celebrated after the — .Celebrated after the

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).

Nehemiah 8:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 8:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 8:9

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:9

John Gill on Nehemiah 8:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Nehemiah 8:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 8:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Nehemiah 8:9

Adam Clarke on Nehemiah 8:9

John Gill on Nehemiah 8:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 8:9-12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Nehemiah 8:9-10

Rashi on Nehemiah 8:9