The wall is finished. Now the whole city gathers in one street, men and women together, and asks for a book to be read – the law of Moses. They stand and listen from morning until midday.
As the words sink in, the crowd begins to weep. And then their own leaders tell them to stop. The reason they give is the day itself.
The Story of Ezra Reads the Law
All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding.
He read from it from the morning until midday, and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. Ezra stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose, with six men on his right hand and seven on his left. When Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, then bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Ezra did not read alone. Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah and others, with the Levites, caused the people to understand the law while the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
As they understood, the people broke down: all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Nehemiah the Tirshatha, Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites told them, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.
And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
On the second day the heads of the families, the priests and the Levites came back to Ezra to understand the words of the law more closely. They found written that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths.
So the people went out, brought branches, and made booths on the roofs of their houses, in their courts, in the courts of the house of God, in the street of the water gate and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. All who had come back out of the captivity sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. Day by day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read in the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly.
Key Verses
“The ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law” Nehemiah 8:3
“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” Nehemiah 8:8
“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” Nehemiah 8:9
“Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10
“And there was very great gladness” Nehemiah 8:17
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of Ezra Reads the Law Teaches Us
The goal of the reading was understanding, not just hearing. The Levites read distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading, and the chapter says the people celebrated because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
The people’s tears were real, and the text records them without blame: they wept when they heard the words of the law. But their leaders pointed them to what the day was – holy unto the LORD – and told them to eat, drink and share with those who had nothing prepared, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Hearing led straight to doing. On the second day they found the command to dwell in booths, and they obeyed it at once, in a way Israel had not done since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun. The result the text records is simple: there was very great gladness.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Ezra in Nehemiah 8?
Ezra was both a scribe and a priest. The people asked him to bring the book of the law of Moses, and he read it to the whole assembly at the water gate (Nehemiah 8:1-3).
Why did the people weep when Ezra read the law?
Nehemiah 8:9 says all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. The text does not give more detail than that, but the leaders told them the day was holy unto the LORD and they should not mourn.
Where does it say ‘the joy of the LORD is your strength’?
Nehemiah 8:10. It was said to the people on the day the law was read, along with the instruction to eat, drink and send portions to those for whom nothing was prepared.
What does ‘gave the sense’ mean in Nehemiah 8:8?
It means the Levites explained what was being read. Nehemiah 8:8 says they read in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
How long did Ezra read the law?
On the first day he read from the morning until midday (Nehemiah 8:3). During the feast of booths he read in the law day by day, from the first day to the last (Nehemiah 8:18).
What feast did the people keep in Nehemiah 8?
The feast of booths in the seventh month. They made booths from branches and lived in them for seven days, something Israel had not done this way since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun (Nehemiah 8:14-18).