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Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Priest Ezra Reads the Law During the Feast of Shelters
Nehemiah 7:72b-8:1-8 ~ Ezra Reads from the Book of the Law
Ezra and the caravan of returning Judahites left Babylon on the first day of the first month of Abib (March/April), in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes.
The Divine Name appears twenty-one times in the Book of Nehemiah. The Water Gate was on the east side of the city outside the Temple complex. The Book of the Law of Moses probably refers to the Book of Deuteronomy that contained the last of the precepts of the Law in Yahweh's final instructions that Moses conveyed to the new generation of Israelites on the east side of the Jordan River before the beginning of the conquest of the Promised Land.
It is the first day of Tishri and the prescribed date under the Law for the Feast of Trumpets, Rosh Ha-Shanah (Lev 23:23-25; Num 29:1-6) that was also the feast of the new moon for that month (Num 29:11-14). The Feast of Trumpets was the beginning of the civil new year (Passover was the beginning of the Liturgical year). The seventh month in 7:72b is two months after Ezra arrived in Jerusalem (see Ezra 7:6).
The people listened to Ezra read the Law for six hours from dawn to noon, the sixth-hour Jewish time. Women did not participate in most meetings but were included with older children in Sacred Assemblies because they were full members of the covenant with Yahweh (cf. Dt 31:12-13; Josh 8:35; Neh 10:28; 12:43).
In reading from the Book of the Law to an assembly of the covenant people, Ezra is reenacting the ratification of the covenant with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai and the last renewal of the Law and the covenant during the reign of King Josiah.
Sukkot
Nehemiah 8:9-12 ~ Ezra Encourages the People
The people mourned and wept in repentance for having failed in their obedience to the Law in the past, but their leaders and the Levites encouraged them not to feel sad but to celebrate the sacred day of covenant renewal.
Ezra 8:13-18 ~ The People Study the Words of the Law
The next day after the Feast of Trumpets, the clan leaders came together with the priests, Levites, and Ezra to study the Law. It is then that they discover the requirements for the third annual feast in the month of Tishri, the Feast of Shelters/Booths/Tabernacles, Sukkot in Hebrew, that required the people to live in temporary shelters to relive the experience of the Exodus generation when they first received the Law at Mt. Sinai.
According to the observance of the Feast of Shelters/Booths/Tabernacles, the people were to live in shelters for a week from the 15th of Tishri to the 21st and then hold a sacred assembly on the eighth day. It was also the third pilgrim feast of the year (Dt 16:16), memorializing the giving of the Law and the gift of the Tabernacle at Mt. Sinai, and took place during the time of the fruit harvest:
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A Daily Defense
DAY 276 Who Is the Greatest?
CHALLENGE: “During the Last Supper the apostles argued over who was the greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus shamed them, indicating that none of them was the greatest—not even Peter.”
DEFENSE: This misreads the text. Jesus gives a threefold response indicating that Peter was the disciples’ leader.
Responding to the dispute, Jesus says three things. These form a single, continuous quotation of Jesus (they aren’t even interrupted by breaks like “then he said”). It’s all one block, indicating all three parts form his answer to the dispute about greatness.
First, he tells them the principle of servant leadership, which they are all to employ: “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:25 27).
Second, he assures them they will all have a prominent place in his kingdom: “You are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28–30).
Third, he singles out Peter and charges him with a special pastoral task with respect to the other disciples: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31–32).
Jesus’ reply begins with a general principle and is progressively more specific. It indicates the disciples have been thinking about the question the wrong way around. Leadership is not about personal greatness but serving others. And there is still a leader—Peter—but he is told “strengthen your brethren,” not “exercise lordship over them.”
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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