Nehemiah 8:17
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and 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.
The verse belongs to the gathering of the congregation come again out of the captivity at Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Trumpets, after the wall had been rebuilt and the gates set up while much of the city still lay in ruins. The children of the covenant assembled from all the surrounding country before a wooden platform in one of the broadest streets, where the aged Ezra stood with his fellow Levites at his right and left, blessed the Lord, and all the people answered Amen and bowed with their faces to the ground in worship. At that gathering the people heard the law read and explained in language they could understand. The reading of the law in that time was expected to lead to deep repentance and a return to the Lord.
The returned congregation kept the Feast of Tabernacles by making booths and living in them during the feast as the law instructed. Such an observance on that scale had not occurred since the days of Jeshua son of Nun. Their obedience in this observance brought very great gladness.
The account connects the people's understanding of the law with great rejoicing. The verse illustrates Israel's experience of living according to God's instruction.