Nehemiah 8:6, commentary and pictures

The scene belongs after the return from captivity, when the wall of Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the gates set up, at the time of the Feast of Trumpets. The children of the covenant had assembled at Jerusalem in a vast multitude from the surrounding country, and they asked to have the Scriptures read. Much of the city still lay in ruins around them.

Ezra, then an aged man, stood on a raised platform of wood erected in one of the broadest streets amid sad reminders of departed glory. He held open the Book of the Law of Moses, which is the Ten Commandments, before a large assembly, with his brother Levites and other leaders gathered at his right and left and behind him on the platform. He read from morning until midday, while certain priests and Levites joined him in explaining the principles of the law with great care in the language of the people so that all might understand. Such care was needed because through intermarriage with other nations the Hebrew language had become corrupted, so that even in that gathering there was evidence of Israel's sin.

When Ezra blessed the Lord the great God, all the people gave united and solemn assent with Amen, Amen and uplifted hands. They bowed with heads and with faces to the ground in worship of the Lord, expressing agreement, reverence and attentive worship as they heard God's law read. The public reading was a privilege and was meant to be a joyful occasion. Yet hearing God's requirements brought their condition and their departure from God into view, and as they remembered their sins and the blessings lost through disobedience they were brought to grief and confession. The occasion was expected to bring deep repentance and a return to the Lord, preparing the way for the account of their sins and God's dealings with them in the next chapter, after which they were encouraged to rejoice and praise God for His mercy.