Nehemiah 8:1
At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
At that time
This phrase sets the historical context, indicating a specific moment in the narrative of Nehemiah. The Hebrew root for "time" is "עֵת" (et), which often signifies an appointed or significant moment. This was a pivotal period in Israel's history, following the completion of the Jerusalem wall, symbolizing a new beginning and a return to spiritual roots.

all the people
The Hebrew word for "people" is "עַם" (am), referring to the collective community of Israel. This phrase emphasizes unity and inclusivity, suggesting that the entire community, regardless of status or tribe, was present. It reflects the communal nature of worship and the shared identity of the Israelites as God's chosen people.

gathered together as one
The unity of the people is highlighted here. The Hebrew root "קָהַל" (qahal) means to assemble or congregate. This gathering signifies a collective commitment to seek God and His Word. It is a powerful image of spiritual unity, where individual differences are set aside for the common purpose of worship and obedience to God.

in the square before the Water Gate
The "square" refers to an open public space, a common area for gatherings. The "Water Gate" was one of the gates of Jerusalem, likely near a water source, symbolizing life and purification. This location is significant as it was accessible to all, indicating that the Word of God is for everyone. The choice of this public venue underscores the transparency and openness of the event.

They asked Ezra the scribe
Ezra, a priest and scribe, was a respected leader and teacher of the Law. The Hebrew root for "scribe" is "סוֹפֵר" (sofer), meaning one who writes or records. This highlights Ezra's role as a custodian of the Scriptures, entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and interpreting God's Word. The people's request for Ezra to read the Law shows their reverence for his authority and their hunger for spiritual guidance.

to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses
The "Book of the Law" refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, which contain God's commandments and instructions for Israel. The Hebrew word for "book" is "סֵפֶר" (sefer), indicating a written document. This act of bringing out the Law signifies a return to the foundational truths and covenantal relationship with God. It represents a desire to align their lives with divine instruction.

which the LORD had commanded for Israel
This phrase underscores the divine origin and authority of the Law. The Hebrew name for "LORD" is "יהוה" (YHWH), the covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal and unchanging nature. The Law was not merely a set of rules but a divine mandate given to Israel, God's chosen nation. It highlights the importance of obedience to God's commands as a means of maintaining a right relationship with Him.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Ezra the Scribe
A priest and scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, Ezra played a crucial role in the spiritual renewal of Israel. He was responsible for reading and explaining the Law to the people.

2. The People of Israel
The assembly of Israelites who gathered to hear the Law. Their unity and eagerness to hear God's Word highlight a collective desire for spiritual revival.

3. The Water Gate
A location in Jerusalem where the people gathered. It symbolizes a place of cleansing and renewal, fitting for the public reading of the Law.

4. The Book of the Law of Moses
Refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, which contain God's commandments and instructions for His people.

5. The Gathering
This event marks a significant moment of communal worship and recommitment to God's covenant, emphasizing the importance of Scripture in the life of the community.
Teaching Points
Unity in Worship
The gathering of the people "as one" emphasizes the power of unity in worship and the collective pursuit of God's Word. Believers today should strive for unity in their communities, especially in worship and study of Scripture.

Hunger for God's Word
The people's request for Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law reflects a deep hunger for God's Word. Christians are encouraged to cultivate a similar desire for Scripture in their daily lives.

Role of Spiritual Leaders
Ezra's role as a scribe and teacher underscores the importance of spiritual leaders who faithfully teach and interpret God's Word. Believers should support and pray for their leaders in this vital task.

Public Reading of Scripture
The public reading of the Law serves as a reminder of the power of hearing God's Word together. Churches can incorporate public Scripture reading into their services to foster communal understanding and commitment.

Renewal through God's Word
The event at the Water Gate signifies a moment of renewal and recommitment to God's covenant. Personal and communal renewal can be achieved through regular engagement with Scripture.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does the unity of the people in Nehemiah 8:1 teach us about the importance of community in worship and study of Scripture?

2. How can we cultivate a deeper hunger for God's Word in our personal and communal lives, similar to the Israelites' desire to hear the Law?

3. In what ways can spiritual leaders today emulate Ezra's example in teaching and explaining Scripture to their congregations?

4. How can the practice of public Scripture reading enhance our understanding and commitment to God's Word in our church services?

5. Reflect on a time when engaging with Scripture led to personal or communal renewal. How can we create more opportunities for such renewal in our faith communities?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 31:11-12
This passage describes the command for the Law to be read to all Israel during the Feast of Tabernacles, highlighting the importance of public reading of Scripture.

Joshua 8:34-35
Joshua reads the Law to the assembly of Israel, similar to Ezra's actions, demonstrating the continuity of this practice in Israel's history.

Acts 2:42
The early church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, paralleling the devotion of the Israelites to the Law, showing the importance of Scripture in both Old and New Testament communities.
Reading the Law with Tears and JoyAlexander MaclarenNehemiah 8:1
The Word of God and the Ministry of ManW. Clarkson Nehemiah 8:1-8
The Word of LifeR.A. Redford Nehemiah 8:1-8
All the Bible WantedGreat ThoughtsNehemiah 8:1-12
Attention and Retention of Divine TruthChristian AgeNehemiah 8:1-12
Constant AttentionWilliam Sharp.Nehemiah 8:1-12
Ezra Expounding the LawExpository OutlinesNehemiah 8:1-12
Familiarity with the Bible; its DangerD. J. Burrell, D. D.Nehemiah 8:1-12
Hearty Appreciation of God's WordF. C. Monfort, D. D.Nehemiah 8:1-12
Improper Hearing of the ScripturesJ. Spencer.Nehemiah 8:1-12
Reading the LawMonday Club SermonsNehemiah 8:1-12
Reading the LawW. Elliot Griffis.Nehemiah 8:1-12
The Instructor in the LawW. Ritchie.Nehemiah 8:1-12
The Oldest PulpitHomilistNehemiah 8:1-12
The Open-Air MeetingW. P. Lockhart.Nehemiah 8:1-12
The Reading of the LawMonday Club SermonsNehemiah 8:1-12
The Scriptures Related to Revivals of ReligionSunday SchoolNehemiah 8:1-12
The Word of God in a Threefold RelationshipJ.S. Exell Nehemiah 8:1-18
People
Akkub, Anaiah, Azariah, Bani, Ezra, Hanan, Hashbadana, Hashum, Hilkiah, Hodiah, Hodijah, Israelites, Jamin, Jeshua, Joshua, Jozabad, Kelita, Levites, Maaseiah, Malchiah, Malchijah, Mattithiah, Meshullam, Mishael, Nehemiah, Nun, Pedaiah, Pelaiah, Shabbethai, Shema, Sherebiah, Uriah, Urijah
Places
Gate of Ephraim, Jerusalem, Water Gate
Topics
Assembled, Book, Bring, Broad, Commanded, Ezra, Front, Gate, Gathered, Law, Month, Open, Request, Scribe, Seventh, Spake, Spoke, Square, Street, Themselves, Towns, Water-doorway, Water-gate, Wide
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Nehemiah 8:1

     1349   covenant, at Sinai
     1611   Scripture, inspiration and authority
     8404   commands, in OT

Nehemiah 8:1-4

     5514   scribes

Nehemiah 8:1-8

     1690   word of God

Nehemiah 8:1-9

     7209   congregation

Nehemiah 8:1-18

     1640   Book of the Law
     7464   teachers of the law

Library
January 29. "Send Portions unto them for whom Nothing is Prepared" (Neh. viii. 10).
"Send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared" (Neh. viii. 10). That was a fine picture in the days of Nehemiah, when they were celebrating their glorious Feast of Tabernacles. "Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared." How many there are on every side for whom nothing is prepared! Let us find out some sad and needy heart for whom there is no one else to think or care.
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Joy of the Lord
'The joy of the Lord is your strength.'--Neh. viii. 10. Judaism, in its formal and ceremonial aspect, was a religion of gladness. The feast was the great act of worship. It is not to be wondered at, that Christianity, the perfecting of that ancient system, has been less markedly felt to be a religion of joy; for it brings with it far deeper and more solemn views about man in his nature, condition, responsibilities, destinies, than ever prevailed before, under any system of worship. And yet all deep
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Reading the Law with Tears and Joy
'And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. 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 first day of the seventh month. 3. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate, from the morning until midday, before
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of his People
LAST Sabbath day in the morning I spoke of the birth of our Saviour as being full of joy to the people of God, and, indeed, to all nations. We then looked at the joy from a distance; we will now in contemplation draw nearer to it, and perhaps as we consider it, and remark the multiplied reasons for its existence, some of those reasons may operate upon our own hearts, and we may go out of this house of prayer ourselves partakers of the exceeding great joy. We shall count it to have been a successful
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

The Original Text and Its History.
1. The original language of the Old Testament is Hebrew, with the exception of certain portions of Ezra and Daniel and a single verse of Jeremiah, (Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4, from the middle of the verse to end of chap. 7; Jer. 10:11,) which are written in the cognate Chaldee language. The Hebrew belongs to a stock of related languages commonly called Shemitic, because spoken mainly by the descendants of Shem. Its main divisions are: (1,) the Arabic, having its original seat in the
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Twenty-First Day. Holiness and Happiness.
The kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Ghost.'--Rom. xiv. 17. 'The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.'--Acts xiii. 52. 'Then Nehemiah said, This day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled the people, saying, Hold your peace; for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to make great mirth, because they had understood the words.'--Neh. viii. 10-12. The deep significance of
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

John's First Testimony to Jesus.
(Bethany Beyond Jordan, February, a.d. 27.) ^D John I. 19-34. ^d 19 And this is the witness of John [John had been sent to testify, "and" this is the matter of his testimony], when the Jews [The term "Jews" is used seventy times by John to describe the ruling classes of Judæa] sent unto him [In thus sending an embassy they honored John more than they ever honored Christ. They looked upon John as a priest and Judæan, but upon Jesus as a carpenter and Galilæan. It is probable that
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Healing a Demoniac in a Synagogue.
(at Capernaum.) ^B Mark I. 21-28; ^C Luke . IV. 31-37. ^b 21 And they [Jesus and the four fishermen whom he called] go into { ^c he came down to} Capernaum, a city of Galilee. [Luke has just spoken of Nazareth, and he uses the expression "down to Capernaum" because the latter was on the lake shore while Nazareth was up in the mountains.] And ^b straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught. { ^c was teaching them} ^b 22 And they were astonished at his teaching: for he taught
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Scattering of the People
[Illustration: (drop cap A) The Fish-god of Assyria and Babylonia] At last the full punishment for their many sins fell upon God's chosen people. The words of warning written in the fifth book of Moses had told them plainly that if they turned aside and worshipped the wicked idol-gods of Canaan, the Lord would take their country from them and drive them out into strange lands. Yet again and again they had yielded to temptation. And now the day of reckoning had come. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
The Median wars--The last native dynasties of Egypt--The Eastern world on the eve of the Macedonian conquest. [Drawn by Boudier, from one of the sarcophagi of Sidon, now in the Museum of St. Irene. The vignette, which is by Faucher-Gudin, represents the sitting cyno-cephalus of Nectanebo I., now in the Egyptian Museum at the Vatican.] Darius appears to have formed this project of conquest immediately after his first victories, when his initial attempts to institute satrapies had taught him not
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9

Its Effects.
Among the effects and benefits which in this life accompany and flow from being filled with the Holy Ghost, may be mentioned the following:-- 1. Courage. "Oh, I could not do so and so--I have not the courage," is a reply frequently made by Christian people when asked to undertake some piece of service or other for the Master. The first point to be settled is, "Is that the Master's will for me?" If so, lack of courage is a confession to the lack of the "Fullness of the Holy Ghost." The Spirit-filled
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

Of the Public Fast.
A public fast is when, by the authority of the magistrate (Jonah iii. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Ezra viii. 21), either the whole church within his dominion, or some special congregation, whom it concerneth, assemble themselves together, to perform the fore-mentioned duties of humiliation; either for the removing of some public calamity threatened or already inflicted upon them, as the sword, invasion, famine, pestilence, or other fearful sickness (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; Joel ii. 15; 2 Chron. xx.; Jonah iii.
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Joy
'The fruit of the Spirit is joy.' Gal 5:52. The third fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, is joy in the Holy Ghost. Joy is setting the soul upon the top of a pinnacle - it is the cream of the sincere milk of the word. Spiritual joy is a sweet and delightful passion, arising from the apprehension and feeling of some good, whereby the soul is supported under present troubles, and fenced against future fear. I. It is a delightful passion. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Assurance
Q-xxxvi: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS WHICH FLOW FROM SANCTIFICATION? A: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. The first benefit flowing from sanctification is assurance of God's love. 'Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.' 2 Pet 1:10. Sanctification is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it: assurance is a consequent of sanctification. The saints of old had it. We know that we know
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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