Nehemiah 8:16

16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each 1on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at 2the Water Gate and in the square at 3the Gate of Ephraim.

Nehemiah 8:16 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 8:16

So the people went forth, and brought them
Went out of Jerusalem to the mountains adjacent, and fetched in branches of the said trees, one or another:

and made themselves booths, everyone upon the roof of his house;
which were flat, ( Deuteronomy 22:8 ) , and they might be made anywhere, so be it they were open to the air:

and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God;
the common people in the courtyards belonging to their houses, and the priests and Levites in the courts of the temple, the yards or open places adjoining to them:

and in the street of the watergate;
which led to that, and seems to have been a very large street, in which many booths might be built, ( Nehemiah 3:26 ) ( 8:3 )

and in the street of the gate of Ephraim;
which led to the gate through which the road lay to the tribe of Ephraim, see ( 2 Kings 14:13 ) , none were erected without the walls of the city, for fear of the enemy.

Nehemiah 8:16 In-Context

14 They found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.
15 So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written."
16 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim.
17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing.
18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.

Cross References 3

  • 1. Jeremiah 32:29
  • 2. Nehemiah 8:1
  • 3. 2 Kings 14:13; Nehemiah 12:39
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