Nehemiah 8:2

2 'Ezra the cohen brought the Torah before the assembly, which consisted of men, women and all children old enough to understand. It was the first day of the seventh month.

Nehemiah 8:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 8:2

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation,
&c.] Having a perfect copy of it, which the people knew, and therefore desired him to bring it; he brought it either out of his own case or chest, or out of the temple where it was laid up; some restrain this to the book of Deuteronomy; this he produced in sight of the whole assembly:

both of men and women;
adult persons of each sex, who met promiscuously; though Grotius thinks the women had a separate place:

and all that could hear with understanding;
all under age, who yet were capable of hearing the law read to some advantage to them:

upon the first day of the seventh month;
the month Tisri, answering to part of September and October; this was a high day, for not only the first of every month was a festival, but the first of the seventh month was the feast of blowing of trumpets, ( Leviticus 23:24 ) , and besides, this was New Year's day, the first day of their civil year, as the first of Nisan was of their ecclesiastical year, and was of greater antiquity than that; and so Jarchi says, this was the first day of the year; to which may be added, that this was the day on which the altar was first set up, on the Jews' return from captivity, ( Ezra 3:6 ) .

Nehemiah 8:2 In-Context

1 When the seventh month arrived, after the people of Isra'el had resettled in their towns, all the people gathered with one accord in the open space in front of the Water Gate and asked 'Ezra the Torah-teacher to bring the scroll of the Torah of Moshe, which ADONAI had commanded Isra'el.

2 'Ezra the cohen brought the Torah before the assembly, which consisted of men, women and all children old enough to understand. It was the first day of the seventh month.

3 Facing the open space in front of the Water Gate, he read from it to the men, the women and the children who could understand from early morning until noon; and all the people listened attentively to the scroll of the Torah.

4 'Ezra the Torah-teacher stood on a wood platform which they had made for the purpose; beside him on his right stood Mattityah, Shema, 'Anayah, Uriyah, Hilkiyah and Ma'aseiyah; while on his left were P'dayah, Misha'el, Malkiyah, Hashum, Hashbadanah, Z'kharyah and Meshulam.

5 'Ezra opened the scroll where all the people could see him, because he was higher than all the people; when he opened it, all the people rose to their feet.