Nehemiah 8:16

16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the 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 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written."

16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim.

17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.