Nehemiah 8:16

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 E'phraim.

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 it written in the law that the LORD had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

15 and that they should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem, "Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and 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 E'phraim.

17 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths; for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.