Nehemiah 8:5

5 And Ezra openeth the book before the eyes of all the people -- for above all the people he hath been -- and at his opening [it] all the people have stood up,

Nehemiah 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 8:5

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people
(for he was above all the people)
So plainly seen by them, and what he did, and the more easily heard, for which purpose the pulpit was made for him to stand in:

and, when he opened it, all the people stood up;
that they might the better hear the law read, as well as in honour and reverence of it; the Jews say ^F13, that from the times of Moses to Rabban Gamaliel, they learned the law only standing; but after his death a disease came into the world, and they learned it sitting; and now it is a canon with them, that it is not necessary to stand at the reading of the law ^F14.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 21. 1.
F14 Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. Orach Chayim, c. 146. sect. 4.

Nehemiah 8:5 In-Context

3 and he readeth in it before the broad place that [is] before the water-gate, from the light till the middle of the day, over-against the men, and the women, and those intelligent, and the ears of all the people [are] unto the book of the law.

4 And Ezra the scribe standeth on a tower of wood that they made for the purpose, and Mattithiah standeth near him, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right; and on his left Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddana, Zechariah, Meshullam.

5 And Ezra openeth the book before the eyes of all the people -- for above all the people he hath been -- and at his opening [it] all the people have stood up,

6 and Ezra blesseth Jehovah, the great God, and all the people answer, `Amen, Amen,' with lifting up of their hands, and they bow and do obeisance to Jehovah -- faces to the earth.

7 And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, giving the people understanding in the law, and the people, [are] on their station,