Nehemiah 8:5-8
8:5 a The people all rose to their feet out of respect for God’s word (Job 29:8 b). Apparently, they stood the whole time Ezra was reading.8:6 c Ezra praised the Lord: See also 1:5 d; 9:32 e; Deut 10:17 f; Jer 32:18 g; Dan 9:4 h.
• Amen! A statement of agreement (see Neh 5:13 i). Lifting hands (Ps 28:2 j) and bowing in humble worship were signs of reverence for God and submission to his word.
Summary for Neh 8:7-9: 8:7-9 k The Levites always had the role of teaching people God’s word (Deut 33:10 l; Mal 2:5-6 m). In this case, they probably explained the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures to smaller groups of people in Aramaic. Most of the people spoke Aramaic, the language of Babylon, rather than Hebrew as their first language. Jewish leaders eventually translated large portions of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, allowing people to hear and study the Bible in a language they understood.
Copyright information for
TNotes