Nehemiah 8:1

into the street R.V. into the broad place. The open space in front of -the water-gate" is probably the same as that mentioned in Ezra 10:9, -and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God." Cf. Nehemiah 3:26, -the Nethinim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water-gate toward the east." It is generally supposed that this broad place lay between the S.E. precincts of the Temple and the Eastern wall.

the water gate Cf. Nehemiah 3:26; Nehemiah 12:37.

they spake unto Ezra the scribe -They spake;" the impersonal plural implies that the whole community expressed the wish through their representative leaders.

Ezra the scribe Ezra's name occurs here for the first time in our book of Nehemiah. It naturally calls for remark (1) that Ezra's name was not mentioned by Nehemiah among his supporters in the work of rebuilding the walls, (2) that Nehemiah's description of the condition of the people, the oppression of the poor by the rich (ch. 4) and the intermarriage with the heathen (Nehemiah 6:18; Nehemiah 10:30; Nehemiah 13:23-28) seems to conflict with the idea of the authority which Ezra obtained over the people, Ezra 9; Ezra 10. Two explanations have been put forward,

(a) It is suggested that Ezra, after accomplishing the reforms described in Ezra 9; Ezra 10, returned to Babylon; that after an absence of 12 years, he revisited Jerusalem in time to witness the completion of the city walls by Nehemiah, and was requested by the people to renew his former practice of expounding the Law in public.

(b) It is suggested that Ezra had never after his arrival in Jerusalem left the city for any prolonged period; but that after his protest against mixed marriages, he had failed to carry his religious reformation any further. The enemies of the Jews and their unpatriotic allies in Jerusalem had frustrated his attempts. The arrival of Nehemiah changed the aspect of affairs. The religious policy of Ezra was once more in the ascendant. The popular enthusiasm excited by the completion of the walls gave the wished for opportunity of publishing the Law to the people. The omission of Ezra's name in Nehemiah 1-7 is still a difficulty. But Nehemiah's memoirs, so far as they are excerpted, record only the events and people concerned with the rebuilding of the walls. If Ezra had been present while the work was in progress, we might naturally have expected to find his name among the repairers of the breaches in chap. 3. Perhaps Ezra, being devoted to the study and teaching of the Law, was not reckoned among those most influential for practical purposes. Being also of the high-priest's kindred, he was very probably included among the repairers of the breach identified with the name of Eliashib (Nehemiah 3:1).

to bring the book of the law, &c. There is nothing in these words to lead us to suppose that Ezra had before been in the habit of reading the Law to the people. The verse does not record an annual custom but an exceptional step, cf. Nehemiah 8:18. The people saw that their national integrity was safeguarded by city walls; their jealousy for their distinctiveness as -a peculiar people" was rekindled. Their request to Ezra marked their adoption of his policy, that of keeping the people of Israel separate from the nations upon the basis of their religious life. His policy was that the religious life of the people should be regulated by the Law as contained in certain recognised writings, and should not be dependent upon the tradition of the Priests. The demand for the production of -the book of the law" is of twofold interest; (1) it testifies to a general knowledge of the existence of a book the contents of which, so far as they are known, agreed substantially with our Pentateuch; (2) the voice of popular acknowledgment set the seal of -Canonicity" upon the first portion of the Jewish Scriptures [2].

[2] For a more detailed treatment of this subject I may perhaps be permitted to refer the reader to chap. 4. in my -Canon of the Old Testament" (Macmillan, 1892).