Nehemiah 8:17

that were come again out of the captivity Compare for this expression Ezra 6:21, -the children of Israel, which were come again out of the captivity" (haggôlah). Here the word for -captivity" is sh'bhiwith a possible play on the word for -that were come again" (hasshâbim). The fullest description is given in the wording of Ezra 8:35.

since the days of Jeshua … done so It is quite clear that the writer does not mean that the Feast of Tabernacles had never been celebrated -since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun"; but that the strict observance had not been carried out during all that long period. The emphasis therefore rests on -done so." See notes on Ezra 3:4, &c., where the celebration of this feast by Zerubbabel and Jeshua is described. We gather from Hosea 12:9, -I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast," that tents had been commonly substituted for booths. The character of this sentence may be illustrated by the very similar description of Josiah's Passover, 2 Kings 23:22, -Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah," 2 Chronicles 35:18.

-Jeshua." The only passage in the O.T. where Joshua's name is so spelt; except in the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, his name is only mentioned in the O.T. in Judges 1:1; Judges 2:6-8; Judges 2:21; Judges 2:23; 1 Kings 16:34.

great gladness This corresponds to the commands in Leviticus 23:40, -And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days." Deuteronomy 16:14, -Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast;" Deuteronomy 16:15, -And thou shalt be altogether joyful."