Nehemiah 8:13-18

3. The Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, is rediscovered.

TEXT, Nehemiah 8:13-18

13

Then on the second day the heads of fathers-' households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law.

14

And they found written in the law how the LORD had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month.

15

So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out, to the hills., and bring olive branches, and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of 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 Ephraim.

17

And. the entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing.

18

And he read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.

COMMENT

Nehemiah 8:13 describes a more restricted session the following day, not for the total assembly but for the heads of households or clans, the priests, and the Levites: those leaders, both religious and secular, who would need to know the laws so that they could enforce or apply them. Ezra was their special instructor.

According to Nehemiah 8:14, it was at this point that they discovered a detail which had been overlooked for many centuries (cf. Nehemiah 8:17) concerning the Feast of Booths, which began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The feast itself had been kept; it is noted in particular in Ezra 3:4; but the people had not been building their temporary living quarters out of branches, in imitation of the living accommodations during the Wilderness Wanderings, as specified in the Law (Leviticus 23:40-43).

The story goes immediately in Nehemiah 8:15 to the gathering of foliage to begin this celebration. Some Writers[69] have expressed concern that no mention is made of the Day of Atonement, the one fast day in Israel's calendar (Leviticus 23:27-32), which would come on the tenth day. This does not necessarily mean that it wasn-'t held; there may only have been a lack of any significant departure from regular practice, thus no comment was needed.

[69] Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, op. cit., p. 250.

It is also noted that the kind of branches which they were told to gather corresponds only in a general way with the instructions in Leviticus 23:40; but perhaps that list was not understood to be exclusive, but only suggestive. The Law was never interpreted in an exclusivistic, legalistic manner until the Pharisees so employed it, under Roman influence.

The reader of Nehemiah 8:16 will be able to imagine a most unusual transformation in the appearance of Jerusalem as these leafy shelters sprang up everywhere: people constructed them on their flat roofs or in their yards; priests and Levites were probably the ones who raised theirs in the Temple courtyard; the homeless, or visitors from surrounding cities, probably filled the public square; in and around the gate on the road to Ephraim would be a natural place for the travelers to erect their booths.

Nehemiah 8:17 speaks of the total participation of all who had returned from the Captivity, whether they lived in Jerusalem or not. This particular feature of building brush shelters was what had not been done since Joshua's day; note the use of tents in 2 Chronicles 7:10. The building of a booth is a feature of Jewish celebration in America today.[70] The result of keeping God's Law was joy.

[70] Philip S. Bernstein, What The Jews Believe, p. 35ff.

The daily reading of the Law throughout the feast is taken to indicate that this was a Sabbatical Year (Deuteronomy 31:10 f). But, judging from the previous tone, it might have been a spontaneous thing which required no command for it to be carried out. They may have wanted to celebrate the feast in the fullest way possible. The assembly on the additional eighth day was also according to Divine pattern (Leviticus 23:36).

WORD STUDIES

AMEN (Nehemiah 8:6: pronounced in Hebrew the same as in English): the basic idea is of something firm, like a foundation or support or pillar of a building. A thing which is built on a firm foundation is durable and lasting. A person of this kind would be faithful; his conduct and his words would be true.

In Nehemiah 10:1 this same word forms the base of the word translated DOCUMENT: something confirmed and sure. UNDERSTAND (Nehemiah 8:2; Nehemiah 8:8: Bin): separate, distinguish. It indicates discerning or understanding as they are dependent on the power of separating or distinguishing or discriminating. Intelligence and wisdom are dependent on this.

The preposition translated between is derived from this word.

SUMMARY

After the completion of the wall, the people (both men and women) gathered at a public square within the city and asked Ezra to read God's Law to them. This was done in the Fall of the year, on the first day of their seventh month, the month which contained more religious holy days than any other. Ezra and others read and explained the Law beginning at dawn and continuing till noon. The rest of the day was occupied with feasting, sharing, and fellowship, in a spirit of joy.
The next day some of the leaders assembled with Ezra for more specific instruction, and in the process of their studies discovered a command concerning the Feast of Booths, scheduled for the middle of the month, which they had been neglecting. They gathered branches and built temporary brush shelters.