Nehemiah 8:2

Neh 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

Ver. 2. And Ezra the priest brought the law] The commandment (he knew well) was a lamp, and the law a light; and reproofs of instruction the way of life, Pro 6:23. The Greeks call the law νομον, quasi θεου νοον μενοντα, the standing mind of God (Plato in Cratylo). And if Demosthenes could say of men’s laws, that they were the invention of God; if Xenophon could say of the Persian laws, that they kept the people even from coveting any wickedness; if Cicero durst say of the Roman laws, that they far excelled and exceeded all the learned libraries of the philosophers, both in weight and worth; how much more may all this and more be said of this perfect law of God, the book whereof was here brought forth by Ezra, and read and expounded in the ears of all the people! μη τοιουτους εσεσθαι τους πολιτας, ωστε πονηρου τινος εργου εφιεσθαι..

Before the congregation both of men and women] Heb. From man to woman; for souls have no sexes; and in Christ there is no difference, Gal 4:28. The Jews at this day little regard their women; not suffering them to come within their synagogue. And the Turkish women never go to their mosques; neither is there any heed taken or reckoning made of their religion at all. The Papists say that a distaff is fitter for a woman than a Bible.

And all that can hear with understanding] i.e. Children also, that were of any growth. Little pitchers have ears, and little children will understand much, if well principled.

Upon the first day of the seventh month] A month of more solemnities than any other. This first day was a double holy day, Lev 23:24. See Deu 31:11.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 8:2. Upon the first day of the seventh month — This was the feast of trumpets, which is called a sabbath, and on which they were to have a holy convocation, Lev 23:24. And it was on this day the altar was set up, after their return from captivity; in remembrance of which they had probably kept it ever since, with more than ordinary solemnity.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

seventh month

i.e. October; Neh 8:2; Neh 8:14.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:2 on October 8: The people came together on this day to celebrate the Festival of Trumpets (Lev 23:24-25), which marked the beginning of a new year in the postexilic calendar.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which had age and discretion to understand.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 2. All that could hear with understanding] Infants, idiots, and children not likely to receive instruction, were not permitted to attend this meeting; nor should any such, in any place, be ever brought to the house of God, if it can be avoided: yet, rather than a poor mother should be deprived of the ordinances of God, let her come with her child in her arms; and although it be inconvenient to the congregation, and to some ministers, to hear a child cry, it is cruel to exclude the mother on this account, who, having no person to take care of her child while absent, must bring it with her, or be totally deprived of the ordinances of the Christian Church.

Upon the first day of the seventh month.] This was the first day of what was called the civil year; and on it was the feast of trumpets, the year being ushered in by the sound of these instruments.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) Both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding.—Men, women, and children who had reached years of discretion.

Upon the first day of the seventh month.—As the seventh was the most important month, in a religious sense, so the first day, the Feast of Trumpets, was the most important new moon (Lev_23:24).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. Ezra the priest] cf. Ezr_7:1; Ezr_7:11.

the law] i.e. the book of the law. Cf. 2Co_3:14 ‘the old covenant’ for ‘the book of the old covenant.’ The word ‘Torah’ is here used in the sense, which afterwards became universal, of the written ‘Law.’

all that could hear with understanding] lit. ‘every one of intelligence to hear and understand,’ i.e. all except quite children, cf. Neh_10:28 ‘all …, their wives and their sons and their daughters, every one that had knowledge and understanding.’ The Vulgate ‘sapientium’ gives a wrong idea.

upon the first day of the seventh month] In the Priestly Laws the first day of the month Tisri was ‘the Feast of Trumpets’ (see Lev_23:23-25; Num_29:1-6), a day of ‘holy convocation,’ cf. Neh_8:9; see Ezr_3:1.

Were the people assembled to celebrate this festival, or were the people summoned on the first day of the month, because the new-moon days were always regarded as sacred in Palestine? Considering that the people were even uninstructed how to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles according to the Law (Neh_8:13-15), it is not likely that they would have been acquainted with the ‘feast of trumpets’ before the time of the reading of the Law. It is therefore most probable that the special holiness of the day lay in its being the new-moon day of the month in which occurred not only the change of year according to the autumn era but also the most popular of the Israelite festivals, ‘the feast of tabernacles.’ The observance of the new-moon seems to have been universal among Oriental nations in ancient times. Among the Israelites, it was at all times strictly maintained, cf. 1Sa_20:5; 2Ki_4:23; Isa_1:13; Isa_66:23; Eze_26:1; Eze_46:1; Hos_2:11; Amo_8:5; Hag_1:1; Jdt_8:6; Col_2:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation,.... Having a perfect copy of it, which the people knew, and therefore desired him to bring it; he brought it either out of his own case or chest, or out of the temple where it was laid up; some restrain this to the book of Deuteronomy; this he produced in sight of the whole assembly:

both of men and women; adult persons of each sex, who met promiscuously; though Grotius thinks the women had a separate place:

and all that could hear with understanding; all under age, who yet were capable of hearing the law read to some advantage to them:

upon the first day of the seventh month; the month Tisri, answering to part of September and October; this was a high day, for not only the first of every month was a festival, but the first of the seventh month was the feast of blowing of trumpets, Lev 23:24, and besides, this was New Year's day, the first day of their civil year, as the first of Nisan was of their ecclesiastical year, and was of greater antiquity than that; and so Jarchi says, this was the first day of the year; to which may be added, that this was the day on which the altar was first set up, on the Jews' return from captivity, Ezr 3:6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Upon the first day of the seventh month - The day of the “Feast of Trumpets” (see the margin reference note). The gathering together of the people, spoken of in Neh 8:1, was probably to observe this feast.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Women, who were in a separate place. --- Understand, being come to the use of reason. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Ezra the priest came twelve or thirteen years before Nehemiah to Jerusalem; and either tarried there, or went back to Babylon, being forced to do so by the king’s command, or indispensable occasions, and then returned again with Nehemiah.

All that could hear with understanding, i.e. and such children as were come to years of understanding.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Ezra the priest — He was descended from Aaron, and was therefore a priest, as well as a most distinguished scribe. See note on Ezr_7:1.

All that could hear with understanding — More literally, all having understanding to hear; that is, all children and young persons old enough to listen intelligently to the reading and exposition of the law.

The first day of the seventh month — The day for the feast of trumpets.

Lev_23:24. This month bore the names Ethanim and Tisri, and corresponded nearly with our October. It was also the first month of the civil year, so that its first was new year’s day. The tenth of this month was the day of atonement, and on the fifteenth began the feast of tabernacles.

Lev_23:27; Lev_23:34.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezra the priest brought the law. Ezra, God"s true priest, at once responded to the call He did not say, "The law is difficult, hard to be understood, might mislead you, should be reserved for the learned;" but at once "brought it," and "read therein" before the congregation both of men and women, and of all that could hear with understanding, i.e. of all (youths and maidens) that were old enough to understand the words.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

First day - This was the feast of trumpets, which is called a sabbath, and on which they were to have an holy convocation, Lev. xxiii, 24. And it was on this day, the altar was set up, after their return from captivity; in remembrance of which they had probably kept it ever since, with more than ordinary solemnity.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

on the first day of the seventh month That is the day of Rosh Hashanah.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.