Nehemiah 9:3

Neh 9:3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

Ver. 3. And they stood up in their place] The people stood, for reverence’ sake, to the word read. See Neh 8:5. Or the ministers stood up in their pulpits, where they represent God himself as his ambassadors; and should therefore lay down all self-respects and aims at the pulpit door; and be fully of his mind, who said, I would not be found speaking or doing aught that I thought Christ would not approve of, if he were corporally present. (Ecolamp.)

And read in the book] Giving the sense of that they read; and applying it close to men’s consciences. This was preaching indeed; for as every sound is not music, so neither is every pulpit discourse preaching. Cura pastoralis est ars artium et scientia scientiarum, saith one, It is a matter of great skill to divide the word aright. See Neh 8:8.

One fourth part of the day] i.e. For three hours: from nine o’clock to twelve. This warranteth our preaching fast sermons; though prayer be the chief business of such a day. See Jer 36:6-7.

And another fourth part] sc. From twelve to three: thus besides the ordinary morning and evening sacrifices, they divided the day between preaching and prayer, as those did, Act 6:4. And as the priests of old taught Jacob God’s judgments, and put incense before the Lord, Deu 33:10. The Jews at this day boast that they divide the day (even the working day) into three parts; the first, ad Tephillah, they spend in prayer; the second, ad Torah, in reading the law; the third, ad Malachah, in their worldly business. But you are not bound herein to believe them.

They confessed] Not without supplication for pardon, and power to do better.

And worshipped the Lord their God] Inwardly and outwardly, giving him his due glory, and resting upon him by a lively faith in the gracious promises; being fully persuaded of this, that, together with the forgiveness of sin, they should have those particular blessings which they sued for, so far as might stand with God’s glory and the good of their souls.

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 9:3. They stood up and read in the book of the law — That is, the Levites stood up in a place built for them, and read the law as they did before, interpreting the sense of what they read. One fourth part of the day — To wit, for three hours; for there were reckoned twelve hours in their day. Probably they began to read after the morning sacrifice, at which time divers religious people used to be present, and continued reading till the sixth hour, that is, till midday; and another fourth part — Namely, from midday to the time of the evening sacrifice; they confessed — Both God’s mercies, as appears from the following prayer, and their own sins, as is expressed Neh 9:2, this day being chiefly set apart for the work of confession and humiliation; and worshipped the Lord their God — Partly by their acknowledgment and adoration of his wonderful mercy, in forgiving their sins, and saving them from the judgments which they had deserved, and for giving them his law, and the knowledge thereof; and partly, by imploring his further grace and mercy to them. The work of a fast-day is good work; and we should endeavour to make a day’s work, a good day’s work, of it.

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

9:3 They confessed their sins after hearing God’s word (cp. 8:1-9, 13-14, 18).

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

They made confession of their sins, and used prayers.

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

they . . . read in the book of the law--Their extraordinary zeal led them to continue this as before.

one fourth part of the day--that is, for three hours, twelve hours being the acknowledged length of the Jewish day (Joh 11:9). This solemn diet of worship, which probably commenced at the morning sacrifice, was continued for six hours, that is, till the time of the evening sacrifice. The worship which they gave to the Lord their God, at this season of solemn national humiliation, consisted in acknowledging and adoring His great mercy in the forgiveness of their great and multiplied offenses, in delivering them from the merited judgments which they had already experienced or which they had reason to apprehend, in continuing amongst them the light and blessings of His word and worship, and in supplicating the extension of His grace and protection.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. One fourth part of the day] As they did no manner of work on this day of fasting and humiliation, so they spent the whole of it in religious duties. They began, says Calmet, on the first hour, and continued these exercises to the third hour; from the third they recommenced, and continued till the sixth hour; from the sixth to the ninth; and from the ninth, to the twelfth or last hour.

1. They heard the law read, standing;

2. They prostrated themselves, and confessed their sins;

3. They arose to praise God for having spared and dealt thus mercifully with them.

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

(3) One fourth part.—Both day and night were divided into four parts. All orders standing in their respective place, the reading occupied the morning and the worship the afternoon. It is the latter which is now made prominent, as the former had been prominent in the preceding chapter.

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

3. stood up] Literally, ‘arose.’

in their place] cf. Neh_8:7. The people appear to have continued standing where they were for six hours, listening for three hours and worshipping three hours.

and read] the people read. By this we should understand that the people’s religious representatives, the Levites, read while the people listened. For ‘the book of the law,’ cf. Neh_8:3.

one fourth part] R.V. a fourth part, i.e. a quarter of the day as opposed to the night; i.e. 3 hours. The time of day is not told us. We may conjecture 9.0 a.m.–12.0, and 12.0–3.0 p.m. to have been the two quarters.

the Lord their God] Characteristic of this section, cf. Neh_9:4-5; Neh_9:7, Neh_10:29; Neh_10:34.

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 they stood up in their place,.... In the outward court of the temple, where men used to stand when they prayed and confessed their sins: and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God; that they might the better know the mind and will of God, and do their duty: this they did

one fourth part of the day; the space of three hours, from sun rising, or six o'clock in the morning, to the time of the morning sacrifice, which was about nine o'clock:

and another fourth part they confessed; the goodness of God to them, and the sins they had been guilty of:

and worshipped the Lord their God; bowed down before him in prayer and supplication, and so spent three hours more, which reached to noon or twelve o'clock; and from thence to three o'clock, about the time of the evening sacrifice, and from thence to sun setting, or six o'clock, and so spent the whole day in the above exercises alternately.

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

Stand, to hear the law, out of reverence; (Menochius) or the Levites ascended the pulpit to read, four times in the day. (Tirinus) --- After each lecture psalms were sung, (Calmet) to praise God, and to declare the sins of the people, and their sincere repentance. (Haydock) --- On days of mourning, the Jews assembled four times to pray, and thrice on other days, by the institution of Esdras. (Maimonides) See Acts iii. 1. --- On their fasts, they refrained from all meat, as well as from work, spending their time in prayer. They began at the first hour, and continued their exercises of devotion till the third, when they recommenced for other three hours. They did the like at the sixth and ninth hours; hearing the law, then prostrating themselves to confess their sins. Afterwards they rose to join with the Levites in praising the Lord. (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).

Read in the book of the law; so as they did before, giving them the sense of what they read; of which See Poole "Neh 8:7", See Poole "Neh 8:8".

One fourth part of the day, to wit, for three hours; for there were accounted twelve hours in their day, Joh 11:9. Probably they began after the morning sacrifice, at which divers religious people used to be present, but now they were all assembled together upon this great occasion; and they continued their work from that time till the evening sacrifice, with which they closed the work of the day.

Another fourth part they confessed, both God’s mercies, as appears from the matter of the following prayer, and their own sins, as is expressed Neh 9:2, this day being chiefly set apart for that work.

Worshipped the Lord their God; partly by the acknowledgment and adoration of his wonderful mercy in forgiving their sins, and saving them from the deserved judgments, which they either felt or feared, and giving them his law, and the knowledge thereof; and partly by imploring his further grace and mercy to them.

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

3. Read in… the law — In the same manner, probably, as on the first day of the month. Neh_8:1-8.

One fourth part of the day — About three hours, reckoning from the twelve hours of the labourer’s day. The first part of the day was devoted to the reading of the law; the second part to confession of sins and worship.

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

In their place. See above, Neh_8:7. The people and the ministers had their appointed "places" in every gathering of a religious character. The former now "stood up" in their proper place, and read, i.e. "engaged in the reading of the law, not, however, as actual readers, but as listeners. The readers would be the Levites. (see Neh_8:7, Neh_8:8) One fourth part of the day. The day and the night were alike divided by the Jews into four parts, each of three hours duration. The nocturnal divisions are frequently alluded to in the New Testament. (Mar_13:35 Joh_18:28, etc.) Worshipped. Literally, "bowed themselves down," or "prostrated themselves."

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

Book of the law - As they did before, giving them the sense of what they read. Fourth part - For three hours; there were twelve hours in their day, probably they began after the morning sacrifice, and continued their work till the evening sacrifice. The work of a fast-day is good work. We should endeavour to make a day's work, a good day's work of it.

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

They stood up

All the Israelites stood up

they were confessing

"they were admitting the wrong things they had done"

bowing down before

"worshiping" or "praising"

The Levites, Jeshua, Bani ... stood on the stairs

Some versions translate, "Jeshua, Bani ... stood on the stairs built for the Levites"

Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani

men's names (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

law

God

confess

bow

Yahweh

Levi

call

voice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.