The Reading of the Law at the Water Gate

During the seventh month in approximately 444 BC, the people of Israel gathered as one person in the open square before the Water Gate in Jerusalem. They requested that Ezra the scribe bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which he began reading aloud from daybreak until noon to all who could understand (Nehemiah 8:1-3). Ezra stood upon a high wooden platform constructed for the occasion, flanked by thirteen specifically named individuals. When he opened the scroll in the sight of the people, the entire assembly stood up, and as Ezra praised the Lord, the people lifted their hands and bowed with their faces to the ground (Nehemiah 8:4-6).

As the reading continued, the Levites instructed the people and explained the meaning of the Law so that the assembly could understand what was being read. The people began to weep as they heard the words of the Law. Nehemiah, who served as governor, along with Ezra and the Levites, told the people not to mourn or weep, for the day was holy to the Lord (Nehemiah 8:8-9). They were instructed to go and eat choice food and sweet drinks, and to send portions to those who had nothing prepared, because the joy of the Lord was their strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

On the second day, the heads of the families, the priests, and the Levites gathered around Ezra to study the Law further. They discovered the command that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month. Consequently, the people went out into the hill country to gather branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and shade trees (Nehemiah 8:13-15). They built shelters on their roofs, in their courtyards, and in the squares of the Water Gate and the Gate of Ephraim. The entire assembly that had returned from exile stayed in these shelters, and there was great rejoicing (Nehemiah 8:16-17).