Passage

Nehemiah 8.8

Book: Nehemiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God; and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. 7. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.

8. And they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 10. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye grieved; for the joy of Jehovah is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. Then Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God. All the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with the lifting up of their hands. They bowed their heads, and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground. 7. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law; and the people stayed in their place.

8. They read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.

Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, “Today is holy to Yahweh your God. Don’t mourn, nor weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.

8. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. ^{the Tirshatha: or, the governor} 10. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. and Ezra blesseth Jehovah, the great God, and all the people answer, 'Amen, Amen,' with lifting up of their hands, and they bow and do obeisance to Jehovah, faces to the earth. 7. And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, giving the people understanding in the law, and the people, [are] on their station,

8. and they read in the book, in the law of God, explaining, so as to give the meaning, and they give understanding to the convocation.

And Nehemiah, he [is] the Tirshatha, saith (and Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who are instructing the people) to all the people, 'To-day is holy to Jehovah your God, do not mourn, nor weep:' for all the people are weeping at their hearing the words of the law. 10. And he saith to them, 'Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day [is] holy to our Lord, and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength.' (Nehemiah 8:6-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator, describing Ezra and the Levites reading to the people (Nehemiah 8:7)
Audience: the assembly gathered before the water gate
Location: Jerusalem, "the broad place that was before the water gate" (Nehemiah 8:1)
Time period: "the first day of the seventh month" (Nehemiah 8:2), c. 445 BC

Theological reading

The verse describes three actions: they "read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly," they "gave the sense," and the people "understood the reading." The KJV's "distinctly" renders Strong's H6567 and "the sense" Strong's H7922. Public reading was not enough on its own; the Levites "caused the people to understand the law" (Nehemiah 8:7).

What exactly the Levites did is debated. Some readers think it included rendering the Hebrew for hearers more at home in Aramaic; others take it as explanation and teaching. The text's stress is the outcome: the people went away rejoicing "because they had understood the words that were declared unto them" (8:12).

The reading is of "the law of God," torah (Strong's H8451), received as God's word and not merely as national tradition. Its authority is shown in the response: standing when the book is opened, worship (8:5-6), weeping at the words (8:9), and obedience to what was found written (8:14-17).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H8451 - torah, torah, Strong's H8451
H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430

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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.