# Nehemiah 7.73-8.1 **Book:** [Nehemiah](/codex/nehemiah/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 71. And some of the heads of fathers' houses gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pounds of silver. 72. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments. > > **73. So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities. And when the seventh month was come, the children of Israel were in their cities. 8:1. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel.** > > 8:2. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. 8:3. And he read therein before the broad place that was before the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. (Nehemiah 7:71-8:3, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 71. Some of the heads of fathers’ households gave into the treasury of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred minas of silver. 72. That which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, plus two thousand minas of silver, and sixty-seven priests’ garments. > > **73. So the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their cities. When the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in their cities. 8:1. All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the wide place that was in front of the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Yahweh had commanded to Israel.** > > 8:2. Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 8:3. He read from it before the wide place that was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. (Nehemiah 7:71-8:3, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 71. And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver. 72. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments. > > **73. So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities. 8:1. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.** > > 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. that: Heb. that understood in hearing 8:3. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. from: Heb. from the light (Nehemiah 7:71-8:3, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 71. And of the heads of the fathers they have given to the treasure of the work, of gold, drams two myriads, and of silver, pounds two thousand and two hundred. 72. And that which the rest of the people have given [is] of gold, drams two myriads, and of silver, pounds two thousand, and of priests coats, sixty and seven. > > **73. And they dwell, the priests, and the Levites, and the gatekeepers, and the singers, and [some] of the people, and the Nethinim, and all Israel, in their cities, and the seventh month cometh, and the sons of Israel [are] in their cities. 8:1. And all the people are gathered as one man unto the broad place that [is] before the water-gate, and they say to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, that Jehovah commanded Israel.** > > 8:2. And Ezra the priest bringeth the law before the assembly, both of men and women, and every one intelligent to hear, on the first day of the seventh month, 8:3. and he readeth in it before the broad place that [is] before the water-gate, from the light till the middle of the day, over-against the men, and the women, and those intelligent, and the ears of all the people [are] unto the book of the law. (Nehemiah 7:71-8:3, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** the narrator - **Audience:** the readers; within the scene, "all the people" gathered at the water gate - **Location:** Jerusalem, "the broad place that was before the water gate" (Nehemiah 8:1) - **Time period:** "when the seventh month was come" (Nehemiah 7:73), the seventh month of the year the wall was finished (Nehemiah 6:15; 7:73), c. 445 BC ## Theological reading The verse that closes the register repeats Ezra 2:70 almost exactly, and what follows repeats the pattern of the first return. In Ezra, "when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem" (Ezra 3:1) to set up the altar. Here, in the seventh month, "all the people gathered themselves together as one man" (Nehemiah 8:1) to hear the law. The first return restored the altar; this gathering restores the book. The day is "the first day of the seventh month" (Nehemiah 8:2), which the law set apart as "a solemn rest unto you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:24). The gathering is national and voluntary: the people, not the leaders, ask Ezra "to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel." The second half of Nehemiah 7:73 already opens the new episode, so the chapter break falls inside it. Reading the verses together shows that the settled register of families and the public reading of the law belong to one movement: the people are first counted, then taught. ## 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._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Sacred Name Yahawah Yahawashi Required for Salvation Objection Defeater](/codex/sacred-name-yahawah-yahawashi-required-for-salvation-objection-defeater/), via [Nehemiah 7.7](/codex/nehemiah-7-7/) - [Trinity Violates the Shema Objection Defeater](/codex/trinity-violates-the-shema-objection-defeater/), via [Nehemiah 7.66](/codex/nehemiah-7-66/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.