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Careful readers of the text have observed that the material in ch. 11 should immediately follow ch. 7. But the natural order is interrupted by chs. 8-10. Although these chapters may be chronologically out of place, it seems certain that the present arrangement is intentional. In this chapter postexilic Israel’s two great leaders unite to confirm the central role of the law for the life of the restored community (v.9). Childs has perceptively observed that here the Law is not read to effect repentance, but to evoke joy and celebration from the restored community. His words are worth repeating: “Ezra does not read the law in order to reform Israel into becoming the people of God. Rather, the reverse move obtains. It is the reformed people to whom the law is read” (p. 636).
Here we again meet Ezra the priest and scribe. His royal mandate was to teach and establish the Law (Ezr 7:14; 25-26). In 8:1 an assembly was convened for that very purpose. The Jews gathered not at the temple, as might be expected, but at the Water Gate, a public place where all could hear the Law. Women would have been excluded from the temple court.
The contents of the Book of the Law (v.3) from which Ezra read are not specified, but the people regarded this book as authoritative. The Levites' role as the Law was read is also unclear (vv.7-8). Many have assumed that postexilic Jews no longer spoke or understood Hebrew, having adopted Aramaic as their common language. Therefore, it was thought that the Levites were translating from Hebrew to Aramaic for the people. More recently this assumption has been questioned. The prevailing opinion is that the Levites provided a running commentary or homily on the law as it was read.
This fresh encounter with the Word of God produced a profound reaction among the people. They wept (v.9). Confronted with the will and character of God, the people were all too aware of their shortcomings. But mourning is inappropriate on a holy day, so three times Ezra and the leadership exhorted the people to cease weeping and rejoice because, “This is a day sacred to the Lord” (see vv.9, 10, 11). Reading the law should produce joy and celebration among God’s people. As Derek Kidner has remarked, “Holiness and gloom go ill together” (p. 107).
On the following day a select group of Jewish leaders met with Ezra to examine the Law more carefully (v.13). The portion studied evidently included Lev 23:33-43, because the result was a proclamation to observe the Feast of Tabernacles beginning the fifteenth day of that seventh month. The original returnees had also celebrated this feast after they had rebuilt the altar (Ezr 3:4). It is no coincidence that the first and last cultic event in Ezra-Nehemiah is this important festival reminding the Jews of the Exodus. The author has combined the concept of a second exodus with the centrality of the Torah.