Reading for July 22nd

 Read Nehemiah 9.9-38. In verse 32: Keeping the covenant and steadfast love emphasizes God's enduring relationship with Israel. Do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us is an appeal that God not add to the community's burden but accept the deep contrition being expressed. In verse 36: Here we are, slaves to this day: Though it is a bound condition under imperial constraints. In verse 38: We make firm agreement: The confession has noted the community's present predicament, which now calls for a response that takes the law very seriously, not repeating the sins of the past. To commit to the agreement in writing further affirms the serious intent here. The author has made this intent more apparent by listing the names of the community leadership affirming this covenant in 10.1-27. Surprisingly, Ezra is absent from this list. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 21st

 Read Nehemiah 9.1-8.  In 9.1-10.27: A day of community confession. This account explains a solemn covenant to which the community will bind itself. Most of the section is a lengthy prayer, possibly offered  by Ezra, which implores God to see the sufferings of the community in the present. The people hope that seeing how they have suffered, God will spare them any additional hardship in spite of their failure to observe the law. The account closes with the names of those who affirmed the covenant. Many have suggested that all or parts of the account fit best after the materials of Ezra 10. In 9.1: The twenty-four day of this month: Following the author's chronology, the Feast of Weeks, lasting eight days, would have ended on the tenth day of the month. The community had clearly prepared for the expression of grief by fasting and being dressed in sackcloth. In verse 2: Separated themselves: Possibly a reflection of the "sending away" of the foreign wives of Ezra 10, though the wording here clearly relates to foreign men as well. Since the confession is rooted in the particular experiences of Israel, the wording may simply mean that only those who have continuity with pre-exilic Israel continued with the confession, while converts to Judaism did not participate. In verse 6: Ezra said: This reading follows the Greek translation of Nehemiah. The Hebrew text implies the prayer is offered by the congregation as a whole. The prayer goes on the recount God's special kindness to Israel and the coming into the land of Israel. The prayer also notes the problem of idolatry that led to judgment, though characterizing these transgressions by the more general casting of the "law behind their backs" (v. 26). Of particular note is the emphasis on God as a "gracious and merciful God" (v. 31). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 20th

 Read Nehemiah 8.13-18. In 8.13-18: The community keeps the Festival of Booths. One of the specified holy times of the seventh month was the Festival of Booths (Lev 23.33-43), slated to be observed for a week beginning on the fifteenth day of the month. Along with the celebration of the deliverance from Egypt that is the prime focus of the festival, this account continues the reading, and presumably explanation, of the law. In verse 13: On the second day keeps the chronology of 8.2, even though it technically does not observe the festival specifications of the law. This may be an indication that the precise limits of the festival had not yet been set in the Persian period. In  place of the community as a whole, this gathering consists only of the leadership. In verse 17: All the assembly ... made booths: the whole community is involved. From the days of Jeshua is a reference to the period of conquest and Israel's inheritance of the land. The completion of the city walls and the reformation of the community are parallel to israel's beginnings. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 19th

 Read Nehemiah 7.18b-8.12. In 73b-8.12: The community gathers to hear the law. This section brings back into the narrative the figure Ezra, of whom nothing has been said since the close of the book of Ezra. This sudden reemergence of Ezra and the focus on the importance of the law has led many scholars to conclude that this narrative was originally part of the account of Ezra and was moved to its present position by the editor who has brought Ezra-Nehemiah into its present form. The focus, however, remains on the community's request for the reading of the law, and the way the section is placed makes it clear that the goal is to reform itself into a more obedient community on the eve of the dedication of the city's walls. This ceremony also forms the backdrop to the conclusion of this larger section in 13.1-13. In 73b: When the seventh month came: The walls were completed in the month of Elul (6.15), the sixth month of the year. A rough chronological sequence is maintained by the placement, though there is some question if enough time is allowed for the people to return to be settled in their town before reassembling in Jerusalem. The seventh month was traditionally the time of the Day of Atonement (on the tenth day) and the Feast of Tabernacles (for a week starting on the fifteenth day). Several scholars have noted that this was also the month specified in Deut 31.10-13 for an assembly of the people to hear a reading of the law every seven years. This is apparently the model on which the account is structured. In 8.1: They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book: The way Ezra is portrayed as  subservient to the wishes of the "assembly,"rather  than the forceful leader of the community as in the book of Ezra tends to weigh against the idea that this narrative was originally part of the book of Ezra. In the account of this gathering, Ezra is variously termed the scribe (vv. 1, 4), the priest (v. 2), and the priest and scribe (vv. 9), both being roles attributed to him in the book of Ezra. In verse 7: The levites helped the people to understand: One of the traditional roles of the levites was to teach the meaning of the law to Israel (Deut 33.10), and this may have involved a brief exposition of the passage. The Levities may have moved about the crowd answering queries since the people remained in their paces. In verse 9: Nehemiah ... and Ezra: This on of only two places in the Hebrew text of Ezra-Nehemiah where the two reformers appear together. This day is holy: The day of the assembly is a specific sacred occasion. While the specified time of the reading of the law could be considered a holy day, the account may imply that the day is the Feast of Trumpets, set on the first day of the seventh month, which was sacred day (Lev 23.23-25), although no reading of the law is connected witht he Feast of Trumpets. Possibly recognizing how far they had strayed from the law, the people wept. In verse 10: Then he said to them: The he may be Ezra. The specified foods are typical of a festive meal celebrating a sacred occasion. The phrase the joy of the Lord is your strength uses an unusual term for joy, one that occurs here and 1 Chr 16.27, "where strength and joy are in his place." In verse 12: All the people went their way ... to make great rejoicing: Unlike 1 and 2 Chronicles, where the rejoicing takes place in great corporate scenes, this account portrays the people retiring to their homes to rejoice. Their ability to understand the law provides the opportunity to live in accord with the divine will (Ps 119.34-35). Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 18th

 FORMING THE HOUSE OF GOD

In 7.6-13.3: This section drops the first-person style of the "Nehemiah memoir" and the concern with opponents to the rebuilding efforts. Instead the focus is on the community's concerns and corporate commitments. These are presented by means of several large gatherings of the "assembly" of the people interspersed with lengthy lists of people involved. The culmination is an extended description of the dedication of the city walls and the separation of "Israel" from all those of "foreign descent ," Thus paralleling the physical separation of the city from the surrounding peoples. 

Read Nehemiah 7.6-73a. In 7.6-73a: The list of those who returned from Babylon. In verse 6: These are the people of the province: largely repeats the list found in Ezra 2.1-70. Variations between the two lists are minor, but often this list represents a slightly fuller version of the list in Ezra 2. The The focus is clearly on the people, and the reduplication of the lists  shows the author's concern to focus on the community's efforts. In verse 7: Nehemiah: Notice that this is in the third person, rather than the first person accounts of the "Nehemiah memoir." Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 17th

 Read Nehemiah 7.1-5. In verse 1: The gate keepers, the singers, and the Levites: The addition of the singers and Levites is unexpected, though since these groups were well organized they may have served as supplementary help to the gatekeepers, who would have to undertake their duties without prior experience. In verse 3: The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot, perhaps as an additional security measure. In verse 5: The book of the genealogy: There is no explanation for where or how the book was found. Those who were the first to come back: perhaps those who first returned from Exile, or those who first returned with one of the subsequent waves of exiled peoples who migrated to Jerusalem. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 16th

 Read Nehemiah 6.15- 19. In 6.15-7.5: The walls are completed. This section, which recounts the completion of the physical work of refortifying the city, ends with a note on the relatively few people in the city. The rebuilding of the walls is not the final completion of the formation of the "house of God." In 6.17: The nobles of Judah are an indefinite group, but presumably related to a traditional aristocracy. In verse 18: For many in Judah were bound by an oath to him: The reasons are not specified. presumably their support of Tobiah results not from opposition to Nehemiah as much as being bound by their oaths. Comments or Questions..