The Ritual of Reading Scripture (Nehemiah 8:1–12)

Sara Japhet

Nehemiah chapter 8 has attracted much attention in modern biblical scholar- ship, most of which has focused on the identity of “the book of the Torah” from which Ezra read to the people on the first day of the seventh month.1 This ques- tion in turn has been related to literary-historical studies of the Pentateuch, and among others, to the questions of the origin and date of the Priestly Source, the canonization of the Hebrew Bible, and the like. An important aspect of these studies has been the discussion and interpretation of the second half of the chapter (vv. 13–18), which deals with the Festival of Succoth.2 Much less attention has been paid to the first part of the chapter—the reading of the Torah (vv. 1–12); this is the focus of my present discussion.3

1 Williamson devoted to it a special chapter in the introduction to his commentary on Ezra- Nehemiah: “The Identification of the Book of the Law”; see Hugh G.M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah (Waco, TX: Word, 1985), xxxvii–xxxix. See also, among others, Ulrich Kellermann, “Erwägungen zum Esragesetz,” ZAW 80 (1968): 373–85; Ralph W. Klein, “Ezra-Nehemiah in Recent Studies,” in Magnalia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Memory of George Ernest Wright, ed. Frank Moore Cross et al. (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976), 361–76, in particular, 366–68; Rolf Rendtorff, “Esra und das ‘Gesetz’,” ZAW 96 (1984): 165–84; Rolf Rendtorff, “Noch Einmal: Esra und das ‘Gesetz’,” ZAW 111 (1999): 89–91. 2 See, among others, Karl William Weyde, “And They Found it Written in the Law: Exegetical Procedures Reflected in Nehemiah 8:13–18,” in Shai le-Sara Japhet: Studies in the Bible, Its Exegesis and Its Language, ed. Moshe Bar-Asher et al. (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 2007), 143*– 63*; Corinna Körting, Der Schall des Schofar: Israels Feste im Herbst (BZAW 285; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1999), 240–250, 261–263 and the bibliography included there. 3 The passage is discussed by all the commentaries on Ezra-Nehemiah, as well as by others. See recently G.J. Venema, Reading Scripture in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 9–10, 31, 2 Kings 22–23, Jeremiah 36, Nehemiah 8 (OTS 48; Leiden: Brill, 2004); Arie van der Kooij, “The Public Reading of Scriptures at Feasts,” in Feasts and Festivals, ed. Christopher M. Tuckett (Leuven: Peeters, 2009), 27–44; Eckart Otto, Das Deuteronomium im Pentateuch und Hexateuch: Studien zur Literaturgeschichte von Pentateuch und Hexateuch im Lichte des Deuteronomiumrahmens (FAT 30; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000), 196–211; Körting, Der Schall des Schofar, 250–55, 260–61.

The lines of the story are simple, and without going into questions of narrative structure, unity of composition, and so on, they are as follows: The people of Judah gather in Jerusalem on the first day of the seventh month (Neh 7:72b; 8:2) and ask Ezra to bring “the book of the Torah of Moses” (8:1). Ezra obliges, and brings the book to the people. He takes his place on a wooden platform, and flanked by thirteen men, he reads from the book (vv. 3–4). The reading goes on from the early morning until noon (v. 3). As Ezra opens the book the people stand up, Ezra blesses God, the people respond by saying “Amen” with their hands lifted up, and they bow down in worship (vv. 5–6). Then thirteen Levites circulate among the people and explain to them what is being read (vv. 7–8). The people listen closely and start weeping; Ezra and the Levites react to this by instructing them to be happy rather than sad and to celebrate the day with food, drink and rejoicing (vv. 9–11). The people follow these instructions and leave the place to celebrate the occasion with “great joy” (v. 12). Already this brief outline of the event attracts our attention by its pecu- liar character, expressed in both the details included and those expected but missing. The first thing to note is that, although the reading of the Torah is presented as a spontaneous act—Ezra’s response to the request of the people during their gathering in Jerusalem (vv. 1–2)—it is in fact a highly structured event, prepared in advance. At v. 4, we learn that in order to be seen and heard by the people, Ezra was standing on a wooden platform (NRSV),4 which had been prepared in advance for this purpose.5 The reading should thus be seen as a preconceived event rather than a spontaneous act.6

literally, a wooden tower (NJPS; see also HALOT: “wooden מגדל עץ The Hebrew phrase is 4 framed tower,” 544). Since this meaning seems inadequate in this context, I preferred the rendering of BDB (“elevated stage, pulpit”; 154) and NRSV, inspired by the version/interpretation of the Septuagint: βῆμα. This interpretation is reflected also in the Mishnah, in the description of the king’s reading of the Torah at the end of the remission year: “a wooden m. Sotah, 7:8). The precise nature of this structure is not specified, but ;בימה שלעץ) ”platform it was certainly quite big and solid, as it accommodated fourteen people (see the next verse). on which Solomon stood at the ,(כיור נחשת) ”It is often compared to the “bronze platform dedication of the Temple, but the nature of this structure is also unclear. 5 For the conclusion that this statement betrays the nonspontaneous character of the event see, among others, Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, 288; Michael Kochman and Michael Heltzer, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Olam Hatanach 17; Jerusalem: Davidson/Tel-Aviv: Atai, 1988), 153 (in Hebrew). 6 This seems to be the narrative pattern of Ezra’s acts in Jerusalem, as is demonstrated by the account of his dealings in the matter of the mixed marriages. There too, the initiatives are