Nehemiah 8:4 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood’ – the Hebrew says, ‘a tower of wood’, so it gives the idea of a large and tall platform, so that people could see and hear from a distance – ‘which they had made for the purpose.’ And he took an elevated position and they thought about these practical; details. ‘And beside him stood Mattithiah’ and a long list of others: different people, probably Levites who assisted him, thirteen altogether, roughly half on each side. Ezra reads the word and he and the Levites then expound it, explain its sense to the people.