Nehemiah 8

Nehemiah 8:13-18

The Observance of the Feast of Tabernacles (8:13-18) Closer study of the Law by the leaders revealed the failure of the community to observe the prescribed Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles (see, for example, Leviticus 23:33-36; Deuteronomy 16:13-15). There followed, consequently, a great reinstitution of the feast, including, as required, the reading of the Law. The remark that such an observance had not been held since “the days of Jeshua [Joshua] the son of Nun” probably refers to the manner rather than to the actual observance itself. It is likely that at this time what had been well established in Israel’s history became an urban festival and assumed a new significance in association with the Law.