The Nugget:
Nehemiah 8:3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
My Comment:
The Scriptures should be read publicly to all. This verse was mentioned often in the days of the Watergate scandal! But in terms of the topic being addressed, it is clear that the Scriptures were read publicly to all. The people listened attentively. There may have been fewer distractions then. We suffer from too many distractions in our day that take our attention away from the Bible. In Nehemiah’s day Ezra read the Bible aloud from morning to midday. I’ve been in churches where people grew listless if the pastor went one or two minutes or so beyond the usual or expected time for the sermon to end. I read an article recently that suggested that few people today are comfortable with “deep reading.” The writer suggested that people today flit from one website to another on the Internet, and rarely read something for more than three minutes or so, and then they skim over the material, not reading all that is there. The writer said she found herself in that mode of reading, and when she needed to do serious reading and research, she had to avoid the distractions and settle down to do only serious reading. She said it took her a couple of weeks to get back in the groove or habit of sustained reading. The people who heard the Bible read aloud from morning until midday must have been very attentive listeners. We need to practice serious listening and sustained reading of the Bible ourselves.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 473 for Nehemiah 8:3.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 532 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Nehemiah 8:3.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:
Nehemiah 8:3. he read. T#1064. ver. *Ne 8:8. Ne 13:1. Dt 31:11-13. Jsh 8:34. 2 Ch 34:30. Je 36:6, 8. *Lk 4:16-20. Ac 13:15, 27. 15:21. before the street. ver. Ne 8:16. gate. FS171S7B, +Ge 14:7. Ne 3:26. 12:37. morning. Heb. light. *Ac 20:7, 11. *Ac 28:23. until midday. Ne 9:3. could understand. ver. *Ne 8:2. *Is 28:9. +*Mt 24:15n. ears. Mt 7:28, 29. *Mk 12:37. +*Lk 8:18. 19:48. Ac 16:14. **Ac 17:11. *1 Th 2:13. *He 2:1-3. James 1:19. Re 2:29. 3:22.
neh 8.3 And he read from it before the square which was in front of the water gate
from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.
encouraging cross refs.(the best commentary on the bible is the bible)
1. lk 4.16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as
was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to
read.
2. lk 4.17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. and He
opened the book, and found the place where it was written;
3. lk 4.18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to
Preach The Gospel to The Poor. He has sent Me to Proclaim release to the
Captives, And Recovery of sight to the blind, To set Free Those who are
Downtrodden,
4. lk 4.19 To Proclaim the Favorable Year of the Lord.
5. acts 13.15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue
officials sent to them, saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhoratation for
the people, say it.
6. acts 13.27 Fir those who live in jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither
Him nor the utterances of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these
by condemning Him.
7. acts 15.21 For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach
him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.
8. acts 20.7 And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break
bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged
his message until midnight.
9. acts 28.23 And when they had set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in
large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning jesus, from both the Law
of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.
10. acts 7.28 The result was that when jesus had finished these words, the multitudes
were amazed at His teaching;
11. acts 7.29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, not as scribes.
12. mk 12.37 David calls himself Lord; and so in what sense is He his son? and the
great crowd enjoyed listening to Him.
13. lk 8.18 Therefore take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall more
be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away
from him.
14. lk 19.48 and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging upon His words.
15. acts 16.14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatiara, a seller
of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God, was listening ; and the Lord opened her heart
to respond to the things spoken by Paul.