What is the context?
The people gather at the Water Gate and ask Ezra to bring out the Law of Moses. On the first day of the seventh month, men, women and all who can understand listen from daybreak until noon.
Ezra stands on a wooden platform with others beside him. When he opens the book, the people stand; they praise God, lift their hands and bow in worship. The Levites help them understand what is being read.
The setting recalls Deuteronomy 31:9–13, where Moses commands a public reading of the Law at the Feast of Tabernacles in the year of debt release, so that the people and their children may learn to follow God. Here, attention is given to understanding as well as hearing.
One word used for the reading comes from Hebrew פָּרַשׁ, parash, pronounced pah-RAHSH. Brown–Driver–Briggs gives the sense of making something distinct or clear and lists this verse under that use. The aim in the passage is that the people grasp what the Law is saying.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry emphasizes that teachers should explain Scripture so that its hearers understand it, and that explanations should themselves be tested by Scripture. Gill discusses whether the reading involved translating Hebrew into the language the returnees used. He favors clear, distinct reading followed by explanation, rather than treating translation as necessary here. Both understand the scene as making God’s instruction intelligible to the people.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The theme of Scripture being opened to understanding continues in Luke 24:25–27, 44–49. Jesus explains what Moses and the Prophets wrote about Him, then opens His disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures.
Luke brings that understanding to a definite focus: Christ’s suffering and resurrection, and the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness to all nations in His name. Hearing Scripture serves God’s purpose when people come to understand what He has made known and respond to it.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.