Nehemiah 8:6
in Nehemiah 8Then Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and with their hands uplifted, all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God; and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.
KJV
And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
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This verse in Nehemiah 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseEzra blessed the Lord - In imitation of this, we say, when the gospel for the day is commenced, Glory be to God for his holy Gospel! and conclude this thanksgiving with, Amen.
This site's exposition
a high wooden platform
on Nehemiah 8:4-6
Ezra "stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion," raised so a square full of people could see and hear the book. When he opens it "all the people stood up," and the blessing is answered "Amen, Amen" with lifted hands and faces to the ground.
This site's exposition
with their hands uplifted, all the people
The doubled Amen appears in the law at Numbers 5:22, where a woman accepts an oath with the same two words. Ezra's title for God, the great God, echoes Nehemiah's prayer at 1:5. Adam Clarke sees the church's Gospel response in it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Priests and Levites must be taught first and then teach. The people's ready obedience to the word, in one particular instance, as soon as they were made sensible of their duty therein. It is probable that Ezra, after the wisdom of his God that was in his hand ( Ezra vii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God,....
Thus must we adore God, and address ourselves to him, when we are going to read and hear the word of God, as those that see God in his word very great and very good. God's mouth to the people, and they attentively hearkened to him. This was the chief business of the solemnity, and observe, (1.) Ezra brought the law before the congregation,
How the passage was read
On Nehemiah 8:1-18On Nehemiah 8:1-18
The seventh month, rediscovered
Everything in this chapter happens on the calendar of Leviticus 23. Ezra reads the Law on “the first day of the seventh month”: that is the Day of Trumpets, kept today as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, announced by the ram's-horn trumpet (shofar). Then the people find the command about booths and keep Tabernacles (Sukkot) for the first time “since the days of Joshua”: seven days living in leafy shelters, remembering the wilderness. Jewish families still build these booths every autumn: a hut in the yard or on the balcony, roofed with branches you can see the stars through, where meals are eaten all week.
The chapter also gives the day its enduring tone: “the joy of the LORD is your strength” was said on Rosh Hashanah, to a congregation weeping under the words of the Law and told instead to feast.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Leviticus 23:23–43 (the seventh month's appointments) · Mishnah Sukkah 1:1 (the booth's rules)
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ | vayvarekh | and he blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| עֶזְרָ֔א | ʾezra' | Ezra | H5830 → | 22 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הַגָּד֑וֹל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וַיַּֽעֲנ֨וּ | vaiyaanu | and they answered | H6030 → | |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֜ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אָמֵ֤ן׀ | ʾamen | amen | H543 → | 30 times |
| אָמֵן֙ | ʾamen | amen | H543 → | 30 times |
| בְּמֹ֣עַל | bemoal | in [the] raising of | H4607 → | |
| יְדֵיהֶ֔ם | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַיִּקְּד֧וּ | vaiyikedu | and they bowed low | H6915 → | |
| וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוֻּ֛ | vaiyishtachavu | and they bowed down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לַיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אַפַּ֥יִם | ʾapayim | face | H639 → | |
| אָֽרְצָה׃ | ʾaretzah | [the] ground towards | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיְבָ֣רֶךְand he blessed
vayvarekhH1288 →330 times
עֶזְרָ֔אEzra
ʾezra'H5830 →22 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
הַגָּד֑וֹל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
וַיַּֽעֲנ֨וּand they answered
vaiyaanuH6030 →
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֜םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אָמֵ֤ן׀amen
ʾamenH543 →30 times
אָמֵן֙amen
ʾamenH543 →30 times
בְּמֹ֣עַלin [the] raising of
bemoalH4607 →
יְדֵיהֶ֔םhands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 times
וַיִּקְּד֧וּand they bowed low
vaiyikeduH6915 →
וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲוֻּ֛and they bowed down
vaiyishtachavuH7812 →172 times
לַיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אַפַּ֥יִםface
ʾapayimH639 →
אָֽרְצָה׃[the] ground towards
ʾaretzahH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 2:8Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
it leads to
- Psalms 134:2
Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!
- Psalms 63:4
So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Psalms 134:2
Through
Revelation 7:11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,
it leads to
- Revelation 5:11–13
Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.
- Revelation 19:4–6
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
- Revelation 4:10
the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
- Revelation 5:11–13
Through
2 Chronicles 20:18Then Jehoshaphat bowed facedown, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down before the LORD to worship Him.
it leads to
- Genesis 24:26
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 4:31
and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD had attended to the Israelites and had seen their affliction, they bowed down and worshiped.
- Genesis 24:26
Where this verse is studied
About Nehemiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.