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The Book of Nehemiah tells the story of the people of Judah, back in Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. Their governor Nehemiah led them in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and instituting social and religious reforms, and the priest Ezra stood and read from Scripture while the people listened. The Word of God mattered to the people of Israel, which is why they all gathered together and “Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding” (Neh 8:1-2).
Words are important in other cultures and religions as well, and sometimes people fight over them. Language riots in Algeria resulted in the deaths of people protesting the government’s decision to make Arabic the official language. In Pakistan, riots led to the deaths of people protesting Urdu as the official language. Even in the United States, we have a long tradition of language battles. Ben Franklin disputed with Pennsylvania Germans in the 1750s, and more recently, language wars have pitted English-only advocates against the speakers of indigenous or immigrant languages.
A few years ago, Microsoft began to develop software to help defuse language tensions in Greece. They created software for ancient polytonic Greek — an alphabet that dates from the age of Plato. The challenge of polytonic Greek is that it has six accent marks, a much more complicated form of writing than modern monotonic Greek, which has just one accent mark. But despite the fact that it hasn’t been spoken as a language for centuries, people are passionate about Plato’s Greek. Proponents of polytonic Greek have squared off with monotonic modernists for years, with writers being hauled into court for not using the proper forms. So, wanting to glide gracefully into Greek culture, Microsoft saw that it would be politically correct to offer polytonic software to the people. Greeks love it — especially the Orthodox Church. “Ancient Greek,” said one person, “is like your grandmother. You don’t see her every day but you love her to death.”
The people of Jerusalem felt the same way about the Hebrew Scriptures, so they told Ezra to read the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. “He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law” (Neh 8:3). Like Plato’s Greek, the words of Moses had been missing in action, and now they were being read in the presence of the people. Ezra stood on a wooden platform and read the law, and the reading turned into a worship service that lasted about six hours. “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. … Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord” (Neh 8:5-6).
The people hung on his every word, and the Hebrew text was interpreted by leaders standing nearby. You see, even though Ezra was reading the Scriptures loud and clear, the people could not understand them completely until they were interpreted in the more familiar Aramaic. Like worshipers today, they needed Scripture to be read and interpreted. A group of leaders “helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law” (Neh 8:7-9). When they grasped what they were hearing, they were so moved that they cried. What is remarkable about this passage is the power of the Word of God to penetrate the human spirit, to speak to the heart, to touch the deepest corners of the soul.
The people of Jerusalem gathered beneath a wooden platform and listened to the law of God being read. They knew that to “understand” the Bible means, quite literally, to “stand under” the Bible — to place ourselves under its authority, to take it personally, to allow our lives to be shaped by it and to give it our trust and our confidence. When we seek to understand the Bible, we are doing more than making an effort to understand what the words mean. Instead, we are “standing under” Scripture’s view of God and humanity and sacred history, and giving it not only the insight of our brains, but also the allegiance of our hearts.
Then Nehemiah told them to go off and celebrate, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). This passage is one of the Bible’s greatest hits because it reminds us of the power of the Word of God to refresh our souls and guide our steps. Like the people of Jerusalem, we understand Scripture best when we “stand under” God’s Word and allow it to shape our hearts, souls and minds. When the Word is read and interpreted, we share the experience of the Israelites, who wept and rejoiced “because they had understood the words that were declared to them” (Neh 8:12).
Questions:
1. What type of words are most important to you, and why?
2. How does interpretation enhance your understanding of the Bible?
3. What does it mean to you to “stand under” Scripture?
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