Nehemia 8:7

8:7 Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites ¹  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.

Nehemia 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ²  Ezra the priestly scribe, ³  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ⁴  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

[8:7]  ¹ tc The MT reads “and the Levites.” The conjunction (“and”) should be deleted, following the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate. That the vav (ו) of the MT is the vav explicativum (“even the Levites”) is unlikely here.

[8:9]  ² tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

[8:9]  ³ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.