Now in the twenty fourth day of this month ,.... The seventh month, the month Tisri or September, two days after the feast of tabernacles was ended: the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them ; which were all outward tokens of mourning and humiliation, see Joel 1:8 which they could not show during the festival; but that being over, they return to it, see Nehemiah 8:9 . read more
Now in the twenty and fourth day - The feast of trumpets was on the first day of this month; on the fourteenth began the feast of tabernacles, which, lasting seven days, finished on the twenty-second; on the twenty-third they separated themselves from their illegitimate wives and children; and, on the twenty-fourth, they held a solemn day of fasting and confession of sin, and reading the law, which they closed by renewing their covenants. read more
With sackclothes, and earth upon them. On the use of sackcloth in mourning see Genesis 37:34 ; 2 Samuel 3:31 ; 2 Samuel 21:10 ; 1 Kings 21:27 , etc. Putting earth or dust on the head was less common; but mention of it is made in 1 Samuel 4:12 ; 2 Samuel 1:2 ; and Job 2:12 . read more
A special Fast day-how spent. This chapter and the next contain an account of the proceedings of a day set apart for special fasting and humiliation These three verses give a general description of the proceedings. I. The DATE . The 24th day of the month Tisri; only one clear day having passed since the rejoicings of the feast of tabernacles. So joy and sorrow succeed each other in life; in the religious life also. No inconsistency in the indulgence of each in turn. The people had... read more
A prayerful review of Divine goodness as manifested in the facts of human life. I. This is a prayerful review of the Divine NAME . "And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" ( Nehemiah 9:5 ). 1 . It views God as the Creator of all things ( Nehemiah 9:6 ). 2 . It views God as electing his people ( Nehemiah 9:7 ). 3 . It views God as covenanting with the faithful ( Nehemiah 9:8 ). 4 . It views God as delivering his people in... read more
Confession. The feast of tabernacles, held in such wise as Israel had not known since the days of Joshua ( Joshua 8:17 ), concluded, "according unto the manner" of that festival, with a " solemn assembly" on the eighth day ( Joshua 8:18 )—"the last day, that great day of the feast" ( John 7:37 ). After one day's interval, when nothing unusual was done, "on the twenty-fourth day of the month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting" (verse l), and a very great day was... read more
The solemn fast of assembled Israel. Notice three features in the people's religious life. 1 . Their confession of sin. 2 . Their external reformation. 3 . Their solemn adoption of the written word of God as the law of their life. Take these as representative, universal. I. HUMILIATION AND CONFESSION . 1 . Public and united as well as private and solitary. Great impressiveness in numbers. The heart needs the stimulus of contact with great waves of feeling. There... read more
The festival lasted from the 15th day of the 7th month to the first. The 22nd day was a day of solemn observance Nehemiah 8:18. One day seems to have been allowed the people for rest; and then the work of repentance, for which they had shown themselves ready Nehemiah 8:9, was taken in hand, and a general fast was proclaimed. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 9:1-3
We have here a general account of a public fast which the children of Israel kept, probably by order from Nehemiah, by and with the advice and consent of the chief of the fathers. It was a fast that men appointed, but such a fast as God had chosen; for, 1. It was a day to afflict the soul, Isa. 58:5. Probably they assembled in the courts of the temple, and they there appeared in sackcloth and in the posture of mourners, with earth on their heads, Neh. 9:1. By these outward expressions of... read more