Nehemiah 8:6 (DRB)

Passage

And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, amen: lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God with their faces to the ground.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 8:4 And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he had made to speak upon, and there stood by him Mathathias, and Semeia, and Ania, and Uria, and Helcia, and Maasia, on his right hand: and on the left, Phadaia, Misael, and Melchia, and Hasum, and Hasbadana, Zacharia and Mosollam.

Nehemiah 8:5 And Esdras opened the book before all the people: for he was above all the people: and when he had opened it, all the people stood.

Nehemiah 8:6 And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, amen: lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God with their faces to the ground.

Nehemiah 8:7 Now Josue, and Bani, and Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sephtai, Odia, Maasia, Celtia, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan, Phalaia, the Levites, made silence among the people to hear the law: and the people stood in their place.

Nehemiah 8:8 And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood: and they understood when it was read.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "esdras", "blessed", "lord", "great", "people", "answered", and "amen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "esdras" and "blessed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And Esdras opened the book before all..." into verse 7's "Now Josue and Bani and Serebia Jamin...", so "esdras" and "blessed" belong inside that flow. In Nehemiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "esdras" and "blessed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.