Nehemiah 8:13 (GNV)

Passage

And on the second day the chiefe fathers of all the people, the Priests and the Leuites were gathered vnto Ezra the scribe, that he also might instruct them in the wordes of the Lawe.

Nearby Context

Nehemiah 8:11 And the Leuites made silence throughout all the people, saying, Holde your peace: for the day is holy, be not sad therefore.

Nehemiah 8:12 Then all the people went to eate and to drinke, and to send away part, and to make great ioy, because they had vnderstand the wordes that they had taught them.

Nehemiah 8:13 And on the second day the chiefe fathers of all the people, the Priests and the Leuites were gathered vnto Ezra the scribe, that he also might instruct them in the wordes of the Lawe.

Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the Law, (that the Lord had commanded by Moses) that the children of Israel should dwel in boothes in the feast of the seuenth moneth,

Nehemiah 8:15 And that they shoulde cause it to bee declared and proclaimed in all their cities, and in Ierusalem, saying, Go forth vnto the mount, and bring oliue branches, and pine branches, and branches of myrtus, and palme branches, and branches of thicke trees, to make boothes, as it is written.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "second", "chiefe", "fathers", "people", "priests", "leuites", "gathered", and "vnto". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "second" and "chiefe", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Then all the people went to eate..." into verse 14's "And they found written in the Law...", so "second" and "chiefe" 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 "second" and "chiefe" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.