Texts in Conversation
In Nehemiah 8, Ezra reads the law of Moses to the whole assembly from dawn to noon. The Letter of Aristeas has Demetrius read the new Greek law to the gathered Jews of Alexandria, who welcome it as the people welcomed the law in Ezra's day.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Nehemiah 8:3
Hebrew Bible
1 all the people gathered together in the plaza which was in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which included men and women and all those able to understand what they heard. (This happened on the first day of the seventh month.) 3 So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon before the men and women and those children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the law.
Letter of Aristeas 1:308
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred on them. They warmly praised Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders. After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no
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Notes and References
“... Harry Orlinsky has made the most complete case that in the scene that we observe in these paragraphs the combination of reading aloud to the people followed by some expression of consent comprises the biblical procedure for making something authoritative and binding. So, in Exod 24:3–7, Moses takes the leaders of the people aside to worship God, then he “recounted to the people all God’s words and statutes. And all the people answered with one voice, saying, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do and heed’” (NETS). In 4 Reigns 23, when Josiah is presented with the scroll found in the temple, he gathered “all the elders of Iouda and Ierousalem”; then he read the scroll aloud to the people and to the priests and prophets, all of whom agreed to enter into the covenant. And, of course, in 2 Esdr 18:1–8 (=Neh 8:1–8 MT) Ezra brought the “book of the law of Moyses,” and he read from it to all the people all morning. They responded with “Amen.” ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(pp. 442-443) De Gruyter, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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