Ezra and Nehemiah now induced them to make a solemn covenant that they would in future respect the teaching of the Law, and not relapse into their old errors and shortcomings. From that day forward the whole community was to live according to the Law of Moses. Men, women, and children, the Temple servants, and even the proselytes, who clung faithfully to the Judæans, took the oath that was required of them. They swore not to give their daughters in marriage to foreigners, and not to marry daughters of foreign tribes. This matter was looked upon by Ezra and Nehemiah as one of peculiar importance, and, therefore, the first place was given to it. They also swore to observe the Sabbath and the holidays, to let the fields lie fallow every seventh year, and, during that year, to remit all debts. Furthermore, every individual who had attained his majority was to pay annually one third of a shekel towards the maintenance of the Temple, to bring the first produce of the fields and the orchards to the Sanctuary, to provide wood for the altar, and to contribute the tithes for the maintenance of the priests and the Levites. The obligations assumed by the people were inscribed upon a scroll, which was signed by the heads of the families, and sealed. Nehemiah's name stood first upon the list, followed by the signatures of about eighty-five prominent men. According to one account, one hundred and twenty names were subscribed. This important gathering of Judæans was called the Great Assembly (Keneseth ha-gedolah). Nehemiah had indeed accomplished much in a short time. He had not only restored the decayed commonwealth, and assured its stability by fortifying the capital, but he had also endowed the people with the Law, and had induced them to live in harmony with its requirements.