The whole of Nehemiah viii.-x. is important for our present subject; we draw special attention to the following passages: “Ezra the scribe” is asked by the people to bring the book of the Law of Moses in order that it might be read to them; it then continues: “And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, both men and women, and all that could hear with understanding.... And he read therein before the broad place that was before the water-gate from early morning until mid-day, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the Law” (viii. 2, 3). In viii. 7-9, the names of thirteen men are enumerated who, together with the Levites, “caused the people to understand the Law. And they read in the book, in the Law of God, interpreting it; and they gave the sense, and caused (the people) to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which was the Tirshatha,[142] and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep.” Further, in viii. 13-15, it is said: “And on the second day were gathered together the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, the priests and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to give attention to the words of the Law. And they found written in the Law, how that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month ...”; then follows the account of how the people were to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. These passages show that whatever may have been the scribal activity before the Exile, an altogether new position was assigned to the Law and its observances by the scribe Ezra.[143] The Law now begins to be the central pre-occupation of the Scribes under the guidance of Ezra and Nehemiah, the former of whom is the scribe _par excellence_. The priests and Levites are associated with the scribe Ezra, and presumably with the scribes in general; but we know from later history that the study of the Law soon became the special concern of the Scribes almost to the exclusion of the priests. Noteworthy is the stress laid on teaching the Law to the people; and a new element of far-reaching importance seems to be adumbrated in Nehemiah viii. 8, where it is said that the teachers of Law “read in the book, in the Law of God, interpreting it; and they gave the sense, and caused (the people) to understand the reading.” It is interesting to note that the Hebrew root for “to interpret” here (_p-r-sh_) is the same as that from which the word Pharisee comes; we shall draw attention to this again later. One or two passages of later date must also be noted, for they are not without interest, and shed further light on our subject: