According to Lev 23.34-36, the Festival of Booths should begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and end with a solemn assembly on the eighth day of the festival, that is, on the twenty-second day of the month (see 8.14 and Ezra 3.4). After two days on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the month of Tishri, there was a special assembly for fasting and for confession of sins. This sounds like the Day of Atonement, which, according to Lev 23.27, was to be on the tenth day of the seventh month. This could have been a special day of confession in that year or possibly the date of the Day of Atonement had not yet been fixed on the tenth day.
The people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth upon their heads: Fasting is more than simply not eating food (see Ezra 8.21). It is a deliberate act of denying oneself food for a certain period of time, and is done for a specific reason or for a cause. One person can fast alone or a group or community of persons can fast together. Here the entire community of Israel came together in public fasting. This was accompanied by prayer and the wearing of sackcloth as a sign of repentance and mourning. Sackcloth was made of goat or camel hair and was used for the burial of corpses. Wearing sackcloth and putting earth upon their heads was a sign that someone was dead and was buried (see 1 Sam 4.12; 2 Sam 1.2; Lam 2.10). Good News Translation makes it explicit that these were “signs of grief.” In some languages it will be necessary to specify the kind of earth that they put on their heads. It was “dirt” (Contemporary English Version), “dust” (New International Version) or “loose soil.” The people did not rub garden soil, mud or clay on their heads or plait their hair with clay or other substances. Translators need to be careful to express the meaning of sorrow but not use cultural signs and gestures in the translation that are not compatible with this historical setting.
Upon their heads is literally “on them” in Hebrew. The Syriac translation has “on their heads,” and many other versions translate similarly for the sake of clarity. An appropriate verb may be used for the action of placing the earth on their heads. Good News Translation uses the verb “put,” Contemporary English Version has “threw,” or one could translate “sprinkled.” Revised Standard Version simply has with earth on their heads (similarly New International Version, Revised English Bible).
The Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners: Israelites, which is literally “seed of Israel” in Hebrew, refers to racial lineage or ancestry. This is translated as “Those of Israelite descent” by New International Version and “Those of the race of Israel” by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible to distinguish them from the foreigners. In some languages this will be indicated by adding an adjective; for example, “the real Israelites” as opposed to the more general people of Israel first mentioned in the verse.
They separated themselves from all foreigners because the people of Israel were going to confess the sins that they had done as a people (see Ezra 6.21; Neh 13.3; also Lev 20.26). The foreigners were not responsible for those sins. This is not a reference to separation from foreign wives since there is no mention of marrying foreign women in the prayer of confession (see Ezra 9.1). The idea of separation should be translated according to the receptor language form; for example, “They held themselves apart from non-Jews” (Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version renders it “They refused to let foreigners join them,” although this introduces the implication that the foreigners were attempting to join them, which is not in the text.
Confessed their sins: For a discussion of confession and sins, see Neh 1.6. The content of their confession is given in verses 6-37.
They also confessed the iniquities of their fathers. Iniquities translates a Hebrew word that is a near synonym for sins that has occurred a number of times in Ezra and Nehemiah (see Ezra 9.6). Many English versions say iniquities although this word is not used in ordinary language any longer. Jerusalem Bible renders it as “transgressions,” while Nouvelle Bible Segond and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translate it with a word meaning “errors.” Good News Translation translates both words by the single word “sins” (also Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant). Translators should use two words instead of just one for “sin,” if it is not unnatural in their language; for example, Gbaya has “bad things [they had done] and mistakes [before God].”
Their fathers refers to “their ancestors” (Good News Translation), which is rendered “their grandfathers” in some languages. They felt a sense of solidarity with those who had gone before and they felt a corporate sense of responsibility for what they themselves had done (see Neh 1.6; Psa 106.6). The theme of solidarity is important in the book of Ezra.
Verse 2 gives a summary statement of what happened. This is followed by a more detailed description in the next verses. Three actions are cited in this verse: 1) separating themselves, 2) standing, and 3) confessing. Good News Translation restructures verses 1-2 to make the sequence of actions clear. It expresses the action of separating themselves in the pluperfect tense to show that this act took place before they began their confession of sin. In other languages consecutive verb forms may follow the first of the three verbs because the actions occur in succession, or there may be a serial verb construction showing that the three actions together form a single act.
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .