Nehemiah 8:11

So the Levites stilled all the people,.... Made them quiet and easy, being backed by the governor:

saying, hold your peace; refrain from weeping and mourning:

for the day is holy; a festival, set…

We may here observe,

I. How the people were wounded with the words of the law that were read to them. The law works death, and speaks terror, shows men their sins, and their misery and danger because…

Hold your peace This expression has been compared with the Latin -Favete linguis." It was ill-omened to make use of words or signs of lamentation on a holy day, cf. Hab 2:20, -The Lord is in his holy…