So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood: and they understood when it was read.

And they read in the law of God distinctly out of the book, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

and they read in the book, in the law of God, explaining, so as to give the meaning, and they give understanding to the convocation.

And they gave out the words of the book the law of God, clearly, and gave the sense of it, so that their minds were able to take it in.

They read in the scroll, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.

And they read from the book of the law of God, distinctly and plainly, so as to be understood. And when it was read, they did understand.

Gave the sense - Either by rendering the Hebrew into the Aramaic dialect, or perhaps simply by explaining obscure words or passages.
Caused them to understand - Either "they (the people) understood what was read;" or, "they (the Levites) expounded as they read."

So they read in the book - For an explanation of this verse, see the observations at the end of the chapter, Nehemiah 8:17 (note).

So they read in the book,.... Ezra and those with him; he first began to read and expound, and when weary they relieved him, and did the same:
in the law of God distinctly; which was the book they read in, and which they read plainly and intelligibly, so as to be heard and understood; this seems to respect the clear and distinct pronunciation of the words of it, and not the explanation or meaning of it, which is after expressed; some think the sense is, that they first read it in Hebrew, and then translated it into Chaldee, that the people might better understand it, being just come out of Babylon, where they had been used to the Chaldee language; but though this was a practice in later times, it does not seem to have obtained so early, or that there was a necessity of it:
and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading; not hereby how to read it, but chiefly to understand what was read, that they might clearly know their duty to God and men: the Talmudists (q) give the meaning of the text thus; "by the law of God" they understand the Scripture; by the phrase "distinctly", the Targum or translation of it into Chaldee; by "the sense", the verses or the accents; and by "the reading", the distinction of the accents: some think from hence came the practice of reading the law in the synagogues every sabbath day, Acts 13:15.
(q) T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 37. 2. & Megillah, fol. 3. 1. & Hieros. Megillah, fol. 74. 4.

"And they (the Levites) read in (out of) the book of the law of God, explained and gave the sense; and they (the assembled auditors) were attentive to the reading." The Rabbis understand מפרשׁ = the Chaldee מפרשׁ, of a rendering of the law into the vulgar tongue, i.e., a paraphrase in the Chaldee language for those who were not acquainted with the ancient Hebrew. But this cannot be shown to be the meaning of פרשׁ, this word being used in the Targums for the Hebrew נקב (קבב), e.g., Leviticus 24:16, and for בּאר, Deuteronomy 1:5. It is more correct to suppose a paraphrastic exposition and application of the law (Pfeiffer, dubia vex. p. 480), but not "a distinct recitation according to appointed rules" (Gusset. and Bertheau). שׂום is infin. abs. instead of the temp. finit.: and gave the sense, made the law comprehensible to the hearers. במּקרא ויּבינוּ, not with older interpreters, Luther ("so that what was read was understood"), and de Wette, "and they (the Levites) made what was read comprehensible," which would be a mere tautology, but with the lxx, Vulgate, and others, "and they (the hearers) attended to the reading," or, "obtained an understanding of what was read" (בּ הבין, like Nehemiah 8:12, Daniel 9:23; Daniel 10:11). Vitringa (de syn. vet. p. 420) already gives the correct meaning: de doctoribus narratur, quod legerint et dederint intellectum, de autitoribus, quod lectum intellexerint. The manner of proceeding with this reading is not quite clear. According to Nehemiah 8:5-8, the Levites alone seem to have read to the people out of the book of the law, and to have explained what they read to their auditors; while according to Nehemiah 8:3, Ezra read to the assembled people, and the ears of all were attentive to the book of the law, while we are told in Nehemiah 8:5 that Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people. If, however, we regard Nehemiah 8:4-8 as only a more detailed description of what is related Nehemiah 8:2, Nehemiah 8:3, it is obvious that both Ezra and the thirteen Levites mentioned in Nehemiah 8:7 read out of the law. Hence the occurrence may well have taken place as follows: Ezra first read a section of the law, and the Levites then expounded to the people the portion just read; the only point still doubtful being whether the thirteen (fourteen) Levites expounded in succession, or whether they all did this at the same time to different groups of people.

They - Ezra and his companions successively. Sense - The meaning of the Hebrew words, which they expounded in the common language. Thy gave - So they gave them both a translation of the Hebrew words into the Chaldee, and an exposition of the things contained in them.