Ezra, the scribe, stood on a raised wooden platform [] that they had made for that purpose. [This platform (literally: tower of wood) must have been large enough for Ezra and his 13 assistants to stand there.] Beside him stood [six people:] Mattithiah, Shema, Ananiah, Oriyah, Hilkiah (Hebr. Chilqijaho), and Maaseiah on his right hand, and [seven people:] Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddana, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.
