And when the seventh month was come
The month Tisri, which answers to part of September and October; or when it "was approaching" F16, for before it was actually come some following things were done, the people met, and an altar was built; for on the first day of it sacrifices were offered, ( Ezra 3:6 ) ,
and the children of Israel were in the cities;
their respective cities, settling their domestic affairs:
the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem;
the thing was universal, and done with as much dispatch as if only one man was concerned; and it seems to denote as if they were under a divine impulse, and came together without any consultation, or knowledge of each other's designs, and without summons.