Albert Barnes Commentary Ezra 10:9

"Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth [day] of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain." — Ezra 10:9 (ASV)

It was the ninth month - Or, our December, a time when rain falls heavily in Palestine: four months, therefore, after Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem .

The street - Rather, “the court,” the “broad,” “spacious, place” (Compare the 2 Chronicles 29:4 note).