Ezra prayed and confessed the sins of the Israelites, which deeply affected a large crowd, causing men, women, and children to weep bitterly alongside him. Shechaniah proposed a covenant to put away foreign wives and their children to correct the transgressions against God, reflecting the community's recognition of the gravity of their actions. This movement towards reform, although harsh, aimed to preserve the purity of their faith and identity in a challenging environment.

1. EZRA 10 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping
and throwing himself down before the house of
God, a large crowd of Israelites--men, women and
children--gathered around him. They too wept
bitterly.
BAR ES, "Before the house of God - i. e., in front of the temple, praying toward
it 1Ki_8:30, 1Ki_8:35; Dan_6:10, and thus in the sight of all the people who happened at
the time to be in the great court.
CLARKE, "The people wept very sore - They were deeply affected at the thought
of God’s displeasure, which they justly feared was about to light upon them, because of
their transgressions.
GILL, "Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping,....
Had confessed the sins of the people in prayer and supplication, with many tears:
and casting himself down before the house of God; in the outward court before
the temple, his face turned towards it, where he lay prostrate:
there assembled to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men, and
women, and children; it was quickly spread abroad, both in Jerusalem and places
adjacent, that such a great man, a commissioner from the king of Persia, and a priest of
the Jews, was in the utmost distress, rending his garments, and plucking off his hair, and
was crying and praying in a vehement manner; which brought a great concourse of
people, who concluded some great sins were committed, and sore judgments were
coming upon them:
for the people wept very sore; being affected with his confessions, cries, and tears,
and fearing wrath would come upon them for their sins.
HE RY, "We are here told,

2. I. What good impressions were made upon the people by Ezra's humiliation and
confession of sin. No sooner was it noised in the city that their new governor, in whom
they rejoiced, was himself in grief, and to so great a degree, for them and their sin, than
presently there assembled to him a very great congregation, to see what the matter was
and to mingle their tears with his, Ezr_10:1. Our weeping for other people's sins may
perhaps set those a weeping for them themselves who otherwise would continue
senseless and remorseless. See what a happy influence the good examples of great ones
may have upon their inferiors. When Ezra, a scribe, a scholar, a man in authority under
the king, so deeply lamented the public corruptions, they concluded that they were
indeed very grievous, else he would not thus have grieved for them; and this drew tears
from every eye: men, women, and children, wept very sore, when he wept thus.
JAMISO , "Ezr_10:1-17. Ezra reforms the strange marriages.
Now when Ezra had prayed — As this prayer was uttered in public, while there
was a general concourse of the people at the time of the evening sacrifice and as it was
accompanied with all the demonstrations of poignant sorrow and anguish, it is not
surprising that the spectacle of a man so respected, a priest so holy, a governor so
dignified as Ezra, appearing distressed and filled with fear at the sad state of things,
should produce a deep sensation; and the report of his passionate grief and expressions
in the court of the temple having rapidly spread through the city, a great multitude
flocked to the spot.
K&D, "The separation of the strange wives from the congregation. - Ezra 10:1-5.
WhileEzra was making this confession before God, a numerous assemblagegathered
around him, and wept aloud. From this point onwards Ezrarelates the further
course of events in such wise as to cast his own personin the background, and speaks
of himself in the third person. The matter ofhis prayer is more definitely declared
by ‫,וּכהתודּתו‬ and hisposture in prayer by ‫בּכה‬ ‫,וּמתנפּל‬ weeping andcasting himself
down (lying on his knees, Ezra 9:5). “Before the house ofGod,” i.e., in the court of
the temple. The confirmatory clause: for thepeople wept much (‫הרבּה‬ ‫,בכה‬ a weeping
in mass),furnishes the motive of so great a number of men, women, and
childrengathering around Ezra. Very many were as distressed as he was at
themarriages with strange wives, and regarded them as a grievous trespass;hence
they assembled weeping around him.
BE SO , ". There assembled unto him a very great congregation — The account of
his grief and public expressions thereof in the court before the temple, being in an
instant dispersed over all the city, brought a great company together; of men,
women, and children — Awakened by the words and examples of this holy priest
and wise ruler. See what a happy influence the example of great ones may have on
their inferiors!
COFFMA , "Verse 1
ISRAEL'S PUTTI G AWAY OF THEIR FOREIG WIVES A D CHILDRE ;
THEY ACCEPT SHECHA IAH'S PROPOSAL

3. " ow while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and bowing himself down
before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very
great assembly of men and women and children, for the people wept very sore. And
Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra,
We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the
peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. ow
therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such
as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble
at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for
the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do
it."
Two things in this paragraph are disputed: (1) Shechaniah is identified by Hamrick
[1] as the son of the violator (Jehiel) mentioned in Ezra 10:26, but Williamson
denied the certainty of that identification, writing that, "Jehiel is a common enough
name to preclude certainty of identity, even with a single extended family."[2] Keil
wrote that, "This Shechaniah is a different person from the descendant of Zattu
(Ezra 8:5), nor is Jehiel identical with the individual of that name mentioned in Ezra
10:26."[3]
(2) "Let us make a covenant ... according to the counsel of my lord" (Ezra 10:3).
The words `my lord' are given in the ASV margin as `my Lord'. Some scholars
consider them as a reference to Ezra; others view them as a reference to God.
Williamson's comment is that, "Shechaniah here refers to `the advice of my lord,'
Ezra";[4] and, based upon this, there is a postulation that Ezra had already
discussed the matter previously with Shechaniah. However, there is absolutely
nothing in the text which supports a proposition like that. We believe that the Douay
Version properly translates this verse, "Let us make a covenant ... according to the
will of the Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God."
Keil also agreed that in this passage the Hebrew text has, "According to the counsel
of the Lord," and that "there is no critical authority for changing it."[5] It appears
that translators have been too much influenced by the LXX.
"And let it be done according to the law" (Ezra 10:3). This was part of Shechaniah's
proposal to put away the foreign wives and their children. Deuteronomy 24:1 gave
instructions for the divorcing of a wife; but, "According to the teaching of the
Rabbis, divorce was allowed for every cause (Matthew 19:3)."[6] Thus, there would
have been no legal impediment to the adoption of Shechaniah's proposal, a proposal
which on that occasion was received by the vast majority of the people present.
Some phases of the implementation of this drastic remedy are not mentioned in the
text.
Ezra, however, very wisely moved at once to require all the people to swear that
they would accept and execute this requirement to put away their foreign wives and
their children.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:1 ow when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed,

4. weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto
him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the
people wept very sore.
Ver. 1. ow when Ezra had prayed] Had presented himself as a suppliant
(Hithpallel), and opened his cause to God the Judge, appealing to him, that he might
determine.
And when he had confessed] And begged pardon; deprecating the Divine
displeasure, as the word signifieth.
Weeping] Of this we read not in the former chapter, but of other effects of his
passion, as rending his garments, tearing off the hair of his head and beard, &c. His
sorrow at first might be above tears, which afterwards came gushing out amain, as
the blood doth out of a wound, but not till it hath first run back to the heart, to bear
the news to it, as I may so say. It is said of Athanasius, that, by his tears, as by the
bleeding of a chaste vine, he cured the leprosy of that tainted age. May we not say
the same of this good man?
And casting himself down before the house of God] Where all might see him, that
their eyes might affect their hearts, and contribute some tears of compunction and
compassion towards the filling of God’s bottle, as they had done sins toward the
filling of his bag.
Of men, women, and children] Anashim, Venashim, &c. A woman is a man, cut
short by the head, 1 Corinthians 11:3. Here was a general meeting of all sexes and
sizes joined together, to cut sin’s cart ropes.
For the people wept very sore] They could not wash their hands in innocency, they,
therefore, washed them in tears; they knew that as the sins of the old world, so of
this little world, needeth a deluge. Their sins, therefore, are as so many Hazaels to
them; their hearts as so many Hadadrimmons, the place they made to become a very
Bochim; they wept with a great weeping, and so vented their sins at their eyes, as
sick people do their ill-humours at the pores of their bodies.
WHEDO , "1. There assembled… a very great congregation — It seems that Ezra’s
prayer and his agonizing attitude had brought the most of them together. His
position before the house of God, in the fore-court of the temple, at the time when
many would naturally be resorting there for the worship of the evening sacrifice,
(Ezra 9:4-5,) and his attitude of kneeling down and spreading out his bands towards
heaven, would soon attract a multitude around him, and his touching prayer would
naturally make them weep.

5. For the people wept very sore — Or, as the margin, wept a great weeping. And this
helped further to call a large assembly to the spot.
WHEDO , "Verses 1-17
PUTTI G AWAY THE STRA GE WIVES, Ezra 10:1-17.
To us, with our Christian sentiments and feelings respecting the inviolability of the
marriage relation, this procedure of Ezra in enforcing the separation of these Jews
from their wives seems exceedingly harsh and severe. or is it to be reconciled, or
reconcilable, with our Lord’s profound teaching that the marriage relation is closer
and more inviolable than any other human relation, and never to be sundered
except in the case of fornication. Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:4-9. But Ezra’s action
must be viewed and explained from the Mosaic standpoint. His mission was to
reconstruct the Jewish state on the basis of the law of Moses, and that law, as we
have seen, expressly prohibited marriages with the heathen.
Exodus 34:12-16; Deuteronomy 7:3. It was also well known that marriages with the
heathen, and the consequent adoption of heathen abominations, has been the main
cause of all the woes of Israel. And now, in reconstructing the Jewish state, it would
be fatal to the permanence of the same to allow the precedent of extensive
intermarriages of this kind to stand unrebuked. Ezra could not but see that such a
precedent, if established, would govern the life and conduct of his people for the
generations that were to follow, and it was plainly irreconcilable with Mosaic law. It
was better, therefore, to check the evil then, though it cost great sorrow and trouble,
than to let it alone to ruin all the holy seed.
CO STABLE, "Verses 1-4
The proposal of Shecaniah10:1-4
The writer did not list Shecaniah among those who had married foreign wives (cf.
Ezra 10:18-44). He appears to have been another faithful Jew like Ezra. The present
situation distressed him. He too, though faithful, identified with the unfaithful.
Shecaniah proposed divorce, not separation. The Hebrew word translated "put
away" ( Ezra 10:3) is the same as the one translated "leaves" in Deuteronomy 24:2
where divorce is in view. "According to the law" ( Ezra 10:3) probably refers to the
law specifying the procedure for divorce in Deuteronomy 24 (i.e, with a certificate of
divorce). In Deuteronomy 24:1 God permitted divorce for "some indecency" in the
wife. Perhaps Ezra viewed these pagan women"s beliefs and practices as indecent.
[ ote: Howard, p296; Walter C. Kaiser Jeremiah , Hard Sayings of the Old
Testament, p142.] In the ancient ear East, mothers received custody of their
children when there was a divorce (cf. Genesis 21:14). However, in Greece they went
with their fathers. [ ote: Yamauchi, " Ezra -, ehemiah ," p669.]
"Foreign women were married contrary to the law of God. The marriages were
illegal from the outset. The sending away of the women is to guard the exiles against

6. the continuation of an illegal act. With their foreign wives they lived in sin. It is thus
clear from Ezra 10:4 that there is a strong legal background against which
Shecaniah has formulated his proposal. The dividing line between the permissible
and impermissible is strongly emphasized. Even the children born from the illegal
marriages must be sent away. This proposal is harsh in the light of modern
Christian conceptions. Why should innocent children be punished? We must
remember that the religious influence of the mothers on their children was regarded
as the stumbling block. To keep the religion of the Lord pure was the one and only
aim of Ezra and the returned exiles. As a small minority group, the repatriates lived
in the Holy Land among a large population of influential people who were followers
of various polytheistic religions. Against such larger numbers they had to defend
themselves and their religious identity. Thus the drastic measures are
understandable." [ ote: Fensham, The Books . . ., p135. Cf. Merrill, in The Old . . .,
pp352-53.]
Even today, some Jewish leaders view intermarriage with non-Jews as the major
threat to the continuation of Judaism.
"Therefore, the greatest danger to Jewish survival outside Israel today is not anti-
Semitism but assimilation, epitomized by the threat of intermarriage ... [and it] is a
direct threat to Judaism, for without Jews Judaism cannot exist." [ ote: Dow
Marmur, Intermarriage, p2.]
". . . the situation described in Ezra 9 , 10 was a classic example of one in which the
lesser of two evils had to be chosen." [ ote: Kidner, p71. See also A. Philip Brown
II, "The Problem of Mixed Marriages in Ezra 9-10 ," Bibliotheca Sacra162:648
(October-December2005):437-58.]
ELLICOTT, "Verses 1-6
X.
(1-6) The covenant of repentance and amendment. Here the narrative assumes
another form; and, in accordance with the solemnity of a great public transaction,
Ezra adopts the third person.
(1) Before the house of God.—Prostrating himself towards the Temple in the court,
where all the people saw him and marked his distress.
Wept very sore.—The evil penetrated domestic life, and the punishment, as was
already foreseen by “the women bringing the children with them,” brought special
family distress.
(2) Shechaniah.—The son of one of the transgressors (Ezra 10:2), whose action as
the representative of the people gives him an honourable memorial in Scripture.
There is hope in Israel.—A noble sentiment for a reformer even at the worst of
times.

7. (3) Special covenants with God—general, as in 2 Kings 23:3, and in regard to
particular offences, as here, and in Jeremiah 34:8—were familiar in Jewish history.
And at all times of critical sin or danger the voluntary intervention of individuals
was held in honour. (Comp. umbers 25:12 seq.)
According to the counsel of my lord.—Better, according to, or in, the counsel of the
Lord. Ezra would hardly be called “my lord,” nor had he given any counsel.
According to the law.—Which in Deuteronomy 24 prescribes the terms of divorce.
(4) Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee.—The commission given to Ezra (Ezra
7:11 seq.) seems specially referred to, and the deep prostration of his spirit renders
the encouragement here given very appropriate. It had its effect: as Ezra’s grief had
made the people sorrowful, so their vigour made him energetic.
(5) According to this word.—“According to” occurs three times, and each instance
must be noted. First, it was “in the counsel of the Lord” as God’s law, rightly
interpreted, demanded this measure, however seemingly harsh; secondly, it was to
be done “according to the law;” and, thirdly, according to the present covenant,
which, went beyond the law of Moses.
(6) The chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib.—Ezra retired for fasting and
prayer into one of the chambers opening on the court. It seems impossible to identify
these names with the Eliashib of ehemiah 12:10 and his grandson. Both names
were common.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:1. ow when Ezra had prayed, etc.—Ezra’s prayer is properly
designated as a confessing. ‫ַדּוֹת‬‫ו‬ְ‫ִת‬‫ה‬, comp. notes on Ezra 9:15. ‫ֵל‬‫פּ‬ַ‫נ‬ְ‫ת‬ִ‫מ‬ means:
prostrating one’s self, lying on the knees, comp. Ezra 10:1.—Before the house of
God,—elsewhere also “before the face of God,” in the court of the temple. That a
great crowd gathered together unto him had its reason in the fact that the people
wept very much, that Isaiah, for sorrow over the evil circumstances into which so
many had plunged themselves, and especially were deeply moved with him also in
view of the sins by which they had done it, and accordingly also desired assistance.
‫ֶה‬‫כ‬ֶ‫בּ‬, which form only occurs here, depends upon its verb, although it is separated
from it by the adverb ‫ֵה‬‫בּ‬ ְ‫ַר‬‫ה‬ in the manner of an infin. abs.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "THE HOME SACRIFICED TO THE
CHURCH
Ezra 10:1-44
EZRA’S narrative, written in the first person, ceases with his prayer, the conclusion
of which brings us to the end of the ninth chapter of our Book of Ezra; at the tenth
chapter the chronicler resumes his story, describing, however, the events which
immediately follow. His writing is here as graphic as Ezra’s, and if it is not taken

8. from notes left by the scribe, at all events it would seem to be drawn from the report
of another eye-witness, for it describes most remarkable scenes with a vividness that
brings them before the mind’s eye, so that the reader cannot study them even at this
late day without a pang of sympathy.
Ezra’s prayer and confession, his grievous weeping and prostrate humiliation before
God, deeply affected the spectators, and as the news spread through the city, a very
great congregation of men, women, and children assembled together to gaze at the
strange spectacle. They could not gaze unmoved. Deep emotion is contagious. The
man who is himself profoundly convinced and intensely concerned with his religious
ideas will certainly win disciples. Where the soundest arguments have failed to
persuade, a single note of sincere faith often strikes home. It is the passion of the
orator that rouses the multitude, and even where there is no oratory the passion of
true feeling pleads with irresistible eloquence. Ezra had not to speak a word to the
people. What he was, what he felt, his agony of shame, his agony of prayer-all this
melted them to tears, and a cry of lamentation went up from the gathered
multitudes in the temple courts. Their grief was more than a sentimental reflection
of the scribe’s distress, for the Jews could see plainly that it was for them and for
their miserable condition that this ambassador from the Persian court was
mourning so piteously. His sorrow was wholly vicarious. By no calamity or offence
of his own, but simply by what he regarded as their wretched fall, Ezra was now
plunged into heart-broken agony. Such a result of their conduct could not but excite
the keenest self-reproaches in the breasts of all who in any degree shared his view of
the situation. Then the only path of amendment visible before them was one that
involved the violent rupture of home ties, the cruel severance of husband and wife,
of parent and child, the complete sacrifice of human love on what appeared to be the
altar of duty to God. It was indeed a bitter hour for the Jews who felt themselves to
be offenders, and for their innocent wives and children who would be involved in
any attempted reformation.
The confusion was arrested by the voice of one man, a layman named Shecaniah the
son of Jehiel, who came to the assistance of Ezra as a volunteer spokesman of the
people. This man entirely surrendered to Ezra’s view, making a frank and
unreserved confession of his own and the people’s sin. So far then Ezra has won his
point. He has begun to gain assent from among the offenders. Shecaniah adds to his
confession a sentence of some ambiguity, saying, "Yet now there is hope for Israel
concerning this thing." [Ezra 10:2] This might be thought to mean that God was
merciful, and that there was hope in the penitent attitude of the congregation that
He would take pity on the people and not deal hardly with them. But the similarity
of the phraseology to the words of the last verse of the previous chapter, where the
expression "because of this" [Ezra 9:15] plainly points to the offence as the one
thing in view, shows that the allusion here is to that offence, and not to the more
recent signs of penitence. Shecaniah means, then, that there is hope concerning this
matter of the foreign marriages-viz., that they may be rooted out of Israel. The hope
is for a reformation, not for any condoning of the offence. It means despair to the
unhappy wives, the end of all home peace and joy in many a household-a lurid hope
surely, and hardly worthy of the name except on the lips of a fanatic. Shecaniah now

9. proceeds to make a definite proposal. He would have the people enter into a solemn
covenant with God. They are not only to undergo a great domestic reformation, but
they are to take a vow in the sight of God that they will carry it through. Shecaniah
shows the unreflecting zeal of a raw convert, an officious person, a meddler, he is
too bold and forward for one whose place is the penitent’s bench. The covenant is to
pledge the people to divorce their foreign wives. Yet the unfeeling man will not
soften his proposal by any euphemism, nor will he hide its more odious features. He
deliberately adds that the children should be sent away with their mothers. The
nests are to be cleared of the whole brood.
Ezra had not ventured to draw out such a direful programme. But Shecaniah says
that this is "according to the counsel of my lord," [Ezra 10:3] using terms of
unwonted obsequiousness-unless, as seems less likely, the phrase is meant to apply
to God, i.e., to be read, "According to the counsel of The Lord." Shecaniah
evidently gathered the unexpressed opinion of Ezra from the language of his prayer
and from his general attitude. This was the only way out of the difficulty, the logical
conclusion from what was now admitted. Ezra saw it clearly enough, but it wanted a
man of coarser fibre to say it. Shecaniah goes further, and claims the concurrence of
all who "tremble at the words of the God of Israel." These people have been
mentioned before as forming the nucleus of the congregation that gathered about
Ezra. [Ezra 9:4] Then this outspoken man distinctly claims the authority of The
Law for his proposition. Ezra had based his view of the heathen marriages on the
general character of the teaching of the prophets; Shecaniah now appeals to The
Law as the authority for his scheme of wholesale divorce. This is a huge assumption
of what has never been demonstrated. But such people as Shecaniah do not wait for
niceties of proof before making their sweeping proposals.
The bold adviser followed up his suggestion by rallying Ezra and calling upon him
to "be of good courage," seeing that he would have supporters in the great
reformation. Falling in with the proposed scheme, Ezra there and then extracted an
oath from the people-both clergy and laity-that they would execute it. This was a
general resolution. Some time was required and many difficulties had to be faced
before it could be carried into practice, and meanwhile Ezra withdrew into
retirement, still fasting and mourning.
We must now allow for an interval of some months. The chronological arrangement
seems to have been as follows. Ezra and his company left Babylon in the spring, as
Zerubbabel had done before him-at the same season as that of the great exodus
from Egypt under Moses. Each of these three great expeditions began with the
opening of the natural year, in scenes of bright beauty and hopefulness. Occupying
four months on his journey, Ezra reached Jerusalem in the heat of July. It could not
have been very long after his arrival that the news of the foreign marriages was
brought to him by the princes, because if he had spent any considerable time in
Jerusalem first he must have found out the state of affairs for himself. But now we
are transported to the month of December for the meeting of the people when the
covenant of divorce is to be put in force. Possibly some of the powerful leaders had
opposed the summoning of such a gathering, and their hindrance may have delayed

10. it, or it may have taken Ezra and his counsellors some time to mature their plans.
Long brooding over the question could not have lessened the scribe’s estimate of its
gravity. But the suggestion of all kinds of difficulties and the clear perception of the
terrible results which must flow from the contemplated reformation did not touch
his opinion of what was right, or his decision, once reached, that there must be a
clearing away of the foreign elements, root and branch, although they had entwined
their tendrils about the deepest affections of the people. The seclusion and mourning
of Ezra is recorded in Ezra 10:6. The next versa carries us on to the preparation for
the dreadful assembly, which, as we must conclude, really took place some months
later. The summons was backed up by threats of confiscation and excommunication.
To this extent the great powers entrusted to Ezra by the king of Persia were
employed. It looks as if the order was the issue of a conflict of counsels in which that
of Ezra was victorious, for it was exceedingly peremptory in tone and it only gave
three days’ notice. The people came, as they were bound to do, for the authority of
the supreme government was behind the summons, but they resented the haste with
which they had been called together, and they pleaded the inconvenience of the
season for an open-air meeting. They met in the midst of the winter rains; cold and
wet they crouched in the temple courts, the picture of wretchedness. In a hot, dry
country so little provision is made for inclement weather, that when it comes the
people suffer from it most acutely, so that it means much more distress to them than
to the inhabitants of a chill and rainy climate. Still it may seem strange that, with so
terrible a question as the complete break-up of their homes presented to them, the
Jews should have taken much account of the mere weather, even at its worst.
History, however, does not shape itself according to proportionate proprieties, but
after the course of very human facts. We are often unduly influenced by present
circumstances, so that what is small in itself, and in comparison with the supreme
interests of life, may become for the moment of the most pressing importance, just
because it is present and making itself felt as the nearest fact. Moreover, there is a
sort of magnetic connection between the external character of things and the most
intangible of internal experiences. The " ovember gloom" is more than a
meteorological fact, it has its psychological aspect. After all, are we not citizens of
the great physical universe? and is it not therefore reasonable that the various
phases of nature should affect us in some degree, so that the common topic of
conversation, "the weather," may really be of more serious concern than we
suspect? Be that as it may, it is clear that while these Jews, who usually enjoyed
brilliant sunshine and the fair blue Syrian sky, were shivering in the chill December
rains, wet and miserable, they were quite unable to discuss a great social question,
or to brace themselves up for an act of supreme renunciation. It was a question of
depression, and the people felt limp and heartless, as people often do feel at such a
season. They pleaded for delay. ot only was the weather a great hindrance to calm
deliberation, but, as they said, the proposed reformation was of a widespread
character. It must be an affair of some time. Let it be regularly organised. Let it be
conducted only before appointed courts in the several cities. This was reasonable
enough, and accordingly it was decided to adopt the suggestion. It is easy to be a
reformer in theory, but they who have faced a great abuse in practice know how
difficult it is to uproot it. This is especially true of all attempts to affect the social
order. Wild ideas are floated without an effort. But the execution of these ideas

11. means far more toil and battle, and involves a much greater tumult in the world,
than the airy dreamers who start them so confidently, and who are so surprised at
the slowness of dull people to accept them, ever imagine.
ot only was there a successful plea for delay. There was also direct opposition to
Ezra’s stern proposal-although this did not prove to be successful. The indication of
opposition is obscured by the imperfect rendering of the Authorised Version.
Turning to the more correct translation in the Revised Version we read, "Only
Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this
matter, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them." [Ezra 10:15] Here
was a little knot of champions of the poor threatened wives, defenders of the
peaceful homes so soon to be smitten by the ruthless axe of the reformer, men who
believed in the sanctity of domestic life as not less real than the sanctity of
ecclesiastical arrangements, men perhaps to whom love was as Divine as law, nay,
was law, wherever it was pure and true.
This opposition was borne down; the courts sat; the divorces were granted; wives
were torn from their husbands and sent back to their indignant parents; and
children were orphaned. Priests, Levites, and other temple officers did not escape
the domestic reformation; the common people were not beneath its searching
scrutiny; everywhere the pruning knife lopped off the alien branches from the vine
of Israel. After giving a list of families involved, the chronicler concludes with the
bare remark that men put away wives with children as well as those who had no
children. [Ezra 10:44] It is baldly stated. What did it mean? The agony of
separation, the lifelong division of the family, the wife worse than widowed, the
children driven from the shelter of the home, the husband sitting desolate in his
silent house-over all this the chronicler draws a veil, but our imaginations can
picture such scenes as might furnish materials for the most pathetic tragedies.
In order to mitigate the misery of this social revolution, attention has been called to
the freedom of divorce which was allowed among the Jews and to the inferior status
assigned to women in the East. The wife, it is said, was always prepared to receive a
bill of divorce whenever her husband found occasion to dismiss her; she would have
a right to claim back her dowry; and she would return to her father’s house without
the slightest slur upon her character. All this may be true enough, and yet human
nature is the same all the world over, and where there is the strong mutual affection
of true wedded love, whether in the England of our Christian era or in the Palestine
of the olden times, to sever the tie of union must mean the agony of torn hearts, the
despair of blighted lives. And was this necessary? Even if it was not according to the
ordinance of their religion for Jews to contract marriages with foreigners, having
contracted such marriages and having seen children grow up about them, was it not
a worse evil for them to break the bonds by violence and scatter the families? Is not
the marriage law itself holy? ay, has it not a prior right over against Levitical
institutions or prophetic ordinances, seeing that it may be traced back to the sweet
sanctities of Eden? What if the stern reformer had fallen into a dreadful blunder?
Might it not be that this new Hildebrand and his fanatical followers were even guilty
of a huge crime in their quixotic attempt to purge the Church by wrecking the

12. home?
Assuredly from our point of view, and with our Christian light, no such conduct as
theirs could be condoned. It was utterly undiscriminating, riding roughshod over
the tenderest claims. Gentile wives such as Ruth the Moabitess might have adopted
the faith of their husbands-doubtless in many cases they had done so-yet the
sweeping, pitiless mandate of separation applied to them as surely as if they had
been heathen sorceresses. On the other hand, we must use some historical
imagination in estimating these sorrowful scenes. The great idea of Ezra was to
preserve a separate people. He held that this was essential to the maintenance of
pure religion and morals in the midst of the pagan abominations which surrounded
the little colony. Church separation seemed to be bound up with race separation.
This Ezra believed to be after the mind of the prophets, and therefore a truth of
Divine inspiration. Under all the circumstances it is not easy to say that his main
contention was wrong, that Israel could have been preserved as a Church if it had
ceased to keep itself separate as a race, or that without Church exclusiveness
religious purity could have been maintained.
We are not called upon to face any such terrible problem, although St. Paul’s
warning against Christians becoming "unequally yoked with unbelievers" [2
Corinthians 6:14] reminds us that the worst ill assortment in marriage should not be
thought of as only concerned with diversity of rank, wealth, or culture; that they are
most ill-matched who have not common interests in the deepest concerns of the soul.
Then, too, it needs to be remembered in these days, when ease and comfort are
unduly prized, that there are occasions on which even the peace and love of the
home must be sacrificed to the supreme claims of God. Our Lord ominously warned
His disciples that He would send a sword to sever the closest domestic ties-"to set a
man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother," etc.,
[Matthew 10:35] and He added, "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is
not worthy of Me." [Matthew 10:37] In times of early Christian persecution it was
necessary to choose between the cross of Christ and the nearest domestic claims, and
then faithful martyrs accepted the cross even at the cost of the dear love of home
and all its priceless jewels, as, for instance, in the familiar story of Perpetua and
Felicitas. The same choice had to be made again under Catholic persecution among
the Huguenots, as we are reminded by Millais’ well-known picture, and even in a
quasi-protestant persecution in the case of Sir Thomas More. It faces the convert
from Hindooism in India today. Therefore whatever opinion we may form of the
particular action of Ezra, we should do well to ponder gravely over the grand
principle on which it was based. God must have the first place in the hearts and lives
of His people, even though in some cases this may involve the shipwreck of the
dearest earthly affections.
PETT, "Verses 1-5
Shecaniah Confesses To Ezra The Guilt Of Those Who Have Taken Idolatrous
Foreign Wives And Confirms Their Agreement To The Plan Put Forward By Ezra
And Those Who Tremble At God’s Word (Ezra 10:1-5).

13. A great assembly of men, women and children gathered to hear Ezra’s prayer, and
at the sight of his grief, and the solemnity of his prayer, they too wept bitterly. And
the consequence of this was that Shecaniah , the son of Jahiel, an Elamite, spoke to
Ezra on behalf of those who had transgressed, admitting their guilt, but expressing
hope that there might be a way out by their carrying out the plan formulated by
Ezra and those who trembled at God’s word. This was to make a sacred covenant to
put away all their idolatrous foreign wives in accordance with God’s Law. And he
calls on Ezra to rise because the matter was in his hands, and carry out the plan, as
they were with him on it. Ezra then arose and made them all swear that they would
do what had been suggested.
The narrative now changes to the third person. There are good reasons for this:
· Firstly because the writer began this section with the third person in Ezra
7:1-10, making the statement statesmanlike in preparation for the instructions of
Artaxerxes which follow, before altering to the first person, and therefore wants to
finish in the same mode in reverse. One purpose of this section is in order to indicate
how faithfully he has carried out his commission.
· Secondly because the writer (in this case therefore Ezra) wishes to
distinguish Ezra’s very personal commitment and response revealed in chapter 9
(which, however, underlines the fact that the commandments of God have been
broken - Ezra 10:10-11) with his statesmanlike behaviour, and the response of the
people, in chapter 10. In chapter 9 he is emptying his heart out before the people
and before God, and demonstrating his own deep concern. In chapter 10 he wants it
to be clear that he is carrying out the commission given to him by the king to ensure
the fulfilment of the Law of God in full (compare Ezra 7:14), making use of the
judges that he has appointed in accordance with the king’s command (Ezra 10:14,
compare Ezra 7:25), and that what happened was carried along by the people. ote
‘the commandment of our God’ and ‘according to the Law’ in Ezra 10:3, and the
emphasis on the fact that they have trespassed against God (Ezra 10:2; Ezra 10:6).
It is typical of a report that he gives the names in detail of those involved (Ezra
10:18-44).
Yet that the two chapters are a unity comes out 1). in that Ezra 10:1-2 only make
sense in the light of chapter 9, and 2). in the continuity of expression such as ‘those
who tremble at the words of God’ (Ezra 9:4; Ezra 10:3), and ‘trespass’ (Ezra 9:2;
Ezra 9:4; Ezra 10:2; Ezra 10:6 (ma‘al).
Ezra 10:1
‘ ow while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down
before the house of God, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very
great assembly of men and women and children, for the people wept very bitterly.’
It is easy to read passages like this without entering into the wonder of them. Here
was the beginning of a great spiritual revival, a work of the Spirit, that was to sweep
through Judah, and cause them to put away the idolatrous women from among
them, thus saving them from the curses of Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28. It must
not be underestimated. Those who suggest that Ezra somehow failed because over

14. twenty years later others had taken idolatrous foreign wives and had to be dealt
with by ehemiah overlook the importance of what Ezra achieved, a purifying of
the people from culpable wrongdoing in the eyes of God. It was inevitable, given the
nature of man, that others would later transgress in a similar way. First enthusiasm
always dies down
And as he prayed and confessed the sins of Israel, weeping and casting himself down
before the house of God, a great crowd of people came together, made up of men,
women and children, and they too wept bitterly. God was moving among the hearts
of His people. This great effect on the people is only explicable in terms of Ezra 9:3-
15.
The mention of women and children is poignant (and unusual in this kind of
context). We can be sure that they did not include the women and children who
would be sent away (Ezra 10:44). Thus the chapter opens with a depiction of the
godly women and children who are faithful to God’s Law, and closes with a
depiction of the idolatrous women and children who are contrary to God’s Law,
who do not involve themselves in the interests of the new Israel.
It will be noted that this parallels Ezra 9:3-5. In Ezra 9:5 he spread out his hands to
YHWH his God, and here he casts himself down before the house of God. In Ezra
9:4 those who were faithful among the people gathered around him as he prayed,
which emphasises that he is in a public place, i.e. the Temple courts, and here a
great congregation gather around him in the Temple courts. In Ezra 9:5 ‘at the
evening oblation’ suggests that he is present as it is being carried out, and thus in
the courts of the Temple.
PULPIT, "REPE TA CE OF THE PEOPLE, A D COVE A T SWOR TO,
O THE RECOMME DATIO OF SHECHA IAH (Ezra 10:1-5). While Ezra
was uttering his prayer aloud, upon his knees, in front of the temple, where the
evening sacrifice was being offered upon the great brazen altar (Ezra 3:2), the
people gathered about him, heard what he said, and had their feelings so stirred
that numbers of them burst into tears and "wept very sore" (Ezra 10:1). When he
had ended, Sheehaniah, the son of Jehiel, took the word, and suggested an
immediate step towards that reformation which Ezra seemed to him to have had in
his mind and to have tacitly recommended. This step was that all present should at
once enter into a special covenant with God that they would do their utmost to have
the mixed marriages dissolved, and the idolatrous wives, with their children, sent
out of the country. The idea of such a special covenant was no new thing. One such
had been made under Asa (2 Chronicles 15:12) against idolatry; another, more
general, under Josiah (2 Kings 23:3); a third, nearly parallel with this, since it
touched a single point of the law only, under Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:8). The
proposition of Shechaniah approved itself to Ezra, who "arose, and made the chief
priests and Levites" present and "all the people" present, to swear to this covenant.
"And they swore." An engagement of a most sacred character was thus entered into
by a number of influential persons, and the way was prepared for the actual
reformation which followed.

15. Ezra 10:1
When Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed. Rather, "As Ezra prayed, and
as he confessed." (Vulg.: "Orante Esdra et implorante." LXX.: ὡς προσηύξατο
ἔσδρας καὶ ὡς ἐξηγόρευσε.) Weeping and casting himself down. Ezra had knelt at
first (Ezra 9:5); but as he proceeded, and felt more and more the heinousness of the
people's transgression, he threw himself forward upon the ground, in the attitude of
extremest humiliation. Before the house of God. So far as can be gathered from the
context, Ezra was in the great court of the temple when the princes came to him
with their information (Ezra 9:1). He at once "sat down astonied" (verse 8). So he
remained until preparations began to be made for the evening sacrifice, when he
arose, and took up a position directly in front of the altar and the holy place,
towards which he proceeded to pray. Doubtless he had in his mind the words of
Solomon, assented to by God (1 Kings 9:3), and pleaded by Jehoshaphat (2
Chronicles 20:9): "What prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all thy
people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread
forth his hands towards this place: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and
forgive, and do," etc. (1 Kings 8:38, 1 Kings 8:39).
2
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the
descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have been
unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women
from the peoples around us. But in spite of this,
there is still hope for Israel.
BAR ES, "Jehiel was one of those who had taken an idolatrous wife Ezr_10:26; and
Shechaniah had therefore had the evil brought home to him.
CLARKE, "Shechaniah the son of Jehiel - He speaks here in the name of the
people, not acknowledging himself culpable, for he is not in the following list. It is in the
same form of speech with that in James, Jam_3:9. With the tongue curse we men. He
seems to have been a chief man among the people; and Ezra, at present, stood in need of

16. his influence and support.
Yet now there is hope in Israel - ‫מקוה‬ mikveh, expectation, of pardon; for the
people were convinced of the evil, and were deeply penitent: hence it is said, Ezr_10:1,
that they wept sore.
GILL, "And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered
and said unto Ezra,.... This man seems to be one of those that now came with Ezra
from Babylon, see Ezr_8:3,
we have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the
people of the land; not that he had taken any himself, being but just come into the
land, nor is his name in the list of those that had; but inasmuch as many of the nation, of
which he was a part, and his own father, and several of his uncles had, Ezr_10:26, he
expresses himself in this manner:
yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing; of a reformation of this
evil, and of pardon for it.
HE RY, " What a good motion Shechaniah made upon this occasion. The place was
Bochim - a place of weepers; but, for aught that appears, there was a profound silence
among them, as among Job's friends, who spoke not a word to him, because they saw
that his grief was very great, till Shechaniah (one of Ezra's companions from Babylon,
Ezr_8:3, Ezr_8:5) stood up, and made a speech addressed to Ezra, in which,
1. He owns the national guilt, sums up all Ezra's confession in one word, and sets to
his seal that it is true: “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange
wives, Ezr_10:2. The matter is too plain to be denied and too bad to be excused.” It does
not appear that Shechaniah was himself culpable in this matter (if he had had the beam
in his own eye, he could not have seen so clearly to pluck it out of his brother's eye), but
his father was guilty, and several of his father's house (as appears Ezr_10:26), and
therefore he reckons himself among the trespassers; nor does he seek to excuse or
palliate the sin, though some of his own relations were guilty of it, but, in the cause of
God, says to his father, I have not known him, as Levi, Deu_33:9. Perhaps the strange
wife that his father had married had been an unjust unkind step-mother to him, and had
made mischief in the family, and he supposed that others had done the like, which made
him the more forward to appear against this corruption; if so, this was not the only time
that private resentments have been over ruled by the providence of God to serve the
public good.
2. He encourages himself and others to hope that though the matter was bad it might
be amended: Yet now there is hope in Israel (where else should there be hope but in
Israel? those that are strangers to that commonwealth are said to have no hope, Eph_
2:12) even concerning this thing. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease is
threatening, but not incurable. There is hope that the people may be reformed, the guilty
reclaimed, a stop put to the spreading of the contagion; and so the judgments which the
sin deserves may be prevented and all will be well. Now there is hope; now that the
disease is discovered it is half-cured. Now that the alarm is taken the people begin to be
sensible of the mischief, and to lament it, a spirit of repentance seems to be poured out
upon them, and they are all thus humbling themselves before God for it, now there is
hope that God will forgive, and have mercy. The valley of Achor (that is, of trouble) is
the door of hope (Hos_2:15); for the sin that truly troubles us shall not ruin us. There is

17. hope now that Israel has such a prudent, pious, zealous governor as Ezra to manage this
affair. Note, (1.) In melancholy times we must see and observe what makes for us, as well
as what makes against us. (2.) There may be good hopes through grace, even when there
is the sense of great guilt before God. (3.) Where sin is seen and lamented, and good
steps are taken towards a reformation, even sinners ought to be encouraged. (4.) Even
great saints must thankfully receive seasonable counsel and comfort from those that are
much their inferiors, as Ezra from Shechaniah.
JAMISO 2-4, "Shechaniah ... answered and said unto Ezra, We have
trespassed — This was one of the leading men, who was not himself a delinquent in the
matter, for his name does not occur in the following list. He spoke in the general name of
the people, and his conduct evinced a tender conscience, as well as no small fortitude in
making such a proposal; for as his father and five paternal uncles (Ezr_10:26) were
involved in the guilt of unlawful marriages, he showed, by the measure he
recommended, that he deemed it better to obey God than to please his nearest relatives.
yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing — This hope, however,
depended on timely measures of reformation, and therefore, instead of surrendering
themselves to despair or despondency, he counseled them to amend their error without
delay, relying on God’s mercy for the past. Though the proposal may seem harsh and
cruel, yet in the peculiar circumstances of the Jews it was just as well as necessary; and
he urged the duty of seeing it executed on Ezra, as the only person competent to carry it
into effect, being possessed of skill and address for so delicate and difficult a work, and
invested by God, and under Him by the Persian king (Ezr_7:23-28), with the requisite
authority to enforce it.
K&D, "Verse 2-3
Then one of the sons of Elam, Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, stood forthfrom amidst
the assembly, and uttered the confession: “We have beenunfaithful towards our
God by marrying strange wives, but there is yethope for Israel concerning this
thing. We will now make a covenant withGod to put away all the strange wives and
their children from thecongregation, according to the counsel of the Lord, and of
those who fearthe commandment of our God, that it may be done according to the
law.”Shecaniah, of the sons of Elam (comp. Ezra 2:7; Ezra 8:7), is a different
personfrom the descendant of Zattu, mentioned Ezra 8:5; nor is Jehiel identicalwith
the individual whose name occurs in Ezra 10:26. ‫,ונּשׁב‬ andhave brought home
strange wives. ‫,הושׁיב‬ to cause to dwell (in one'shouse), said in Ezra 10:10, Ezra
10:14, Ezra 10:17, Ezra 10:18, and ehemiah 13:23, ehemiah 13:27, of bringing a
wifehome. Shecaniah founds his hope for Israel in this trespass upon
thecircumstance, that they bind themselves by a solemn covenant before Godto put
away this scandal from the congregation, and to act in conformitywith the law. To
make a covenant with our God, i.e., to bind themselves by an oath withrespect to
God, comp. 2 Chronicles 29:10. ‫,הוציא‬ to put away - theopposite of ‫.הושׁיב‬ All the
wives are, according to the context, all thestrange women (Ezra 10:2), and that
which is born of them, their children. Instead of ‫בּעצת‬ ‫,אדני‬ according to the counsel
of theLord, De Wette, Bertheau, and others, following the paraphrase in thelxx and
1 Esdras, read ‫,אדני‬ according to the counsel of mylord, i.e., of Ezra. But this
paraphrase being of no critical authority, thereis no sufficient reason for the
alteration. For Shecaniah to call Ezra my lordsounds strange, since usually this title

18. was only given by servants to theirmaster, or subjects to their sovereign, and
Shecaniah afterwards addresseshim simply as thou. Besides, Ezra had given no
advice at all in this matter,and still less had he come to any resolution about it with
the God-fearingmembers of the community. ‫יעשׂה‬ after the preceding ‫,נכרת־בּרית‬ we
will make a covenant, must be taken as hortative: and let it bedone according to the
law. ‫חרד‬ ‫,בּ‬ caring for with trembling.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:2. We have trespassed against our God — He says we, in the
name of the people, and their several families, and his own among the rest. For this
man’s name is not in the following catalogue, but there we have his father Jehiel,
and his father’s brethren, five other sons of his grandfather Elam, Ezra 10:26. It
was therefore an evidence of his great courage and disinterested faithfulness, that he
durst so freely discharge his duty, whereby he showed that he honoured God more
than his nearest and dearest relations, and set an admirable example of zealous
integrity. And have taken strange wives — Into conjugal society with ourselves. Yet
now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing — The case is sad, but not
desperate: the disease threatening, but not incurable. Our ruin may yet be
prevented by repentance and reformation. And there is hope that the people may be
reformed, the guilty reclaimed, a stop put to the spreading of the contagion, and so
the judgments which the sin deserves may be prevented. Therefore, let us not
sorrow like persons without hope, or sit down in despair, but let us fall upon action,
and amend our errors, and then trust to God’s mercy.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, [one] of the sons of Elam,
answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken
strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning
this thing.
Ver. 2. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel] Egregie cordatus homo A prudent and a
pious man, one that had feeding lips, and a healing tongue, one that knew how to
time a word, and to set it upon the wheels, Isaiah 50:4, Proverbs 25:11.
Answered and said unto Ezra] Such words as were uttered more from the bowels
than the brain, and thereby proved so effectual.
We have trespassed against our God] His father Jehiel had taken a strange wife,
Ezra 10:18; Ezra 10:26, so perhaps had he himself; or if not, yet he might fear
wrath, because of the same body politic with those sinners against their own souls.
God, he knew, might well draw blood of the arm for the cure of the head; as
Theodoret saith he did when he slew Pharaoh’s first-born.
Yet now there is hope in Israel, &c.] Hope that the people will repent, and hope that
God will have mercy, upon their repentance. Superest sperare salutem, He survives

19. to hope for health. If it were not for hope the heart would break. God, having
opened a door of hope, let us go boldly to the throne of grace; what should hinder?
“ Qui nil sperare potest, desperet nihil. ”
Who is able to hope for nothing, gives up hope for nothing. Cast not away your
confidence, which hath so great recompence of reward; but cast anchor within the
veil, and wait for day, as Paul did in the shipwreck. See Isaiah 50:10.
WHEDO , "2. Of the sons of Elam — Two individuals of this name are mentioned
in the list of those who returned with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:7; Ezra 2:31,) but there is
nothing to decide which one of them is here intended. Compare Ezra 10:26.
ow there is hope — From the fact that the people weep. There is always hope for
sinners that are penitent enough to weep.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:2. And Shechaniah——answered,etc.—That Ezra himself did
not step forth with a definite demand, that he waited until one of the congregation
should make a proposition, did not have its reason in the fact that his position did
not entitle him to make such a demand, but in the circumstance that the reformation
could only be of worth and thoroughly carried out when it came forth from the
congregation itself. Shechaniah here, the son of Jehiel, is to be distinguished from
Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel, in Ezra 8:5. And Jehiel, his father, is probably not
identical with the one mentioned in Ezra 10:26. Were it Song of Solomon,
Shechaniah would not have scrupled to make a proposition by which his own father
would be compelled to dismiss his wife. The sons of Elam, to whom he belonged,
occur in Ezra 2:7; Ezra 8:7, and again in Ezra 10:26. He was, and this is significant,
no priest, nor prince, but one of the congregation, so that in and with him the
congregation itself promptly arose to vindicate the law. ‫יב‬ ִ‫,הוֹשׁ‬ cause to dwell, is in
our chapter (comp. Ezra 10:10; Ezra 10:14; Ezra 10:17-18), and so also in ehemiah
13:23; ehemiah 13:27, used for the taking home of wives. Shechaniah confesses:
We have acted unfaithfully towards the Lord in taking home foreign women (comp.
Ezra 10:10 and ehemiah 13:27), in order to justify Ezra for his strong
condemnation of this intermarriage. At the same time he retains hope, ‫ֹאת‬ ‫ַל־ז‬‫ע‬ = at
this transgression (comp. Ezra 9:15), or rather in spite of it. ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ in itself sensu medio,
may readily have the meaning of “in spite of,” comp. Isaiah 53:9; Job 16:17. ‫ֶה‬‫ו‬ְ‫ק‬ִ‫מ‬ is
here=‫ָה‬‫ו‬ְ‫ק‬ִ‫.תּ‬ Shechaniah is of the opinion that a removal of the evil is still possible,
and perhaps he already recognized also the fact that the resolution to carry out this
difficult thing might give the impulse to a general reformation.
ISBET, "A GRIEVOUS TRESPASS
‘We have trespassed against our God.’
Ezra 10:2
I. It was, without doubt, a very grievous sin.—The people had acted in direct
violation of the express commandment of God, and nothing would tend to hinder
the testimony and impede the influence of the chosen people more fatally than this

20. intermarriage with heathen and strange women. We know how perniciously the
counterpart of this reacts on the children of households, where believers and
unbelievers are unequally yoked together.
II. At the same time Ezra’s measures were very drastic, and the weight of suffering
must have fallen very heavily on the poor wives and mothers, divorced from their
husbands, and separated from their children. In missionary policy one would rather
follow the wise counsels given by the Apostle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 7:12-
16).
III. It must have required a large amount of courage for Ezra to take the course he
did.—The matter certainly ‘belonged’ unto him, but many a man would have
flinched. Probably, however, the way was made easier for him by his very deep and
evident concern. He took the sin of the people home to himself, as though it were his
own, and they respected him for doing so. There is nothing that so moves people as
to see another moved for their sins, and they will bear almost anything from one
whose motive is transparently pure. Would that our hearts were as sensitive as
Ezra’s, and that we could induce in others, through our tears, a trembling on
account of sin!
Illustration
‘From our point of view, the dismissal of strange wives with their children seems
extravagantly severe—without doubt there were also many in the congregation of
that time who found the demand of Ezra beyond measure hard, many who might be
ruined by this proceeding. otwithstanding, if we properly estimate all the
circumstances of that period, and especially the great dangers that threatened the
very existence of the congregation, we shall be obliged to regard Ezra as in the right.
We are not always to avoid that which may be a stumbling-block. The point of view
which alone decides at last, is ever that the communion with the Lord must be re-
established or furthered; all communion and friendship with men must stand in the
background.’
PETT, "Ezra 10:2
‘And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to
Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the
peoples of the land. Yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.”
So moving was the situation that one of the chief men, Shecaniah the son of Jehiel of
the sons of Elam, came to Ezra admitting Israel’s guilt (he is not named among the
offenders), and recognising how many of the people had sinned against YHWH in
marrying idolatrous foreign wives. He clearly came as a spokesman for the people.
It was a crucial moment. Had this not been stopped Israel would soon have lapsed
back into idolatry, needing thereby to be again purified through exile. The remnant
would have been ripped apart. And yet having heard Ezra’s seemingly hopeless
confession of guilt, he was confident that there was yet hope for Israel in this
respect. This expression of ‘hope’ requires the background of Ezra’s confession of

21. total guilt and recognition that they deserve nothing from God. Indeed ‘concerning
this thing’ is exactly the same phrase as ‘because of this’ in Ezra 9:15.
‘Son of Jehiel.’ In Ezra 10:26 a Jehiel is named as an Elamite who had contracted a
mixed marriage. But Jehiel was a common name and there is no way in which we
can know whether it was the same Jehiel
‘Married.’ The word is only used of mixed marriages, and means literally ‘caused to
dwell’, indicating that by marrying the woman has changed her domicile. It occurs
only in this chapter and in ehemiah 13. Some have suggested that it contains
within it the idea that it is not really a full marriage. However, we should note that
theyarecalled ‘wives’ (nashim).
3
ow let us make a covenant before our God to
send away all these women and their children, in
accordance with the counsel of my lord and of
those who fear the commands of our God. Let it
be done according to the Law.
BAR ES, "Let it be done according to the law - i. e., let a formal “bill of
divorcement” be given to each foreign wife, whereby she will be restored to the condition
of an unmarried woman, and be free to marry another husband (see Deu_24:1-2). The
facility of divorce among the Jews is well-known. According to many of the rabbis, a bill
of divorcement might he given by the husband for the most trivial cause. Thus, no legal
difficulty stood in the way of Shechaniah’s proposition; and Ezra regarded it as
necessary for the moral and religious welfare of the people.
CLARKE, "Let us make a covenant - ‫ברית‬ ‫נכרת‬ nichrath berith, let us cut or divide
the covenant sacrifice. See the notes on Gen_15:10.
GILL, "Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God,.... Renew our

22. covenant with him, and lay ourselves under fresh obligation by promise and oath, and
unanimously agree
to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them; he means all the strange
wives, such marriages being unlawful; and such wives might the more easily be put
away, since bills of divorce were in frequent use with the Jews, and the children of such
also being illegitimate; and the rather they were to be put away, lest they should corrupt
other children, or get into the affections of their fathers, which might lead on to receive
their mothers again, and especially this was to be done as a punishment of their sin:
though no doubt but a provision was to be made, and was made, for the maintenance
both of wives and children:
according to the counsel of my Lord; either of Ezra, whom he honours with this
title, being a ruler under the king of Persia; or of the Lord God, according to his will
declared in his words, which is his counsel:
and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; feared to break it,
and dreaded the effect of such a breach; and who no doubt would follow the counsel of
the Lord, and join in their advice to act according to the proposal made:
and let it be done according to the law; as that directs in such cases.
HE RY, " He advises that a speedy and effectual course should be taken for the
divorcing of the strange wives. The case is plain; what has been done amiss must be
undone again as far as possible; nothing less than this is true repentance. Let us put
away all the wives, and such as are born of them, Ezr_10:3. Ezra, though he knew this
was the only way of redressing the grievance, yet perhaps did not think it feasible, and
despaired of ever bringing the people to it, which put him into that confusion in which
we left him in the foregoing chapter; but Shechaniah, who conversed more with the
people than he did, assured him the thing was practicable if they went wisely to work. As
to us now, it is certain that sin must be put away, a bill of divorce must be given it, with a
resolution never to have any thing more to do with it, though it be dear as the wife of thy
bosom, nay, as a right eye or a right hand, otherwise there is no pardon, no peace. What
has been unjustly got cannot be justly kept, but must be restored; but, as to the case of
being unequally yoked with unbelievers, Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so
clear in, will not hold now; such marriages, it is certain, are sinful, and ought not to be
made, but they are not null. Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet - That which ought not
to have been done must, when done, abide. Our rule, under the gospel, is, If a brother
has a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her
away, 1Co_7:12, 1Co_7:13.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:3 ow therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put
away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my
lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done
according to the law.
Ver. 3. ow therefore let us make a covenant] And so tie ourselves thereby to the
better abearance; that we slip not collar, that we detract not the yoke of God’s
obedience, Deuteronomy 10:20. Cleaving to God with full purpose of heart will

23. require swearing. Broken bones must have strong bands to close them. Tottering
houses must be cramped with iron bars, or they will soon fall down. If the vows of
God be upon us, if we are covenanters, it will help against the fickleness of our false
hearts; which cannot but know that if God shall be all-sufficient to us, we must be
altogether his, Song of Solomon 2:16. His is a covenant of mercy, even the sure
mercies of David; ours is a covenant of obedience to him, in every part and point of
duty.
To put away all the wives] This Jews might do in this, and some other cases. So did
Romans also with this only bill of divorce, Res tuas tibi habeto, Take what is thine
own, and be packing. But Christians may not do thus because of difference in
religion, 1 Corinthians 7:12, whatever some late upstarts have printed and practised
to the contrary.
And such as are born of them] The children of those strange wives, persisting in
their Paganism. These children, though disinherited, yet were not to be altogether
deserted; but nourished and nurtured also in the fear and admonition of the Lord,
Ephesians 6:4. Proving if, peradventure, God will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth, &c., 2 Timothy 2:25.
According to the counsel of my lord] Terms full of hearty respect and humble
submission. He calls Ezra My lord, as Hannah did Eli, with an eye to his dignity,
and authority, both as a priest and as a commissioner from the king of Persia. At
Venice every ordinary mechanic is called Magnifico. At Vicenza, in Italy, the
common title to a common gentleman is Signor Conte, as much as my lord earl. But
Ezra was every way honourable and deserving; titles of honour were not worthy of
him.
And of those that tremble at the commandment of our God] A periphrasis of a truly
pious person, sc. such a one as feareth God and keepeth his commandments. And
this is the man alone that is fit to judge the cases of conscience, and to comfort the
feeble-minded. ow, although the comfort given by God’s ministers, such as Ezra
was, be ordinarily most effectual (as is the blessing of parents, who are in God’s
room), yet others also, that are conscientious and experienced persons, that tremble
at the commandment of God, as here, may give excellent counsel and comfort in
such a case. But how like the motion of a puppet, the language of a parrot, is the
best discourse, in this subject of conscience, of the uninterested man.
And let it be done accordiny to the law] Which, though it take no direct and express
order in this case, yet by due deduction and just inference it was determined both
here and in ehemiah 9:2, that those strange wives should be put away.

24. WHEDO , "3. Make a covenant — Enter into a solemn agreement, and swear to
put away all the wives. Comp. Ezra 10:5; Ezra 10:12; Ezra 10:19.
And such as are born of them — This was Shechaniah’s proposition; but how far
the children with their mothers were put away does not appear, for in Ezra 10:11;
Ezra 10:19 there is no mention of children. Doubtless all infant children went with
their mothers, and this would be likely to be the rule with all children, unless some,
old enough to express a choice, preferred to be adopted into the Jewish community.
Such might have been retained as proselytes. See note on Ezra 10:44.
The counsel of my lord — The advice and arrangements which Ezra might propose.
Thus Shechaniah courteously addresses Ezra.
Those that tremble — Those who, like Ezra, had a keen sense of the dangers of the
hour, and the people’s exposure to the curse of God. See note on Ezra 9:4.
According to the law — The whole reform should proceed in strict accordance with
the law of Moses.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:3. To put away all the wives, and such as are born of them — If
this seem to any to have been an act of great severity, if not injustice, “let it be
observed that the law (Deuteronomy 7:1, &c.) was express, and enforced with
weighty reasons against these pagan marriages; and, therefore, since whatever is
done contrary to law is, ipso facto, null and void, these marriages with idolatrous
women, which were strictly forbidden by God, were, properly speaking, no
marriages at all; and the children which proceeded from them were in no better
condition than those whom we call bastards. o interposition of civil authority was
therefore needful to dissolve these marriages; the infidelity and idolatry of the party
espoused were as much an interdiction as any the most proximate degree of
consanguinity, which, by the laws of all civilized nations, is known to vacate the
marriage. But even suppose the civil authority thought proper to interpose in this
matter, yet wherein had the Jews any reason to complain, if, in just punishment of
their wilful breach of a known and positive law, they were excluded from cohabiting
with these illegal wives; those Jews, who, for every light and trivial cause, made no
scruple to give even their lawful wives a bill of divorcement, and might, therefore,
with much less difficulty, be supposed willing to repudiate those whom the laws of
their God, for fear of their catching the infection of idolatry, had forbidden them to
live with?” — Dodd. See Selden, Uxor. Hebrews, 50:3, c. 18. It may be observed
further here, that these wives and children were only cast out of the commonwealth
of Israel, but were not utterly forsaken: probably care was taken by authority that
they should have some provision made for them. For all was to be done according to
the counsel of Ezra, and other good men, who feared God, and would not enjoin or
advise any thing that was unjust or unmerciful. They would also probably take care
that the children should be educated in the Jewish religion.
COKE, "Ver. 3. To put away all the wives, and such as are born of them— It has
been objected by some, that it seems an act of extreme severity, if not of injustice,

25. upon the dissolution of these illegal marriages, to turn the children adrift, and cause
them to suffer. ow let it be first observed, that the law, Deuteronomy 7:1;
Deuteronomy 7:26 was express, and enforced with weighty reasons against these
pagan marriages; and therefore, since whatever is done contrary to law is ipso facto
null and void, these marriages with idolatrous women, which were strictly forbidden
by God, were, properly speaking, no marriages at all; and the children which
proceeded from them were in no better condition than those whom we call bastards.
o interposition of civil authority, therefore, was needful to dissolve these
marriages; the infidelity of the party espoused was as much an interdiction as any
the most proximate degree of consanguinity, which, by the laws of all civilized
nations, is known to vacate the marriage. But, even supposing that the civil
authority thought proper to interpose in this matter, yet wherein had the Jews any
reason to complain, if, in just punishment of their wilful breach of a known and
positive law, they were excluded from living with these illegal wives; those Jews,
who, for every light and trivial cause, made no scruple to give even their lawful
wives a bill of divorcement, and might therefore, with much less difficulty, be
supposed willing to repudiate those whom the laws of their God, for fear of their
catching the infection of idolatry, had forbidden them to live with? See Selden Uxor.
Heb. l. iii. c. 18.
REFLECTIO S.—Great is the influence of one good man. o sooner was Ezra's
deep concern noised abroad, than we find,
1. The congregation assembled before the house of God, men, women, and children;
and while they beheld him thus weeping over their sins, their eye affected their
heart, and they wept sore for themselves, brought to a deep conviction of the great
evil which they had committed. ote; It is very affecting when ministers weep over
their flocks; their tears are often more moving than their words.
2. When nothing but the sound of weeping is heard, asif there were no hope, the
voice of Shechaniah, like a good angel, revives the disconsolate hearts of Ezra and
the people. He owns the guilt which was evidently upon them, and in which his own
family was deeply involved; but he encourages them not to despair. The case,
though bad, was not utterly desperate; a remedy might still be found for the
inveterate disease, and God yet pardon their past transgression. He advises,
therefore, that without delay they should solemnly engage to put away their strange
wives, and the children begotten of them; and encourages them to believe, that if
Ezra, with those who trembled at God's word, zealously prosecuted the matter, as
he exhorted them, they would find enough to support them; and the affair, however
difficult, would be found practicable. ote; (1.) In the deepest distresses, let us never
despair. (2.) When our sin is seen and felt, however terrible and discouraging the
view, there is then hope. (3.) It is a great mercy, in times of soul-dejection, to have
one to support our fainting hearts. (4.) However dear to us our sins be, we must
entirely part with them; otherwise there is, indeed, no hope. (5.) That which seems
desperate to the dejected, the spirit of a courageous Israelite can bring about. To
have a good heart in times of difficulty, is more than half to overcome them.

26. 3. Ezra immediately consented to a proposal so agreeable to his desires, and
disdained not to be encouraged by an inferior. On the spot he engaged the chief
priests and Levites, and the assembled congregation, upon oath, to stand by him;
and thereto they consented.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:3. ow therefore let us make a covenant with our God—that
Isaiah, we will obligate ourselves by a solemn covenant and a sworn vow to God
(comp. 2 Chronicles 29:10) to put away.—‫ִיא‬‫צ‬‫הוֹ‬ is here the opposite of ‫יב‬ ִ‫—הוֹשׁ‬all the
wives—namely, as a matter of course, all foreign ones—and such as are born of
them—also to send away the children. This resolution might almost seem to be
unnecessarily severe, yet it is a matter of question whether it would not have been
harder still to separate the mothers from their children. The little ones still needed
their mothers, and the larger ones might easily be a support for their mothers.
Moreover, it was to be feared that the children, if they were retained, would
constitute a bond between the men and their banished wives that would soon again
reassert its power and render possible the return of the wives. We are by no means
to conclude from Ezra 10:11-19 that they contented themselves with reference to this
proposition, with the removal of their wives. Comp. against this view Ezra 10:44
and ehemiah 13:23 sq. Moreover, however, that which Shechaniah here in his zeal
so comprehensively proposes might yet not be so recognized and required, without
exception. There was no sufficient ground for removing sons who were willing to
live in accordance with the law, and who were not necessarily to be cast out on
account of the mother.—According to the counsel of the Lord and of those that
tremble at the commandment of our Lord.—That the Lord and those who tremble
at His command should be brought together in this way is almost remarkable. The
Sept. and Esdras, and after them also De Wette and Bertheau, read accordingly ‫ִי‬‫נ‬ֹ ‫ד‬ֲ‫א‬
, my Lord, which would be Ezra [so A. V. and Rawlinson.][F 1] But Ezra had not
yet given any counsel at all, and besides, it is hardly conceivable that Shechaniah
should here speak to him in such a reverent tone, and then in the verses immediately
following so familiarly and cheeringly. Already the Vulgate has juxta voluntatem
domini, and according to De Rossi, quite a number of MSS. read even ‫ָה‬‫וֹ‬‫ְה‬‫י‬. The
connection of the two expressions, which is in itself somewhat remarkable, would
probably say: according to the counsel of the Lord, as it is understood and
vindicated by those who tremble at His commandments. Entirely parallel is Acts
15:28 : “for it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.” The ‫ָה‬‫צ‬ֵ‫ע‬ of the Lord is
often elsewhere His decree (comp. Isaiah 5:19; Isaiah 19:17; Psalm 106:13); here,
however, according to the context, the counsel, which He gives, as Psalm 107:11;
Proverbs 1:25; 2 Kings 17:13. Thus mildly Shechaniah expresses himself, however,
because a specific command to dismiss the wives, and likewise also their children,
was not found in the law, and moreover also partly because the law, in so far as it
yet gave an impulse thereto, had a counselling, that Isaiah, a precautionary
significance with the good of the congregation in view. The clause ‫ה‬ֶ‫ָשׁ‬‫ע‬ֵ‫י‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ַתּוֹר‬‫כּ‬ is not
to be taken in an optative sense [A. V.]—which would be weak—but as a promise: it
shall happen according to the law. The fourth verse, moreover, passes over from the
tone of comfort to that of promise.—Arise, for upon thee is the matter.—This can
only mean: upon thee the matter has to depend; thou must carry it out according to
thy judgment and conviction.—And we with thee.—This means in accordance with

27. the foregoing. And we will be with thee, will help thee.
PETT, "Ezra 10:3
“ ow therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and
such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who
tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the law.”
The proposal, which had been advised by Ezra and those who tremble at the
commandment of God (obey it from the heart because of their fear of God), was that
they make a covenant in the presence of God, to put away all their idolatrous
foreign wives along with their children, restoring the position required by the Law
of not being married to such. The reference to ‘my lord’ may indicate the status of
Ezra as the king’s official representative. ote the emphasis on it being ‘in
accordance with the Law’. He wanted the king to know that he was getting Israel
right with God so that their prayers for him would be heard.
The verb ‘put away’ is not the usual one for divorce. This may tie in with the idea
that they were not seen as legally married (Ezra 10:2).
PULPIT, " ow therefore let us make a covenant. Shechaniah had probably in his
thoughts the (comparatively) recent covenant which the people had made in the
reign of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:15) on the subject of releasing their Hebrew slaves
after six years of servitude. That covenant was entered into before God, in the
temple, by the princes and all the people (ibid. Ezra 10:10). To put away all the
wives. Shechaniah probably held that marriages made contrary to the law were not
merely wrongful, but invalid. At any rate, since the law of Moses, as interpreted by
the Rabbis, allowed divorce "for every cause" (Matthew 19:3), the remedy
suggested was feasible, though scarcely one which the civil power could enforce.
And such as are born of them. "Filii matrem sequuntur" was a maxim of Roman,
and, apparently, also of Jewish law. Young children require especially a mother's
care. Older ones might be already tainted with idolatry. It was best, Shechaniah
thought, to make a clean sweep, and dismiss the children as well as the mothers.
According to the counsel of my lord. Ezra had not yet advised any course; but
Shechaniah gathers from the horror which he has expressed what his wishes must
be. Let it be done according to the law. Either, "Let the law, which forbids these
marriages, be in this way satisfied" (Dathe); or, "Let the repudiation of the wives
take place in the mode prescribed by the law" (see Deuteronomy 24:1
4
Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will
support you, so take courage and do it."

28. CLARKE, "Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee - By the decree of
Artaxerxes, he was authorized to do everything that the law of God required: see Ezr_
7:23-28. And all officers were commanded to be aiding and assisting; hence Shechaniah
says, We are with you.
GILL, "Arise,.... From the ground, where he lay prostrate:
for this matter belongeth unto thee; as a priest and scribe of the law, well versed in
it, and therefore could direct what was to be done according to it; and as a ruler under
the king of Persia, and a commissioner of his, to inquire whether the law of God was
observed by the Jews, Ezr_7:14 and so had authority to put the law in execution:
we also will be with thee; to help and assist in the reformation of this evil:
be of good courage, and do it; do not despair of going through it, though there may
be some opposition to it; begin, and doubt not of succeeding.
HE RY, " He puts them in a good method for the effecting of this reformation, and
shows them not only that it must be done, but how. (1.) “Let Ezra, and all those that are
present in this assembly, agree in a resolution that this must be done (pass a vote
immediately to this effect: it will now pass nemine contradicente - unanimously), that it
may be said to be done according to the counsel of my lord, the president of the
assembly, with the unanimous concurrence of those that tremble at the commandment
of our God, which is the description of those that were gathered to him, Ezr_9:4. Declare
it to be the sense of all the sober serious people among us, which cannot but have a great
sway among Israelites.” (2.) “Let the command of God in this matter, which Ezra recited
in his prayer, be laid before the people, and let them see that it is done according to the
law; we have that to warrant us, nay, that binds us to what we do; it is not an addition of
our own to the divine law, but the necessary execution of it.” (3.) “While we are in a good
mind, let us bind ourselves by a solemn vow and covenant that we will do it, lest, when
the present impressions are worn off, the thing be left undone. Let us covenant, not only
that, if we have strange wives ourselves, we will put them away, but that, if we have not,
we will do what we can in our places to oblige others to put away theirs.” (4.) “Let Ezra
himself preside in this matter, who is authorized by the king's commission to enquire
whether the law of God be duly observed in Judah and Jerusalem (Ezr_7:14), and let us
all resolve to stand by him in it (Ezr_10:4): Arise, be of good courage. Weeping, in this
case, is good, but reforming is better.” See what God said to Joshua in a like case, Jos_
7:10, Jos_7:11.
K&D, "“Up! for this matter concerns thee (thou art called to carry it out), and
weare with thee (will assist thee therein); be strong (courageous) and do it.”

29. TRAPP, "Ezra 10:4 Arise; for [this] matter [belongeth] unto thee: we also [will be]
with thee: be of good courage, and do [it].
Ver. 4. Arise] Surge, age, Summe Pater, Arise, act, most high father, said Mantuan
to the pope, exciting him to take arms against the Turk: to the same sense
Shechaniah here to Ezra; or rather as Jehovah to Joshua, Joshua 7:10, Get thee up:
why liest thou here on thy face?
For this matter belongeth unto thee] Who hast both a heart to do it, as appears by
thine humiliation, and also power in thine hand, as witnesseth thy commission.
We also will be with thee] Every man must show himself forward to further the
work of reformation, moving regularly within his own sphere, and trading every
talent for that end and purpose.
Be of good courage, and do it] These were verba non inflantia, sed inflammantia.
ot words, spoken but inflammed. And thus may one, by his hearty good counsel,
become an angel, nay, a god, to another. Senarclaeus, in an epistle to Bucer, telling
how John Diazius, the martyr, discoursed unto him the night before he was
butchered by the appointment of his own brother Alphonsus, hath this notable
expression, Ego vero illius oratione sic incendebar, &c., I was so inflamed with his
words, as if I had heard the Holy Ghost himself speaking unto me.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:4-5. Arise, for this matter belongeth unto thee — Who hast a
perfect knowledge of the law, and full power from the king of Persia to see every
thing done according to it; and who hast most skill to manage this matter. We also
will be with thee: be of good courage — He promises him his assistance, and that of
many other principal persons, which might give him confidence of success. Then
arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, &c., to swear — He admonished them of
their duty in the name of God, and then persuaded them to take a solemn oath,
which they did, to put away their strange wives.
PETT, "Ezra 10:4
“Arise, for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you. Be of good courage, and
do it.”
Shecaniah points out that the authority to act is in Ezra’s hands as the king’s
representative, and because as an intercessory priest Ezra has made it his own
personal concern by his deep concern and prayers, and Shecaniah promises that he
and the people are with him. Ezra must therefore act with courage and fulfil his
responsibility.
PULPIT, "This matter belongeth unto thee. Ezra's commission was to "let judgment
be executed on those who would not do the law of God" (Ezra 7:26), and so to

30. constrain them to obedience. It was therefore his place to inquire into the serious
matter brought before him, and set it right. We will be with thee. We, the "very
great congregation" which had gathered around Ezra, and of whom Shechaniah
was the spokesman, undertake to be with thee, and support thee, in the steps which
thou takest in this matter. Only be of good courage, and act.
5
So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and
Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had
been suggested. And they took the oath.
CLARKE, "And they sware - The thing was evidently contrary to the law of God;
and now he bound them by an oath to rectify the abuse.
GILL, "Then arose Ezra,.... From the ground where he lay:
and made the chief priests, and the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they
should do according to this word: he took an oath of all that were present to do
what was proposed, namely, to put away strange wives and their children:
and they sware; by means of which they were kept to their word of promise, an oath
being a solemn, sacred, thing.
HE RY, ". What a good resolution they came to upon this good motion, Ezr_10:5.
They not only agreed that it should be done, but bound themselves with an oath that
they would do according to this word. Fast bind, fast find.
JAMISO , "Then Ezra ... went into the chamber of Johanan — At a private
council of the princes and elders held there, under the presidency of Ezra, it was resolved
to enter into a general covenant to put away their foreign wives and children; that a
proclamation should be made for all who had returned from Babylon to repair within
three days to Jerusalem, under pain of excommunication and confiscation of their
property.
K&D, "Then Ezra (who during this speech had continued upon his knees) arose,and
made the chiefs of the priests, of the Levites, and of all Israel swear todo according
to this word; and they swore. ‫הדּבר‬ ‫הזּה‬ is Shecaniah's proposal to put away the

31. strange wives.
COFFMA , "Verse 5
THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE A D EZRA'S FAST
"Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to
swear that they would do according to this word. Then Ezra rose up from before the
house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of the son of
Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he
mourned because of the trespasses of them in the captivity."
"By making the people to swear to follow the suggested course of action while
feelings were still running high, Ezra ensured that there could be no turning back at
a later stage."[7]
In Ezra 10:6, "The reference to Johanan the son of Eliashib has featured
prominently in discussions of the date of Ezra."[8] However, Williamson in his
award-winning commentary, after several pages of discussions regarding the
bearing this passage is alleged to have regarding the date of Ezra, concluded that,
"The issue is too uncertain to be admitted as evidence for the dating of Ezra."[9] In
his conclusion Williamson affirmed his preference for the early date of Ezra.
Bowman identified the arguments from this passage that are alleged as excuses for
dating Ezra after ehemiah as, "One of the strongest arguments for doing so";[10]
and in the weakness of this argument we are assured that the traditional date of
Ezra prior to ehemiah is correct. Also, the Jewish conviction on this is paramount.
They were the divinely appointed custodians of the Scriptures, not the current crop
of critics.
Ezra's fast, which was secretly observed in one of the rooms of the temple, assures
us of his sincerity. Furthermore, his prayer was not a mere pretense ostentatiously
exhibited, "To produce an effect on the audience rather than upon God, like many
other public prayers,"[11] as some critics have alleged.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and
all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
Ver. 5. Then arose Ezra] According to the counsel of Shechaniah, Ezra 10:4. "How
forcible are right words!" Job 6:25. One seasonable speech, falling upon a prepared
heart, hath oft a strong and sweet operation; as that similitude used by Peter
Martyr, reading upon the First to the Corinthians, had upon Galeacius Caracciolus,
that noble Italian convert; and as some speeches of Staupicius had upon Luther,
who was likewise much confirmed and cheered up by conference with an old priest
at Erfurt, who largely discoursed about justification by faith, and explained the
articles of the Creed to him (Life of Luther, by Mr Clark).
And made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel] Oρκος, ερκος. An oath is a

32. fence; and, added to a vow or covenant, it doth notably conduce (as a holy exorcism)
to conjure down our rebellious wills, and, as cords or chains, to hamper our
treacherous hearts, that they backslide not, like backsliding heifers. Moist bodies, as
water, must be put into close vessels; so must man’s heart be bound together by
strongest helps and resolutions. either cast we any new snare hereby upon
ourselves, 1 Corinthians 7:35, but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old
debt we owe to God. Such was that of Jacob, Genesis 28:20; Genesis 31:13; of David
Psalms 119:106; of the azarites, umbers 6:2-3 Rechabites, Jeremiah 35:6. This
shows a very earnest desire to obey; it sharpeneth also our prayers, and disheartens
the devil; who, seeing us thus peremptory and resolute, will despair, and depart.
CO STABLE, "Verses 5-8
The assembling of the people10:5-8
Ezra first secured the cooperation of Israel"s leaders ( Ezra 10:5). The Eliashib of
Ezra 10:6 was not the same Eliashib who was the high priest in ehemiah"s day (
ehemiah 3:1; ehemiah 13:4; ehemiah 13:28). [ ote: See Kidner, pp153-55.]
Ezra executed the power over the exiles that he had received from Artaxerxes ( Ezra
10:8; cf. Ezra 7:26).
LA GE, "Ezra 10:5-8. ow Ezra made use of the favorable sentiment: he made the
princes, etc,to swear to do‫ֶה‬‫זּ‬ַ‫ה‬ ‫ָר‬‫ב‬ָ‫ַדּ‬‫כּ‬, that Isaiah, to carry out the proposition of
Shechaniah, then however continued his sorrow, and thereby deepened the zeal that
had been excited, until he saw the beginning of the execution of the reform.—Ezra
arose from before the house of God, that Isaiah, he left the place in the court, where
he had prayed, and went into the chamber of Johanan, the son of Eliashib, in order
to fast and mourn there. This cell was certainly in the wing that the new temple had
gained, and which served for the preservation of the garments of the priests and
other articles, but likewise for the provisional abode of the priests and Levites;
according to eb13:4–9 the high-priest Eliashib had erected a cell for the use of the
Ammonite Tobia, as his relative, which he used in his frequent visits to Jerusalem.
The names of Johanan and Eliashib frequently occur (comp. Ezra 10:24; Ezra
10:27; Ezra 10:36), one of the twenty-four classes of priests had its name from a
more ancient Eliashib, 1 Chronicles 24:12. But that an apartment or cell of the
temple should be named after a subordinate man of the name of Johanan, as Ewald
supposes (Gesch. IV, S263), is impossible. It is very likely that we are to think of the
later high-priest Johanan, and indeed the more so that he was not, it is true, as the
one under consideration, a Song of Solomon, but a grandson of Eliashib. The order
of high-priests from the time of Zerubbabel was as follows: Jeshua, Joiakim,
Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, Jaddua, comp. ehemiah 12:10 sq, where it is true
Jonathan stands in place of Jaddua; where however, according to ehemiah 12:22-
23, Johanan is meant. In the time of Ezra, Joiakim or Eliashib was high-priest. We
must probably suppose that the author used a later designation for the previous
times as one more intelligible to his readers. The apartment might have been present
already in the time of Ezra, which subsequently, perhaps in consequence of a
Revelation -building, was named after the high-priest Johanan. The second ‫ְֶך‬‫ל‬ִ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬ is a
needless repetition, and cannot be at all compared with the twice-repeated ‫ָם‬‫ק‬ָ‫י‬ַ‫ו‬ in

33. verses5,6, which at any rate each time receives a special definiteness by an
additional clause, (against Keil).[F 2]‫ם‬ָ‫שׁ‬ is besides, at any rate very seldom used in
the sense of “thither,” as it must be taken to be in connection with ‫ְֶך‬‫ל‬ִ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬. The
supposition of Cler. and Berth. that we are to read instead of it ‫ֶן‬‫ל‬ָ‫יּ‬ַ‫י‬, and he passed
the night or remained there, commends itself very much to our judgment. Already
Ezra 9:1 has: κὰι αὐλισθεὶς ἐκε͂ι, the Syriac: and he sat or remained there; the Sept.
however: κὰι ἐπορεύθη ἐκε͂ι.—Eat no bread nor drink water is to fast. Comp.
Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9.
PETT, "Ezra 10:5
‘Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to
swear that they would do according to this word. So they swore.’
At his words Ezra arose and made the chief of the priests, the Levites and all Israel
(a description which follows the previous pattern - Ezra 2:70; Ezra 3:9; Ezra 7:7;
Ezra 9:1) swear that they would do what Shecaniah had said. And swear they did.
This immediately makes clear Shecaniah’s role as mediator. They had all been
awaiting his reply. For ‘all Israel’ compare Ezra 2:70; Ezra 6:17; Ezra 8:25.
This is but a short sentence but it was a moment of crucial importance for the whole
future of Israel. Had it not happened that future would have been in doubt. It made
clear once and for all that Israel was to be kept free from idolatry, and that the
chiefs of the priests, the Levites and all the people accepted that fact. It decided the
future of Israel. Some might go astray in the future ( ehemiah 13:23-24), but none
could doubt then that it was a gross sin against God and Israel. ote that it says
‘chiefs of the priests’. The idea is not to exclude the ordinary priests, but to
emphasise the fact that the very highest religious authorities in the new Israel had
confirmed their agreement with Ezra’s stance.
6
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of
God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of
Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and
drank no water, because he continued to mourn
over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

34. BAR ES, "The “chamber of Johanan” was probably one of those attached externally
to the temple (see 1Ki_6:5-6). Eliashib was the grandson of Jeshua Ezr_3:2, and was
high priest under Nehemiah Neh_3:1. He could assign chambers in the temple to
whomever he pleased (see Neh_13:4-5).
CLARKE, "Johanan the son of Eliashib - Eliashib was high priest, and was
succeeded in that office by his son Joiada, Neh_12:10. Probably Johanan here is the
same as Jonathan in Nehemiah, who was the son of Joiada, and grandson of Eliashib.
Some suppose that Johanan and Joiada were two names for the same person.
GILL, "Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God,.... Departed from
thence:
and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib; who was of the
family of the high priest. Eliashib was grandson of Joshua the high priest, and succeeded
his father Joiakim as such; but though Johanan was never high priest, being a younger
son, however he was a person of note, and had a chamber in the temple, whither Ezra
went, either to advise with the princes and elders in it, Ezr_10:8 or to refresh himself
with food:
and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; or rather "not
yet had he ate bread" (o), as some render it; that is, not till he came thither, from the
time he first heard of the evil the people had committed; which very probably was early
in the morning, and it was now evening:
for he mourned for the transgression of them that had been carried away;
into captivity, but were now returned from it, and it grieved him the more, that, after
such kindness shown them, they should be guilty of such an evil.
HE RY 6-8, "We have here an account of the proceedings upon the resolutions lately
taken up concerning the strange wives; no time was lost; they struck when the iron was
hot, and soon set the wheels of reformation a-going. 1. Ezra went to the council-chamber
where, it is probable, the priests used to meet upon public business; and till he came
thither (so bishop Patrick thinks it should be read), till he saw something done, and
more likely to be done, for the redress of this grievance, he did neither eat nor drink, but
continued mourning. Sorrow for sin should be abiding sorrow; be sure to let it continue
till the sin be put away. 2. He sent orders to all the children of the captivity to attend him
at Jerusalem within three days (Ezr_10:7, Ezr_10:8); and, being authorized by the king
to enforce his orders with penalties annexed (Ezr_7:26), he threatened that whosoever
refused to obey the summons should forfeit his estate and be outlawed. The doom of him
that would not attend on this religious occasion should be that his substance should, in
his stead, be for ever after appropriated to the service of their religion, and he himself,
for his contempt, should for ever after be excluded from the honours and privileges of
their religion; he should be excommunicated.

35. K&D, "Hereupon Ezra left the place before the house of God, and went into
thechamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib, to fast and mourn there for
theunfaithfulness (transgression) of them that had been carried away(‫מעל‬ ‫הגּולה‬ like
Ezra 9:4). Johanan the son of Eliashibcannot actually be Johanan ben Eliashib
( ehemiah 12:23) the high priest,however natural it may be to understand by the
chamber of Johanan one ofthe chambers in the out-buildings of the temple, called
after the name ofsome well-known individual. For the high priest Eliashib was
acontemporary of ehemiah, and the high priest Johanan was not the son,but,
according to the definite statement, ehemiah 12:10, the grandson, ofEliashib, and
the son of Joiada (the correct reading of ehemiah 12:11 being:Joiada begat
Johanan and Jonathan). ow a chamber of the temple couldnot in Ezra's time have
been as yet called after a grandson of Eliashib thecontemporary of ehemiah;
( ote: This would not, indeed, be impossible, because, as we shallsubsequently show
(in our Introduction to the book of ehemiah, §2),Eliashib's grandson Johanan
might be already ten years of age at thetime of the transaction in question; so that
his grandfather, the highpriest Eliashib, might have called a chamber of the temple
after thename of his grandson. This view is not, however, a very probableone.)
and both Johanan and Eliashib being names which frequently occur (comp. Ezra
10:24, Ezra 10:27, Ezra 10:36), and one of the twenty-four orders of priests being
calledafter the latter (1 Chronicles 24:12), we, with Ewald (Gesch. iv. p. 228),
regardthe Johanan ben Eliashib here mentioned as an individual of whom
nothingfurther is known-perhaps a priest descended from the Eliashib of 1
Chronicles 24:12, and who possessed in the new temple a chamber called by
hisname. For there is not the slightest reason to suppose, with Bertheau, that
asubsequent name of this chamber is used in this narrative, because thenarrator
desired to state the locality in a manner which should beintelligible to his
contemporaries. Cler. and Berth. desire, after 1 Esdr. 9:1( καὶ αὐλισθεὶς ἐκεῖ ), to
change ‫ויּלך‬ ‫שׁם‬ into ‫ויּלן‬ ‫:שׁם‬ and he passed the night there without eating breador
drinking water. But the lxx having καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἐκεῖ , and the repetition of the
same word being, moreover, by no meansinfrequent, comp. e.g., ‫ויּקם‬ in Ezra 10:5,
Ezra 10:6, and finally ‫שׁם‬ repeatedly standing for thither, e.g., 1 Samuel 2:14 ( ‫שׁם‬
‫,)הבּאים‬ there are no adequate grounds for an alteration of the text. Theparaphrase
of 1 Esdr. arises merely from the connection, and is devoid ofcritical value. To eat
no bread, etc., means to fast: comp. Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into
the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and [when] he came thither, he did eat
no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them
that had been carried away.
Ver. 6. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God] Where God had promised
to hear prayers for Christ’s sake, whereof that house was a type. See Ezra 10:1.

36. And went into the chamber of Johanan] As a fit meeting place, where they might
consider, consult, and give counsel. Over the council chamber at Venice is written,
Let nothing be done here against the public welfare. A professor of the Turks’ law
proclaimeth before they advise or attempt aught, That nothing be done against
religion. Over the townhall in Zant are set these two verses in letters of gold:
“ Hic locus odit, amat, punit, conservat, honorat,
equitiam, pacem, crimina, iura, bonos. ”
Think the same we must needs of this holy conclave or council chamber, where the
Sanhedrim was present, and Ezra president.
He did eat no bread, nor drink water] Though fasting and faint with much
mourning, yet no food would down with him till he had gone thorough stitch with
the work. It was his food and drink to do the will of his heavenly Father. So it was
good Job’s, Job 23:12, and our Saviour’s, Matthew 21:17; Matthew 21:23. It was
then, when disappointed of a breakfast at the barren fig tree, and coming hungry
into the city, he went not into an eating house nor into a friend’s house to refresh
himself; but into God’s house, where he continued teaching the people all that day.
For he mourned because of the transgression] It was not then a natural abstinence,
arising from sickness, nor a civil, for health’s sake, or for some other worldly
respect; but a religious fast, which is usually to be held out a whole day, usque dum
stellae in caelo appareant (as an old canon hath it), till the stars appear in the sky;
yet so as that nature be chastised, not disabled for duty.
WHEDO , "6. Chamber of Johanan — One of the chambers or cells of the temple
where this son of Eliashib abode. Compare ehemiah 13:4-5. Johanan, or
Jehohanan, was probably the same as Jonathan in ehemiah 12:11. In that case we
must understand the word son here as grandson. Davidson asserts (Kitto’s Cyc.)
that Eliashib lived after ehemiah, but this does not show but that he lived at the
time of ehemiah and of Ezra also, and long before his death his grandson might
have occupied a chamber of the temple, and exercised the priestly functions.
Did eat no bread, nor drink water — Like Moses when he mourned for the
transgression of Israel, Deuteronomy 9:18.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:6. Then rose up Ezra from before the house — This seems to
imply that he made them swear before he would rise up; and went into the chamber
of Johanan — That, with the princes and elders, he might consult about the
execution of their resolution. And when he came thither — The word when is not in
the Hebrew: the clause, therefore, had better be translated, Till he came thither;

37. that is, till he saw something done, he ate nothing.
ISBET, "VICARIOUS PE ITE CE
‘He mourned because of the transgression of them.’
Ezra 10:6
I. An innocent yet penitent leader.—It is certainly worthy of remark that it is not
narrated of Ezra that he, as we should expect, expressly and severely denounced the
men married to strange wives, but that we are only told of his prayer and confession
of sin, in which he includes himself in the number of the guilty. Earnest sorrow for
the sin to be denounced in others, and especially persevering prayer in their behalf,
which in the nature of the case readily includes intercession, generally makes a
deeper impression, as well upon the persons themselves as their adherents, than
castigating sermons, for we are told that a great crowd of men, women, and children
assembled about the praying and sorrowing Ezra, deeply affected by his sorrow.
II. A guilty but penitent people.—If a head of a community sorrows in true
sympathy and anxiety for his people, the better class of the people do not lack the
earnest wish to remove his sorrow, and especially its cause: the love and respect
which they entertain for him very easily pass over into this wish, and then there is
easily found in the congregation itself a spokesman, who, as here Shechaniah,
openly acknowledges the guilt, and correctly expresses what it is necessary to do in
order to be free from it. Such a voice, moreover, arising out of the congregation
itself, such willingness, springing up of itself, is the best result and reward of the
sorrowing one. The willingness of the congregation, thus testified, is thereby at the
same time still further intensified and enlarged, and the improvement which then
takes place as a free act, has a truly ethical significance.
Illustrations
(1) ‘A true reformer should not hesitate to demand even the hardest things of the
congregation of the Lord, and express his demand with clearness and definiteness.
His rule is God’s word and will alone. Every modification, weakening, and
rendering it easy on his part, renders his work of reformation all the more difficult.
For it deprives him of his authority as an instrument of God; he thereby abandons
the only safe foundation, besides passes over to act in his own name. It renders it
difficult for the congregation to follow him. For to do God’s pure and clear will
there is ever to be found fresh readiness, but to execute the will of a man, or what he
may think proper, does not satisfy. The Divine will often demands much—very
much—but its accomplishment has a corresponding blessing, but this fails if God’s
demand is weakened by human devices.’
(2) ‘We cannot blame the authorities for assembling the people without delay even
in the cold and rainy season of the year. The removal of transgressions against
God’s law and will admits of no delay. But again, it would not have been justifiable
for Ezra to have prepared additional unnecessary burdens for the people, who
already had besides enough to bear in the burden they had taken on themselves if
He exposed them to the injuries of the storm, so to speak, punished them. Towards

38. him who is willing to impose upon himself every self-denial, even the hardest, for the
sake of the word of God, every possible forbearance has ever its proper place. And
under all circumstances he who would carry out a difficult work of reformation has
to take care that everything moves on in order.’
PETT, "Ezra 10:6
‘Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of
Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank
water, for he mourned because of the trespass of those of the captivity.’
His mission accomplished Ezra rose up from his position before the house of God
and went into the chamber of Jehohanan, the son of Eliashib. This would be one of
the side chambers in the Temple. And once he was there he fasted, taking no bread
or water, for he was ‘in mourning over the trespass of the returnees’. We can
presume that he also prayed, and expressed his grief to God. This confirms the
genuineness of his grief. He was heartbroken over the sins of the people.
ote On Jehoanan, the son of Eliashib.
The first thing we have to recognise is that Jehoanan, the son of Eliashib may be the
name given to the chamber after some past celebrity. Both Jehoanan and Eliashib
were popular names in Israel. o Jehoanan, son of Eliashib is otherwise known
apart from the one who was probably son of the Eliashib who was over the chamber
in the house of God ( ehemiah 12:23; ehemiah 13:4; ehemiah 13:7). This would
be a strange description for a High Priest.
Jehoanan (YHWH is gracious) was the name given to Jehoanan the son of Kareah, a
warlord in the days of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 40:7 ff; 2 Kings 25:23); Jehoanan the
eldest son of king Josiah (1 Chronicles 3:15); Jehoanan a son of Elioenai, who was a
post exilic prince (1 Chronicles 3:24); Jehoanan was the father of Azariah who was
a priest in Solomon’s time (1 Chronicles 5:35-36); Jehoanan was a Benjamite recruit
of David at Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:5); Jehoanan was a Gadite recruit of David at
Ziklag (1 Chronicles 12:13); Jehoanan was an Ephraimite chief (2 Chronicles
28:12); Jehoanan, son of Hakkatan, was an exile who returned with Ezra (Ezra
8:12). So the name was very popular.
In this very chapter three other Eliashibs are mentioned, a singer (Ezra 10:24); a
son of Zattu (Ezra 10:27); and a son of Bani (Ezra 10:36). It was the name given to a
descendant of David (1 Chronicles 3:24); the name of the head of the eleventh course
of priests (1 Chronicles 24:12); the name of a priest who was ‘appointed over the
chamber of the house of our God’ ( ehemiah 13:4; ehemiah 13:7), who was later
allied to Tobiah the Ammonite ( ehemiah 13:4), and allowed him the use of a great
chamber in the Temple ( ehemiah 13:5). We are not told the name of his son.
Finally it was the name of a High Priest in the time of ehemiah whose son was
named Joiada ( ehemiah 13:28), whose grandson was called Jonathan, and whose
great-grandson was called Jaddua. This Eliashib helped with the rebuilding of the

39. wall ( ehemiah 3:1). His name appears in the list of High Priests ( ehemiah 12:10-
11; ehemiah 12:22), where again his son was Joiada and his grandson Jonathan,
and his great grandson Jaddua.
In ehemiah 12:22 a Johanan is mentioned in the sequence Eliashib, Joiada and
Johanan and Jaddua, but it does not say that they were High Priests. On the basis of
this sequence some have equated Johanan with Jonathan, but in Ezra 10:23 this
Johanan is named as the son of Eliashib. And furthermore we have no grounds for
seeing the four named as being father to son. Johanan and Jaddua may well have
been otherwise related to Eliashib, with Eliashib’s great grandson being named
after this Jaddua, for it will be noted that they are all seemingly connected with the
reign of Darius. It was common for names to run in families. Furthermore if we see
Johanan as also being named Jonathan, he would therefore be the grandson of
Eliashib. But if this is so why is he called the son of Eliashib in a context where that
would be deceptive? Johanan is never stated to be the grandson of Eliashib.
It is far more likely that the Jehohanan spoken of in Ezra 10:6 who had a chamber
in the house was the son of the Eliashib who was appointed over the chamber of the
house of God who may well have given his adult son a chamber in the Temple area.
There is no good reason for identifying this Eliashib with the High Priest. But all in
all it would be foolish to argue a case from this multiplicity of facts.
An added complication is that in the Elephantine papyri dated 408 BC a Jehohanan
is named as High Priest. But that Jehohanan may well have been named after the
Johanan mentioned above as a contemporary relation of Joiada who was at some
stage High Priest, possibly due to the current High Priest being unable to function
one year at the Day of Atonement because he was ritually defiled (unclean). Anyone
who so acted as High Priest remained High Priest for life.
It is clear from all this that we cannot take the statement about Jehohanan the son
of Eliashib as an indicator of the date of Ezra’s ministry in Jerusalem, because we
do not know which Jehohanan it was.
End of ote.
PULPIT, "EZRA'S FAST (Ezra 10:6). Matters having reached this point, the
covenant having been made, and the only question remaining for consideration
being how the decision come to should be carried out, Ezra "rose up," and
withdrew himself for a time from the people, entering into one of the side chambers
of the temple, and secluding himself there. The guilt of his brethren still pressed
heavily on his spirit, and he continued the mourning which he had commenced as
soon as it came to his ears. To this mourning he now joined a fast of the strictest
kind, an entire abstinence both from eating and drinking, like that of Moses on
Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28). atural piety seems to have taught men generally
(Jonah 3:5-7), and the Jews among them, that such abstinence was a fitting
accompaniment of penitential prayer, and might be counted on to lend it additional
force with Almighty God. Compare the private and personal fasts of David (2

40. Samuel 12:16), Ahab (1 Kings 21:27), Daniel (Daniel 9:3), and ehemiah ( ehemiah
1:4).
The chamber of Johanan. On the temple chambers see comment on Ezra 8:29.
Johanan appears by ehemiah 12:22, ehemiah 12:23, compared with ehemiah
12:10-11, to have been really the grandson of Eliashib, who, as high priest, would
have the right of assigning him a chamber in the temple (compare ehemiah 13:4,
ehemiah 13:5). I did eat no bread nor drink water. Strict fasts of this kind had
been observed by Moses twice (Exodus 34:28, and Deuteronomy 9:18), and by the
inevites (Jonah 3:7), but they were very uncommon. Usually it was considered
enough to abstain from eating (1 Samuel 1:7; 1 Samuel 20:34; 2 Samuel 3:35).
Sometimes the person who fasted merely abstained from "meat and wine, and
pleasant bread (Daniel 10:3). Ezra's great earnestness appears in the severity of his
fast, which (it is to be remembered) was not for his own sins, but for those of his
brethren.
7
A proclamation was then issued throughout
Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble
in Jerusalem.
GILL, "And they made proclamation,.... By the voice of an herald:
throughout Judah and Jerusalem, unto all the children of the captivity; who
were returned from it:
that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; within a time
after mentioned.
K&D, "Verse 7-8
The resolution carried into execution. - Ezra 10:7, Ezra 10:8. A proclamation was
sentforth throughout Judah and Jerusalem (‫העביר‬ ‫,קול‬ comp. Ezra 1:1) to all the
children of the captivity to assemble at Jerusalem underpain of the punishment, that
whoever should not come within three days,all his substance should be forfeited and
himself excluded from thecongregation, according to the decision of the princes and

41. elders, who, asthe heads of the community, had taken the matter in hand, and made
thisannouncement. The forfeiture of substance is not its destruction, asprescribed
Deuteronomy 13:13-17 in the case of a city fallen into idolatry, but itsappropriation
to the benefit of the temple, after the analogy of Leviticus 27:28.
COFFMA , "Verse 7
ALL ISRAEL SUMMO ED TO ASSEMBLY I JERUSALEM
"And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the
children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto
Jerusalem; and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel
of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself
separated from the assembly of the captivity. 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."
"All his substance should be forfeited" (Ezra 10:7). This was indeed a great penalty,
and, besides that, those refusing to appear within the three days would also lose
their status among God's people. "The forfeiture of substance here was not its
destruction, as described in Deuteronomy 13:13-17 (for a city fallen into idolatry),
but the appropriation of the offender's substance to the benefit of the temple, as
described in Leviticus 27:28)."[12]
"All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themsieves together unto Jerusalem"
(Ezra 10:9). This apparently means all Israelites living in those areas and does not
exclude members of other tribes who might have been among them. Yet, the number
of the Ten Tribes who returned might have been so insignificant that the whole
nation of returnees might well have been known merely as the "men of Judah and
Benjamin."
"(It was the ninth month, the twentieth day of the month)" (Ezra 10:9). "This was
the month Kislew, corresponding to our months of ovember-December."[13]
Whitcomb identified this date as Dec. 8,457 B.C.[14] It was the rainy season in
Jerusalem, and the weather at that time could be very cold.
"All the people sat in the broad place before the house of God" (Ezra 10:9). "This
was a stone-walled enclosure, about 500 feet long and 150 feet wide, which might
have afforded sitting room for 20,000 men. Deducting the aged, the infirm, the sick,
and those under twelve years of age, and all the women, the whole total of men
returning from captivity would scarcely have reached that number."[15] "This
broad place was an open area in front of the watergate at the southeastern corner of
the temple court."[16] The first order of business was an address by Ezra, which
happily, due to the severe conditions, was rather brief.
"Trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain" (Ezra 10:9). The

42. addition of this detail assures us that this is an account by an eye-witness. The
urgency in which Ezra and the princes and elders viewed the matter of Israel's
intermarriage with foreigners is emphasized by their calling such a general meeting
at that unfavorable time of the year.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem
unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together
unto Jerusalem;
Ver. 7. And they made proclamation] Heb. They caused a voice to pass, viz. by a
herald or crier.
That they should gather themselves together] And so the guilty might be brought to
their answer, in that general assembly.
ELLICOTT, "Verses 7-17
(7-17) Conference of the people and commission to try individual cases.
(8) Forfeited.—This, as also what precedes and what follows, again recalls the
express commission of Ezra 7. But “according to the counsel” removes all
appearance of arbitrariness on the part of Ezra.
(9) Within three days.—From the time of hearing the summons. o town was more
than forty miles distant; and of course only those would come that were able, and
who came within the scope of the proclamation, the precise terms of which are not
given. They were not more than could assemble “in the street,” or open court of the
Temple. The minute specifications of date, and the two reasons for the trembling of
the people, and the whole strain of the narrative, bear witness to the veracity of an
eye-witness.
It was the ninth month.—Chisleu, our December, the rainy month in Palestine.
(10) Ezra the priest.—He stood up, not as the commissioner of Artaxerxes, not at
this moment as the scribe, but as the representative of God.
(11) Do his pleasure.—This procedure, humanly severe, is connected with the Divine
will.
From the people of the land, and from the strange wives.—The marriages were but
a subordinate branch, though a very important one, of the wider sin: that of
confederacy with idolators.
(13) We are many.—Better, we have greatly offended in this thing. The greatness of
the offence of course implied the number of the offenders.

43. (14) Stand.—As a representative body in session.
Until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.—A difficult
verse, owing to a slight peculiarity in the original. The meaning seems to be: until
the fierce wrath of our God—fierce while this matter lasts—be turned away from
us.
(15) Were employed about.—Rather, stood against. othing is said as to the reason
for opposition on the part of these and the two who abetted them. But the reason is
obvious enough. Some modern expositors are of their mind, and regard the act of
Ezra as remedying one sin by another still greater. They bring Malachi (Ezra 2:15)
to their support; but nothing in his prediction about “the wife of thy youth,” rightly
understood, tends to condemn the conduct here described.
(16) By their names.—As in Ezra 8:20, the names were before the writer, but are not
given.
And sat down.—That is, held a session. This was ten days after the general
assembly.
(17) And they made an end.—Though the number of transgressors was only one
hundred and thirteen, two months were occupied, which shows the care taken to do
justice, especially to the claims of the women put away.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:7. Thus they, namely, the princes and elders, who according to
Ezra 10:8 took the matter in hand—made proclamation.—‫קוֹל‬ ‫ִיר‬‫ב‬ֱ‫ע‬ֶ‫ה‬ as Ezra 1:1,—
and indeed probably whilst Ezra was still fasting and mourning, thus immediately
after Ezra’s penitential prayer and Shechaniah’s proposition—that all the members
of the congregation should assemble unto Jerusalem.
PETT, "Ezra 10:7
‘And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children
of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem,’
Ezra having retired to pray, the leaders of Israel made a proclamation throughout
Jerusalem and Judea that all the returnees from exile should gather at Jerusalem.
They would be living among the peoples of the land, but these were not invited. The
purpose was in order to determine who had married idolatrous foreign wives.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:7-9
PROCLAMATIO MADE, SUMMO I G ALL THE JEWS TO JERUSALEM
(Ezra 10:7-9). After due deliberation between Ezra, the princes, and the elders
(verse 8), it was resolved, as a first step, to summon all Jews—or, rather, all those
who had returned from the captivity, whether they were Jews or Israelites—to
Jerusalem, in order that the decision come to with respect to the mixed marriages

44. might be communicated to them. The limit of three days was fixed as the latest date
at which any one might make his appearance, and absentees were threatened with
the heavy penalties of excommunication and forfeiture of all their possessions.
Proclamation having been made to this effect "throughout Judah" (verse 7), there
was a gathering of all the males of full age to Jerusalem within the prescribed time.
The place of meeting was the great court of the temple (verse 9). According to
Hecataeus of Abdera (Fr. 14), this was "a stone-walled enclosure, about 500 feet
long and 150 feet wide," which might perhaps afford sitting room for 20,000 men.
Deducting the aged and infirm, the sick, and those between twelve and twenty years
of age, the country Jews would scarcely have reached this number.
Ezra 10:7
They made proclamation. Literally, "they made to pass a voice" ( παρήνεγ καν
φωνήν—LXX.). They sent criers to make the matter known. To all the children of
the captivity. i.e. to all those who, having returned from the captivity, were now in
the land. The expression is a favourite one with Ezra (see Ezra 2:1; Ezra 4:1; Ezra
6:16, Ezra 6:19; Ezra 8:1-36 :85, etc.).
8
Anyone who failed to appear within three days
would forfeit all his property, in accordance with
the decision of the officials and elders, and would
himself be expelled from the assembly of the
exiles.
BAR ES, "Separated from the congregation - i. e., “excommunicated”
(compare Exo_12:19; Num_19:20, etc.). The power assigned to Ezra is stated in Ezr_
7:25-26.
CLARKE, "All his substance should be forfeited - To the use of the temple.
So the Septuagint understood the place: Αναθεµατισθησεται πασα ᅧ ᆓπαρξις αυτου, “All

45. his substance shall be devoted to a holy use.”
Himself separated - Excommunicated from the Church of God, and exiled from
Israel.
GILL, "And that whosoever would not come within three days,.... Or at the end
of three days, as Jarchi, this was the space of time allowed, and which was decided upon
for the quick dispatch of this affair, to prevent any schemes that might be formed to
obstruct it, and lest those who had agreed to it, and promised to assist in it, should
repent and go from their word:
according to the counsel of the princes, and of the elders; for though Ezra had a
commission at large from the king of Persia, to inquire into and reform all abuses, he
chose not to act of himself, but to have the opinion and consent of the senate of the
nation; this he prudently did to avoid their envy, and that he might have less opposition,
and better success:
his substance should be forfeited; or "devoted" (p) to sacred uses, to be put into the
treasury of the temple, and used in the service of it, and therefore never to be returned:
and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried
away; into captivity, but now returned from it; that is, should be excommunicated from
them as a church, and be no more reckoned of the body politic, or a freeman of Israel,
and so deprived of all privileges both in church and state.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:8 And that whosoever would not come within three days,
according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be
forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been
carried away.
Ver. 8. And that whosoever would not come, &c.] Laws, if they be not penal and
compulsory, will soon be slighted by lawless, aweless persons. Howbeit, flies must
not be killed upon men’s brows with beetles; peccadillos must not be punished as
heinous crimes. Draco made it a capital offence to be idle, to steal pot herbs, &c. Of
his laws Aristotle saith that they were not worthy of remembrance, but only for
their too great severity; Ezra’s laws were more mild.
All his substance shall be forfeited] This, to men of their metal, was a forcible
motive. When some have a loss in their riches, it is, as it were, raked out of their
bellies; a piece of their very heart goes with it, Job 20:15, and they are filled with
unmedicinable sorrows, Ecclesiastes 5:12.
And himself separated from the congregation] Banished the land, or at least cast out
of the Church. Woe be to those that separate themselves, 1:19, Cainites you may call
them, Genesis 4:16; our church forsakers, worship scorners, that last brood of

46. Beelzebub.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:8. That whosoever would not come, &c., all his substance
should be forfeited — In the Hebrew it is devoted, which signifies that his goods
were to be so forfeited as to become sacred to God, and so rendered incapable of
being restored to the former owner, being put into the treasury of God’s house. And
himself separated from the congregation, &c. — o longer counted a Hebrew, but
looked upon as a Gentile, and excluded all communication with the Israelites: shut
out from the church, and people, and house, and public worship of God:
“excommunicated,” says Mr. Locke, “by which he was excluded from all society;
was not permitted to come within four cubits of the altar till absolved upon
repentance. After sixty days contumacy, the anathema or execration followed,
which, however, was rescinded upon repentance: nevertheless, it was not allowable
for any one to kill the person under such an anathema, but he might be supported in
a tent or cottage entirely separated from all society.” See Dodd.
COKE, "Ver. 8. Separated— Or, excommunicated, by which he was excluded from
all society. After sixty days contumacy, the anathema or execration followed; which,
however, was rescinded upon repentance: nevertheless, it was not allowable for any
one to kill the person under such an anathema; but he might be supported in a tent
or cottage entirely separated from all society.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:8. According to the counsel or resolution of the princes and the
elders,etc.—‫ַת‬‫צ‬ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫כּ‬ belongs to the following clause—the ban should fall upon every
one’s substance who should not come in after three days[F 3] to Jerusalem, his
possessions were to be forfeited for the benefit of the temple[F 4] ( Leviticus 27:28
and ehemiah 12:28), and he himself however should be at once cast forth from the
congregation.
PETT, "Ezra 10:8
‘And that whoever did not come within three days, according to the counsel of the
princes and the elders, all his substance would be forfeited, and himself separated
from the congregation of the captivity.’
And the warning given was that any who failed to turn up within three days would
lose all their possessions, whilst they themselves would cease to be members of the
assembly of the returnees. And this would be because they had failed to heed the
counsel of the princes and the elders, that is, the local leadership. But the authority
to make such a demand must have come from Ezra as the king’s appointed
representative. Confiscation of goods and banishment were two of the punishments
which Ezra was authorised to exact in Artaxerxes’ letter (Ezra 7:26).
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:8
Within three days. The limits of Judaea at this time appear to have been Bethel on
the north, Beersheba on the south, Jericho on the east, and the Mediterranean upon
the west. As the frontier was nowhere much more than forty miles from Jerusalem,

47. three days from the day that they heard the proclamation would be sufficient time
to allow all the able-bodied men to reach the capital. Forfeited. Literally, "devoted,"
i.e. confiscated to the temple treasury. Separated from the congregation. i.e.
excommunicated.
9
Within the three days, all the men of Judah and
Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the
twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people
were sitting in the square before the house of God,
greatly distressed by the occasion and because of
the rain.
BAR ES, "It was the ninth month - Or, our December, a time when rain fails
heavily in Palestine: four months, therefore, after Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem (compare
Ezr_7:9).
The street - Rather, “the court,” the “broad,” “spacious, place” (compare the 2Ch_
29:4 note).
CLARKE, "Ninth month - Answering to a part of our December.
Trembling because of - the great rain - Απο του χειµωνος, Because of the winter,
Septuagint; it was now December, the coldest and most rainy part of the year in
Palestine.
GILL, "Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin,.... And such of the ten tribes
that returned and dwelt among them:
gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days; the time
fixed: which they were the more careful to observe, since it was enjoined by the authority
of princes and elders, and the punishment in case of disobedience very severe:
it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; the month Chisleu,
which answers to part of November and part of December, so that the twentieth day

48. must be in the beginning of December; this was almost five months after Ezra came to
Jerusalem:
and all the people sat in the street of the house of God: the street which led to
the temple, the east street, 2Ch_29:4 though some think this was the court of the people,
called a street, because it lay open, not yet walled in; and, according to Josephus (q), it
was in an upper room of the temple in which Ezra was, perhaps the same with the
chamber of Johanan, Ezr_10:6,
trembling because of this matter; they were met about; some that were guilty, not
knowing what punishment would be inflicted on them, and others that were not, yet
dreaded the wrath of God, lest that should break out upon the whole congregation for it:
and for the great rain; which now fell, and which they interpreted as a token of the
divine displeasure: for though it was in winter time, yet not with them a time of rain, for
the former rain had fallen a month before; so that this being unusual and unexpected,
they understood it as betokening evil to them.
HE RY9-11, "Within the time limited the generality of the people met at Jerusalem
and made their appearance in the street of the house of God, Ezr_10:9. Those that had
no zeal for the work they were called to, nay, perhaps had a dislike to it, being
themselves delinquents, yet paid such a deference to Ezra's authority, and were so awed
by the penalty, that they durst not stay away. 4. God gave them a token of his displeasure
in the great rain that happened at that time (Ezr_10:9 and again Ezr_10:13), which
perhaps kept some away, and was very grievous to those that met in the open street.
When they wept the heavens wept too, signifying that, though God was angry with them
for their sin, yet he was well pleased with their repentance, and (as it is said, Jdg_10:16)
his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel; it was also an indication of the good fruits
of their repentance, for the rain makes the earth fruitful. 5. Ezra gave the charge at this
great assize. He told them upon what account he called them together now, that it was
because he found that since their return out of captivity they had increased the trespass
of Israel by marrying strange wives, had added to their former sins this new
transgression, which would certainly be a means of again introducing idolatry, the very
sin they had smarted for and which he hoped they had been cured of in their captivity;
and he called them together that they might confess their sin to God, and, having done
that, might declare themselves ready and willing to do his pleasure, as it should be made
known to them (which all those will do that truly repent of what they have done to incur
his displeasure), and particularly that they might separate themselves from all idolaters,
especially idolatrous wives, Ezr_10:10, Ezr_10:11. On these heads, we may suppose, he
enlarged, and probably made such another confession of the sin now as he made Ezr_
9:1-15, to which he required them to say Amen.
JAMISO , "Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin — The returned captives
belonged chiefly to these tribes; but other Israelites are also included under these names,
as they all were then occupying the territory formerly assigned to those two tribes.
It was the ninth month — that is, between the end of December and the beginning
of January, which is the coldest and most rainy season of the year in Palestine.
all the people sat in the street — that is, the court.

49. K&D, "After three days all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled atJerusalem.
This took place on the twentieth day of the ninth month. Onthis statement of time,
see the remark in Ezra 9:1. The assembledmultitude sat there on the open space of
the house of God, i.e., probablythe open space (‫)הרחוב‬ in front of the water-gate,
ehemiah 8:1, ehemiah 8:3, ehemiah 8:16, at the eastern or south-eastern side,
before the temple court; seeremarks on ehemiah 8:1. “Trembling” because of this
matter, the seriousness ofwhich they might perceive from the heavy penalty attached
to their non-appearance within three days, and “because of the rain.” The ninth
month,corresponding with our December, is in the cold rainy time of the year(comp.
Ezra 10:13), “when the rain usually falls in torrents” (Robinson, Phys. Geog. p.
287).
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves
together unto Jerusalem within three days. It [was] the ninth month, on the
twentieth [day] of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God,
trembling because of [this] matter, and for the great rain.
Ver. 9. Within three days] They durst not outstand their time, because their estates
were at stake. Why is there not the like care taken and speed used to make peace
with God, since for aught we know it is now or never, today or not at all? Is it
nothing to lose an immortal soul? why, then, cry we, Cras, Domine? Tomorrow,
Lord? why stand we trifling and baffling from day to day, till it be all too late?
Remember the foolish virgins, and be wiser.
It was the ninth month] Which was the month of May, saith Diodati; counting
September for the first, after the manner of the Persians, Esther 2:16; and this great
rain, being out of the accustomed season, was somewhat prodigious, and seemed to
portend God’s wrath, as 1 Samuel 12:17. Others make it to be in December, the
deep of winter; which, though it be an ordinary time of rain (whence in Greek also it
hath its name χειµα, and in Latin hyems), yet these showers were extraordinary,
more like spouts than showers; and thence the people’s fear much increased by their
guilt; for as no body is without its shadow, so is no sin without its fear, quia nec sine
conscientia sui, because it cannot shake off conscience (Tertul.).
BE SO , "Ezra 10:9. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin, &c. — ot only of
these two tribes, as appears from the following catalogue, in which there are priests
and Levites; but all the Israelites, (Ezra 10:25,) who are thus described, because the
greatest part of them were of these tribes, though others were mixed with them: and
because they all now dwelt in that land, which formerly was appropriated to those
tribes. All the people sat in the street — Hebrew, ‫,ברחוב‬ birchob, LXX., εν πλατεια,
in a broad, open place, of the house of God. Houbigant renders it, the court, namely,
that in which the people stood when they worshipped. This, lying open, and not
being yet enclosed by a wall, as may be conjectured from ehemiah 2:8, is called in
the original an open place, or street, and not ‫,חצר‬ chatser, the name usually given to
the court. Here the people were not only within view of the temple, but in a place

50. adjoining to it, that so they might be as in God’s presence, and be thereby awed to a
more faithful and vigorous prosecution of their work. Trembling because of this
matter — The offence they had committed against God, and the consequences
thereof; and for the great rain — Hebrew, ‫ם‬ i ‫,הגשׁמי‬ haggeshamim, the rains, or
showers. It was now the depth of winter, when the rains in Judea are extremely
cold; and the people seem to have taken the heavy rains on this occasion as a token
of God’s displeasure.
COKE, "Ver. 9. It was the ninth month, &c.— That is, some time in December,
when the rains in the Holy Land are extremely cold. Dr. Russel, in his account of the
weather at Aleppo, which very much resembles that in Judea, says, that "the natives
reckon the severity of the winter to last but forty days, beginning from the twelfth of
December and ending the twentieth of January; and that this computation comes in
fact near the truth; that the air during this time is excessively piercing, even to those
who are but just come from a cold climate;" &c. and it certainly must be much more
so, when the season proves wet, as was the case at present. See Observations, p. 15.
The street of the house of God, in this verse, is rendered by Houbigant, more
properly, the court; for it means that court where the people stood when they
worshipped.
CO STABLE, "Verses 9-15
The cooperation of the people10:9-15
This general assembly took place in late ovember or early December of458 B.C.
The people who were guilty agreed to divorce their foreign wives and to do this in
various local towns that were convenient to their homes in the weeks and months
that lay ahead. The Feast of Dedication fell on the twenty-fifth of this month.
Perhaps they made their commitment to God then.
"Since such marriages led to the introduction of foreign cults, Ezra"s drastic
solution is along the same lines as Joshua"s Shechem assembly with its commitment
to putting aside foreign gods ( Joshua 24:23)." [ ote: Blenkinsopp, "A Theological .
. .," p29.]
God sent rain ( Ezra 10:10; fertility) when His people got right with Him. He had
promised to do this in Deuteronomy 11:10-17.
Israel"s leaders permitted divorce on this occasion because of the unlawful
marriages of the Israelites. They had married contrary to the Law of Moses. Even
though God hates divorce ( Malachi 2:10-16), He permitted it ( Deuteronomy 24) to
achieve the larger goals of maintaining Israel"s distinctiveness-so she could fulfill
His purposes for her in the world ( Exodus 19). His purposes for the church are not
the same as His purposes for Israel. Furthermore, the church is not subject to the
Mosaic Law. Therefore it is inappropriate to appeal to the Jews" action on this
occasion as a precedent that Christians who are married to unbelievers should
follow (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:12-13).

51. Christians who believe that God does not permit divorce for any reason find this
passage very disturbing. Obviously Ezra was following the Law very carefully, and
he permitted divorce. I believe that the biblical revelation is that God hates divorce
and does not want people to practice it. However, He does permit them to practice it
in certain situations. Similarly, God does not want anyone to perish but wants
everyone to experience salvation ( 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). evertheless He
permits people to perish.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:9-17. The assembling took place on the twentieth day of the ninth
month, namely, in the same year which Ezra had arrived in Jerusalem. (comp. Ezra
9:1), and indeed in the square (‫חוֹב‬ ְ‫)ר‬ of the house of God, probably on the east or
south-east side of the temple court, yet not before the water gate. Comp. notes on
ehemiah 8:1. If already the affairs themselves, which naturally had not remained
concealed from them, were calculated to excite them to the utmost, and depress
them, the stormy weather that had set in made their situation utterly miserable. In
December it is not only cold, but the rain is accustomed to fall in torrents. Comp.
Robinson’s Phy. Geog., p287
PETT, "Ezra 10:9
‘Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to
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.’
The demand was responded to. All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered
themselves together in Jerusalem within the allotted time period, and this was in the
ninth month on the twentieth day of the month (around December). But it was
sheeting down with rain, and all the people sat in the rain in a broad place before
the house of God. And they were trembling, both because of the seriousness of the
matter in hand, possibly remembering the Law that had been read out to them two
months earlier at the Feast of Tabernacles ( ehemiah 8:1), and also because of the
dreadful rain. We have here the evidence of an eyewitness. The rain was not
something that was likely to be invented.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:9
All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem.
This is of course to be understood with certain necessary or natural exceptions, as of
the sick, the aged and infirm, and the youths under full age. Still it would be a vast
gathering, doubling probably for the time the population of the city. It was the ninth
month. The month Chisleu, corresponding nearly to our December. All the people
sat in the street of the house of God. The word translated "street" means any broad
open space, and is probably used here to designate the great court of the temple
(Patrick). By "all the people" we must understand as many as the court would
conveniently hold. If the court had the dimensions given it by Hecataeus of Abdera,
it may have accommodated the whole body of the country Jews. The great rain.
December is a rainy month in Palestine; and the incidental mention of "the great

52. rain" is one of those small touches which stamp the writer as an eyewitness.
10
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them,
"You have been unfaithful; you have married
foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt.
GILL, "And Ezra the priest stood up,.... In the midst of the assembly to make his
speech, acquainting them with the reason of their meeting together:
and said unto them, ye have transgressed; the law of God in the following
instance:
and have taken strange wives; of the people of the land and others, idolatrous
persons:
to increase the trespass of Israel; to add to former iniquities, which had been the
cause of the captivity.
JAMISO 10-17, "Ezra the priest stood up, and said — Having fully
represented the enormity of their sin and urged them to dissolve their unlawful
connections, he was gratified by receiving a prompt acknowledgment of the justice of his
reproof and a promise of compliance with his recommendation. But as the weather was
ungenial and the defaulters were too numerous to be passed in review at one time, it was
resolved that a commission should be appointed to examine into the whole matter.
These commissioners, assisted by the judges and elders of the respective cities, made a
minute investigation into every case, and after three months’ labor completely removed
all traces of the abuse. Doubtless, an adequate provision was made for the repudiated
wives and children, according to the means and circumstances of the husbands.
K&D, "Verse 10-11
Ezra then stood up and reproved the assembled multitude, saying: Youhave brought
home (‫,הושׁיב‬ comp. Ezra 10:2) strange wives to increase thetrespass of Israel (comp.

53. Ezra's confession, Ezra 9:6-15), and exhortedthem to give glory to God and to do
His pleasure, (viz.) to separatethemselves from the people of the land, and from the
strange wives. On‫תּנוּ‬ ‫,תודה‬ comp. Joshua 7:19. Separation from thepeople of the land
consisted, under the circumstances, in the dismissal ofthe strange wives.
COFFMA , "Verse 10
EZRA'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE PEOPLE
"And Ezra the priest stood up and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and married
foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. ow therefore make confession unto
Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from
the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women. Then all the assembly
answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said concerning us, so must we
do. But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to
stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly
transgressed in this matter. Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly,
and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women, come at
appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until
the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be despatched."
"The crowd readily agreed to Ezra's decision; but the implementation of it was far
too complex and complicated a thing to be accomplished immediately while they
were standing there shivering in the cold from the wintry rain."[17]
A commission was appointed, as the people suggested; and the people were called
before it in small groups, accompanied by their fellow-citizens, thus giving time and
opportunity to work out the problems one by one.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have
transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
Ver. 10. We have transgressed] We have disloyally, or rather sacrilegiously,
trespassed, by transgressing the covenant. Other men’s sins are rebellious against
God, but the saints’ sins are treacheries. Let the Philistines bind Samson, it wilt be
nothing so grievous to him as that his brethren should do it. Men’s offences are
much increased by their obligations.
To increase the trespass of Israel] To add to the heap which thereby is grown as
high as heaven, Ezra 9:6, and calls hard for fire from thence, Psalms 11:6, to
revenge the quarrel of the covenant. Draw water, therefore, before the Lord, as
those did, 1 Samuel 7:6. Yea, pour out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for
us, Psalms 62:7.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:10-11. When Ezra now held up before them their error and
called upon them to give praise unto the Lord, that Isaiah, honor Him indeed by the
separation from the people of the land, above all from the foreign wives—‫ה‬ָ‫תּוֹד‬ ‫ן‬ַ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ as
Joshua 7:19—then the entire assembly ( Ezra 10:12) announced with a loud voice,

54. accordingly unreservedly resolved—‫ָדוֹל‬‫גּ‬ ‫קוֹל‬ (the same as ‫ָדוֹל‬‫גּ‬ ‫ְקוֹל‬‫בּ‬3:12 ) is a closer
designation, which is co-ordinated to the subject or the Song of Solomon -called acc.
instrum., Gesen, S138, Anm. 3, comp. Psalm 3:5, etc.—according as thy words to us
we must do.—Already the Vulgate in accordance with the accents, connects ‫ֵינוּ‬‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬
with the foregoing (juxta tuum verbum ad nos, sic fiat); we may however in
accordance with Ezra 10:4, ehemiah 8:13; 2 Samuel 18:11, likewise connect ‫ֵינוּ‬‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬
with what follows, so that the sense is: thus we are in duty bound to do.
PETT, "Ezra 10:10
‘And Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, “You have been unfaithful, and
have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.”
Then Ezra stood up before the large assembled gathering and charged them with
being unfaithful to God by marrying idolatrous foreign women who would lead
them astray after their gods, adding to the guilt of their forefathers who had done
similar things and had in that way become guilty before God. Israel had been guilty
enough before the Exile. They were now adding to that guilt. They were behaving
like their forefathers, and therefore calling on God to punish them in the same way
as He had punished their forefathers. The point all the way through is not a racist
one but a religious one. These women would lead them astray after false gods, and
cause them to be unfaithful to God.
‘To increase the guilt of Israel.’ The picture is of a combined guilt which had built
up through the centuries as the people of Israel became more and more involved
with false gods. It had grown until it had reached the point where God had had to
deal with it by the destruction of the Temple, and the exiling of the cream of the
people. But now He had given them a new start. He had brought His remnant back
from exile as those who were faithful to the worship of YHWH. The burden of guilt
had been set aside. But if they now acted as their forefathers had done they would
be adding to that burden of guilt, and would be even more guilty than their
forefathers. They would be bringing the whole past guilt of Israel upon themselves.
(We can compare how the same had been true of the Amorites. Their collective guilt
had grown and grown until at length God had had to deal with it by sending Israel
in to exterminate them or drive them out of God’s inheritance. It did not happen in
Abraham’s time because at that time ‘the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full’
(Genesis 15:16)).
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:10-14
ADDRESS OF EZRA, A D CO SE T OF THE PEOPLE TO PUT AWAY THE
STRA GE WIVES (Ezra 10:10-14). Hitherto Ezra seems to have allowed the
leading part in the matter to be taken by the civil authorities, whom he had found
established in Jerusalem on his arrival (Ezra 9:1-8). ow he came forward boldly,
denouncing the sin committed, and as supreme governor commanding the
repudiation of the strange wives. The assembled multitude consented, but urged
that the matter required time; that the season was unsuitable for a prolonged stay of
the whole body of country Jews at Jerusalem, and that the business would be most

55. conveniently carried through by a standing commission consisting of the chief
authorities of the city of Jerusalem, who should take the case of each country town
separately, and, in conjunction with the elders and judges of each town, investigate
the alleged mixed marriages of each locality, and adjudicate upon them. By this
arrangement the bulk of the country Jews would be allowed at once to return home;
and the case of each locality being taken separately, only a small number would at
any given time be suffering the inconvenience of a compulsory absence from their
residences, and the expense of a stay of some duration in the capital. The proposal
was reasonable, and it appears to have approved itself to Ezra and his advisers, and
to have been at once adopted.
Ezra 10:10
Ezra the priest stood up. ow that the time had come for action, Ezra was not
wanting to his duties. The chief authority had been put into his hands by the Persian
king (Ezra 7:25, Ezra 7:26), and he was bound to exercise it. Accordingly, the great
bulk of the nation being assembled in obedience to the proclamation, Ezra came
forward in person, and declared that the "strange wives" must be put away. Ye
have taken strange wives. Literally, "have caused to dwell," i.e. have made them
come and live with you in the holy land.
11
ow make confession to the LORD, the God of
your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves
from the peoples around you and from your
foreign wives."
CLARKE, "Make confession - Acknowledge your sins before God, with deep
compunction of heart, and the fullest resolution to forsake them.
GILL, "Now therefore make confession to the Lord God of your fathers,.... Of

56. their sin, and express their detestation of it, and repentance for it:
and do his pleasure; obey his will, and particularly in this case:
and separate yourselves from the people of the land; the Canaanites, &c. have
no fellowship with them, make no covenants, contracts, and alliances with them for the
future:
and from the strange wives; they had taken; put them away.
K&D, "Verse 12-13
The whole assembly replied with a loud voice, and therefore with firmresolve:
According to thy word it is our duty to do. ‫עלינוּ‬ must not be drawn to what
precedes, as in the Vulgate, juxta verbum tuum ad nos, sic fiat, but to what follows,
as in Ezra 10:4, ehemiah 13:13; 2 Samuel 18:11. But - they further remark, Ezra
10:13 - the people are many, - i.e., the assemblage isvery large to be able to deal
immediately with the several cases; and it is(now) the time of the heavy rains, and
there is no power to stand without, - i.e., at the present season we are not able to
remain in the open air until thebusiness is discharged; neither is this the work of one
day, or of two, forwe have transgressed much in this matter, - i.e., one or two days
will notsuffice to investigate and decide upon all cases, because very many
havebroken the law in this respect.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:11 ow therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your
fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land,
and from the strange wives.
Ver. 11. ow therefore make confession] This is the soul’s vomit, Vomitus sordium
animae ( az.) which is the hardest kind of medicine, but most healthy. This the
devil knows, viz. that there is no way to purge the sick soul but upwards, by casting
out the vicious humour wherewith it is clogged; and, therefore, he holds the lips
close, that the heart may not disburden itself by so wholesome evacuation.
Confession must follow upon conviction, as here; and be followed by reformation.
And do his pleasure: and separate, &c.] For they that confess and forsake not their
sins are only dog sick. When they have disgorged their stomachs, and got a little
ease, they will be as bad as before. Wicked people make account of confession as
drunkards do of vomiting; that they may add drunkenness to thirst. But the man
that shall have mercy must both confess and forsake, Proverbs 28:13. Open a vein,
and let out his bad blood.
BE SO , "Verse 11-12
Ezra 10:11-12. Make confession unto the Lord; and do his pleasure — You have
sinfully pleased yourselves, now please God, by your obedience to his command.
And separate yourselves from your strange wives — There being no mention made
here of putting away their children, but only their wives, it has been thought by
some that they kept their children, and, by circumcision, dedicated them to God.

57. For, though Shechaniah proposed the putting them away, yet it may seem not
improbable that Ezra, to whom the matter was referred, when he came to order
what should be actually done, mitigated the severity of the proposal. As thou hast
said, so must we do — They saw no other remedy, and so submitted to what he
required.
PETT, "Ezra 10:11
“ ow therefore make confession to YHWH, the God of your fathers, and do his
pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign
women.”
So now what they had to do was come to YHWH, the God of their fathers, and
admit their sins, thereby glorifying Him. The words translated ‘make confession’
mean ‘give praise to’. We can compare how Joshua called on Achan to confess by
telling him to ‘give praise to YHWH’ by admitting what he had done. They then had
to do what He wanted them to do, and separate themselves from the peoples of the
land and from foreign women. The aim was to keep them from idolatry, and from
degraded activities which would be displeasing to God. That this was not racist
comes out in that many of ‘the peoples of the land’ were themselves Israelites, the
‘poor of the land’ who had been left behind when the cream were exiled (Jeremiah
39:10). And there would have been many of them. But because of their involvement
in Canaanite religion they were now equally seen as Canaanites. Therefore they
equally had to be avoided. We must in this regard remember that every aspect of
life in those days was involved with religion. It was almost impossible to associate
with such people without becoming involved in their religion. And that was why
they had to separate from them.
As we have noted before an exception was made for those who fully and truly
followed YHWH and had separated themselves from the filthiness of the land, that
is from idolatry and its consequences (Ezra 6:21). So not all were excluded. Those
who were excluded were excluded because of their adherence to the old religion of
the land.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:11
Make confession. This is undoubtedly the true meaning of t'nu thodah in this place,
and not "give praise" ( δότε αἴνεσιν), as the LXX. render. Separate yourselves from
the people of the land. The marriages naturally led on to familiar intercourse with
the relatives and friends of the women, and so tended to break down the barrier
between Jew and Gentile which it had been the special object of the Mosaic
legislation to erect.

58. 12
The whole assembly responded with a loud voice:
"You are right! We must do as you say.
CLARKE, "As thou hast said, so must we do - They all resolved to do what Ezra
then commanded, they did put away their wives, even those by whom they had children;
Ezr_10:44 : this was a great hardship on the women and children. Though by the Jewish
laws such marriages were null and void, yet as the women they had taken did not know
these laws, their case was deplorable. However, we may take it for granted that each of
them received a portion according to the circumstances of their husbands, and that they
and their children were not turned away desolate, but had such a provision as their
necessities required. Humanity must have dictated this, and no law of God is contrary to
humanity. After all, there is some room to doubt whether they did put them finally away,
for several years after Nehemiah found Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, Ammon,
and Moab; Neh_13:23. And if these were not the same women, we find that the same
offense was continued.
GILL, "Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice,....
That they might be heard, and to show that they were willing and ready to comply with
what was proposed:
as thou host said, so must we do; being convinced of their sin, they saw it was a
duty incumbent on them to put away their strange wives, and that there was a necessity
of it, to avert the wrath of God from them.
HE RY 12-14, "The people submitted not only to Ezra's jurisdiction in general, but
to his inquisition and determination in this matter: “As thou hast said, so must we do,
Ezr_10:12. We have sinned in mingling with the heathen, and have thereby been in
danger, not only of being corrupted by them, for we are frail, but of being lost among
them, for we are few; we are therefore convinced that there is an absolute necessity of
our separating from them again.” There is hope concerning people when they are
convinced, not only that it is good to part with their sins, but that it is indispensably
necessary: we must do it, or we are undone. 7. It was agreed that this affair should be
carried on, not in a popular assembly, nor that they should think to go through with it all
on a sudden, but that a court of delegates should be appointed to receive complaints and
to hear and determine upon them. It could not be done at this time, for it was not put
into a method, nor could the people stand out because of the rain. The delinquents were
many, and it would require time to discover and examine them. Nice cases would arise,
which could not be adjudged without debate and deliberation, Ezr_10:13. “And therefore
let the crowd be dismissed, and the rulers stand to receive informations; let them
proceed city by city, and let the offenders be convicted before them in the presence of the

59. judges and elders of their own city; and let them be entrusted to see the orders executed.
Thus take time and we shall have done the sooner; whereas, if we do it in a hurry, we
shall do it by halves, Ezr_10:14. If, in this method, a thorough reformation be made, the
fierce wrath of God will be turned from us, which, we are sensible, is ready to break
forth against us for this transgression.” Ezra was willing that his zeal should be guided
by the people's prudence, and put the matter into this method; he was not ashamed to
own that the advice came from them, any more than he was to comply with it.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud
voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.
Ver. 12. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice] But not
with a true heart, Hebrews 10:22. For within a few years they returned to their
vomit again.
As thou hast said, so must we do] These were good words, and not unlike those of
Laelius, in Lucan, spoken to Caesar:
Iussa sequi tam velle mihi, quam posse, necesse est.
But many of these fair promisers turned back, and dealt unfaithfully, like their
fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow, Psalms 78:57. Look how a
rotten bow, though otherwise fair, when an arrow is drawn to the head, and both
eye and arrow is levelled to the mark, yet it miscarrieth; so do the desires, purposes,
and promises that unsound hearts conceive in their afflictions, and under just
convictions.
PETT, "Ezra 10:12
‘Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, “As you have said
concerning us, so must we do.”
The whole gathering then answered in a loud voice, “As you have said concerning
us, so must we do.” The reply is similar to that of Israel in Exodus 19:8; Exodus
24:3, and may be patterned on it, possibly unconsciously, as they saw Ezra as
bringing to them the words of YHWH. The loud voice indicates their emotion and
the fullness of their intention. It was a full acceptance of joint guilt. They had been
made to recognise the great danger that they had placed the new Israel in, the
danger of an even worse judgment than before. And they had done this by ignoring
the evil in their midst. For they all knew that it had been happening, and they all
knew what they should have done something about it before this.
Clearly there had been much discussion of the matter before this. They all knew
why they had been summoned to Jerusalem. And they had had three days in which
to consider their position and their response. Thus it was not just an emotional
response to a direct appeal (although it was that as well) but a response from the

60. heart in recognition of their failure.
13
But there are many people here and it is the rainy
season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this
matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two,
because we have sinned greatly in this thing.
GILL, "But the people are many,.... Who have been guilty of this evil:
and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: in the
street, because of the rain:
neither is this a work of one day or two; to inquire into this affair, who they are
that have taken strange wives, and to persuade or oblige them to put them away:
for we are many that have transgressed in this thing; in marrying strange wives.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:13 But the people [are] many, and [it is] a time of much rain, and
we are not able to stand without, neither [is this] a work of one day or two: for we
are many that have transgressed in this thing.
Ver. 13. either is this work of one day or two] o more is repentance, that first and
continual work of every Christian. This made Tertullian say, that he was born for
nothing else but for repentance, ulli rei natus nisi poenitentiae. Surely, as in a ship
there is continual pumping; and as in a beggar’s coat continual piecing; so in the
best soul there wants not matter of daily repenting: this house must be every day
swept; this candlestick every day scoured. Besides, some sins are past in time that
are not past in deed, if we dwell not in the undoing and reversing of them. The best
of these hereafter mentioned were to begin anew their repentance, because they had
not considered their marrying strange wives.
For we are many that have transgressed] Heb. We have multiplied to transgress.

61. The comfort is, that God will in like sort multiply to pardon, if we return unto him;
that is the expression, Isaiah 55:7.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:13-14. However, it could not be established in this way, namely,
by a general declaration, whether many of the guilty would not be dissatisfied with
the step concluded upon, and seek to withdraw from their obligation. If the
separation was to be carried out energetically and surely, it must be established in
detail who were united in marriage with strange women, and it was necessary that
the elders or princes in question should undertake to take care that the resolution of
the congregation should everywhere have its proper consequences. Thus it was
necessary that there should be confirmations and explanations that demanded a
long time. Those who had spoken accordingly continue:—But the people are
many.—‫ָל‬‫ב‬ֲ‫א‬ is an adversative particle of limitation. Their meaning is that on
account of the large number of the assembly, it is not certain whether they all were
really agreed.—And the time is violent rain.—This is briefly for: the time is that of
the violent rain, just as “thine eyes are doves” Song of Solomon 4:1.— And there is
no strength to stand without = we cannot longer stand in the cold.—And the
business is not for one day and not for two, etc.—There are so many cases that must
be established and examined into.
PETT, "Ezra 10:13
“But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand
outside, nor is this a work of one day or two, for we have greatly transgressed in this
matter.”
These words were clearly addressed to Ezra by their leaders. They had come
together to Ezra, and now they pointed out that the full implementing of what the
crowds had said would not be quite so easy. or was it something that could be
worked out there and then, for the inclement weather made it impossible for the
whole crowd to stand waiting in the rain. Furthermore it was something which had
to be looked into in depth. It was not merely the work of one or two days, because of
the depth to which Israel had sunk in the matter, and they acknowledged the
seriousness of the situation. They had greatly transgressed and disobeyed the Law
of God.
14
Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then
let everyone in our towns who has married a
foreign woman come at a set time, along with the
elders and judges of each town, until the fierce

62. anger of our God in this matter is turned away
from us."
GILL, "Let now our rulers of all the congregations stand,.... Let the great
sanhedrim, or court of judicature at Jerusalem, be fixed and continued, and others:
and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at
appointed times; to the court at Jerusalem, at certain and fixed known times of their
sittings there for this purpose:
and with the elders of every city and the judges thereof; the principal
magistrates of it, who were to testify that upon search and inquiry those were the men
and all the men in their city, that had taken strange wives, and that they had put them
away according to the order of the princes and elders; and this they proposed to be done
in every city, and the account to be brought to the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, who were to
sit at certain times till this affair was finished:
until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us: which it
seems had broke out in some instances, and they feared would do yet more, unless this
step was taken, whereby they hoped it would be averted.
K&D, "“Let then our rulers stand for the whole congregation, and let all who in
allour cities have brought home strange wives come at appointed times, andwith
them the elders of each city, and the judges thereof, until the fiercewrath of our God
be turned away from us, as long as this matter lasts.”There were so many cases to
deal with, that the rulers, as the judicialauthorities, must decide in this matter; and
those who in all the cities ofthe land had transgressed, were to appear before these
authorities, andsubmit their individual cases to their jurisdiction. The choice of the
verb ‫יעמד‬‫וּ‬ , to stand or set oneself to discharge some business, heretherefore to give
judgment, is occasioned by the preceding ‫.לעמוד‬ The whole community had
assembled according to theproclamation, and was standing there for the purpose of
bringing thematter to a close. This they were not, however, able to do, for the
reasons stated Ezra 10:13;hence the princes, as rulers of the community, are to
remain for thedischarge of the business. ‫לכל־הקּהל‬ is not a genitive dependent on‫שׂרינוּ‬
, and explanatory of the suffix of this word-our, viz.,the whole congregation's,
princes (Bertheau) - an unnatural and superfluouselucidation; for if the whole
congregation say: our princes, it is self-evidentthat not the princes of a section or
portion of the people, but of the wholecongregation, must be intended. ‫לכל־הקּהל‬ is
the object of ‫:יעמדוּ‬ let them stand for the whole congregation (‫עמד‬ ‫ל‬ like ‫קוּם‬ ‫,ל‬ Psalm
94:16), not instead of, but for the good of thecongregation, and transact its business.
In our cities, i.e., including thecapital, for there is here no contrast between

63. Jerusalem and the othercities. The article to ‫ההשׁיב‬ stands, as is often the case, for
the relative‫,אשׁר‬ e.g., Ezra 10:17, Ezra 8:25. ‫עתּים‬ ‫,מזמּנים‬appointed times, stated
terms, used only here and in ehemiah 10:35; ehemiah 13:31. ‫זמּן‬ is a Chaldaistic
expression. With the accused were to come theelders and judges of every city, to
furnish the necessary explanations andevidence. ‫עד‬ ‫,להשׁיב‬ until the turning away of
thefierceness of the wrath (‫עד‬ ‫ל‬ according to the later usage of thelanguage instead
of ‫עד‬ only, comp. Ewald, §315, a, not instead of ‫ל‬ only, as Bertheau seeks, by
incorrectly interpreted passages, to prove). The meaning is: until the fierce wrath of
God concerning these marriagesshall be turned away, by their dissolution and the
dismissal of the strangewomen from the congregation. The last words, ‫עד‬ ‫לדּבר‬ ‫,הזּה‬
offer some difficulty. De Wette and Bertheau translate them: on account of this
matter, which ‫עד‬ ‫ל‬ can by no means signify. We regard ‫עד‬ ‫ל‬=‫עד‬ ofthe older
language, in the sense of during, like 2 Kings 9:22, according towhich the meaning
is: as long as this thing lasts; but we connect thesewords, not, as J. H. Michaelis,
with the immediately preceding clause: thewrath which is fierce during this matter
(quae usque, i.e., constanter ardet),but take them as more exactly defining the
leading idea of the verse: theprinces are to stand and judge the guilty as long as this
matter lasts, so that‫עד‬ ‫לדּבר‬ ‫הזּה‬ is co-ordinate with ‫עד‬ ‫להשׁיב‬ ‫.וגו‬
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all
them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with
them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our
God for this matter be turned from us.
Ver. 14. Let now our rulers of all the congregation] Our sanhedrim or seventy
seniors, see Deuteronomy 17:9. Let there be a matrimonial consistory erected, and
matters in question orderly heard and determined.
Until the fierce wrath of God] We must not think that he will cease pursuing us till
the traitor’s head be thrown over the wall, till there be a thorough reformation. One
Abimelech, left alive, may be the death of Gideon’s 70 sons; so may one sin favoured
be thine utter undoing.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:14. Let now our rulers stand — They propose that the rulers in
Jerusalem should meet, to take cognizance of this matter, and to judge and
determine in all particular cases: and that, at appointed times, the offenders in every
city should be brought before them by the elders and judges of those cities, who
should either testify against them for offending, or witness that they had seen the
divorces made, and their strange wives put away. For these elders and judges of the
several cities were best able to inform the great council at Jerusalem, concerning the
quality of the persons accused, and all matters of fact, and circumstances. And this
proceeding, they proposed, should continue as long as there remained any thing to
be done in this business, that the wrath of God might be turned away from them.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:14. Let now our princes stand for the entire congregation,etc.—
‫ָל‬‫ח‬ָ‫קּ‬ַ‫ה‬‫ָל־‬‫כ‬ְ‫ל‬ serves not as a closer designation of the princes as such who belonged to

64. the entire congregation in distinction from the elders and judges of the separate
cities (Berth.), as it has already been taken by the Sept, στήτωσαν δὴ ἄρχοντες
ἡµῶν, and Esdras: στήτωσαν δὲ ὅ προηγόυµενοι τοῦ πλήθους. The ‫ל‬ is rather a
designation of the dat. commodi, and here is equivalent to “in place of.” The sense
Isaiah, let the princes remain in Jerusalem and advise with Ezra; especially however
name to him the members of the congregation in question.—And let every one in
our cities who has taken home strange wives, come at fixed times, and with them
(for, with him) the elders of every city, and the judges thereof.—The princes are to
fix the times for the guilty ones named by them to Ezra, when they have to appear
with their elders and judges; the guilty are then to promise to dismiss the wives; the
elders and judges however are intrusted with the duty of watching over the
performance of their vows. Since the various local congregations might be called at
different times, it was possible in this way to dispose of them in Jerusalem in a much
shorter period. The article before ‫יב‬ ִ‫הוֹשׁ‬ again represents the relative as in Ezra
10:17; Ezra 8:25. ‫ִים‬‫נ‬ָ‫מּ‬ֻ‫ז‬ְ‫מ‬ ‫ים‬ִ‫ִתּ‬‫ע‬. are appointed terms, only here and ehemiah 10:35;
ehemiah 13:31‫ן‬ֵ‫מּ‬ִ‫ז‬ is a Chaldaism.—Until they turn away the fierce wrath of our
God from us with reference to this matter.—‫ַד‬‫ע‬ in the sense of “until,” gives no
difficulty. For it might be expected of a God who is ever so gracious, that with the
cause of the wrath the wrath itself also would cease. The supposition of Betheau,
that ‫ַד‬‫ע‬ with the following ‫ל‬ in the later language is used for the simple ‫,ל‬ thus stating
the purpose, cannot be proved from Joshua 13:5; 1 Chronicles 5:9; 1 Chronicles
13:5, compared with umbers 13:21. Also in the clause ‫ֶה‬‫זּ‬ַ‫ה‬ ‫ָר‬‫ב‬ָ‫ַדּ‬‫ל‬ ‫ַד‬‫ע‬ after wrath, ‫ַד‬‫ע‬
retains its meaning; the sense is: which reaches even to this matter.[F 5] Certainly,
however, the simple ‫ֶה‬‫וּ‬ַ‫ה‬ ‫ָר‬‫ב‬ָ‫ַדּ‬‫ל‬ would have sufficed here (comp. Genesis 19:21; 1
Samuel 30:24; Daniel 1:14), just as ‫חוֹק‬ ָ‫ֵר‬‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬ ‫ַד‬‫ע‬,2 Chronicles 26:15; Ezra 3:13, and
‫חוֹק‬ ָ‫ֵר‬‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬,2 Samuel 7:19 amount to the same thing. With the first words of the verse,
“let our princes stand,” this clause cannot be connected in the sense of “so long as
this matter lasts, (Keil); against this is not only the fact that it would be somewhat
superfluous, but also that a new clause: And let every one—come—has come in
between.
PETT, "Ezra 10:14
“Let our princes now be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in
our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them
the elders of every city, and the their judges, until the fierce wrath of our God be
turned from us, until this matter be despatched.”
So they proposed that their leaders, the heads of father’s houses, be appointed on
behalf of the whole assembly, in order to look into the matter. Then those who had
married idolatrous foreign wives should come before the council, along with the
elders of their city and their judges. These would presumably themselves look into
the matter with regard to individuals in their area before coming so as to distinguish
between foreign women who had become true Israelites and worshippers of YHWH,
and those who had continued in their idolatry. All would know who had married
whom, but what would have to be investigated was their subsequent way of life.
Thus it was necessary was for them to ensure that those who were discovered to
have been unfaithful to YHWH came at an appointed time, until the whole matter

65. was sorted out, thereby ensuring that the great wrath of God be turned from them,
making them again acceptable before Him. Sin had to be rooted out.
PULPIT, "Let now our rulers of the congregation stand. Let Ezra, together with the
princes and the elders at Jerusalem (verse 8), form a standing body to act with the
elders and judges of the provincial towns in this matter, and let the case of each
town be taken separately, and the inhabitants of each attend at Jerusalem in their
turn. Until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. This is
probably the true meaning of the writer, but it is not to be obtained from the
ordinary text. To produce it we must read by ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ for ‫ַד‬‫ע‬ and haddabar for laddabar
hazzeh. As the text stands, it is unintelligible.
15
Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of
Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai
the Levite, opposed this.
BAR ES, "Some translate it: “Nevertheless, Jonathan the son of Asahel and
Jahaziah the son of Tikvah opposed this.” The opposition was useless Ezr_10:16.
GILL, "Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah,
were employed about the matter,.... To see that this affair was conducted in the
manner proposed; that the magistrates of every city brought the persons that had been
delinquents, in their turns, of which they gave them notice, and took the account of them
as they came:
and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them; assisted them in this
work; the other two perhaps were priests, and both these Levites; and these four were
the only persons appointed over this matter, as the phrase in the preceding clause may
signify; though Jarchi interprets it to a quite contrary sense, that they were the only
persons that opposed and objected to it; and so Dr. Lightfoot (r) understands it, and
renders it, "stood against this matter"; in which they were seconded by the two Levites,
and the sense is very probable.
HE RY 15-16, "The method of proceeding in this matter being concluded on, and the
congregation dismissed, that each in his respective place might gain and give intelligence
to facilitate the matter, we are here told, 1. Who were the persons that undertook to
manage the matter and bring the causes regularly before the commissioners - Jonathan

66. and Jahaziah, two active men, whether of the priests or of the people does not appear;
probably they were the men that made that proposal (Ezr_10:13, Ezr_10:14) and were
therefore the fittest to see it pursued; two honest Levites were joined with them, and
helped them, Ezr_10:15. Dr. Lightfoot gives a contrary sense of this: only (or
nevertheless) Jonathan and Jahaziah stood against this matter (which reading the
original will very well bear), and these two Levites helped them in opposing it, either the
thing itself or this method of proceeding. It was strange if a work of this kind was carried
on and met with no opposition. 2. Who were the commissioners that sat upon this
matter. Ezra was president, and with him certain chief men of the fathers who were
qualified with wisdom and zeal above others for this service, Ezr_10:16. It was happy for
them that they had such a man as Ezra to head them; they could not have done it well
without his direction, yet he would not do it without their concurrence.
K&D, "Verse 15-16
Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah, indeedopposed this
proposal on the part of the community, and were supportedin their opposition by
two Levites, but without being able to carry it out. This statement is introduced by
‫,אך‬ only, in the form of aqualification to the remark that the whole assembly (Ezra
10:12) made thisresolution: nevertheless Jonathan … stood up against this. For ‫על‬
‫,עמד‬ to stand up against, or as elsewhere ‫קוּם‬ ‫,על‬ comp. 1 Chronicles 21:1; 2
Chronicles 20:23; Daniel 8:25; Daniel 11:14. Such also isthe view of R. Sal. and
Lightf., while older expositors understand it asmeaning: only Jonathan … stood up
for this matter, like the steterunt superhocof the Vulgate, or as the decidedly
incorrect explanation of J. H. Mich.: praefecti sunt huic negotio. - othing further is
known of the fouropponents here named. That they did not succeed in this
opposition appears from what follows. Ezra 10:16 The children of the captivity, i.e.,
the returned exiles, did so; i.e., thecongregation carried their resolve into execution.
And Ezra the priest, andmen, heads of houses according to their houses, - i.e., so
that each house wasrepresented by its head, - were separated, i.e., chosen to conduct
theinvestigation. The ‫ו‬ copulative before ‫אנשׁים‬ has been lost, asasyndeton seeming in
this case inadmissible. Bertheau, on the contrary,unnecessarily changes ‫ויבּרלוּ‬ into ‫לו‬
‫ויּבדל‬ after 1 Esdras 9:16. “And they all by names,” comp. Ezra 8:20. ‫,ויּשׁבוּ‬ and they
held a sitting (i.e., their first sitting) on thefirst day of the tenth month, and
therefore only ten days after theassembly just spoken of. ‫לדריושׁ‬ ‫,הדּבר‬ to inquireinto
the matter. It is impossible in Hebrew to form ‫דּריושׁ‬ from‫,דּרשׁ‬ and this word can
only arise from ‫,דּרושׁ‬ asEwald, §239, a, note, Olshausen, Lehrb. d. hebr. Spr. p. 150,
and Böttcher,ausf. Lehrb. der hebr. Spr. i. 1, p. 162, note, unanimously agree.
COFFMA , "Verse 15
OPPOSITIO TO EZRA'S SOLUTIO OF THE PROBLEM
"Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against
this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them."
This verse indicates that there was some oppostion, of course, to such a drastic
course of action; and the fact of there being some opposed to it is not nearly so
remarkable as the insignificant number of the opponents - only four people out of
some 20,000 men, or more!

67. TRAPP, "Ezra 10:15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of
Tikvah were employed about this [matter]: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the
Levite helped them.
Ver. 15. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah] These two priests only, of
all the company, had kept themselves unspotted, and so were fit to be employed in
the work in hand. Diaconos paucitas honorabiles fecit, saith Jerome, of his times.
The paucity of good deacons hath rendered them honourable. And I do not think,
saith Chrysostom, that among the clergy there are many that shall be saved. Clerus
Britannicus stupor mahdi (Dr Hall); and yet there never wanted among us those
dehonestamenta Cleri, that might give some occasion to black-mouthed Campian to
tell the world, Ministris eorum nihil vilius, Many of their ministers are most base.
WHEDO , "15. Only Jonathan — So simplified and complete was the method here
adopted of disposing of each case, that only the four persons named in this verse
were required to attend to the chief burden of it, such as recording the names and
evidence in each case. These acted under the general oversight and direction of Ezra
and the persons mentioned in the next verse.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:15. Only Jonathan and Jahaziah were employed — To take
care that the business should be executed in the manner proposed, that the officers
and delinquents of every city should come successively, in convenient time and
order, as these should appoint, to keep an exact account of the whole transaction,
and of the names of the cities and persons whose causes were despatched; to give
notice to others to come in their turns; and to prepare the business for the hearing
of the judges. These two were priests, as their helpers were Levites, that so they
might inform the persons concerned, in any matter of doubt.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:15-17. Only Jonathan, etc.—If we follow the clear usage of the
language we must regard this as in apposition. ‫ְך‬ַ‫א‬ properly “only” (then often it is
true “in truth”) easily leads to an adversative limitation, and ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ ‫ַד‬‫מ‬ָ‫ע‬ means 1
Chronicles 21:1; 2 Chronicles 20:23; Daniel 8:25; Daniel 11:14 :stand against any
person or thing, as sometimes also ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ ‫.קוּם‬ Accordingly Jonathan and Jahaziah
withstood the adopted resolution, whether they merely had some objection to the
proposed method of dealing with the matter, or were also opposed to the
banishment of strange wives itself. Only the circumstance that verse16 is joined on,
without an adversative particle, although it treats of the obedience of the
congregation, seems to favor the view that here also an agreement is meant, as then
already the Vulgate has: steterunt super hoc præfecti sunt huic negotio. But in
truth, according to our conception, Ezra 10:16 is not in contrast with Ezra 10:15. All
depends upon the emphasis placed upon “only” at the beginning of Ezra 10:15. ot
notwithstanding that, but because only Jonathan, etc., withstood, the congregation
did, as a whole, as had been proposed. The present reading in Ezra 10:16‫לוּ‬ְ‫ָד‬‫בּ‬ִ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬,
Ezra, the priest, men as heads of fathers’ houses were separated, is not only opposed
by the fact that we should expect with the Sept. and Vulg. the copula before ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫,א‬

68. since an asyndeton would here be very remarkable, but likewise by the fact that a
separation of Ezra could hardly be spoken of, for he was already sufficiently set
apart by his entire position. We may therefore with Ewald, Gesch. IV, S185 and
Berth, in accordance with Esdras and the Peschito read ‫לוֹ‬ ‫ל‬ֵ‫ְדּ‬‫כ‬ַ‫יּ‬ַ‫י‬—And Ezra
separated for himself, or at any rate also ‫א‬ ָ‫ְר‬‫ז‬ֶ‫ע‬ָ‫ל‬ ‫לוּ‬ְ‫ָד‬‫בּ‬ִ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬—there were separated unto
Ezra. [So Rawlinson].—After the fathers’ house = so that every father’s house was
represented by its head.—And they all with names, as Ezra 8:20.—And they held a
session—so ‫בוּ‬ ְ‫ִשׁ‬‫יּ‬ַ‫י‬ here—on the first day of the tenth month, thus ten days after the
general assembly of the people, to Investigate the matter.—Instead of ‫יוֹשׁ‬ ְ‫ר‬ַ‫דּ‬ which is
not a Hebrew formation, we are to read the infin. ‫רוֹשׁ‬ְ‫.דּ‬
PETT, "Ezra 10:15
‘Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against
this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.’
There were, however, as always, a few who were not in agreement with the plan.
Jonathan and Jahzeiah who stood up against it were clearly important men (their
patronyms are given and they are distinguished from the other two), and they were
joined in their opposition by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite. It is probable
that what they did not agree with was the delay, not the agreement to get rid of
foreign wives, and that in their enthusiasm they wanted the matter resolved
immediately, possibly fearful of the impending wrath of God. If that is so the verse
is intending to bring out the urgency felt about the matter. Others, however, see it as
indicating that they disagreed with the whole idea of getting rid of idolatrous
foreign wives, the idea being that they were speaking on behalf of their kinsmen
who had taken such foreign wives. The aim would then be to bring out that Israel
rejected the opinions of those who wanted compromise.
Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite are mentioned again after the arrival of
ehemiah in ehemiah 8, 4, 7, as assisting Ezra with the reading of the Law..
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:15
OPPOSITIO OF JO ATHA A D OTHERS (Ezra 10:15). It was natural that
some opposition should manifest itself when so trenchant a measure was announced
as that which Ezra had declared to be necessary. To compel men to divorce their
wives was to touch many in the tenderest place. or was it difficult to bring forward
very plausible arguments to show that the marriages—or at any rate some of
them—were allowable. Joseph had married an Egyptian (Genesis 41:45), Moses a
Midianite (Exodus 2:21). True, these marriages had taken place before the law was
given; but subsequently, also, Boaz had married Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:13);
David had taken to wife Maacah, a Geshurite (2 Samuel 3:3); and Solomon had
without blame married the daughter of a Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1). These examples
might be pleaded in proof that the Law admitted of exceptions, and individuals
might argue that their cases were of an exceptional character. Again, in some
instances the foreign wives may have become proselytes, and the children may have

69. been circumcised, and so accepted into the congregation; which would give them a
claim to remain, which would extend in some degree to the mothers. We therefore
cannot be surprised that an opposition was made. Rather, it is remarkable that it
was so slight, only extending (so far as appears) to four persons, and so easily
quelled.
Only Jonathan … and Jaha-ziah … were employed about this matter. If this were
the true meaning of the passage it would contradict the next verse, by which it
appears that Ezra himself, together with several "chiefs of the fathers"—probably
identical with the "rulers and elders" of verse 14—took the matter in hand, and
were occupied with it for three months. The true meaning of the clause, however, is
almost certainly that which was assumed in the preceding paragraph: "Only
Jonathan and Jahaziah stood up against this matter," or "opposed" it (see 1
Chronicles 21:1; Daniel 8:25; Daniel 11:14, where the same expression has the sense
of "oppose, resist"). Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. The
"Meshullam" intended is perhaps the person of the name mentioned in verse 29 as
having married an idolatrous wife. The others seem not to have had any personal
interest in thwarting Ezra and preventing the reform.
16
So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest
selected men who were family heads, one from
each family division, and all of them designated
by name. On the first day of the tenth month they
sat down to investigate the cases,
GILL, "And the children of the captivity did so,.... Put away their strange wives:
and Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their
fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated; from all their other
business, and gave themselves up to attend to this wholly:
and sat down in the first day of the tenth month; the month Tebeth, which
answers to part of December and January; this was ten days after the assembly of all the
people met and broke up: these took their places in the great court, and there sat

70. to examine the matter; the accounts brought in from the several cities by the
magistrates thereof, and recorded them.
COFFMA , "Verse 16
A D THE CHILDRE OF THE CAPTIVITY DID SO
"And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of
fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set
apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first
day of the first month."
The opposition did not delay the repudiation of the foreign wives. Only about a
week elapsed between the decision to do so and the first session of the commission
appointed to execute it. "The case of each city (or village) was taken separately. The
male inhabitants of full age attended, and the `elders and judges' heard each case
separately. The neighbors of each person investigated were available for
questioning; and when a mixed marriage was proved, the wife was repudiated. In
112 cases, the commission decided that the foreign wives and the children born to
them were to be sent away."[18] An emendation in the RSV results in the number
being reduced to 111.
In any case, the number is surprisingly small. Out of at least 20,000 men, only a few
more than a hundred were guilty of having violated God's law in this matter.
However, the importance of it was greatly intensified and augmented by the high
social position and importance of the violators. If these had remained unpunished,
or if their unlawful marriages had been allowed to stand, there is no way that Israel
could have continued to maintain their distinction as a separate nation. Ezra's
listing the violators as to their distinction as priests, Levites, etc., doubtless had this
very fact in focus. The whole project was completed in three months' time, which
allowed the better part of a whole day for the investigation of each one convicted.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest,
[with] certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by
[their] names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to
examine the matter.
Ver. 16. And the children of the captivity did so] Appointed such a course should be
taken. And so it was a plain Plebiscitum, resolution of the people, and accordingly
executed.
WHEDO , "16. Children of the captivity did so — That is, the persons implicated,
and the whole people, adopted the plan arranged by Ezra.
After the house of their fathers — So that every father’s house was represented.

71. All of them by their names — The name of each of the more distinguished fathers
was probably called, and from each family thus represented a person was chosen,
and all these, with Ezra himself, were separated, that is, chosen and set apart, to
examine the matter. They had the responsibility and control of the investigation and
decision of each case, while the four persons named it the previous verse were
probably required to act as secretaries for them.
BE SO , "Verse 16-17
Ezra 10:16-17. Ezra the priest, &c., were separated, and sat down — Sequestered
themselves from all other business, and gave themselves wholly to this. They made
an end, by the first day of the first month — Three months, therefore, were spent in
this disquisition, which shows that it was very exact.
CO STABLE, "Verses 16-44
The completion of the proceedings10:16-44
The people were able to complete the divorce proceedings in three months ( Ezra
10:9; Ezra 10:17). A total of113Israelites had married and now divorced their
foreign wives, only a small fraction of the total number of Jews then living in Judah.
Of these, 16 were priests and10 were Levites, about25 percent of the total113.
Perhaps no Jewish women had married any Gentile men. A more likely possibility is
that since women could not divorce their husbands in Israel, the Jewish women who
had married Gentiles did not get divorces.
Was this plan one that God approved? The text does not give any statement from a
prophet or other representative who spoke for God either way. However, for the
reasons explained above-and since the writer devoted two chapters in this inspired
book to the record of this incident-I think it was God"s will.
". . . although the law in general was known to the exiles, the finer distinctions and
the interpretation of certain stipulations could have escaped them. Ezra was sent to
teach them these distinctions and to interpret the law for them ( Ezra 7:10). It is this
lesson they had to learn in order to realize that their marriages to foreign women
were wrong." [ ote: Fensham, The Books . . ., p143.]
This reformation resulted in the continued racial, and more significantly, spiritual
purity of Abraham"s descendants for another generation. However, ehemiah
faced the problem of mixed marriages again only a few years later ( ehemiah
10:30; ehemiah 13:23).
"The Book of Ezra - ehemiah presents Ezra as a strong personality. He did not
emphasize the law as an end in itself; rather, he was convinced that the covenant
community needed to return to God by taking seriously his revelation and applying
it to every aspect of life." [ ote: Breneman, p58.]
PETT, "Ezra 10:16

72. ‘And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of
fathers’ houses, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were set
apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.’
The returnees did what had been suggested and agreed to. The body was set up
which would judge those who were brought before them, and it was made up of
Ezra the priest, together with certain heads of father’s houses. They were all set
apart by name. And on the first day of the tenth month they commenced looking
into the matter. Thus it had taken five months to get to this point, but it had not of
course been five months of little other activity. Ezra and his returnees would have
had to deal with the problem of settling in. And as Ezra did not want to behave like
an autocratic king, he wanted to take the people with him. And he could only do
that by expounding the Law until it seized hold of the people’s consciences.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:16-17
SETTLEME T OF THE WHOLE MATTER BY THE REPUDIATIO OF THE
STRA GE WIVES (Ezra 10:16, Ezra 10:17). The opposition made did not delay the
business more than a few days. The great assembly had been held on the twentieth
day of the ninth month. On the first day of the tenth month, little more than a week
later, the commission for examining into the matter met under the presidency of
Ezra, and commenced proceedings. The method of proceeding suggested at the great
meeting was no doubt followed. The case of each city was taken separately. Its male
inhabitants of full age attended, and its "elders" and "judges" sat on the
commission as assessors while the conjugal position of their townsfolk was being
investigated. Where a "mixed marriage" was proved the wife was repudiated. In
112 cases the necessity of repudiation was made out to the satisfaction of the
commission, and this number of wives was put away. Probably the entire number of
cases adjudicated upon was very much greater, since the commission continued at
work for three months, and probably sat on seventy-five different days, judging
three or four cases a day. On the whole, the small extent to which the evil had
prevailed is remarkable; for 112 mixed marriages in a population where the adult
males were about 40,000 would give only one such marriage to three hundred or
three hundred and fifty legitimate ones. evertheless, evils in a community are not
to be judged simply by their prevalence. Great evils must be checked at once, even
though they have not extended far, lest, if they spread at all widely, they become
irremediable. Ezra is to be commended for having perceived the greatness of the
peril, and for having taken prompt and decided measures to check it, without
waiting till it had got to a head, and so become uncontrollable.
Ezra 10:16
The children of the captivity did so. The people generally, notwithstanding the
opposition of Jonathan, acquiesced in Ezra's decision, and acted accordingly. Ezra
the priest, with certain chief of the fathers. There is no "with," or other connective,
in the original; but our translators did right in supplying one, since the conjunction ,
‫ו‬ "and," has almost certainly fallen out of the text by the mistake of a copyist. After

73. the house of their fathers. Rather, "for each father's house"—i.e. "for each family."
It would seem from this clause that each recognised family was represented on the
commission by its head. The number of such families appears by Ezra 2:3-61 to
have been ninety-eight. And all of them by their names. Compare with this Ezra
8:20. In both places Ezra probably means that a list of the names was made out, and
was in his possession, though he does not think it necessary to give them. Were
separated. i.e. "set apart for the business." And they sat down, i.e. "began their
sittings," on the first day of the tenth month, the month Tebeth, corresponding
nearly to our January.
17
and by the first day of the first month they
finished dealing with all the men who had married
foreign women.
BAR ES, "The business occupied the commission full two months. In some cases, it
may be presumed, they had to summon persons before them who did not wish to part
with their foreign wives; in all, they had to assure themselves that the wives were
foreign; finally, they had in every case where they decreed a divorce to make out the
“writing of divorcement” Ezr_10:3.
CLARKE, "The first day of the first month - So they were three whole months in
examining into this affair, and making those separations which the law required.
GILL, "And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange
wives,.... Finished their inquiry and examination of them:
by the first day of the first month; the month Nisan, answering to part of March
and April; so that they were three months about this work.
HE RY 17-18, "How long they were about it. They began the first day of the tenth
month to examine the matter (Ezr_10:16), which was but ten days after this method was
proposed (Ezr_10:9), and they finished in three months, Ezr_10:17. They sat closely and
minded their business, otherwise they could not have despatched so many causes as they

74. had before them in so little time; for we may suppose that all who were impeached were
fairly asked what cause they could show why they should not be parted, and, if we may
judge by other cases, provided the wife were proselyted to the Jewish religion she was
not to be put away, the trial of which would require great care. 4. Who the persons were
that were found guilty of this crime. Their names are here recorded to their perpetual
reproach; many of the priests, nay, of the family of Jeshua, the high priest, were found
guilty (Ezr_10:18), though the law had particularly provided, for the preserving of their
honour in their marriages, that being holy themselves they should not marry such as
were profane, Lev_21:7. Those that should have taught others the law broke it
themselves and by their example emboldened others to do likewise. But, having lost
their innocency in this matter, they did well to recant and give an example of repentance;
for they promised under their hand to put away their strange wives (some think that
they made oath to do so with their hands lifted up), and they took the appointed way of
obtaining pardon, bringing the ram which was appointed by the law for a trespass
offering (Lev_6:6), so owning their guilt and the desert of it, and humbly suing for
forgiveness.
K&D, "And they made an end with all, with respect to the men who had
broughthome strange wives. ‫בּכּל‬ (with the article) cannot be so connectedwith ‫,אנשׁים‬
from which it is separated by the accentuation ofthe latter, as to admit of the
repetition, as by older expositors, of thepreposition ‫בּ‬ before ‫:אנשׁים‬ with all, namely,
with the men. Still less can ‫,בּכּל‬ as Bertheau thinks, be taken in the sense of “inevery
place,” and ‫אנשׁים‬ connected as an accusative with‫:ויכלּוּ‬ they finished in every place
the men (!); for ‫כּלּה‬ with an accusative of the person signifies to annihilate, to make
anend of, while ‫כּלּה‬ ‫ב‬ means to finish, to make an end with, comp. Genesis 44:12. If,
as the accentuation requires, we take ‫בּכּל‬ independently, ‫אנשׁים‬ can only be an
accusative of more exactdefinition: in respect of the men (‫אנשׁים‬ being without
thearticle, because words which define it follow). As this gives a suitablemeaning, it
seems unnecessary to alter the punctuation and read ‫,בּכל־אנשׁים‬ or with Ewald, §290,
c, note 1, to regard ‫בּכּל‬ ‫אנשׁים‬ as a singular combination. - Till the first day of the
first month(of the next year), therefore in three months, their sittings having
begun,according to Ezra 10:13, on the first day of the tenth month. - The account of
thistransaction closes with -
The list of the men who had taken strange wives, vv. 18-44; among whom were
priests (Ezra 10:18-22), Levites (Ezra 10:23, Ezra 10:24), and Israelites, i.e., laymen
(vv. 25-43).
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange
wives by the first day of the first month.
Ver. 17. By the first day of the first month] So that it was not the work of one day or
two, as Ezra 10:13, but of full three months; and yet they were not slothful in that
business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In the work of repentance take time
enough, dig deep enough by thorough humiliation; lest the fall of the house be great.
The English are not sick soon enough, saith one, and they are well too soon; this is
true of their minds, as well as of their bodies.

75. LA GE, "Ezra 10:17. And they made an end with all, etc., ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫א‬ (men who had
taken home strange wives) can hardly be in apposition with ‫ֹל‬ ‫ַכּ‬‫בּ‬ as the more ancient
interpreters would have it; the expression would be too peculiar; moreover the
accentuation is against it. o more can ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫א‬ be the object of ‫ֲלּוּ‬‫כ‬ְ‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬ and ‫ֹל‬ ‫ַכּ‬‫בּ‬ be a
designation of place; they brought to an end the men (the hearing of them) in every
place (Berth.); ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫א‬ in this case would certainly require the article. The same
objection is to be made to the rendering of Keil, “with reference to the men,” which
in itself moreover already misses the sense. The suspicion that the clause was a title
of the following section in Ezra 10:18, and only by mistake was placed here is quite
natural, but it is not confirmed by any ancient version. Thus we must regard the
entire clause as a brief, loosely attached, closer designation of ‫ֹל‬ ‫,כּ‬ and understand:
they were ready with the entire object incumbent upon them, that however was men
who, etc.—[Rawlinson in loco: “In some cases, it may be presumed, they had to
summon persons before them who did not wish to part with their foreign wives; in
all they had to assure themselves that the wives were foreign; finally they had in
every case where they decreed a divorce to make out the ‘writing of divorcement,’ to
which the woman put away was entitled as evidence of her having been a wife and
having become free.”—Tr.]—By the first day of the first month, namely, of the
following year. The session thus lasted in all very nearly three months.
PETT, "Ezra 10:17
‘And they made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the
first day of the first month.’
It then took a further three months for them to complete their caseload, so that by
the first day of the first month, ew Year’s Day, they had dealt with all the cases of
men who had married adulterous foreign women. What they were investigating was
who needed to be singled out whose idolatrous foreign wives had to be put away.
Some foreign wives, who were faithful to YHWH would not be sent away, only those
who were involved in idolatry. Such women did not belong to the returnees, for the
returnees had come in order to establish the pure worship of God. Thus even from
the Persian point of view it was very necessary, for the whole point of the return was
that the pure worship of YHWH be set up. And that was what Ezra and the other
leaders were now achieving. It therefore fits well into the idea of a report made to
his Persian sponsor, Artaxerxes.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:17
They made an end with all the men. They ran through the whole list of those who
were accused of having taken strange wives, and adjudicated on every case, by the
first day of the first month, isan, corresponding nearly with our April. Deducting
Sabbaths, the number of days in the three months would be seventy-five or seventy-
six; but it is of course possible that the court did not sit continuously.

76. 18
Among the descendants of the priests, the
following had married foreign women: From the
descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his
brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah.
GILL, "And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken
strange wives,.... So that it need not be wondered at that this evil should spread among
the people, when those who understood the law, and should have instructed the people
in it, set such an example: namely:
of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak; who was the high priest; and perhaps for
this fault of his, in not restraining his sons from such unlawful marriages, is he
represented in filthy garments, Zec_3:3,
and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah; these were
the brethren of Jeshua.
JAMISO , "Ezr_10:18-44. Those that had taken strange wives.
among the sons of the priests — From the names of so many men of rank
appearing in the following list, some idea may be formed of the great and complicated
difficulties attending the reformatory work.
K&D, "Verses 18-22
Among the priests there stand first, four names of sons and brethren of thehigh
priest Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, who returned to Jerusalem withZerubbabel. ‫,אחיו‬
his (Jeshua's) brethren. Judging by Ezra 2:36, these were among the descendants of
Jedaiah, a section of the houseof the high-priestly family (see rem. on Ezra 2:36),
and were therefore distantcousins of the high priest. They gave their hands, i.e.,
bound themselvesby shaking hands, to put away their wives, i.e., to dismiss them,
and tosever them from the congregation of Israel, ‫,ואשׁמים‬ “andguilty a ram for their
trespass,” i.e., condemned to bring a ram as atrespass-offering. ‫ואשׁמים‬ is to be
regarded as thecontinuation of the infinitive clause ‫.להוציא‬ As elsewhere,infinitive
clauses are continued without anything further in the verb. finit. (comp. Ewald, §
350); so here also does the adjective ‫אשׁמים‬ follow, requiring that ‫להיות‬ should be

77. mentally supplied. ‫,איל־צאן‬ a ram of the flock, is, as an accusative of more exact
definition,dependent on ‫.אשׁמים‬ This trespass-offering was imposed upon them
according to the principleof the law, Leviticus 5:14, etc., because they had
committed a ‫מעל‬ against the Lord, which needed expiation; see on Leviticus 5:14. -
In whatfollows, only the names of the individuals, and a statement of the
familiesthey belonged to, are given, without repeating that the same
obligations,namely, the dismissal of their strange wives, and the bringing of a
trespass-offering, were imposed on them also, this being self-evident from
thecontext. - Among the sons of Immer were three, among the sons of Harimfive,
among the sons of Pashur six offenders; in all, eighteen priests. Bycomparing Ezra
2:36-39, we perceive that not one of the orders of priestswho returned with
Zerubbabel was free from participation in thistransgression. Some of the names
given, Ezra 10:20-22, reappear in the lists in ehemiah 8:4 and ehemiah 10:2-9,
and may belong to the same individuals.
COFFMA , "Verse 18
THESE ARE THE AMES OF THOSE WITH FOREIG WIVES
"And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign
women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren,
Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave their hand that they
would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for
their guilt. And of the sons of lmmer: Hanani and Zebadiah. And of the sons of
Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. And of the
sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, athanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
"And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita),
Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the porters,
Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.
"And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and
Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and
Jerimoth, and Elijah. And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and
Jerimoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah,
Zabbai, and Athlai. And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah,
Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth. And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Cheial,
Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Bennui, and Manasseh. And of the sons
of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch,
Shemariah. Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai,
Manasseh, Shimei. Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel. Benaiah, and
Bedaiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,
and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, and Shelemiah, and athan, and Adaiah,
Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum,
Amariah, Joseph. Of the sons of ebo: Jeiel, Matithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and
Joel, Benaiah. All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by
whom they had children."

78. Whitcomb's count of all these violators found, "Seventeen priests, ten Levites, and
eighty-six others; and each of these put away his foreign wife and offered a ram as a
guilt-offering.'[19] Some of the versions support this count of 113 in all.
Drastic as this solution of the problem assuredly was, "A comparison of ehemiah
10:30 (12 years later) and of ehemiah 13:23 (30 years later) shows that the evil was
not permanently eliminated. Long association with heathen neighbors made such a
separation difficult."[20]
One thing that modern readers will wonder about is what provision, if any, was
made for those wives and children which were expelled from the Jewish community.
Jamieson has this: "Doubtless an adequate provision was made for the repudiated
wives and children, according to the means and circumstances of the husbands."[21]
Abraham had also made provision for Hagar when he put her and Ishmael away.
We conclude this study of Ezra with the following relevant comment of Williamson:
"Israel's mission could make headway only if she maintained the servant identity
that separated her from the nations to which she was commissioned to reveal God's
will. In exactly the same way, Christians individually, and as the Church, are called
to be `light' and `salt,' elements that function effectively precisely because of their
difference from the setting in which they are placed. `But if the salt has lost its savor
...?' (Matthew 5:13-16)."[22]
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had
taken strange wives: [namely], of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his
brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
Ver. 18. And among the sons of the priests, &c.] What a shame was this, and a stain
to their cloth! These men’s white ephods covered foul sins; whereas they should
have been careful to have kept all clean; as that Eleazar was of whom it is told, that
he would not do anything that might seem to be sinful, because he would not spot
his white head.
Of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak] This good high priest had sons none of the
best. White halcyons hatch black young ones. Caligula fuit optimi viri Germanici
filius. Caligula will be the son of the best man, Germanicus. Eli’s sons were sons of
Belial. Samuel’s were little better; and yet it is not likely that he was faulty in that
indulgence for which his own mouth had denounced God’s judgments against Eli.
When Caesar Borgia, duke of Valence, invited his nobility to a feast, and after
dinner cut off their heads, Pope Alexander (who was his father) hearing of it, smiled
and said, his son had served them a Spanish trick. When Petro Alingi Farnesis had
committed an unspeakable violence on the person of Cosmus Cherius, bishop of
Fanum, and then poisoned him, he received no other chastisement of his father,
Pope Paul III, than Haec vitia me non commonstratore didicit, he never learned
these faults of his father. Good Jeshua had better bred his children than thus to

79. break out into an open violation of that law, which they could not but know, and
should have observed. But God will show, that grace is by gift, not inheritance; and
men will show that though nurture may somewhat amend nature, yet it is grace
alone that can keep us within the bounds of obedience.
BE SO , "Verse 18-19
Ezra 10:18-19. Among the sons of the priests there were found, &c. — o wonder
the people broke the law, when so many of those who were supposed to understand
it best, namely, the priests, yea, some of the sons of the high-priest, set them such a
foul example of lust and levity. And they gave their hands — They covenanted or
swore by giving their hands, which was the usual ceremony in such cases, to put
away their strange wives, and avoid such offences in future. Offered a ram of the
flock for their trespass — Hereby confessing their guilt, and the desert of it, humbly
suing for pardon, and taking the prescribed way of obtaining it, by bringing the
trespass-offering appointed in the law, Leviticus 6:6. All those named to the end of
Ezra 10:22, were priests, who, being deep in this guilt, and public persons,
imboldened others to go fearlessly into the same sin.
ELLICOTT, "Verses 18-44
(18-44) List of the transgressors.
(19) They gave their hands.—The four members of the high priest’s family were
peculiarly dealt with. They gave their distinct pledge, and offered each a special
trespass offering. It is one among a multitude of similar tokens of authenticity in the
history; and inventor would have given some reason for the peculiarity.
(22) Pashur.—Comparing Ezra 2:36-39, we find that all the priestly families that
returned with Zerub-babel were implicated in the national offence.
(25) Of Israel.—Of the laity eighty-six are mentioned, belonging to ten races which
returned with Zerubbabel.
(34) Bani.—Probably this should be some other name, as Bani occurs before. The
peculiarly large number of the representatives of his race suggests that there is some
confusion in the present text.
(44) All these had taken strange wives.—Though the numbers are not summed up
and distributed, it is evident that this closing sentence is emphatic. Ezra ends his
history with a catalogue of the delinquents—strong testimony to the importance he
attached to the reformation. The last words—literally, and there were of them wives
who had brought forth children—tend in the same direction. ot even this pathetic
fact restrained the thoroughness of the excision. But the Book of ehemiah
( ehemiah 13:23 seq.) will show that it was thorough only for a time.
LA GE, "Ezra 10:18-44. Catalogue of the men, who had strange wives, and were
obliged to dismiss them. First of all are the priests in Ezra 10:18-22, and indeed in
Ezra 10:18-19 four of the house of the high-priest.—Of the sons of Jeshua,etc. This

80. evidently means the high-priest Jeshua, who had come to Jerusalem with
Zerubbabel. The sons of his brother were probably only his distant relatives;
according to Ezra 2:36, they were, if Jeshua there is the high-priest Jeshua, sons of
Jedaiah, thus brother in a broader sense.
Ezra 10:19. They gave their hands, that Isaiah, they vowed in a solemn manner by
striking hands (comp. 2 Kings 10:15) to dismiss their wives. ‫ים‬ִ‫מ‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ֲ‫ַא‬‫ו‬ might follow as
epexegesis = and indeed as guilty. But it is more simple to supply: and they were
guilty, that Isaiah, as they stood there guilty. The more general law of Leviticus 5:14
sq. comes into consideration. They must bring a guilt-offering, because they had
committed a ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ַ‫מ‬ against Jehovah, for which a satisfaction was possible, and hence
must likewise be given; comp. the different opinions respecting the guilt-offering in
Keil’s Archäol. I. S244. ‫ֹאן‬ ‫ֵיל־צ‬‫ע‬ is subordinated as an accusative of closer definition
to the previous word. In connection with the following persons we are to supply in
thought the promise to dismiss the wives and probably also the offering of a
corresponding guilt-offering.—Of the names following in Ezra 10:20-22 some occur
again in ehemiah 8:4; ehemiah 10:2-9, which perhaps designate the same
persons. In all eighteen priests were guilty; none of the divisions that had returned
with Zerubbabel had kept themselves free from the transgression (comp. Ezra 2:36-
39).
PETT, "Verses 18-44
The ames Of Those Involved In Marrying Idolatrous Foreign Women (Ezra 10:18-
44).
Ezra then prepared for Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, a list of those with whom he
had had to deal. We can compare how the king had asked for a list of those involved
in building the Temple (Ezra 5:10). The list is divided up into priests, Levites,
singers, gatekeepers an Israel. All four houses of priests mentioned in Ezra 2:36-39
were involved. Although the promise to put away their idolatrous foreign wives and
to offer sacrifices are only mentioned with respect to the first-named it is clear that
the same would apply to all who were named. The king would be happy to learn
that the God of Heaven had been made happy.
We do not know how often the body that was set up met. It met during the winter
months, so that they would have to travel to and fro in difficult travel conditions,
.and the heads of the fathers’ houses may well have had other pressing
responsibilities And time would have to be given for men to prepare their defence,
especially when they need to demonstrate that their wives were good Yahwists and
not involved in idolatry. Furthermore some cases may have come before the body
more than once. or do we now how long it took them to determine each case, or
how many put up a good case and were declared innocent, and were therefore not
listed. And time would be spent in the usual Easter courtesies. They would not want
to have too many per day because of the uncertainties. Three months times 24 days
(excluding Sabbaths) equals roughly 72 days available to them if they met every day.
They found guilty one hundred and fifteen men. This hardly suggests dilatory
progress. (If we assumed two examinations per day it would indicate one hundred

81. and forty four cases, with twenty nine proving innocent).
As we would expect the names of clans are paralleled in the list in chapter 2. It was
these who would have been involved in taking idolatrous foreign wives. Those who
had arrived with Ezra would not have had enough time.
The Priests.
Ezra 10:18
‘And among the sons of the priests who were found who had married foreign
women: (were) of the sons of Jeshua: Ben-Jozadak, and his brothers (kinsmen),
Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.’
In Ezra 2:36 these were the children of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua. Five of them
were involved.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:18-44
THE AMES OF THOSE WHO HAD MARRIED THE STRA GE WIVES (Ezra
10:18-44). Aware of the danger that the nation might relapse into the sin which he
was seeking to root out, Ezra punishes the wrong-doers by placing their names on
record, that others might fear to do the like. He assigns the first place in his
catalogue of offenders to the priests, doubtless because in them the sin was greatest;
they, as the special custodians of the Law, were most bound to have observed the
Law. ext to the priests he puts the Levites, on the same principle, because of their
semi-sacerdotal character. He then concludes with the laymen, arranged under their
several families. By the list of laymen it appears that ten only out of some thirty-six
lay families were implicated in the sin. Three of the four priestly families, on the
other hand, and even the near-kindred of the high priest, were among the guilty. It
is remarkable that it is Ezra, a priest, and one by many accused of over-
sacerdotalism, who gives this testimony against his own order.
Ezra 10:18
Joshua the son of Jozadak is, undoubtedly, the high priest of Joshua 3:1-17. and 5.
Four members of his family had committed the sin (compare ehemiah 13:28).
19
(They all gave their hands in pledge to put away
their wives, and for their guilt they each presented
a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.)

82. BAR ES, "Ezr_10:19
They gave their hands - i. e., “solemnly pledged themselves” (compare the
marginal references).
CLARKE, "They gave their hands - They bound themselves in the most solemn
manner to do as the rest of the delinquents had done; and they made all
acknowledgment of their iniquity to God by offering each a ram for a trespass-offering.
GILL 19-43, "And they gave their hands that they would put away their
wives,.... They proposed to do it, and actually did it:
and being guilty; of which they were fully convinced:
they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass; to make atonement for it, and
thereby set an example to others to do the like. Aben Ezra observes, that we do not find
that the trespass offering was a mulct to such who married strange wives, and
conjectures, that it was the advice of the chief men to do it. From hence, to the end of
Ezr_10:43, is a list of the men that had married strange wives, and put them away; those
in Ezr_10:20, were priests; in Ezr_10:23, Levites, and those of them who were singers or
porters; the rest were Israelites: and it is a very common distinction, in rabbinical
writers, to distinguish the Jews into priests, Levites, and Israelites; of these we know no
more than their names; some of the heads of the families may be observed in Ezr_2:1.
JAMISO , "they gave their hands — that is, came under a solemn engagement,
which was usually ratified by pledging the right hand (Pro_6:1; Eze_17:18). The
delinquents of the priestly order bound themselves to do like the common Israelites
(Ezr_10:25), and sought to expiate their sin by sacrificing a ram as a trespass offering.
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their
wives; and [being] guilty, [they offered] a ram of the flock for their trespass.
Ver. 19. And they gave their hands] i.e. They plighted their troth, and assured the
assent of their hearts, 2 Kings 10:15.
That they would put away their wives] Though as dear to them, haply, as was
George Carpenter’s (martyr), burnt at Munchen, in Bavaria; My wife and children,
said he, are so dear unto me, that they cannot be bought from me for all the riches
and possessions of the duke of Bavaria: but for the love of my Lord God I will

83. willingly forsake them. Let us do so by our dilecta delicta, our dearest and most
delicious sins.
They offered a ram of the flock] This shows that they sinned against knowledge; for
a sin of ignorance the oblation was not a ram, but a goat.
WHEDO , "19. Gave their hands — As a solemn form of indicating their
acceptance of the covenant, (Ezra 10:3,) and of binding themselves to put away their
wives. Handshaking is a natural ceremony of ratifying a solemn agreement between
parties. Comp. 2 Kings 10:15.
A ram… for their trespass — According to the law of Leviticus 6:1-6.
WHEDO , "Verses 19-44
LIST OF THOSE WHO HAD TAKE STRA GE WIVES, Ezra 10:18-44.
So important to the new community was the whole procedure, that the names of the
implicated ones were chronicled, and immortalized in connexion with this sad affair.
Ezra embodied the list in his own book as a testimony of his care for Israel, and here
it still stands, a monument of his fidelity to the people of his God.
The list gives, 1) the names of the sons of the priests who had taken strange wives,
Ezra 10:18-22; Ezra 2) the names of the Levites, Ezra 10:23; Ezra 3) the names of
the singers, Ezra 10:24; Ezra 4) the names of non-official or ordinary Israelites,
Ezra 10:25-43.
COKE, "Ver. 19. They gave their hands— See 2 Kings 10:15. Houbigant renders
the last clause, and who had offended, gave one ram of the flock for their offence.
PETT, "Ezra 10:19
‘And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives, and being guilty,
(they offered) a ram of the flock for their guilt.’
Having been found guilty ‘gave their hand’ that they would put away their wives,
and because of their guilt each made a sacrifice of a ram of the flock. This
punishment once stated would not need to be repeated. There is no need to think
that it has later been omitted in other cases. Guilt offerings would be required in all
cases.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:19
They gave their hands that they would put away their wives. It is not clear whether
this is intended to be said of Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah only, or of the
entire body of persons found guilty of having married strange wives. Most probably
the court made out the divorces in the generality of cases, but were content to take a
solemn pledge from members of the high priest's family.

84. 20
From the descendants of Immer: Hanani and
Zebadiah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:20
‘And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.’
The sons of Immer are mentioned in Ezra 2:37. Three of them were found guilty.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:20-22
On the priestly families of Immer, Harim, and Pashur see above, Ezra 2:37-39.
21
From the descendants of Harim: Maaseiah,
Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:21
‘And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and
Uzziah.’
The sons of Harim are mentioned in Ezra 2:39. Five were found guilty.
22
From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai,
Maaseiah, Ishmael, ethanel, Jozabad and

85. Elasah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:22
‘And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, ethanel, Jozabad, and
Elasah.’
The sons of Pashhur are mentioned in Ezra 2:38. Six were found guilty. Thus of the
priests as a whole nineteen were found guilty.
23
Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah
(that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.
K&D, "Of Levites, only six names are given, and that without stated the houses
towhich they belonged. From Ezra 2:40, however, it appears that they wereof the
sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel there mentioned. “Kelaiah, the same isKelita;” the
latter is the usual name of the person in question, and thatwhich he bears in
ehemiah 8:7 and ehemiah 10:11. Jozabad also reappears in ehemiah 8:7.
LA GE, "In Ezra 10:23-24 ten Levites follow, among whom Kelaiah, usually called
Kelita (comp. ehemiah 8:7; ehemiah 10:11); furthermore Jozabad, who again
occurs in ehemiah 8:7.
Ezra 10:26-44 give the names from the rest of Israel. In all there are eighty-six,
distributed among ten of the families named in chapter2. It is singular that the sons
of Bani are mentioned twice in Ezra 10:29 and Ezra 10:34, and probably there is an
error in the second Bani, although it already occurs in the reading of the Sept. and
Esdras. Whilst of every other family only four, six, seven or eight persons are
enumerated in Ezra 10:34 sq. not less than twenty-seven are mentioned as of this
family. Furthermore it is singular that the inhabitants of the cities adduced in Ezra
2:21-28 and Ezra 10:33-35 are not expressly mentioned, whilst yet in Ezra 10:7 sq.
and Ezra 10:14 those outside the city come into consideration as well as the
Jerusalemites. Probably the twenty-seven men mentioned in Ezra 10:34-41 belonged
to the different districts of Judah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:23

86. ‘And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita),
Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.’
See Ezra 2:40 where they were also listed as one clan. Six were found guilty.
24
From the singers: Eliashib. From the gatekeepers:
Shallum, Telem and Uri.
K&D, "Of singers one, and of porters three names are given; comp. Ezra 2:41-42. In
all, ten Levites.
PETT, "Ezra 10:24
‘And of the singers: Eliashib.’
See Ezra 2:41 where they were listed as one clan. Only one was found guilty.
‘And of the gatekeepers: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.’
See Ezra 2:42 where they were computed as one clan. Three were found guilty. Thus
in all ten of the Levites were found guilty. It is interesting but not surprising that the
Temple servants are not mentioned. Once having been foreigners they would have
had no land in Israel. They would probably live in Jerusalem and not have much
contact with foreign women. Furthermore they would be of a class where their wives
would be expected to conform to their husbands wishes.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:24
The singers and porters. These were special subdivisions of the Levitical order,
appointed originally by David (2 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 26:1-19).
25
And among the other Israelites: From the
descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah,
Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.

87. K&D, "Verses 25-43
Of Israel, as distinguished from priests and Levites, i.e., of the laity. Ofthese latter
are given in all eighty-six names, belonging to ten races, vv. 25-43,who returned with
Zerubbabel. See os. 1, 5, 6, 9, 8, 4, 30, 17, and 27 ofthe survey of these races. ‫ירמות‬
in Ezra 10:29 should, according tothe Chethiv, be read ‫.ירמות‬ - The twofold naming
of sons ofBani in this list (Ezra 10:29 and Ezra 10:34) is strange, and Bani is
evidently in one ofthese places a mistake for some other name. Bertheau supposes
thatBigvai may have stood in the text in one of these places. The errorundoubtedly
lies in the second mention of Bani (Ezra 10:34), and consists notmerely in the wrong
transcription of this one name. For, while of everyother race four, six, seven, or
eight individuals are named, no less thanseven and twenty names follow ‫מבּני‬ ‫,בּני‬
though allthese persons could hardly have belonged to one race, unless the
greaternumber of males therein had married strange wives. Besides, no names of
inhabitants of cities of Judah and Benjamin are givenin this list (as in Ezra 2:21-28,
and Ezra 2:33-35), although it is stated in Ezra 10:7 andEzra 10:14 that not only the
men of Jerusalem, but also dwellers in other cities,had contracted these prohibited
marriages, and been summoned toJerusalem, that judgment might be pronounced
in their several cases. Thesereasons make it probable that the twenty-seven persons
enumerated in Ezra 10:34-42 were inhabitants of various localities in Judah, and
not merelyindividuals belonging to a single house. This supposition cannot,
however,be further corroborated, since even the lxx and 1 Esdr. read the nameBani
in Ezra 10:27 and Ezra 10:34, nor can any conjecture respecting the correct
readinglaying claim to probability be ventured on. In the single names, the
Greektexts of the Septuagint and 1 Esdras frequently differ from the Hebrewtext,
but the differences are almost all of a kind to furnish no material forcriticism. A
considerable number of these names reappear in the lists ofnames in the book of
ehemiah, but under circumstances which nowheremake the identity of the persons
bearing them certain.
WHEDO , "25. Moreover of Israel — That is, of non-official or simple Israelites, as
distinguished from the priests, Levites, and singers just mentioned. The names of
the chief fathers of this list are all found in the list of those who returned from
Babylon with Zerubbabel, chap. 2. The Bani of Ezra 10:34 is not to be identified
with the Bani of Ezra 10:29. The latter is probably the Bani of Ezra 2:10, while the
other is, perhaps, a corruption of Bezai, (of Ezra 2:17,) or possibly the name of some
person not mentioned at all in the list of chapter 2.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:25. Moreover of Israel — Of the people of Israel, distinguished
from the priests and Levites hitherto named, who before, Ezra 10:9, were called
Judah and Benjamin.
PETT, "‘And of Israel:’
Ten clans are listed as affected in Israel. The number has in fact been artificially

88. achieved by including the sons of Bani twice because of their overwhelming
numbers. We can compare the lists of ten patriarchs in Genesis 5, 11. 1 Esdras has
more but is unreliable. As we have seen it seeks to remedy what it sees as errors.
Ezra 10:25
‘Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and
Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.’
The sons of Parosh are mentioned in Ezra 2:3. Seven were found guilty.
26
From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah,
Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:26
‘And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and
Jeremoth, and Elijah.’
The sons of Elam are mentioned in Ezra 2:7. (Rather than Ezra 2:31 which may be
the name of a town). Six were found guilty.
27
From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib,
Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.
PETT, "Ezra 10:27
‘And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad,
and Aziza.’
The sons of Zattu are mentioned in Ezra 2:8. Six were found guilty.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:26

89. Jehiel. Probably the father of the Shechaniah who counselled Ezra (Ezra 10:2-4).
28
From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan,
Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.
PETT, "Ezra 10:28
‘And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.’
The sons of Bebai are mentioned in Ezra 2:11. Four were found guilty.
29
From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam,
Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.
PETT, "Ezra 10:29
‘And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal,
Jeremoth.’
The sons of Bani are mentioned in Ezra 2:10. Six were found guilty.
30
From the descendants of Pahath-Moab: Adna,
Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel,
Binnui and Manasseh.

90. PETT, "Ezra 10:30
‘And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah,
Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.’
The sons of Pahath-moab are mentioned in Ezra 2:6. Eight were found guilty.
31
From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah,
Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
PETT, "Ezra 10:31-32
‘And the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.’
The sons of Harim are mentioned in Ezra 2:32. Eight were found guilty. It will be
noted that the ‘of’ is missing. Such occasional variations occur in lists. There is no
need to amend it to fit in with our ideas of uniformity.
32
Benjamin, Malluch and Shemariah.
33
From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai,
Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh

91. and Shimei.
PETT, "Ezra 10:33
‘Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh,
Shimei.’
The sons of Hashum are mentioned in Ezra 2:19. Seven were found guilty.
34
From the descendants of Bani: Maadai, Amram,
Uel,
PETT, "Ezra 10:34-42
‘Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah,
Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu, and Bani, and Binnui,
Shimei, and Shelemiah, and athan, and Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.’
This is the second mention of the sons of Bani, but apart from Adaiah they are
different names. An occasional two people of the same name is not unusual. It would
appear that the sons of Bani were particularly at fault in taking idolatrous foreign
wives, possibly due to where they lived. It would have been surprising if at least one
clan had not sinned above the norm. Real life is different from fiction. It was
because of their large numbers that the writer divided them in order to make ten
clans in the list. Twenty seven were found guilty (making thirty three sons of Bani in
all)
35
Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,

92. 36
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
37
Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.
38
From the descendants of Binnui: [28] Shimei,
39
Shelemiah, athan, Adaiah,
40
Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

93. 41
Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42
Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.
43
From the descendants of ebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah,
Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.
PETT, "Ezra 10:43
‘Of the sons of ebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.’
The sons of ebo are mentioned in Ezra 2:29. Seven were found guilty. The total
number of Israel who were found guilty was eighty six. In all, including priests and
Levites one hundred and fifteen were found guilty.
44
All these had married foreign women, and some of
them had children by these wives. [29]

94. BAR ES, "Ezr_10:44
The guilty persons, it would seem, were 113 in number. They comprised 4 members of
the high priest’s family, 13 other priests, 10 Levites, and 86 lay Israelites belonging to at
least 10 distinct families. The fact noted in the second clause of the verse must have
increased the difficulity of Ezra’s task.
CLARKE, "Some of them had wives by whom they had children - This
observation was probably intended to show that only a few of them had children; but it
shows also how rigorously the law was put in execution.
According to a passage in Justin Martyr’s dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, Ezra offered a
paschal lamb on this occasion, and addressed the people thus: “And Ezra said to the
people, This passover is our Savior and our Refuge; and if ye will be persuaded of it, and
let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble ourselves to him in a sign, and
afterwards shall believe in him, this place shall not be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord
of Hosts: but if ye will not believe in him, nor hearken to his preaching, ye shall be a
laughing-stock to the Gentiles.” - Dial. cum Tryphone, sec. 72.
This passage, Justin says, the Jews, through their enmity to Christ, blotted out of the
book of Ezra. He charges them with cancelling several other places through the same
spirit of enmity and opposition.
In the Hebrew text this and the following book make but one, though sometimes
Nehemiah is distinguished as the second book of Esdras. In the Masoretic enumeration
of sections, etc., both books are conjoined. This may be seen at the end of Nehemiah. I
can add nothing of importance to the character of Ezra, which has already been given so
much in detail in the introduction to this book.
Corrected, March, 1828. - A. Clarke.
GILL, "All these had taken strange wives,.... In all about one hundred and
thirteen:
and some of them had wives by whom they had children; and yet they put them
away, which made it the more difficult for them to do; and those that had none, it is
thought to be a mark of God's displeasure at such marriages. No mention being made of
the children being put away, as Shechaniah proposed, Ezr_10:3, it may be concluded
they were not, but were taken care of, to be educated in the true religion, and entered
proselytes at a proper time; and the rather, as Ezra gave no orders about their putting
away, Ezr_10:11.
HE RY, "About 113 in all are here named who had married strange wives, and some
of them, it is said (Ezr_10:44), had children by them, which implies that not many of

95. them had, God not crowning those marriages with the blessing of increase. Whether the
children were turned off with the mothers, as Shechaniah proposed, does not appear; it
should seem not: however it is probable that the wives which were put away were well
provided for, according to their rank. One would think this grievance was now
thoroughly redressed, yet we meet with it again (Neh_13:23 and Mal_2:11), for such
corruptions are easily and insensibly brought in, but not without great difficulty purged
out again. The best reformers can but do their endeavour, but, when the Redeemer
himself shall come to Sion, he shall effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
K&D, "Ezra 10:44 contains the statement with which the account of this
transactioncloses. The Chethiv ‫נשׂאיּ‬ seems to be an error of transcription for‫נשׂאוּ‬
(the Keri), which the sense requires. ‫וישׁ‬ ‫מהם‬ ‫,וגו‬ “and there were among them
women who had broughtforth sons.” ‫מהם‬ must be referred to women,
notwithstandingthe masculine suffix. ‫,ישׂימוּ‬ too, can only be referred to‫,נשׁים‬ and
cannot be explained, as by J. H. Mich.: unde etiam filios susceperant seu
procreaverant. The gender of the verb is adapted tothe form of the word ‫,נשׁים‬ an
incorrectness which must beattributed to the increasing tendency of the language to
use the masculineinstead of the feminine, or to renounce a distinction of form
between thegenders. There are no adequate reasons for such an alteration of the text
asBertheau proposes; for the lxx already had our text before them, and the καὶ
ἀπέλυσαν αὐτὰς σὺν τέκνοις of 1 Esdr. 9:36is a mere conjecture from the context.
The remark itself, that among thewomen who were sent away were some who had
already brought childreninto the world, is not superfluous, but added for the
purpose of showinghow thoroughly this matter was carried out. Separation from
women whoalready have children is far more grievous, ob communium liberorum
caritatem, than parting with childless wives.
Strictly as this separation was carried out, this evil was not thereby doneaway with
for ever, nor even for very long. After the arrival of ehemiahat Jerusalem, when
the building of the wall was concluded, thecongregation again bound themselves by
an oath, on the occasion of a dayof prayer and fasting, to contract no more such
illegal marriages ( ehemiah 10:31). evertheless, ehemiah, on his second return to
Jerusalem, somefive and twenty to thirty years after the dissolution of these
marriages byEzra, again found Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Moab,
andAmmon, and children of these marriages who spoke the tongue of Ashdod,and
could not speak the Jews' language, and even one of the sons of thehigh priest
Jehoiada allied to a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite ( ehemiah 13:28, etc.). Such
a phenomenon, however strange it may appear on asuperficial view of the matter,
becomes comprehensible when we considermore closely the circumstances of the
times. The nucleus of the Israelite community in Jerusalem and Judah wasformed
by those exiles who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel andEzra; and to this
nucleus the remnant of Jewish and Israelite descent whichhad been left in the land
was gradually united, after the rebuilding of thetemple and the restoration of the
worship of Jahve. Those who returnedfrom Babylon, as well as those who remained
in the land, had now,however, lived seventy, and some of them one hundred and
fifty, years(from the captivity of Jehoiachin in 599, to the return of Ezra in 457)
among the heathen, and in the midst of heathen surroundings, and had thusbecome

96. so accustomed to intercourse with them in civil and socialtransactions, that the
consciousness of the barriers placed by the Mosaiclaw between Israel, the people of
Jahve, and the Gentiles, was more andmore obliterated. And this would specially be
the case when the Gentileswho entered into matrimonial alliance with Israelites did
not flagrantlypractise idolatrous worship, i.e., did not offer sacrifice to heathen
deities. Under such circumstances, it must have been extremely difficult to doaway
entirely with these unlawful unions; although, without a thoroughreform in this
respect, the successful development of the new communityin the land of their fathers
was not to be obtained.
Ezra's narrative of his agency in Jerusalem closes with the account of thedissolution
of the unlawful marriages then existing. What he subsequentlyeffected for the
revival of religion and morality in the re-establishedcommunity, in conformity with
the law of God, was more of an inwardand spiritual kind; and was either of such a
nature that no striking resultsensued, which could furnish matter for historical
narrative, or wasperformed during the period of his joint agency with ehemiah, of
whichan account is furnished by the latter in the record he has handed down tous
( ehemiah 8:10).
TRAPP, "Ezra 10:44 All these had taken strange wives: and [some] of them had
wives by whom they had children.
Ver. 44. And some of them had wives by whom they had children] Who yet for all
that were put away together with their children, Ezra 10:3. The Hebrew hath it
thus, and there were of them women, and they had put forth sons, or exposed their
sons to do as they might, or to be disposed of by the judges; as that good woman
who told Bonner, that if he burnt her, she hoped he would keep Faith, Hope, and
Charity (those were the names of her three daughters). o, by my truth will not I,
quoth the bishop; I will meddle with none of them (Acts and Mon.).
WHEDO , "44. Wives by whom they had children — The Hebrew reads literally,
And there were of them ( ‫,הם‬ them, is here masculine, and seems to refer to all these
at the beginning of the verse,) wives, and they set (or placed, ‫,ישׂימו‬ the masculine
form of the verb) children. The brevity and obscurity of the text are such as to make
the exact meaning very doubtful. The naked statement of our common version,
which follows in sense the Septuagint and Vulgate, that some of these wives had
children, seems bootless. The masculine form of the verb, as well as its peculiar
meaning of setting, appointing, etc., inclines one to think that the writer here speaks
of some disposition which some of these husbands, who put away their wives, made
also of their children. Bertheau conjectures that ‫וישׂימו‬ may be a corruption of ‫,גרשׂים‬
(thrust out, used of divorce in Leviticus 21:7,) and has been transposed from its
proper place before wives, so that originally the text read: And some of them thrust
out wives and children. While not prepared to accept this emendation of the text, we
think it brings out substantially the meaning which the Hebrew writer meant to
convey. For Ezra 10:3 implies that children as well as wives were put away.
The Book of Ezra ends abruptly here, but this reformation was not the end of his
ministry for Israel. How long he continued at Jerusalem after the events of this

97. chapter we have no means of knowing, but it is very supposable that he continued
there at least some days, in order to instruct the people further in the knowledge of
the law. Many have thought that he remained at Jerusalem as governor until the
twentieth year of Artaxerxes, when ehemiah was appointed to that office by the
king. But if Ezra had been superseded by ehemiah we should, doubtless, have had
some notice of it in the history of the latter. The abrupt termination of this book,
and the subsequent relapse of the Jews at Jerusalem, and their deplorable state
when ehemiah came, leads us rather to the opinion that Ezra soon returned again
to Babylon. This view is favoured by the fact that his commission was only to bear
the gifts of the king and his counsellors, and “to inquire concerning Judah and
Jerusalem.” Ezra 7:14.
Several years later Ezra appears at Jerusalem again, in connexion with ehemiah
and many Levites, reading and expounding the law to a great assembly of the
people. ehemiah 8. The agreement of the ancient traditions in associating Ezra
with the Great Synagogue, and the formation of the Old Testament Canon, may
authorize us to believe at least this much, that in concert with ehemiah and the
leading Jews of his time he did collect and arrange the books of the Old Testament
Canon in substantially the form in which we now possess them. He lived at a time
when such a work could best be done, and he had facilities for doing it which no
later age possessed. And it may be added, he alone of all the Jews of his age was
most competent to perform a work of such responsibility and care. How long he
lived after this is uncertain. Josephus says he died at an advanced age, and was
buried with distinguished honours at Jerusalem; but other traditions have it that he
died on his way back to Persia, and his reputed tomb is still shown on the banks of
the Tigris, about twenty miles above its junction with the Euphrates.
Ezra was unquestionably one of the greatest men of his age, and his mighty
influence upon his people is attested by the almost innumerable traditions of his
character and works, which afterwards sprung up among the Jews, and still linger
about his name. He is said to have introduced the square character into Hebrew
writing, and also to have established the office of dragoman, or interpreter, whose
duty it was to translate and explain the words of the Scriptures as they were read in
the synagogue. He is said to have been the founder and first president of the Great
Synagogue, and, in fact, of the entire system of synagogue worship as it afterwards
prevailed among the Jews of all lands. To him has been attributed the authorship of
several books of the Old Testament, [Chronicles, ehemiah, Esther,] besides this
one which bears his name.
BE SO , "Ezra 10:44. All these had taken strange wives — “The number is not
very great,” says Dr. Dodd, “if compared with all who came out of captivity; but
they seem to have been eminent persons, and their examples would, doubtless, have
spread the contagion, if a speedy stop had not been put to the evil.” Some of them
had wives by whom they had children — This implies, that most of their wives were
barren; which came to pass by God’s special providence, to manifest his displeasure
against such matches, and that the putting them away might not be encumbered
with too many difficulties. One would think this grievance altogether removed; yet

98. we meet with it again, ehemiah 13:22. Such corruptions are easily and insensibly
brought in, though not easily purged out. The best reformers can but do their
endeavour. It is only the Redeemer himself, who, when he cometh to Sion, will
effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob. It may not be amiss to add here a
remark of Mr. Locke: “Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, says that the
following speech of Ezra was in the ancient Hebrew copies of the Bible, but was
expunged by the Jews, namely: ‘And Ezra said to the people, This passover is our
Saviour, and our Refuge,’ (namely, a type of him,) ‘and if you will be persuaded of
it, and will let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble him in a sign, and
afterward shall believe in him, this place shall not be destroyed for ever, saith the
God of hosts; but if you believe not in him, neither hearken to his preaching, ye shall
be a laughingstock to the Gentiles.’”
COKE, "Ver. 44. These had taken strange wives, &c.— The number is not very
great, if compared with all those who came out of captivity; but they seem to have
been eminent persons, and their examples would, doubtless, have spread the
contagion, if a speedy stop had not been put to the evil. Justin Martyr, in his
Dialogue with Trypho, says, that this following speech of Ezra was in the ancient
Hebrew copies of the Bible, but was expunged by the Jews; viz. "And Ezra said to
the people, this passover is our saviour and our refuge; and if you will be persuaded
of it, and will let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble him in a sign, and
afterwards shall believe in him, this place shall not be destroyed for ever, saith the
God of hosts; but if you believe not in him, neither hearken to his preaching, ye shall
be a laughing-stock to the Gentiles."
LA GE, "Ezra 10:44 concludes the entire catalogue with a summary statement.—
All these had taken strange wives.—‫נשׂאי‬ must be taken as a participle; probably,
however, we should read as the perfect ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬. for the expression ‫ים‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫ָשׁ‬‫נ‬, comp. Ezra
9:2. o admissible sense can be derived from the last words of the verse; the
translation: And there were among them women, and they had, or which had
brought sons into the world, by which the masc. suffix of ‫ֶם‬‫ה‬ֵ‫מ‬, and so also the masc.
form ‫ימוּ‬ ִ‫ָשׂ‬‫יּ‬ַ‫ו‬, is referred to the wives, gives a statement, which is too self-evident to be
correct. But a change which Bertheau proposes: “And there were among them those
who sent away wives and sons,” does not commend itself, partly because it is in too
little connection with the text as we have it, partly because such a clause would
likewise be too self-evident after Ezra 10:3.—[Rawlinson adopts the former interp.
and says: “The fact is noted as having increased the difficulty of Ezra’s task.”—Tr.
PETT, "Ezra 10:44
‘All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had
had children.’
The Hebrew has difficulties but is not impossible. It confirms that all those
mentioned were found guilty and adds that in some cases children were involved.
They would not, of course, just be cast out. They would return to their family home,
and compensation may well have been paid. And as they were probably mainly from

99. the higher classes they would suffer no hardship (it would require some wealth for
them to be able to maintain their religions separately). Being arranged marriages
their love for each other may not have been deep. When we consider that other
women may have been divorced in order to make room for them, sympathy for them
may not have run high (see Malachi 2:11; Malachi 2:14).
As Ezra had been sent by the king to teach and enforce the Law this was important
evidence in his first year report that he was fulfilling the king’s expectations. He was
in fact merciful. The king had urged death, banishment, confiscation of goods and
imprisonment (Ezra 7:26).
And so the book ends on what Ezra would have seen as a triumphant note. Idolatry
has been rooted out from among God’s remnant, and the whole group of the
returnees have expressed their commitment in future to avoid idolatrous
associations. It was not Ezra’s fault, nor his failure (he had succeeded admirably)
that a few of the next generation would slip back into the old ways ( ehemiah 13:22-
31). ehemiah was able to stamp it out quickly, and much more ferociously,
precisely because Ezra had laid the foundation.
PULPIT, "Ezra 10:44
And some of them had wives by whom they had children. Rather, "And there were
some among the wives who had given birth to children." The fact is implied above
in the advice of Shechaniah (Ezra 10:3), but is here alone distinctly asserted. o
doubt it was more difficult to arrange the terms of the divorce where the marriage
had been fruitful.
footnotes
7 Or gods
9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
25 See Septuagint (see also Neh. 7:29); Hebrew Kiriath Arim.
69 That is, about 1,100 pounds (about 500 kilograms)
69 That is, about 3 tons (about 2.9 metric tons)
9 Hebrew Yehudah, probably a variant of Hodaviah
4 Or and troubled them as they built
6 Hebrew Ahasuerus, a variant of Xerxes' Persian name
7 Or written in Aramaic and translated
7 The text of Ezra 4:8--6:18 is in Aramaic.
9 Or officials, magistrates and governors over the men from
10 Aramaic Osnappar, a variant of Ashurbanipal
4 See Septuagint; Aramaic [4] We told them the names of the men
constructing this building.
14 Or palace
14 Or palace
3 Aramaic sixty cubits (about 27 meters)

100. 12 The text of Ezra 7:12-26 is in Aramaic.
22 That is, about 3 3/4 tons (about 3.4 metric tons)
22 That is, probably about 600 bushels (about 22 kiloliters)
22 That is, probably about 600 gallons (about 2.2 kiloliters)
22 That is, probably about 600 gallons (about 2.2 kiloliters)
5 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:32); Hebrew does not have
Zattu.
10 Some Septuagint manuscripts (also 1 Esdras 8:36); Hebrew does not
have Bani.
26 That is, about 25 tons (about 22 metric tons)
26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons (about 3.4 metric tons)
26 That is, about 3 3/4 tons (about 3.4 metric tons)
27 That is, about 19 pounds (about 8.5 kilograms)
[37,38] See Septuagint (also 1 Esdras 9:34); Hebrew Jaasu [38] and Bani
and Binnui,
44 Or and they sent them away with their children