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Ezra 9

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The Leaders Report the People's Sin 1–4

1
Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ​
2
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. ​
3
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded. ​
4
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening oblation. ​

Ezra's Prayer of Confession 5–15

5
And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God; ​
6
and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens. ​
7
Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. ​
8
And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. ​
9
For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. ​
10
And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11
which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness: ​
12
now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. ​
13
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant, ​
14
shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? ​
15
O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness; for none can stand before thee because of this. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezra 9

Verse 1

the people of the lands — The list joins five of the seven nations of Deut 7:1 with Ammon, Moab and Egypt, whom Deut 23:3–8 treats separately. 'Separated' is badal, the verb of Lev 20:26, where the LORD says he has 'severed you from other people, that ye should be mine'.

Verse 2

the holy seed — The phrase of Isa 6:13, 'the holy seed shall be the substance thereof', said of the remnant that remains. 'Mingled' is arab, to intermix; 'trespass' is maal, breach of faith, the word again in v.4 and 10:6. 'Chief' is literally 'first': the princes and rulers led the way.

Verse 3

rent my garment and my mantle — Tearing clothes marks grief (Josh 7:6); Job rent his 'mantle' (meil) at his loss (Job 1:20). Ezra also plucks his hair, as Nehemiah later does to others over this same offence (Neh 13:25). 'Astonied' is shamem, stunned and desolate; he sits so until the evening (v.4).

Verse 4

trembled at the words of the God of Israel — Chared, 'trembling', is the word of Isa 66:2, where the LORD looks to the man who 'trembleth at my word'. They gather while Ezra sits 'astonied' until the evening sacrifice, the hour of the second daily lamb, offered 'at even' (Ex 29:39).

Verse 5

spread out my hands — Hands spread to heaven on bent knees is Solomon's posture at the dedication: 'kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven' (1 Kgs 8:54). 'Heaviness' is taanit, self-affliction, the fast; Ezra rises from it at the evening offering to pray 'unto the LORD my God'.

Verse 6

ashamed and blush — The two verbs are bosh and kalam, both words of shame. Ezra says 'our iniquities' and 'our trespass', speaking for the people. 'Increased over our head' answers Ps 38:4, 'mine iniquities are gone over mine head', and 'unto the heavens' is the reach of Babylon's sins in Rev 18:5, 'reached unto heaven'.

Verse 7

confusion of face — Bosheth, shame, the word Daniel uses of this same exile: 'to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers' (Dan 9:8). Ezra's 'as it is this day' matches Daniel's 'as at this day' (Dan 9:7). Kings and priests are named with the people as sharing the guilt.

Verse 8

a nail in his holy place — Yathed, a tent-peg (Judg 4:21, 'a nail of the tent'), here the secure hold the remnant has at the temple; Isa 22:23 has 'I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place'. 'Reviving' is michyah, the preserving of life, the word of Gen 45:5, 'to preserve life'. 'Lighten our eyes' is also in Ps 13:3.

Verse 9

a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem — Gader, a fence or enclosure, so here protection; the city's own wall was still broken in Neh 1:3. 'Extended mercy' is Ezra's phrase for the king's favour in 7:28, and 'the kings of Persia' are named in 6:14: 'Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia'.

Verse 11

an unclean land — The words sum up Lev 18:24–28, where the nations' defilement makes the land itself vomit out its inhabitants. 'Filthiness' is niddah, impurity, the word of Lev 18:19, 'put apart for her uncleanness'. 'From one end to another' is literally 'from mouth to mouth', as in 2 Kgs 10:21.

Verse 12

seek their peace or their wealth — This quotes Deut 23:6 on Ammon and Moab, 'Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever', and the marriage ban of Deut 7:3. 'Eat the good of the land' is the promise of Isa 1:19 to the willing and obedient.

Verse 13

less than our iniquities deserve — Chasak, to hold back; 'less than' is literally 'beneath'. God had held the penalty below their guilt, as Ps 103:10 says, 'nor rewarded us according to our iniquities'. 'Deliverance' is peletah, an escape, the word behind 'remnant to escape' (v.8), 'escaping' (v.14) and 'escaped' (v.15).

Verse 14

join in affinity — Chathan, to form a marriage alliance, the verb of Deut 7:3, 'Neither shalt thou make marriages with them', and of Solomon's alliance with Pharaoh (1 Kgs 3:1). 'No remnant nor escaping' (shearith, peletah) turns the escape given in v.8 into its opposite.

Verse 15

thou art righteous — Tsaddiq, the same acknowledgment as the Levites' in Neh 9:33, 'thou art just in all that is brought upon us'. 'We cannot stand before thee' answers Ps 130:3, 'If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?' The 'escaped' remain only by the mercy of v.9.