Bede

And I sent them to Iddo, etc. The Caspian Sea, as Orosius writes, rises from the northern region of the ocean, whose shores and deserted places around the ocean are uninhabited and uncultivated. From there, it extends southwards through long narrow passages, until, expanded over great distances, it is bordered by the roots of Mount Caucasus. It has many Hyrcanian and Scythian tribes from the east to the ocean, wandering widely due to the unfruitful spread of the lands. To the west, it has many tribes. But in general, the region far beyond Albania under the Caspian Sea and mountain is called by the name of the Amazons. It should be noted here that while historians write "Caspium," Ezra in this passage calls it "Casphiae." For the Hebrews, not having the letter P, use the letter Ph in Greek or barbarian names, such as Phetrus, Philatus. Therefore, it is also proven that the sons of Israel reached the places of Casphiae through the captivity by the Assyrians or Chaldeans, as Ezra sends there to bring ministers of the house of the Lord, namely Levites and Nethinim, whom Josephus calls sacred servants. It should be noted that they lived very freely in peace, even though they were among foreigners, who immediately at the command or request of Ezra could send such a large group of soldiers. For two hundred and fifty-eight chosen men were on that expedition, as their following catalog shows; to which Ezra being added, it is found that his army almost had the total of seventeen hundred men.

And I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, etc. It has been frequently said that the silver and gold and vessels sent from Babylon to Jerusalem signify souls, which are converted to the Lord from the confusion and errors of this world. Hence, Ezra appropriately entrusts such vessels to the priests, who are to carry them to Jerusalem; for it is necessary that through the hands of the priests, those who desire to reach the companionship of the holy Church are washed in baptism and consecrated to the Lord. Likewise, those who have separated themselves from the society of the Church through sin, and have fallen into the service of the devil, into the captivity of the Babylonian king by persevering in sins, must be reconciled to the holy Church through repentance by the ministry of the priests. And fittingly, there are twelve priests to whom this duty is assigned, on account of the twelve apostles, through whose teaching the Church was initially founded throughout the world, and who continue to build it up through their successors until the end of the age. To whom applies the statement that Ezra made to those same priests:

Be watchful and guard, until you weigh, etc. We weigh the silver and gold, and the vessels which we received from Ezra, before the leaders of the priests and Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, and into the treasury of the house of the Lord, when by teaching and instructing those whom the divine order has entrusted to us, we present them such that they may be found blameless and fit for the treasury of the heavenly court, that is, the seats of internal peace and light; and this not by the judgment of any men who may easily be deceived, but by the scrutiny of the blessed apostles, and other exalted men, who are with the Lord and are to judge our actions. These are indeed rightly understood to be the leaders of the priests and Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel, that is, the men or souls who see God. Concerning whom the Psalmist says to the Lord: "You will appoint them leaders over all the earth" (Psalm 45). And about whom Solomon, in the praises of the Church, says: "Her husband is noble at the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land" (Proverbs 31). At the gates, he speaks, in the context of the final examination.

We therefore moved from the river Ahava on the twelfth, and all the rest full of mysteries. For it is read above that on the first day of the first month they began to go up from Babylon; and now it is said that on the twelfth day of the same month they moved from the river Ahava. Therefore, on the first day of the month, they went out from the gates of Babylon, but until the twelfth day, they waited by the mentioned river until they called Levites and Nathinneos from the region of Caspia to themselves and commended themselves to the Lord more diligently through fasting and praying due to the dangers of the long journey. So, when we teach the new people of the Church to renounce the devil and believe and confess the true God, it is as if we depart from Babylon at the beginning of the first month with money to be consecrated to the Lord; because we show them the beginning of a new conversation, which leads those who are snatched from the devil to the heavenly kingdom. Hence, the same month is usually called the month of new or new fruits in the Holy Scripture. For in the same month, under the same signification of new conversation, the fathers were brought out of Egypt by Moses. But when we give the symbol of faith to these same listeners of the new life, which was arranged by the twelve apostles and is comprehended by as many sentences, it is as if we stay twelve days in the first resting place; and so, we undertake the journey begun to the promised land, which by the acceptance of the knowledge of faith, we show them that a path of virtues must be entered upon to reach life. In these days, Ezra was occupied with fasting, prayers, and gathering Levites and Nathinneos with the children of the migration, because it is necessary that when we propose to acquire new people for faith, then we ourselves must especially give our attention to diligence in virtues, by which we commend ourselves more familiarly to the Lord, and offer an example of good action to those we instruct: we also call in a religious cohort of brethren to assist us, so that helped by them, we may more effectively transfer the souls of the faithful to the fellowship of the elect and to the summit of a more perfect life, as holy vessels to the temple of the Lord. It is aptly subjoined that those who came to Jerusalem from Babylon stayed there for three days, and then the silver, gold, and vessels they had brought were offered and weighed in the house of the Lord. Indeed, the three days of stay in Jerusalem represent the virtues that should be held by all the faithful, faith, hope, and charity. Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to show these virtues first in themselves, and then to offer those they have taught and instructed in these same virtues to be tested by the foremost fathers in Christ. For when the holy Church finds those we catechize to be proven in faith and action, as the vessels we offer in the temple, by the hands of the priests, it will find them to be of pure metal and perfect weight. This is also done daily in this Church through the chosen ones in the examination of the life of believers, and in the heavenly Jerusalem, it is more perfectly fulfilled in those who have merited to enter it, as we have said above. In this life, holy teachers, staying as it were for three days in Jerusalem, on the fourth day offer the silver and gold they have brought to be weighed by the priests, when they show themselves to be strong in faith, sublime in hope, fervent in love, and also demonstrate that their listeners shine like tested silver by the confession of true faith, gleam like pure gold through the purity of inviolate sense, and excel like vessels consecrated to God by accepting spiritual gifts. In the heavenly homeland, these same teachers first receive the grace of reward for their faith, hope, and love, and then also for those they have taught, as they are honored more for the precious and worthy vessels they have brought, as after the joy of a three-day stay in Jerusalem. But there is a difference between the vessels that Ezra offers with the priests in Jerusalem and those that above Zerubbabel and Joshua are said to have offered; because those were transported from the temple of the Lord to Babylon and afterward brought back to Jerusalem; but these were made in Babylon itself, but in devotion were sent to Jerusalem by the king or princes of Persia, or even by the people of Israel who lived in those parts. Therefore, those vessels signify those who, after receiving the knowledge and sacraments of faith, and after beginning virtuous works, are deceived by the ancient enemy and taken into the confusion of errors; but by the mercy of Christ’s grace, they are called back to salvation. However, these signify those who were born subject to the death of the first transgression by sin, but through the washing of regeneration by the ministry of priests, they were cleansed and gathered as children of the holy Church. Those represent penitents from their errors, these persevering nations in the beginning virtue. Concerning which it is well subjoined:

But also those who came from the captivity, the sons of the exile, etc. A great devotion and religiosity is shown by those who, when they came from captivity, arriving at the temple and altar of the Lord, first of all offered burnt offerings, not only for themselves but also for all Israel, that is, both for those who had already returned home and for those who were still enduring exile from their homeland, so that the mercy of their creator might protect them all. The spiritual meaning is also evident, that those who truly and perfectly escaped the captivity of the ancient enemy, by sinning they were held, but by repenting they freed themselves, who with firm intention submit to divine service, who wholly detach themselves from low desires, and are inflamed by the flame of heavenly desire to ascend to the heights. This is to offer burnt offerings, that is, wholly burned sacrifices or victims to the Lord, thinking or doing nothing but His will in all things. It is also a sign of a perfect mind when someone sacrifices for all Israel, that is, for the general well-being of all the faithful, as if mindful of unity and brotherhood in all, he supplicates the heavenly piety.

They also delivered the king's edicts to the satraps, etc. Another edition has: And they glorified the people and the house of God. Therefore, they uplifted the people by making royal authority, with which Ezra was exalted, honorable to all. They also uplifted the house of God by adorning it more splendidly with vessels and gifts which the king, his counselors, and his princes sent to it; and by freeing its ministers and priests from tributes and taxes, except to the Lord alone. Mystically, however, the people and the temple of God held one and the same figure of the holy Church; which Ezra and the sons of the exile uplift, by bringing from Babylon the vessels sacred to God, when holy preachers, gathering to it, by the Lord's gift, the assemblies of believers, make it honorable to all even strangers and show it as awe-inspiring. Likewise, the same preachers, when they elevate those whom they instruct either by their examples in good conduct or by words towards the perception of the heavenly rewards, they now uplift the people and the house of God, because they indeed bring great joy both to those dwelling in the heavenly homeland and to those still journeying on earth.

After these things were completed, etc. The guilt of this transgression is also clearly described and reproved by prophetic authority in the prophet Malachi; because evidently those who returned from Babylonian captivity, both princes and priests and Levites, as well as the rest of the people, took wives of Israelite descent, who, suffering from the hardship and infirmity of long life, and the fragility of their sex, had been worn out and contracted weakness and deformity of body, and they married foreign women who were either flourishing in age, or more beautiful in body, or daughters of the powerful and rich. This should be understood not about those who were then with Ezra, but about those who had already ascended from captivity with Zerubbabel and Jeshua; for those who had come with Ezra could hardly have so quickly despised the doctrine of such a great leader and prelate, as it is understood, that after scarcely five months in their homeland, they had left their own wives and taken foreign wives; of whom these princes, who brought this crime to Ezra to be punished, were more likely to have been. Nor is it surprising that the people of Israel, along with priests and Levites, are said to have committed this crime, since that transmigration was more from Judah and Benjamin than from the ten tribes which were called Israel. For it should be known that when Israel, that is, the ten tribes, was taken into captivity, the traditional name was also indiscriminately applied to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, calling them Israel. Therefore, the people of Israel in this place is to be understood not in the distinction of Judah and the ten tribes of Benjamin, but in the general distinction of the peoples of the lands, understanding the people of God, who polluted the dignity of their heavenly name with the society of earthly ones. For also the same prophet Malachi, whom the Hebrews assert to be Ezra himself, recalls such transgression in his book of prophecy: "Judah has been unfaithful, an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judah has desecrated the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and married the daughter of a foreign god. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—an advocate or master and student—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty" (Malachi II). Where, referring to Judah, he clearly indicates that the people of the first transmigration were polluted by this crime. And when he adds, "May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—an advocate or master and student," he taught that both the leaders and the people, polluted by this transgression, and if they do not correct it, should be eradicated from the fellowship of saints. And when he added, "Even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty," he warns that they offer sacrifices to the Lord in vain, who do not fear to submit themselves to the devil by sinning. Among these, the admirable faith and excellent purpose of the people freed from captivity, who called other nations the peoples of the lands in distinction to themselves, should be noted, so that they clearly implied that they themselves, although born from the earth, believed they had their conversation not on earth, but in heaven, since they believed in the God of heaven above all other nations and hoped to obtain blessings from Him. From this, they rightly grieved that their sanctification was contaminated by people of the nations; and what is more serious, they confessed that their leaders, from whom they should have been corrected, were the first to err. It should be carefully noted, and taken as an example for conduct, that what the leaders sinned and made the people committed to them sin as well, other leaders who lived more sanctly strive to correct. But because they cannot do it by themselves, they refer the cause to the pontiff, that is, their archbishop, by whose authority such a grave, multifaceted, and long-lasting sin would be expiated. No one doubts that foreign wives figuratively represent heresies and superstitious sects of philosophers. When these are incautiously admitted into the Church, they not only contaminate the holy seed of Catholic truth and pure action with their errors, but also all the sins with which the Gentiles are accustomed to be polluted, while Christians are not ashamed to imitate them, become like foreign wives, degenerating from the holy seed of the word of God, by which they were born, as the apostle James says: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth" (James I); and as if they produce profane offspring from the daughters of foreigners, while following the attractions of those who go astray, they bring forth perverse acts into the knowledge of everyone.

And when I had heard this word, I tore my garment, etc. Ezra reveals the deepest sorrow of his heart, he tore his clothing, plucked the hairs of his head and beard; he sits in mourning, so that by such dishonoring of his body and clothing, along with the sorrow of his face, he might more quickly rouse all hearts to repentance either for their own or their brothers' sins, because clothing is often used to signify our deeds, which either bring us to glory if clean, or to destruction if soiled, and do not commend themselves with the splendid love of the bridegroom. By the hairs of the head are meant thoughts, which arise from the hidden root of the heart, as if from the inner chambers of the brain. These, if upright, should be preserved: but if reproved, ought to be cut off. Hence, about Samuel, who was to be holy, his mother says: "And a razor shall not come upon his head" (1 Sam. 1:11). And to the apostles, the Lord says: "And not a hair of your head shall perish," because surely all the thoughts of the saints are worthy of eternal remembrance before the Lord. But truly, the sinner, that he may be cleansed from his iniquities, must cast away from himself reproveable thoughts, that is, the sources and incentives of evil deeds. Hence, the leper in Leviticus, when he has received healing, among other ceremonies of purification, is also commanded to shave off all the hair of his body, so that being thus cleansed, he might be worthy to enter the camp (cf. Lev. 14). Because then we are perfectly cleansed from the foulness of vices when we strive to expel not only harmful actions but also thoughts from ourselves. The beard too, which is a sign of male sex and age, is customarily taken to signify virtue. The high priest tore his cloak and tunic, to signify that the people he ruled had less perfect deeds, and whose deficiency needed to be mended through repentance and renewed in better behavior. He plucked the hairs of his head, so that he might signify to the same people that wicked thoughts must be uprooted from their hearts, and room given for useful ones to be born anew. He also plucked the hairs of his beard, so that even in the virtues they seemed to possess, they might be humbled, and reminded that these small or non-existent things were mixed with vices and not esteemed in the examination of the inner judge. He sat in mourning, to teach that through the lamentations of repentance, forgiveness for such a great offense ought to be sought. Nor is it to be wondered at if the actions of such a good leader soon bore great virtue among the subjects. Consider what follows:

And in the evening sacrifice I rose from my affliction, etc. Ezra had prepared himself through the contrition of his heart and the affliction of his body, so that he might be made worthy to hear divine compassion, and thus he broke forth into the words of prayer. He bent his knees, spread his hands, and poured out prayers to the Lord at the time of the evening sacrifice; not doubting that this sacrifice would be more pleasing to God—because it was offered in a spirit of humility and a contrite soul—than if it had been offered with the flesh and blood of sheep. Symbolically, by bending his knees with his garment rent, spreading his hands to God, and pouring out prayers and tears, he turned the minds of many to repentance, as it is written in what follows, showing the Lord Savior, who deigned to pray for our sins both before His passion and at the very time of His passion; and who, with His hands extended on the cross, willed the garment of His flesh to be torn and mortified with wounds for our restoration, so that He, as the Apostle says, who died for our sins, might rise for our justification (Rom. 4). This was suitably done at the time of the evening sacrifice, either because the Lord, at the end of the world, offered the sacrifice of His flesh and blood to the Father and commanded us to offer it in bread and wine; or because, with the completion of the legal sacrifice, He freed us by His passion and, separating us from the peoples of the earth, made us heavenly, and granted that we might cling to Him with pure heart and body. The prayer itself, by which he, though just, associated himself with the sinful people, saying: