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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
10:1-17 The People Agree to Dissolve the Marriages. Ezra prays, and the people confess their sin (vv. 1-2). They agree to do God's will (vv. 3-5). Ezra seeks an answer (vv. 6-8), which is for them to separate from their wives (vv. 9-12), and the people obey (vv. 13-17).
10:1 Ezra's own report of the events (7:27-9:15) now gives way to a different narrative voice, though the account continues without a break. a very great assembly. Under God, Ezra's public prayer and demonstration of grief bring a large number of people to repentance, as shown by the statement that they wept bitterly. The term "assembly" is used for a formal gathering of Israel as a religious community.
10:2 Shecaniah speaks for the whole gathering, perhaps by prearrangement. Jehiel. See also v. 26; Shecaniah's own father may have had a mixed marriage. broken faith. See note on 9:1-2 concerning "faithlessness." The word translated married is not the usual one, but means literally "we have given a home"; Shecaniah's words may imply that these illicit relationships were not marriages in the full sense.
10:3 Shecaniah's belief that "there is hope for Israel" (v. 2) is dependent on making a covenant with God, meaning in this instance a solemn and binding promise to put away the foreign wives and their children. As with the term for "marriage," this is not the usual expression for "divorce," and may also imply that these were not proper marriages. The word means simply "bring out." In effect, this meant excommunicating them from the community of returned exiles. The text does not make clear any other details concerning matters of ongoing support and protection for these wives and their children (cf. v. 44), or concerning what happened to them (but see note on vv. 18-44). Because this represents a different situation in a different context as compared to 1 Cor. 7:12-14 (where Paul tells Christians not to divorce their unbelieving spouses), and because this example was recorded here in Ezra for descriptive rather than normative reasons, there would be no justification for anyone to take similar actions today. In Ezra's context, members of God's people had defied God's law in taking these wives, while Paul gives his instructions to people who probably converted after their marriage. the counsel of my lord (i.e., Ezra). Ezra may have already outlined a plan for taking care of the foreign wives and their children, even though it is not recorded here. according to the Law. That is, Deut. 7:1-5 (see note on Ezra 9:1-2). those who tremble. See note on 9:4.
10:4 be strong and do it. This is like the charge to Joshua at the first entry of Israel into the land (Josh. 1:6-7), and relates both to overcoming enemies and to keeping the law.
10:5 The oath is in effect the same as the covenant (v. 3). All three main sections of the community take this oath.
10:6 Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Both names are common and appear in several lists in Ezra and Nehemiah (see Ezra 10:24, 27, 36; Neh. 12:10, 13). It is not always possible to know whether the same name refers to the same person. This family evidently had a caretaking role in the temple (see Neh. 13:4).
10:7 assemble at Jerusalem. Such assemblies normally occurred during the three regular pilgrimage feasts (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles); this was a special gathering, since the survival of the community was at stake.
10:8 banned from the congregation. Anyone who refused to participate in the plan to renounce the foreign wives and children would share their excommunication.
10:9 The ninth month, Chislev, is roughly December, the time of the so-called early rains. The people are trembling partly for fear of God (as in 9:4), and partly because they are cold and wet in the heavy rain.
10:10 The terms of Ezra's accusation have appeared already in 9:1-2, 4, 6-7; 10:2. increased the guilt of Israel. The return from exile had signified that all of Israel's past sins had been forgiven (Isa. 40:1-2). Ezra now points to renewed sin, beyond that which had previously been forgiven, and thus the possibility of the renewed wrath of God.
10:11 Make confession is based on Hebrew words that could also be translated in other contexts as "give thanks or praise" (Hb. natan + todah; cf. Josh. 7:19 and ESV footnote). Some overlap of these meanings is not surprising because rightful confession is itself a kind of worship of God.
10:12-15 The people as a whole respond with a solemn admission of their guilt and with resolution to act to address the problem, as in the making of a covenant (see also Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7). They then propose a practical means of conducting the procedure.
10:15 opposed this. This probably means that these men opposed the entire resolution to put away the foreign wives. But the verse contains some ambiguity in Hebrew, and some interpreters think these men opposed the proposed means of proceeding because they wished to act more swiftly.
10:16-17 This summary account of the proceedings shows that it was undertaken by duly appointed authorities in the community, and thus it was not merely Ezra's doing. examine the matter (v. 16). The need for rigorous inquiry was an established part of the duties of judges (see Deut. 17:4). The whole inquiry took .
