Ezra 10:4

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

Now 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

This matter belongeth unto thee; because thou hast both skill to manage it, and authority both from God and from the Persian king to do it.

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. Not 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.

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. (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. Numbers 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 Neh 12:10 and his grandson. Both names were common.

Verse 4. 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 Ezra 7:23-28. And all officers were commanded to be aiding and assisting; hence Shechaniah says, We are with you.

4. The appeal to Ezra. Arise] Not a reference to Ezra’s prostration but a summons to energetic action, Joshua 1:2; Judges 4:14; 1 Samuel 16:12 and often. for this matter belongeth unto thee:] R.V. for the matter &c. Literally ‘for this matter is upon thee’. Cf. Nehemiah 13:13, ‘And their business was (lit. and it was upon them) to distribute unto their brethren’. Isaiah 9:6, ‘And the government shall be upon his shoulder’. Ezra was marked out for the duty, partly because he had so publicly testified to his condemnation of the people’s sin, partly because he had received the royal commission ‘to teach’ them that knew not the laws of his God (Ezra 7:25). we also will be with thee] R.V. and we are with thee. The R.V. gives the full meaning, by placing only a comma after ‘thee’. The lead in the work was Ezra’s, but Shechaniah and his friends were ready to cooperate at once in the reform. The present tense is therefore more appropriate than the future. be of good courage, and do it] Literally, ‘be strong, and do’. The responsibility of initiative required especial courage, when the policy would inevitably produce widespread discontent with no material compensation. David uses the same words to Solomon when entrusting to him the work of constructing the Temple. 1 Chronicles 28:10, ‘Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it’: cf. 2 Chronicles 19:11, ‘Deal courageously’ (Heb. Be strong and do), are the words of encouragement given to Amariah, Zebadiah and the Levites by Jehoshaphat, as he commissioned them to act as judges among the people.

4. Arise — Ezra was probably still bowed down before the temple. Ezra 10:1, note. Unto thee — Ezra possessed the proper authority from the king, (Ezra 7:25,) and the wisdom to institute the needed reformation.