Ezra 10

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. Ezra 10:1

There was no pretense in Ezra’s repentance. Everyone could see that his repentance was real. They could see him throwing himself down before the house of the Lord and they could see his many tears. Ezra was a broken and disheveled man. Rabbi R. Nachman of Bratzlav once said: “There is none more whole than one with a broken heart.” [1] Ezra’s heart was completely broken over the sins of his people. Psalm 51:17 says, “… a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

Why did Ezra have to go to such extremes in his penitence? It was because he was facing an extreme situation. McConville comments: “A desperate situation called for a desperate remedy…An evil had been done which jeopardized the very existence of the people of God and the only right course was to undo it.” [2] If God’s remnant would have continued on in their pagan marriages they would have eventually been absorbed into the pagan society around them. That would have been the end of Israel. Since salvation comes from the Jews (Jn. 4:22), it would have also been the end of God’s great redemption plan for humanity.

Pett says, “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 26:14-46 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68.” [3] Ezra’s sincere show of repentance pricked the hearts of the Israelites enabling him to accomplish something that he would never have been able to accomplish through his legal power alone. The whole congregation joined Ezra in bitter weeping. The revival had begun. “This response was not something that Ezra worked up; lit was something that he prayed down…” [4]

We note that this section has switched from the first person to the third person. Guthrie says, “The vivid detail of this chapter suggests that it once formed part of Ezra’s memoirs.” [5]

The People Propose A Plan

Then Shekaniah 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.” Ezra 10:2

Shekaniah was one of the leading men. He spoke for the sinners but his name is not found on the following list of offenders. It is possible that he was the son of Jehiel, one of those who had taken pagan wives (cf. 10:21). However, Jehiel was a common name in Israel and we cannot be certain of such a connection. [6] Shekaniah offered the people hope and it was surely a time when the people needed some hope.

“Now 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. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it” (10:3-4). Shekaniah called for a covenant to be made so that the pagan wives and children could be sent away. We know from scripture that God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16 NAS, NET, NKJ, NRS). However, in this situation divorce was far the lesser of two evils. In certain cases, the Old Testament allowed divorce (Deut. 24:1-4). “…Since the foreign women were now deemed ‘unclean’ a formal divorce would then be ‘lawful.’” [7]

“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” (10:5). The oath made here was a way of swearing to God and doing so as an act of worship (cf. Deut. 6:13; 10:20). [8] Such oaths to God were very serious matters.

“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” (10:6). Guzik says: “For Ezra, this whole tragedy was as bad as if someone had died …We can say that Ezra observed a complete fast, abstaining from both food and water. This same kind of fast is rare in the Bible but was observed twice by Moses (Exo. 34:28; Deut. 9:18) and also by the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:7). [9]

This action tells us a lot about Ezra. He was not putting on some kind of religious show before the people. He continued his full fast even in the privacy of the temple compound. The temple did have some private rooms attached to it and these were often assigned to important people like Jehohanan. It is possible that we are dealing with the high priestly family here. The historian Josephus (Antiq. 11:5.5) states that the Eliashib of this verse became the high priest later in Nehemiah’s day (Neh. 13:4, 7). [10]

“A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. 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” (10:7-8). It was fortunate for the people that they were not scattered over a large area. It was possible for them to assemble in Jerusalem within the period of three days. The penalty for not appearing was drastic indeed. It involved the Hebrew word ha-ram ( cha-ram ) which meant to ban, devote to God or even exterminate. [11] Simply put, they would be excommunicated from the holy community and all their property would be given to the temple treasury. [12] Of course, Ezra had been assigned the full political power to enforce such a ban.

Gathering In Jerusalem

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. Ezra 10:9

The people gathered on the twentieth day of the ninth month ( Kislev ). This would correspond to late in our month of December. In Jerusalem, the heavy rainy season runs from mid-December and to mid-January. Jerusalem can get down to freezing and there can even be snow at times. The cold rains of December and January are usually accompanied by rather strong winds. I lived in Jerusalem for twelve years and remember trying to survive such rains. It is customary to see umbrellas turned wrong-side-out and discarded along the sidewalks because of the wind. It is almost impossible to stay dry in such downpours. While it is bad enough to walk in the rain it is much worse to sit out in it as these people did. “One can envision a great mass of men, rain-soaked and cold, waiting to discuss a depressing and weighty matter.” [13]

This situation is reminiscent of a meeting that happened in Northern Ireland back in March, 1859. It was a meeting conducted by some un ordained laymen and it drew such crowds at the First Presbyterian Church in Ahoghill that the people had to vacate the building for fear that the balconies would collapse due to the weight of so many people. The meeting was then turned out onto the street beside the church. There in the midst of freezing rain James McQuilkin preached to some 3,000 people. Many of the listeners fell to their knees in the wet and muddy street because they were so moved with the conviction of their sin. [14]

“Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, ‘You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt” (10:10). This was no time for niceties since the people were suffering. Ezra just told it like it was and called them sinners. Sin has long tentacles and tends to draw other people in time. Andrews says, “Sin always has a long reach of culpability because sin rarely indulges itself alone.” [15]

“Now honor the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives” (10:11). Just as Ezra was quick to define their malady, he was also quick to prescribe the cure. They must divorce their foreign wives. Divorce was permitted in Israel but there had to be some serious grounds for it as we have said. As we mentioned in verse 4, a pagan wife presented such grounds. This verse is loaded with imperatives so it was clear that the people needed to arise and do what Ezra said. [16]

“The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: ‘You are right! We must do as you say. 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’” (10:12-13). Some things cannot be done in a hurry. This was an extremely complicated matter and it would take some time to sort it all out. Apparently, there were some wives who had become proselytes and their children were being raised in the faith while others had remained as pagans. [17] It would take days, weeks and months to judge all the 110 cases.

“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 anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us” (10:14). Instead of sorting the matter out in a rainstorm, it seemed that they let common sense prevail along with their religious zeal. They appointed a commission from their officials and it was decided that each offender would appear at a set time before the commission to have their matter judged. The offenders were to bring local elders and judges with them from their towns. We can assume that after this decision many made a mad dash for shelter and warmth.

“Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this” (10:15). Jonathan and Jahzeiah were important men because their patronyms were mentioned and they were distinguished from the other two. [18] Breneman says: “If Meshullam was the same Meshullam as in v. 29, we could see why he would oppose the resolution, for there he had to give up his foreign wife. However, there are at least ten Meshullams in Ezra-Nehemiah.” [19] Shabbethai was a Levite who may have assisted Ezra in reading the law (Neh. 8:7-8). In regard to all this Anders comments: “Most scholars believe that these four men opposed not the divorces but the proposed method by which a commission would decide each case.” [20] Coffman remarks concerning the insignificance of this opposition since it was comprised of only four men out of some 20,000. [21]

“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, and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women” (10:16-17). Kidner comments: “The fact that the hearings took three months proved the wisdom of having second thoughts about settling everything in a day or two in a crowd…” [22] The three-month period also made it possible for the judgments to be well-considered and fair. Clark adds concerning these wives: “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.” [23] Throughout the Bible, we see God’s great concern for widows and orphans (Deut. 10:18; Psa. 68:5; Jam. 1:27).

To modern and postmodern ears this whole affair may sound foolish and discriminatory. We tend to see things only from the personal view instead of the community view. Coffman sums up: “…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.” [24]

Those Guilty Of Intermarriage

Among the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women: From the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. (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.) (10:18-19).

Breneman sums up: “In all, there were 110 or 111 (depending on the understanding of the text in v. 10) men who had taken foreign women: there were seventeen priests, ten Levites, and eighty-three or eighty-four lay Israelites.” [25]

It is shocking to see that the descendants of the great high priest Joshua son of Jozadak were involved in intermarriage with pagan women. That seems unthinkable, yet, sin is always unthinkable. C. W. Slemming who wrote much on the law says: “The offerings required by God for the priest and the whole congregation were equal, or, in the sight of God the sin of a priest was as large as the sin of a whole congregation because if a man in an official capacity sins, he can lead a whole nation astray. It was Trapp, one of the old divines, who said: ‘if a teacher sins he teaches sin.’” [26]

All these gave the symbolic handshake to seal their pledge (cf. 2 Kgs. 10:15; Prov. 6:1; Ezek. 17:18). This was a cultural gesture to ratify a solemn agreement in those days. Much suffering would be ahead for these as they divorced their wives or sent beloved children away.

[20] From the descendants of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

[21] From the descendants of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.

[22] From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.

[23] Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.

[24] From the musicians: Eliashib. From the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem and Uri.

[25] And among the other Israelites: From the descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.

[26] From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.

[27] From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.

[28] From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.

[29] From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.

[30] From the descendants of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.

[31] From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,

[32] Benjamin, Malluk and Shemariah.

[33] From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.

[34] From the descendants of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,

[35] Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi,

[36] Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,

[37] Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.

[38] From the descendants of Binnui: Shimei,

[39] Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,

[40] Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai,

[41] Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,

[42] Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.

[43] From the descendants of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.

[44] All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives. (10:20-44).

We do not have much information on most of the people in this listing. In verse 20 we learn that two sons of the priestly line of Immer were involved. In the next verse, we see that five sons in the priestly line of Harim had sinned. Then in verse 22, six sons of the priestly line of Pashhur were guilty. We realize by this that the priests were deeply involved in this sin. The Levites, singers and gatekeepers were also involved. However, we see no one from the temple servants listed (cf. Ezr. 2:43ff.).

In verse 44 we are told that some of the women had children. That would make for an exceedingly difficult separation. Wiersbe comments: “It’s easy to pull the nails out of the board, but it’s impossible to pull out the holes that they leave behind. Over thirteen years later, the problem of mixed marriages appeared again while Nehemiah was governor of Jerusalem (Neh. 13:23-31).” [27]

With this listing, the whole book of Ezra ends abruptly. There was a huge problem with the returned exiles…the problem was now solved…and there was nothing else to tell. Guzik says: “…Ezra here disappears from the biblical record for about thirteen years, when he appears again in the Book of Nehemiah. His passion then was the same as it was at the end of the Book of Ezra: to transform the people of God by bringing them the Word of God.” [28]

Footnotes

1. Jerusalem Post “Hanukkah Section,” p. 6, Dec 6, 1996.

2. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, p. 71.

3. Pett, Commentary on Ezra, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 10:1.

4. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 748.

5. Guthrie, ed., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 403.

6. Pett, Commentary on Ezra, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 10:2.

7. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 117.

8. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Ezra, v. 10:5.

9. Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, v. 10:5.

10. Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 431.

11. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew And English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1957), p. 355.

12. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p.159.

13. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 118.

14. Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, vs. 10:9-11.

15. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 119.

16. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Ezra, v. 10:11.

17. Ibid., vs. 10:13-14.

18. Pett, Commentary on Ezra, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 10:15.

19. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p.161.

20. Coffman, Commentary on Ezra, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 10:15.

21. Kidner, Ezra & Nehemiah, p. 72.

22. Clarke, Commentary on Ezra, The Adam Clarke Commentary, v. 10:12.

23. Coffman, Commentary on Ezra, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 10:16.

24. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p.162.

25. C. W. Slemming, Thus Shalt Thou Serve (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1966), p. 42.

26. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, pp.749-750.

27. Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, vs. 10-18-44.