Ezra 10:44

10:44 All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them also had children by these women. ¹ 

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ²  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ³  and that of those who respect ⁴  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

¹ tc The final statement in v. 44 is difficult in terms of both its syntax and its meaning. The present translation attempts to make sense of the MT. But the passage may have undergone corruption in the transmission process. One proposal is that the text should be emended to read “and they sent these wives and children away” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

² tn Heb “cut.”

³ tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

⁴ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”