Ezra 10:1-17
Ezra <05830> [when Ezra.]
confessing <03034> [when he had.]
weeping ............................. wept <01058> [weeping.]
before ... temple <06440 01004> [before the house.]
very large <03966 07227 07235> [a very great.]
<07235 01059> [very sore. Heb. a great weeping.]
Shecaniah <07935> [Shechaniah.]
Elam <05867> [Elam.]
unfaithful <04603> [We have trespassed.]
Shechaniah here speaks in the name of the people, not acknowledging himself culpable; for he is not in the following list.
[Compare.]
Nonetheless there is ... hope <03426 04723> [yet now there is hope.]
enact <03772> [let us make.]
{Nichrath berith,} "let us cut a covenant:"
send <03318> [put away. Heb. bring forth. according to the counsel.]
respect <02730> [of those that.]
commandments <04687> [at the commandment.]
it ... done <06213> [let it.]
Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so clear in, will not hold now: such marriages, it is certain, are contrary to the will of God, and ought not to be made; but they are not null. Our rule under the gospel is {Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet,} "That which ought not to have been done must, when done, abide." See .# 1Co 7:12,13
Get <06965> [Arise.]
matter <01697> [for this matter.]
By the decree of Artaxerxes, Ezra was authorised to do every thing that the law of God required.
strong <02388> [we also will.]
strong <02388> [be of good.]
got up <06965> [arose.]
leading <08269> [made.]
room <03957> [the chamber.]
Jehohanan <03076> [Johanan.]
eat <0398> [he did eat.]
mourning <056> [he mourned.]
proclamation <05674> [they made.]
come <0935> [And that whosoever.]
forfeit <02763> [forfeited. Heb. devoted.]
excluded <0914> [himself separated.]
ninth month ........ month <02320 08671> [the ninth month.]
That is, some time in December, which is the coldest and most rainy time of the year in Palestine. Dr. Russel, in his account of the weather at Aleppo, which very much resembles that in Judea, says, that the natives reckon the severity of the winter, which they call {marbania,} to last but forty days, beginning from the 12th of December, and ending the 20th of January, and that this computation comes in fact very near the truth: and that the air during this time is excessively piercing, even to those that are just come from a cold climate.
trembling <07460> [trembling.]
rains <01653> [great rain. Heb. showers.]
taking <03427> [taken. Heb. caused to dwell. or, brought back. to increase.]
give praise <08426 05414> [make confession.]
do ... will <06213 07522> [do his.]
Separate <0914> [separate.]
foreign <05237> [and from the.]
just as .... said <01697> [As thou hast said.]
They all resolved to do what Ezra had commanded; and they did put away their wives, even those by whom they had children, (ver. 44,) each of whom doubtless received a portion according to the circumstances of her husband, and was not turned away desolate. Humanity must have dictated this, and no law of God is contrary to humanity.
do <06213> [so must we do.]
people <05971> [the people.]
numerous ............................. sinned greatly .... matter <07227 06586 01697 07235> [we are many that have transgressed in this thing. or, we have greatly offended in this thing.]
leaders <08269> [our rulers.]
hot <02740> [the fierce.]
matter <01697 07725> [for this matter be turned from us. or, be turned from us, till this matter be dispatched.]
<05975> [were employed. Heb. stood. Meshullam.]
Shabbethai <07678> [Shabbethai.]
consider ... matter <01875 01697> [to examine the matter.]
on .... day .... first <03117 0259> [A.M. 3548. B.C. 456. the first day.]
The cases brought before the council were either so many, or so complicated, that, though they separated themselves from other employments, yet they were three whole months in examining into their affairs, and making the necessary separations required by the law.
