Ezra 10:4-44
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.
descendants ............. descendants .... son <01121> [the sons.]
Jeshua <03442> [Jeshua.]
[Joshua. Maaseiah.]
gave ... word <03027 05414> [gave their hands.]
They bound themselves in the most solemn manner to do as the rest of the delinquents had done, and make and acknowledgment to God of their iniquity, by offering each a ram for a trespass offering.
ram <0352> [a ram.]
Immer <0564> [Immer.]
Harim <02766> [Harim.]
Pashhur <06583> [Pashur.]
Jozabad <03107> [Jozabad.]
Kelita <07042> [Kelita.]
Israelites <03478> [Moreover of Israel.]
That is, as Calmet observes, simple Israelites; thus distinguished from the priests, Levites, and singers, mentioned in ver. 18, 23, 24.
descendants ... Parosh <06551 01121> [sons of Parosh.]
Elam <05867> [Elam.]
Jehiel <03171> [Jehiel.]
Zattu <02240> [Zattu.]
Bebai <0893> [Bebai.]
Bani <01137> [Bani.]
[Binnui. Malluch.]
Pahath-Moab <06355> [Pahath-moab.]
Harim <02766> [Harim.]
Malkijah <04441> [Malchiah.]
This variation only exists in the translation, the original being uniformly Malchijah, or rather, Malkeeyah.
[Malchijah.]
Hashum <02828> [Hashum.]
Bani <01137> [Bani.]
Machnadebai <04367> [Machnadebai. or, Mabnadebai, according to some copies.]
Nebo <05015> [Nebo.]
foreign wives ........... women <05237 0802> [strange wives.]
some <03426> [and some of them.]
This observation was probably intended to shew that only a few of them had children, and also how rigorously the law was put in execution. According to a passage in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, Ezra offered a paschal lamb on this occasion, and addressed the people thus: "And Ezra said to the people, This pass-over is our Saviour and our Refuge; and if ye will be persuaded of it, and let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble to Him in a sign, and afterwards shall believe in Him, this place shall not be destroyed for ever, saith the Lord of hosts; but, if ye will not believe in Him, nor hearken to his preaching, ye shall be a laughing-stock to the Gentiles." This was probably a marginal note added by some early Christian. CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE BOOK OF EZRA. This book details the events of a very interesting period of the Sacred History, when, according to the decree of Providence, the Jewish people were to be delivered from their captivity, at the expiration of seventy years, and restored to the land of their fathers. This book informs us how the Divine goodness accomplished this most gracious design, and the movers and agents He employed on the occasion. Ezra was undoubtedly the chief agent under God in effecting this arduous work; and his zeal, piety, knowledge, and discretion, appear here in a most conspicuous point of view, and claim our utmost admiration. Descended from Seraiah, in a direct line from Aaron, he seems to have united all the requisites of a profound statesmen with the functions of the sacerdotal character. He appears to have made the Sacred Scriptures, during the captivity, his peculiar study; and, perhaps assisted by Nehemiah and the great synagogue, he corrected the errors which had crept into the Sacred Writings, through the negligence or mistake of transcribers; he collected all the books of which the Sacred Scriptures then consisted, disposed them in their proper order, and settled the canon of Scriptures for his time; he occasionally added, under the dictation of the Holy Spirit, whatever appeared necessary for the purpose of illustrating, completing, or connecting them; he substituted the modern for the ancient names of some places, which had now become obsolete; and transcribed the whole of the Scriptures into the Chaldee character. He is said to have lived to the age of 120 years, and, according to Josephus, was buried in Jerusalem; but the Jews believe he died in Persia, in a second journey to Artaxerxes, where his tomb is shown in the city of Zamusa. Though not styled a prophet, he wrote under the Divine Spirit; and the canonical authority of his book has never been disputed. It is written with all the spirit and fidelity that could be displayed by a writer of contemporary times; and those parts which chiefly consist of letters, decrees, etc., are written in Chaldee, because it seemed more suitable to the fidelity of a sacred historian to give these official documents, as they may be termed, in the original language, especially as the people, recently returned from the captivity, were familiar, and perhaps more conversant with the Chaldee, than with the Hebrew.
