Ezra 10 commentary

Shechaniah owned the national guilt. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease threatening, but not incurable. Now that the people begin to lament, a spirit of repentance seems to be poured out; now there is hope that God will forgive, and have mercy. The sin that rightly troubles us, shall not ruin us. In melancholy times we must observe what makes for us, as well as against us. And there may be good hopes through grace, even where there is the sense of great guilt before God. The case is plain; what has been done amiss, must be undone again as far as possible; nothing less than this is true repentance. Sin must be put away, with a resolution never to have any thing more to do with it. What has been unjustly got, must be restored. Arise, be of good courage. Weeping, in this case, is good, but reforming is better. As to being unequally yoked with unbelievers, such marriages, it is certain, are sinful, and ought not to be made; but now they are not null, as they were before the gospel did away the separation between Jews and Gentiles.

There is hope concerning people, when they are convinced, not only that it is good to part with their sins, but that it is necessary; we must do it, or we are undone. So rich is the mercy, and so plenteous the redemption of God, that there is hope for the vilest who hear the gospel, and are willing to accept of free salvation. When sinners mourn for their sins, and tremble at the word of God, there is hope that they will forsake them. To affect others with godly sorrow or love to God, we must ourselves be affected. It was carefully agreed how this affair should be carried on. That which is hastily resolved on seldom proves lasting.

The best reformers can but do their endeavour; when the Redeemer himself shall come to Zion, he shall effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And when sin is repented of and forsaken, God will forgive it; but the blood of Christ, our Sin-offering, is the only atonement which takes away our guilt. No seeming repentance or amendment will benefit those who reject Him, for self-dependence proves them still unhumbled. All the names written in the book of life, are those of penitent sinners, not of self-righteous persons, who think they have no need of repentance.

CHAPTER 10

Ezr 10:1-17. Ezra Reforms the Strange Marriages.

1. Now when Ezra had prayed--As this prayer was uttered in public, while there was a general concourse of the people at the time of the evening sacrifice and as it was accompanied with all the demonstrations of poignant sorrow and anguish, it is not surprising that the spectacle of a man so respected, a priest so holy, a governor so dignified as Ezra, appearing distressed and filled with fear at the sad state of things, should produce a deep sensation; and the report of his passionate grief and expressions in the court of the temple having rapidly spread through the city, a great multitude flocked to the spot.

2-4. Shechaniah ... answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed--This was one of the leading men, who was not himself a delinquent in the matter, for his name does not occur in the following list. He spoke in the general name of the people, and his conduct evinced a tender conscience, as well as no small fortitude in making such a proposal; for as his father and five paternal uncles (Ezr 10:26) were involved in the guilt of unlawful marriages, he showed, by the measure he recommended, that he deemed it better to obey God than to please his nearest relatives.

yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing--This hope, however, depended on timely measures of reformation, and therefore, instead of surrendering themselves to despair or despondency, he counselled them to amend their error without delay, relying on God's mercy for the past. Though the proposal may seem harsh and cruel, yet in the peculiar circumstances of the Jews it was just as well as necessary; and he urged the duty of seeing it executed on Ezra, as the only person competent to carry it into effect, being possessed of skill and address for so delicate and difficult a work, and invested by God, and under Him by the Persian king (Ezr 7:23-28), with the requisite authority to enforce it.

5-8. Then Ezra ... went into the chamber of Johanan--At a private council of the princes and elders held there, under the presidency of Ezra, it was resolved to enter into a general covenant to put away their foreign wives and children; that a proclamation should be made for all who had returned from Babylon to repair within three days to Jerusalem, under pain of excommunication and confiscation of their property.

9-11. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin--The returned captives belonged chiefly to these tribes; but other Israelites are also included under these names, as they all were then occupying the territory formerly assigned to those two tribes.

It was the ninth month--that is, between the end of December and the beginning of January, which is the coldest and most rainy season of the year in Palestine.

all the people sat in the street--that is, the court.

Ezr 10:18-44. Those That Had Taken Strange Wives.

18. among the sons of the priests--From the names of so many men of rank appearing in the following list, some idea may be formed of the great and complicated difficulties attending the reformatory work.

19. they gave their hands--that is, came under a solemn engagement, which was usually ratified by pledging the right hand (Pr 6:1; Eze 17:18). The delinquents of the priestly order bound themselves to do like the common Israelites (Ezr 10:25), and sought to expiate their sin by sacrificing a ram as a trespass offering.

The people wept very sore - They were deeply affected at the thought of God's displeasure, which they justly feared was about to light upon them, because of their transgressions.

Shechaniah the son of Jehiel - He speaks here in the name of the people, not acknowledging himself culpable, for he is not in the following list. It is in the same form of speech with that in James, Jam 3:9. With the tongue curse we men. He seems to have been a chief man among the people; and Ezra, at present, stood in need of his influence and support.

Yet now there is hope in Israel - מקוה mikveh, expectation, of pardon; for the people were convinced of the evil, and were deeply penitent: hence it is said, Ezr 10:1, that they wept sore.

Let us make a covenant - נכרת ברית nichrath berith, let us cut or divide the covenant sacrifice. See the notes on Gen 15:10.

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

And they sware - The thing was evidently contrary to the law of God; and now he bound them by an oath to rectify the abuse.

Johanan the son of Eliashib - Eliashib was high priest, and was succeeded in that office by his son Joiada, Neh 12:10. Probably Johanan here is the same as Jonathan in Nehemiah, who was the son of Joiada, and grandson of Eliashib. Some suppose that Johanan and Joiada were two names for the same person.

All his substance should be forfeited - To the use of the temple.

So the Septuagint understood the place: Αναθεματισθησεται πασα ἡ ὑπαρξις αυτου, "All his substance shall be devoted to a holy use."

Himself separated - Excommunicated from the Church of God, and exiled from Israel.

Ninth month - Answering to a part of our December.

Trembling because of - the great rain - Απο του χειμωνος, Because of the winter, Septuagint; it was now December, the coldest and most rainy part of the year in Palestine.

Make confession - Acknowledge your sins before God, with deep compunction of heart, and the fullest resolution to forsake them.

As thou hast said, so must we do - They all resolved to do what Ezra then commanded, they did put away their wives, even those by whom they had children; Ezr 10:44 : this was a great hardship on the women and children. Though by the Jewish laws such marriages were null and void, yet as the women they had taken did not know these laws, their case was deplorable. However, 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, but had such a provision as their necessities required. Humanity must have dictated this, and no law of God is contrary to humanity. After all, there is some room to doubt whether they did put them finally away, for several years after Nehemiah found Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab; Neh 13:23. And if these were not the same women, we find that the same offense was continued.

The first day of the first month - So they were three whole months in examining into this affair, and making those separations which the law required.

They gave their hands - They bound themselves in the most solemn manner to do as the rest of the delinquents had done; and they made all acknowledgment of their iniquity to God by offering each a ram for a trespass-offering.

Moreover of Israel - That is, as Calmet observes, simple Israelites, to distinguish them from the priests, Levites, and singers, mentioned in Ezr 10:18, Ezr 10:23, Ezr 10:24.

Some of them had wives by whom they had children - This observation was probably intended to show that only a few of them had children; but it shows 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 passover is our Savior and our Refuge; and if ye will be persuaded of it, and let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble ourselves 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." - Dial. cum Tryphone, sec. 72.

This passage, Justin says, the Jews, through their enmity to Christ, blotted out of the book of Ezra. He charges them with cancelling several other places through the same spirit of enmity and opposition.

In the Hebrew text this and the following book make but one, though sometimes Nehemiah is distinguished as the second book of Esdras. In the Masoretic enumeration of sections, etc., both books are conjoined. This may be seen at the end of Nehemiah. I can add nothing of importance to the character of Ezra, which has already been given so much in detail in the introduction to this book.

Corrected, March, 1828. - A. Clarke.

There assembled - The account of his grief, and publick expressions thereof in the court before the temple, being in an instant dispersed over all the city, brought a great company together. See what an happy influence the example of great ones may have upon their inferiors!

We - He saith, we, in the name of the people, and their several families, and his own amongst the rest. For this man's name is not in the following catalogue, but there we have his father, Jehiel, and his father's brethren, five other sons of his grandfather, Elam, ver.26. It was therefore an evidence of his great courage, and good conscience, that he durst so freely discharge his duty, whereby he shewed, that he honoured God more than his nearest and dearest relations. Hope - In case of our repentance, and reformation.

Such as are born - These children were only cast out of the common - wealth of Israel, but were not utterly forsaken; probably care was taken by authority, that they should have provision made for them.

Went - That with the princes and elders, he might consult about the execution of their resolution. Thither - 'Till he saw something done.

Of Judah - Not only of these two tribes, as appears from the following catalogue, where there are priests and Levites; but all the Israelites, ver.25, who are thus described, because the greatest part of them were of these tribes, though others were mixed with them: and because they all now dwelt in that land, which formerly was appropriated to those tribes. The street - In that street of the city, which was next the temple, and within the view of it, that so they might be as in God's presence, whereby they might be awed to a more faithful and vigorous prosecution of their work. And this place they might chuse rather than the court of the people, because they thought it might be polluted by the delinquents, who were all to come thither. Great rain - Which they took for a token of God's displeasure against them.

Our rulers - Let the great council, called the Sanhedrim, be settled, and meet to determine of all particular causes. Judges - Who are best able to inform the great council of the quality of the persons, and all matters of fact and circumstances. Until - Until the thing be done, and God's wrath thereby removed.

Employed - To take care that the business should be executed in the manner proposed, that the officers and delinquents of every city should come successively in convenient time and order, as these should appoint, to keep an exact account of the whole transaction, and of the names of the cities and persons whose causes were dispatched, to give notice to others to come in their turns, and to prepare the business for the hearing of the judges. These two were priests, as their helpers were Levites; that so they might inform the persons concerned, in any matter of doubt.

Separated - Sequestered themselves from all other business, and gave themselves wholly to this.

Of Israel - Of the people of Israel, distinguished from the priests and Levites hitherto named.

Had children - This implies that most of their wives were barren. Which came to pass by God's special providence, to manifest his displeasure against such matches, and that the putting them away might not be encumbered with too many difficulties. One would think this grievance altogether removed. Yet we meet with it again, Neh 13:22. Such corruptions are easily and insensibly brought in, tho' not easily purged out. The best reformers can but do their endeavour. It is only the Redeemer himself, who when he cometh to Sion, will effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

1 NOw when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel, a very great congregation of men, and women, and children : for the people wept very sore .

Awakened by the words and example of this holy Priest, and great Potentate. So inexpressible is the good, which is done by the good example, and the evil, which is done by the bad example of a great Person, or of a Minister. The fame of his great passion of grief, and of his many and publick expressions thereof in the Court before the Temple, being in an instant dispersed over all the City, brought a great company together.

Being greatly affected with Ezra's prayer, and with the common sin.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]

2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed , against our God, and have taken strange wives, of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing .

He saith, we, either, 1. Because he was guilty in this matter. Or rather, 2. In the name of the people, and their several Families, and his own amongst the rest. For this mans name is not in the following Catalogue, but there we have his Father, Iehiel, and his Fathers Brethren, five other Sons of his Grandfather Elam, v. 26. It was therefore an evidence of his great Courage, and good Conscience, that he durst so freely, and fully discharge his duty, whereby he shewed that he honoured God more than his nearest, and dearest Relations.

To wit, into conjugal society with our selves.

In case of our repentance, and reformation. Therefore let us not sorrow like persons without hope, nor sit down in despair, but let us fall upon action, and amend our errours, and then trust to Gods mercy.

3 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 God , and let it be done according to the law .

Which though it may seem harsh, yet is not unjust, if it be considered; 1. That Marriages made between some prohibited Persons, as suppose, between a Father, and his Daughter, a Brother, and a Sister, are not only unlawful, but void Marriages, and ipso facto, null, by the political laws of civil Nations. And therefore these Marriages with Idolatrous, and Heathen Women, being expresly, and severely forbidden by God, might well be disannulled. And it was one of good Theodosius his laws, that those actions which were done against law, should be accounted not only unlawful, but null. 2. That there were many peculiar laws given to the Jews concerning the Marrying, and putting away of Wives, as hath been observed before in their proper places, and therefore it is not strange, if there be something more in this case, then is now usual with us. 3. Supposing the matrimonial tye had continued, yet they might be excluded from co-habitation with them, as a just punishment upon them for the willful breach of a known, and positive law of God.

This may seem harder than the former, but many things may be said. 1. Whatsoever evil befall either them or their Children, they had all reason to accept it as the just and deserved fruit of their own sin. 2. That Children may, and sometimes do suffer, at least temporal evils, for their Parents sins, or upon occasion of them, is most evident, both by the Scripture instances, and by the laws, and usages of Nations in some cases. 3. This may seem to have been a necessary part of severity, partly as a proper punishment of the Parents sin herein, and to deter others more effectually from the like practices: partly to prevent the corruption of their other Children by the conversation, and society of this ungodly, and Idolatrous brood: and partly, lest such Children, being continually present with them, and stealing into their affections, might at last prevail with them to take their ejected Wives again. 4. These Children were only cast out of the Families, and Commonwealth of Israel, but were not utterly forsaken, and ruined, but due care was probably taken by Authority, that they should have some provision made for them, & some care taken about their Education in the Jewish Religion, &c.

Either 1. As thou counsellest and desirest us to do. Or 2. Let us do it in such manner as thou shalt think fit and agreeable to the Law, as it follows: for it requires great caution as being a matter of no small difficulty.

And of other serious and religious persons who may with thee consider and regulate the business.

This is meant, either 1. Of the matter of the business, let that be done which the Law requires, let them be put away. Or 2. Of the manner of it, which must be according to the Rules of Gods Law.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]; [illegible: 1 word] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]. 2, 3.

4 Arise, for this matter belongeth unto thee ; we also will be with thee; be of good courage, and do it.

Because thou hast both skill to manage it, and Authority both from God, and from the Persian King to do it.

6 Then Ezra rose up before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

That he with the Princes and Elders, as it follows, v. 8. might consult about the Execution of their resolution.

8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

Either by Banishment: Or rather by Excommunication from the Church, and People, and House, and publick Worship of God.

Marginal references: Heb. devoted.

9 Then all the men of Judah, and Benjamin , gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem, within three days: (it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month) and all the people sat in the street of the house of God , trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain .

Not only of these two Tribes, as appears from the following Catalogue, where there are Priests and Levites; but all the Isralites, v. 25. who are thus described, partly because the greatest part of them were of these Tribes, though others were mixed with them: and partly because they all now dwelt in that Land which formerly was appropriated to those Tribes.

In that street of the City, which was next to the Temple, and within the view of it, that so they might be as in Gods presence, whereby they might be awed to a more faithful and vigorous prosecution of their work. And this place they might chuse rather than the Court of the People, because they thought it might be polluted by the delinquents, who were all to come thither.

Which they took for a token of Gods displeasure amongst them.

Marginal references: Heb. the showers.

11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure , and separate your selves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

You have sinfully pleased your selves, now please God by your Obedience to his command.

14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand , and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities, come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the Judges thereof , until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter, be turned from us .

Let the great Council, called the Sanhedrim, be settled, and meet to judge and determine of all particular causes.

To wit, of these heathen Nations such as were not proselyted to the Jewish Religion before their Marriage; or since revolted from it.

Who are best able to inform the great council of the quality of the persons, and of all matters of Fact and Circumstances.

i. e. Until the thing be done, and Gods Wrath thereby removed.

Marginal references: Or, till this matter be dispatched.

15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah, were employed about this matter : and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

To wit, to take due care that the business should be executed in the manner proposed, that the Officers and Delinquents of every City should come successively in convenient time and order, as these should appoint, and to take and keep an exact account of the whole transaction, and of the names of the Cities and Persons whose causes were dispatched, and to give notice to others [illegible: 1+ letters]o come in their turns, and to prepare the business for the hearing of the Judges. And these two were Priests, as their Coadjutors or helpers were Levites; that so they might inform the persons concerned, if any matter of doubt did arise.

Marginal references: Heb. stood, or were appointed over.

16 And the children of the captivity did so: and Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names were separated , and sate down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.

i. e. Sequestred themselves from all other business, and gave themselves wholly to this.

19 And they gave their hand , that they would put away their wives: and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.

i. e. They covenanted or swore by giving their hand; which was the usual gesture in those cases. Of which see Levit. 6. 2. Ezek. 17. 18.

25 Moreover of Israel : of the sons of Parosh, Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchia, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benajah.

i. e. Of the people of Israel, distinguished from the Priests and the Levites hitherto named, who before were called Iudah and Benjamin, v. 9. where see the notes.

44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children .

Whereby he implies that most of their Wives were barren. Which came to pass by Gods special Providence, partly to manifest his displeasure against such matches, and partly that the practice of this great and necessary duty might not be encumbred with too many difficulties.

Ezr 10:1 The separation of the strange wives from the congregation. - Ezr 10:1-5. While Ezra was making this confession before God, a numerous assemblage gathered around him, and wept aloud. From this point onwards Ezra relates the further course of events in such wise as to cast his own person in the background, and speaks of himself in the third person. The matter of his prayer is more definitely declared by וּכהתודּתו, and his posture in prayer by וּמתנפּל בּכה, weeping and casting himself down (lying on his knees, Ezr 9:5). “Before the house of God,” i.e., in the court of the temple. The confirmatory clause: for the people wept much (בכה הרבּה, a weeping in mass), furnishes the motive of so great a number of men, women, and children gathering around Ezra. Very many were as distressed as he was at the marriages with strange wives, and regarded them as a grievous trespass; hence they assembled weeping around him.

Ezr 10:2-3

Then one of the sons of Elam, Shecaniah, the son of Jehiel, stood forth from amidst the assembly, and uttered the confession: “We have been unfaithful towards our God by marrying strange wives, but there is yet hope for Israel concerning this thing. We will now make a covenant with God to put away all the strange wives and their children from the congregation, according to the counsel of the Lord, and of those who fear the commandment of our God, that it may be done according to the law.” Shecaniah, of the sons of Elam (comp. Ezr 2:7; Ezr 8:7), is a different person from the descendant of Zattu, mentioned Ezr 8:5; nor is Jehiel identical with the individual whose name occurs in Ezr 10:26. ונּשׁב, and have brought home strange wives. הושׁיב, to cause to dwell (in one’s house), said in Ezr 10:10, Ezr 10:14, Ezr 10:17, Ezr 10:18, and Neh 13:23, Neh 13:27, of bringing a wife home. Shecaniah founds his hope for Israel in this trespass upon the circumstance, that they bind themselves by a solemn covenant before God to put away this scandal from the congregation, and to act in conformity with the law. To make a covenant with our God, i.e., to bind themselves by an oath with respect to God, comp. 2Ch 29:10. הוציא, to put away - the opposite of הושׁיב. All the wives are, according to the context, all the strange women (Ezr 10:2), and that which is born of them, their children. Instead of אדני בּעצת, according to the counsel of the Lord, De Wette, Bertheau, and others, following the paraphrase in the lxx and 1 Esdras, read אדני, according to the counsel of my lord, i.e., of Ezra. But this paraphrase being of no critical authority, there is no sufficient reason for the alteration. For Shecaniah to call Ezra my lord sounds strange, since usually this title was only given by servants to their master, or subjects to their sovereign, and Shecaniah afterwards addresses him simply as thou. Besides, Ezra had given no advice at all in this matter, and still less had he come to any resolution about it with the God-fearing members of the community. יעשׂה after the preceding נכרת־בּרית, we will make a covenant, must be taken as hortative: and let it be done according to the law. בּ חרד, caring for with trembling.

Ezr 10:4 “Up! for this matter concerns thee (thou art called to carry it out), and we are with thee (will assist thee therein); be strong (courageous) and do it.”

Ezr 10:5

Then Ezra (who during this speech had continued upon his knees) arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, of the Levites, and of all Israel swear to do according to this word; and they swore. הזּה הדּבר is Shecaniah’s proposal to put away the strange wives.

Ezr 10:6

Hereupon Ezra left the place before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib, to fast and mourn there for the unfaithfulness (transgression) of them that had been carried away (הגּולה מעל like Ezr 9:4). Johanan the son of Eliashib cannot actually be Johanan ben Eliashib (Neh 12:23) the high priest, however natural it may be to understand by the chamber of Johanan one of the chambers in the out-buildings of the temple, called after the name of some well-known individual. For the high priest Eliashib was a contemporary of Nehemiah, and the high priest Johanan was not the son, but, according to the definite statement, Neh 12:10, the grandson, of Eliashib, and the son of Joiada (the correct reading of Neh 12:11 being: Joiada begat Johanan and Jonathan). Now a chamber of the temple could not in Ezra’s time have been as yet called after a grandson of Eliashib the contemporary of Nehemiah;This would not, indeed, be impossible, because, as we shall subsequently show (in our Introduction to the book of Nehemiah, §2), Eliashib’s grandson Johanan might be already ten years of age at the time of the transaction in question; so that his grandfather, the high priest Eliashib, might have called a chamber of the temple after the name of his grandson. This view is not, however, a very probable one. and both Johanan and Eliashib being names which frequently occur (comp. Ezr 10:24, Ezr 10:27, Ezr 10:36), and one of the twenty-four orders of priests being called after the latter (1Ch 24:12), we, with Ewald (Gesch. iv. p. 228), regard the Johanan ben Eliashib here mentioned as an individual of whom nothing further is known-perhaps a priest descended from the Eliashib of 1Ch 24:12, and who possessed in the new temple a chamber called by his name. For there is not the slightest reason to suppose, with Bertheau, that a subsequent name of this chamber is used in this narrative, because the narrator desired to state the locality in a manner which should be intelligible to his contemporaries. Cler. and Berth. desire, after 1 Esdr. 9:1 (καὶ αὐλισθεὶς ἐκεῖ), to change שׁם ויּלך into שׁם ויּלן: and he passed the night there without eating bread or drinking water. But the lxx having καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἐκεῖ, and the repetition of the same word being, moreover, by no means infrequent, comp. e.g., ויּקם in Ezr 10:5, Ezr 10:6, and finally שׁם repeatedly standing for thither, e.g., 1Sa 2:14 (שׁם הבּאים), there are no adequate grounds for an alteration of the text. The paraphrase of 1 Esdr. arises merely from the connection, and is devoid of critical value. To eat no bread, etc., means to fast: comp. Exo 34:28; Deu 9:9.

Ezr 10:7-8

The resolution carried into execution. - Ezr 10:7, Ezr 10:8. A proclamation was sent forth throughout Judah and Jerusalem (קול העביר, comp. Ezr 1:1) to all the children of the captivity to assemble at Jerusalem under pain of the punishment, that whoever should not come within three days, all his substance should be forfeited and himself excluded from the congregation, according to the decision of the princes and elders, who, as the heads of the community, had taken the matter in hand, and made this announcement. The forfeiture of substance is not its destruction, as prescribed Deu 13:13-17 in the case of a city fallen into idolatry, but its appropriation to the benefit of the temple, after the analogy of Lev 27:28.

Ezr 10:9

After three days all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem. This took place on the twentieth day of the ninth month. On this statement of time, see the remark in Ezr 9:1. The assembled multitude sat there on the open space of the house of God, i.e., probably the open space (הרחוב) in front of the water-gate, Neh 8:1, Neh 8:3, Neh 8:16, at the eastern or south-eastern side, before the temple court; see remarks on Neh 8:1. “Trembling” because of this matter, the seriousness of which they might perceive from the heavy penalty attached to their non-appearance within three days, and “because of the rain.” The ninth month, corresponding with our December, is in the cold rainy time of the year (comp. Ezr 10:13), “when the rain usually falls in torrents” (Robinson, Phys. Geog. p. 287).

Ezr 10:10-11

Ezra then stood up and reproved the assembled multitude, saying: You have brought home (הושׁיב, comp. Ezr 10:2) strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel (comp. Ezra’s confession, Ezr 9:6-15), and exhorted them to give glory to God and to do His pleasure, (viz.) to separate themselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. On תודה תּנוּ, comp. Jos 7:19. Separation from the people of the land consisted, under the circumstances, in the dismissal of the strange wives.

Ezr 10:12-13

The whole assembly replied with a loud voice, and therefore with firm resolve: According to thy word it is our duty to do. עלינוּ must not be drawn to what precedes, as in the Vulgate, juxta verbum tuum ad nos, sic fiat, but to what follows, as in Ezr 10:4, Neh 13:13; 2Sa 18:11. But - they further remark, Ezr 10:13 - the people are many, - i.e., the assemblage is very large to be able to deal immediately with the several cases; and it is (now) the time of the heavy rains, and there is no power to stand without, - i.e., at the present season we are not able to remain in the open air until the business is discharged; neither is this the work of one day, or of two, for we have transgressed much in this matter, - i.e., one or two days will not suffice to investigate and decide upon all cases, because very many have broken the law in this respect.

Ezr 10:14 “Let then our rulers stand for the whole congregation, and let all who in all our cities have brought home strange wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders of each city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned away from us, as long as this matter lasts.” There were so many cases to deal with, that the rulers, as the judicial authorities, must decide in this matter; and those who in all the cities of the land had transgressed, were to appear before these authorities, and submit their individual cases to their jurisdiction. The choice of the verb יעמדוּ, to stand or set oneself to discharge some business, here therefore to give judgment, is occasioned by the preceding לעמוד. The whole community had assembled according to the proclamation, and was standing there for the purpose of bringing the matter to a close. This they were not, however, able to do, for the reasons stated Ezr 10:13; hence the princes, as rulers of the community, are to remain for the discharge of the business. לכל־הקּהל is not a genitive dependent on שׂרינוּ, and explanatory of the suffix of this word-our, viz., the whole congregation’s, princes (Bertheau) - an unnatural and superfluous elucidation; for if the whole congregation say: our princes, it is self-evident that not the princes of a section or portion of the people, but of the whole congregation, must be intended. לכל־הקּהל is the object of יעמדוּ: let them stand for the whole congregation (ל עמד like ל קוּם, Psa 94:16), not instead of, but for the good of the congregation, and transact its business. In our cities, i.e., including the capital, for there is here no contrast between Jerusalem and the other cities. The article to ההשׁיב stands, as is often the case, for the relative אשׁר, e.g., Ezr 10:17, Ezr 8:25. מזמּנים עתּים, appointed times, stated terms, used only here and in Neh 10:35; Neh 13:31. זמּן is a Chaldaistic expression. With the accused were to come the elders and judges of every city, to furnish the necessary explanations and evidence. להשׁיב עד, until the turning away of the fierceness of the wrath (ל עד according to the later usage of the language instead of עד only, comp. Ewald, §315, a, not instead of ל only, as Bertheau seeks, by incorrectly interpreted passages, to prove). The meaning is: until the fierce wrath of God concerning these marriages shall be turned away, by their dissolution and the dismissal of the strange women from the congregation. The last words, הזּה לדּבר עד, offer some difficulty. De Wette and Bertheau translate them: on account of this matter, which ל עד can by no means signify. We regard ל עד = עד of the older language, in the sense of during, like 2Ki 9:22, according to which the meaning is: as long as this thing lasts; but we connect these words, not, as J. H. Michaelis, with the immediately preceding clause: the wrath which is fierce during this matter (quae usque, i.e., constanter ardet), but take them as more exactly defining the leading idea of the verse: the princes are to stand and judge the guilty as long as this matter lasts, so that הזּה לדּבר עד is co-ordinate with וגו להשׁיב עד.

Ezr 10:15-16

Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah, indeed opposed this proposal on the part of the community, and were supported in their opposition by two Levites, but without being able to carry it out. This statement is introduced by אך, only, in the form of a qualification to the remark that the whole assembly (Ezr 10:12) made this resolution: nevertheless Jonathan ... stood up against this. For על עמד, to stand up against, or as elsewhere על קוּם, comp. 1Ch 21:1; 2Ch 20:23; Dan 8:25; Dan 11:14. Such also is the view of R. Sal. and Lightf., while older expositors understand it as meaning: only Jonathan ... stood up for this matter, like the steterunt super hoc of the Vulgate, or as the decidedly incorrect explanation of J. H. Mich.: praefecti sunt huic negotio. - Nothing further is known of the four opponents here named. That they did not succeed in this opposition appears from what follows. Ezr 10:16 The children of the captivity, i.e., the returned exiles, did so; i.e., the congregation carried their resolve into execution. And Ezra the priest, and men, heads of houses according to their houses, - i.e., so that each house was represented by its head, - were separated, i.e., chosen to conduct the investigation. The ו copulative before אנשׁים has been lost, as asyndeton seeming in this case inadmissible. Bertheau, on the contrary, unnecessarily changes ויבּרלוּ into לו ויּבדל after 1 Esdras 9:16. “And they all by names,” comp. Ezr 8:20. ויּשׁבוּ, and they held a sitting (i.e., their first sitting) on the first day of the tenth month, and therefore only ten days after the assembly just spoken of. הדּבר לדריושׁ, to inquire into the matter. It is impossible in Hebrew to form דּריושׁ from דּרשׁ, and this word can only arise from דּרושׁ, as Ewald, §239, a, note, Olshausen, Lehrb. d. hebr. Spr. p. 150, and Böttcher, ausf. Lehrb. der hebr. Spr. i. 1, p. 162, note, unanimously agree.

Ezr 10:17

And they made an end with all, with respect to the men who had brought home strange wives. בּכּל (with the article) cannot be so connected with אנשׁים, from which it is separated by the accentuation of the latter, as to admit of the repetition, as by older expositors, of the preposition בּ before אנשׁים: with all, namely, with the men. Still less can בּכּל, as Bertheau thinks, be taken in the sense of “in every place,” and אנשׁים connected as an accusative with ויכלּוּ: they finished in every place the men (!); for כּלּה with an accusative of the person signifies to annihilate, to make an end of, while ב כּלּה means to finish, to make an end with, comp. Gen 44:12. If, as the accentuation requires, we take בּכּל independently, אנשׁים can only be an accusative of more exact definition: in respect of the men (אנשׁים being without the article, because words which define it follow). As this gives a suitable meaning, it seems unnecessary to alter the punctuation and read בּכל־אנשׁים, or with Ewald, §290, c, note 1, to regard אנשׁים בּכּל as a singular combination. - Till the first day of the first month (of the next year), therefore in three months, their sittings having begun, according to Ezr 10:13, on the first day of the tenth month. - The account of this transaction closes with -The list of the men who had taken strange wives, vv. 18-44; among whom were priests (Ezr 10:18-22), Levites (Ezr 10:23, Ezr 10:24), and Israelites, i.e., laymen (vv. 25-43).

Ezr 10:18-22

Among the priests there stand first, four names of sons and brethren of the high priest Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel. אחיו, his (Jeshua’s) brethren. Judging by Ezr 2:36, these were among the descendants of Jedaiah, a section of the house of the high-priestly family (see rem. on Ezr 2:36), and were therefore distant cousins of the high priest. They gave their hands, i.e., bound themselves by shaking hands, to put away their wives, i.e., to dismiss them, and to sever them from the congregation of Israel, ואשׁמים, “and guilty a ram for their trespass,” i.e., condemned to bring a ram as a trespass-offering. ואשׁמים is to be regarded as the continuation of the infinitive clause להוציא. As elsewhere, infinitive clauses are continued without anything further in the verb. finit. (comp. Ewald, §350); so here also does the adjective אשׁמים follow, requiring that להיות should be mentally supplied. איל־צאן, a ram of the flock, is, as an accusative of more exact definition, dependent on אשׁמים. This trespass-offering was imposed upon them according to the principle of the law, Lev 5:14, etc., because they had committed a מעל against the Lord, which needed expiation; see on Lev 5:14. - In what follows, only the names of the individuals, and a statement of the families they belonged to, are given, without repeating that the same obligations, namely, the dismissal of their strange wives, and the bringing of a trespass-offering, were imposed on them also, this being self-evident from the context. - Among the sons of Immer were three, among the sons of Harim five, among the sons of Pashur six offenders; in all, eighteen priests. By comparing Ezr 2:36-39, we perceive that not one of the orders of priests who returned with Zerubbabel was free from participation in this transgression. Some of the names given, Ezr 10:20-22, reappear in the lists in Neh 8:4 and Neh 10:2-9, and may belong to the same individuals.

Ezr 10:23

Of Levites, only six names are given, and that without stated the houses to which they belonged. From Ezr 2:40, however, it appears that they were of the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel there mentioned. “Kelaiah, the same is Kelita;” the latter is the usual name of the person in question, and that which he bears in Neh 8:7 and Neh 10:11. Jozabad also reappears in Neh 8:7.

Ezr 10:24

Of singers one, and of porters three names are given; comp. Ezr 2:41-42. In all, ten Levites.

Ezr 10:25-43

Of Israel, as distinguished from priests and Levites, i.e., of the laity. Of these latter are given in all eighty-six names, belonging to ten races, vv. 25-43, who returned with Zerubbabel. See Nos. 1, 5, 6, 9, 8, 4, 30, 17, and 27 of the survey of these races. ירמות in Ezr 10:29 should, according to the Chethiv, be read ירמות. - The twofold naming of sons of Bani in this list (Ezr 10:29 and Ezr 10:34) is strange, and Bani is evidently in one of these places a mistake for some other name. Bertheau supposes that Bigvai may have stood in the text in one of these places. The error undoubtedly lies in the second mention of Bani (Ezr 10:34), and consists not merely in the wrong transcription of this one name. For, while of every other race four, six, seven, or eight individuals are named, no less than seven and twenty names follow בּני מבּני, though all these persons could hardly have belonged to one race, unless the greater number of males therein had married strange wives. Besides, no names of inhabitants of cities of Judah and Benjamin are given in this list (as in Ezr 2:21-28, and Ezr 2:33-35), although it is stated in Ezr 10:7 and Ezr 10:14 that not only the men of Jerusalem, but also dwellers in other cities, had contracted these prohibited marriages, and been summoned to Jerusalem, that judgment might be pronounced in their several cases. These reasons make it probable that the twenty-seven persons enumerated in Ezr 10:34-42 were inhabitants of various localities in Judah, and not merely individuals belonging to a single house. This supposition cannot, however, be further corroborated, since even the lxx and 1 Esdr. read the name Bani in Ezr 10:27 and Ezr 10:34, nor can any conjecture respecting the correct reading laying claim to probability be ventured on. In the single names, the Greek texts of the Septuagint and 1 Esdras frequently differ from the Hebrew text, but the differences are almost all of a kind to furnish no material for criticism. A considerable number of these names reappear in the lists of names in the book of Nehemiah, but under circumstances which nowhere make the identity of the persons bearing them certain.

Ezr 10:44

Ezr 10:44 contains the statement with which the account of this transaction closes. The Chethiv נשׂאיּ seems to be an error of transcription for נשׂאוּ (the Keri), which the sense requires. וגו מהם וישׁ, “and there were among them women who had brought forth sons.” מהם must be referred to women, notwithstanding the masculine suffix. ישׂימוּ, too, can only be referred to נשׁים, and cannot be explained, as by J. H. Mich.: unde etiam filios susceperant seu procreaverant. The gender of the verb is adapted to the form of the word נשׁים, an incorrectness which must be attributed to the increasing tendency of the language to use the masculine instead of the feminine, or to renounce a distinction of form between the genders. There are no adequate reasons for such an alteration of the text as Bertheau proposes; for the lxx already had our text before them, and the καὶ ἀπέλυσαν αὐτὰς σὺν τέκνοις of 1 Esdr. 9:36 is a mere conjecture from the context. The remark itself, that among the women who were sent away were some who had already brought children into the world, is not superfluous, but added for the purpose of showing how thoroughly this matter was carried out. Separation from women who already have children is far more grievous, ob communium liberorum caritatem, than parting with childless wives.

Strictly as this separation was carried out, this evil was not thereby done away with for ever, nor even for very long. After the arrival of Nehemiah at Jerusalem, when the building of the wall was concluded, the congregation again bound themselves by an oath, on the occasion of a day of prayer and fasting, to contract no more such illegal marriages (Neh 10:31). Nevertheless, Nehemiah, on his second return to Jerusalem, some five and twenty to thirty years after the dissolution of these marriages by Ezra, again found Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Moab, and Ammon, and children of these marriages who spoke the tongue of Ashdod, and could not speak the Jews’ language, and even one of the sons of the high priest Jehoiada allied to a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite (Neh 13:28, etc.). Such a phenomenon, however strange it may appear on a superficial view of the matter, becomes comprehensible when we consider more closely the circumstances of the times. The nucleus of the Israelite community in Jerusalem and Judah was formed by those exiles who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Ezra; and to this nucleus the remnant of Jewish and Israelite descent which had been left in the land was gradually united, after the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of the worship of Jahve. Those who returned from Babylon, as well as those who remained in the land, had now, however, lived seventy, and some of them one hundred and fifty, years (from the captivity of Jehoiachin in 599, to the return of Ezra in 457) among the heathen, and in the midst of heathen surroundings, and had thus become so accustomed to intercourse with them in civil and social transactions, that the consciousness of the barriers placed by the Mosaic law between Israel, the people of Jahve, and the Gentiles, was more and more obliterated. And this would specially be the case when the Gentiles who entered into matrimonial alliance with Israelites did not flagrantly practise idolatrous worship, i.e., did not offer sacrifice to heathen deities. Under such circumstances, it must have been extremely difficult to do away entirely with these unlawful unions; although, without a thorough reform in this respect, the successful development of the new community in the land of their fathers was not to be obtained.

Ezra’s narrative of his agency in Jerusalem closes with the account of the dissolution of the unlawful marriages then existing. What he subsequently effected for the revival of religion and morality in the re-established community, in conformity with the law of God, was more of an inward and spiritual kind; and was either of such a nature that no striking results ensued, which could furnish matter for historical narrative, or was performed during the period of his joint agency with Nehemiah, of which an account is furnished by the latter in the record he has handed down to us (Neh 8:10).

Ezra's Reformation. (b. c. 456.)

1 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. 3 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 God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. 5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.

We are here told,

I. What good impressions were made upon the people by Ezra's humiliation and confession of sin. No sooner was it noised in the city that their new governor, in whom they rejoiced, was himself in grief, and to so great a degree, for them and their sin, than presently there assembled to him a very great congregation, to see what the matter was and to mingle their tears with his, v. 1. Our weeping for other people's sins may perhaps set those a weeping for them themselves who otherwise would continue senseless and remorseless. See what a happy influence the good examples of great ones may have upon their inferiors. When Ezra, a scribe, a scholar, a man in authority under the king, so deeply lamented the public corruptions, they concluded that they were indeed very grievous, else he would not thus have grieved for them; and this drew tears from every eye: men, women, and children, wept very sore, when he wept thus.

II. What a good motion Shechaniah made upon this occasion. The place was Bochim—a place of weepers; but, for aught that appears, there was a profound silence among them, as among Job's friends, who spoke not a word to him, because they saw that his grief was very great, till Shechaniah (one of Ezra's companions from Babylon, ch. viii. 3, 5) stood up, and made a speech addressed to Ezra, in which,

1. He owns the national guilt, sums up all Ezra's confession in one word, and sets to his seal that it is true: "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives, v. 2. The matter is too plain to be denied and too bad to be excused." It does not appear that Shechaniah was himself culpable in this matter (if he had had the beam in his own eye, he could not have seen so clearly to pluck it out of his brother's eye), but his father was guilty, and several of his father's house (as appears v. 26), and therefore he reckons himself among the trespassers; nor does he seek to excuse or palliate the sin, though some of his own relations were guilty of it, but, in the cause of God, says to his father, I have not known him, as Levi, Deut. xxxiii. 9. Perhaps the strange wife that his father had married had been an unjust unkind step-mother to him, and had made mischief in the family, and he supposed that others had done the like, which made him the more forward to appear against this corruption; if so, this was not the only time that private resentments have been over ruled by the providence of God to serve the public good.

2. He encourages himself and others to hope that though the matter was bad it might be amended: Yet now there is hope in Israel (where else should there be hope but in Israel? those that are strangers to that commonwealth are said to have no hope, Eph. ii. 12) even concerning this thing. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease is threatening, but not incurable. There is hope that the people may be reformed, the guilty reclaimed, a stop put to the spreading of the contagion; and so the judgments which the sin deserves may be prevented and all will be well. Now there is hope; now that the disease is discovered it is half-cured. Now that the alarm is taken the people begin to be sensible of the mischief, and to lament it, a spirit of repentance seems to be poured out upon them, and they are all thus humbling themselves before God for it, now there is hope that God will forgive, and have mercy. The valley of Achor (that is, of trouble) is the door of hope (Hos. ii. 15); for the sin that truly troubles us shall not ruin us. There is hope now that Israel has such a prudent, pious, zealous governor as Ezra to manage this affair. Note, (1.) In melancholy times we must see and observe what makes for us, as well as what makes against us. (2.) There may be good hopes through grace, even when there is the sense of great guilt before God. (3.) Where sin is seen and lamented, and good steps are taken towards a reformation, even sinners ought to be encouraged. (4.) Even great saints must thankfully receive seasonable counsel and comfort from those that are much their inferiors, as Ezra from Shechaniah.

3. He advises that a speedy and effectual course should be taken for the divorcing of the strange wives. The case is plain; what has been done amiss must be undone again as far as possible; nothing less than this is true repentance. Let us put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, v. 3. Ezra, though he knew this was the only way of redressing the grievance, yet perhaps did not think it feasible, and despaired of ever bringing the people to it, which put him into that confusion in which we left him in the foregoing chapter; but Shechaniah, who conversed more with the people than he did, assured him the thing was practicable if they went wisely to work. As to us now, it is certain that sin must be put away, a bill of divorce must be given it, with a resolution never to have any thing more to do with it, though it be dear as the wife of thy bosom, nay, as a right eye or a right hand, otherwise there is no pardon, no peace. What has been unjustly got cannot be justly kept, but must be restored; but, as to the case of being unequally yoked with unbelievers, Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so clear in, will not hold now; such marriages, it is certain, are sinful, and ought not to be made, but they are not null. Quod fierinon debuit, factum valet—That which ought not to have been done must, when done, abide. Our rule, under the gospel, is, If a brother has a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away, 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13.

4. He puts them in a good method for the effecting of this reformation, and shows them not only that it must be done, but how. (1.) "Let Ezra, and all those that are present in this assembly, agree in a resolution that this must be done (pass a vote immediately to this effect: it will now pass nemine contradicente—unanimously), that it may be said to be done according to the counsel of my lord, the president of the assembly, with the unanimous concurrence of those that tremble at the commandment of our God, which is the description of those that were gathered to him, ch. ix. 4. Declare it to be the sense of all the sober serious people among us, which cannot but have a great sway among Israelites." (2.) "Let the command of God in this matter, which Ezra recited in his prayer, be laid before the people, and let them see that it is done according to the law; we have that to warrant us, nay, that binds us to what we do; it is not an addition of our own to the divine law, but the necessary execution of it." (3.) "While we are in a good mind, let us bind ourselves by a solemn vow and covenant that we will do it, lest, when the present impressions are worn off, the thing be left undone. Let us covenant, not only that, if we have strange wives ourselves, we will put them away, but that, if we have not, we will do what we can in our places to oblige others to put away theirs." (4.) "Let Ezra himself preside in this matter, who is authorized by the king's commission to enquire whether the law of God be duly observed in Judah and Jerusalem (ch. vii. 14), and let us all resolve to stand by him in it (v. 4): Arise, be of good courage. Weeping, in this case, is good, but reforming is better." See what God said to Joshua in a like case, Josh. vii. 10, 11.

III. What a good resolution they came to upon this good motion, v. 5. They not only agreed that it should be done, but bound themselves with an oath that they would do according to this word. Fast bind, fast find.

6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away. 7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; 8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. 9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. 10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. 12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. 14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.

We have here an account of the proceedings upon the resolutions lately taken up concerning the strange wives; no time was lost; they struck when the iron was hot, and soon set the wheels of reformation a-going. 1. Ezra went to the council-chamber where, it is probable, the priests used to meet upon public business; and till he came thither (so bishop Patrick thinks it should be read), till he saw something done, and more likely to be done, for the redress of this grievance, he did neither eat nor drink, but continued mourning. Sorrow for sin should be abiding sorrow; be sure to let it continue till the sin be put away. 2. He sent orders to all the children of the captivity to attend him at Jerusalem within three days (v. 7, 8); and, being authorized by the king to enforce his orders with penalties annexed (ch. vii. 26), he threatened that whosoever refused to obey the summons should forfeit his estate and be outlawed. The doom of him that would not attend on this religious occasion should be that his substance should, in his stead, be for ever after appropriated to the service of their religion, and he himself, for his contempt, should for ever after be excluded from the honours and privileges of their religion; he should be excommunicated. 3. Within the time limited the generality of the people met at Jerusalem and made their appearance in the street of the house of God, v. 9. Those that had no zeal for the work they were called to, nay, perhaps had a dislike to it, being themselves delinquents, yet paid such a deference to Ezra's authority, and were so awed by the penalty, that they durst not stay away. 4. God gave them a token of his displeasure in the great rain that happened at that time (v. 9 and again v. 13), which perhaps kept some away, and was very grievous to those that met in the open street. When they wept the heavens wept too, signifying that, though God was angry with them for their sin, yet he was well pleased with their repentance, and (as it is said, Judg. x. 16) his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel; it was also an indication of the good fruits of their repentance, for the rain makes the earth fruitful. 5. Ezra gave the charge at this great assize. He told them upon what account he called them together now, that it was because he found that since their return out of captivity they had increased the trespass of Israel by marrying strange wives, had added to their former sins this new transgression, which would certainly be a means of again introducing idolatry, the very sin they had smarted for and which he hoped they had been cured of in their captivity; and he called them together that they might confess their sin to God, and, having done that, might declare themselves ready and willing to do his pleasure, as it should be made known to them (which all those will do that truly repent of what they have done to incur his displeasure), and particularly that they might separate themselves from all idolaters, especially idolatrous wives, v. 10, 11. On these heads, we may suppose, he enlarged, and probably made such another confession of the sin now as he made ch. ix., to which he required them to say Amen. 6. The people submitted not only to Ezra's jurisdiction in general, but to his inquisition and determination in this matter: "As thou hast said, so must we do, v. 12. We have sinned in mingling with the heathen, and have thereby been in danger, not only of being corrupted by them, for we are frail, but of being lost among them, for we are few; we are therefore convinced that there is an absolute necessity of our separating from them again." There is hope concerning people when they are convinced, not only that it is good to part with their sins, but that it is indispensably necessary: we must do it, or we are undone. 7. It was agreed that this affair should be carried on, not in a popular assembly, nor that they should think to go through with it all on a sudden, but that a court of delegates should be appointed to receive complaints and to hear and determine upon them. It could not be done at this time, for it was not put into a method, nor could the people stand out because of the rain. The delinquents were many, and it would require time to discover and examine them. Nice cases would arise, which could not be adjudged without debate and deliberation, v. 13. "And therefore let the crowd be dismissed, and the rulers stand to receive informations; let them proceed city by city, and let the offenders be convicted before them in the presence of the judges and elders of their own city; and let them be entrusted to see the orders executed. Thus take time and we shall have done the sooner; whereas, if we do it in a hurry, we shall do it by halves, v. 14. If, in this method, a thorough reformation be made, the fierce wrath of God will be turned from us, which, we are sensible, is ready to break forth against us for this transgression." Ezra was willing that his zeal should be guided by the people's prudence, and put the matter into this method; he was not ashamed to own that the advice came from them, any more than he was to comply with it.

15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month. 18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. 20 And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah. 21 And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah. 23 Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24 Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. 25 Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah. 26 And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah. 27 And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. 28 Of the sons also of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. 29 And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. 30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. 33 Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. 34 Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau, 38 And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, 39 And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. 43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah. 44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

The method of proceeding in this matter being concluded on, and the congregation dismissed, that each in his respective place might gain and give intelligence to facilitate the matter, we are here told, 1. Who were the persons that undertook to manage the matter and bring the causes regularly before the commissioners—Jonathan and Jahaziah, two active men, whether of the priests or of the people does not appear; probably they were the men that made that proposal (v. 13, 14) and were therefore the fittest to see it pursued; two honest Levites were joined with them, and helped them, v. 15. Dr. Lightfoot gives a contrary sense of this: only (or nevertheless) Jonathan and Jahaziah stood against this matter (which reading the original will very well bear), and these two Levites helped them in opposing it, either the thing itself or this method of proceeding. It was strange if a work of this kind was carried on and met with no opposition. 2. Who were the commissioners that sat upon this matter. Ezra was president, and with him certain chief men of the fathers who were qualified with wisdom and zeal above others for this service, v. 16. It was happy for them that they had such a man as Ezra to head them; they could not have done it well without his direction, yet he would not do it without their concurrence. 3. How long they were about it. They began the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter (v. 16), which was but ten days after this method was proposed (v. 9), and they finished in three months, v. 17. They sat closely and minded their business, otherwise they could not have despatched so many causes as they had before them in so little time; for we may suppose that all who were impeached were fairly asked what cause they could show why they should not be parted, and, if we may judge by other cases, provided the wife were proselyted to the Jewish religion she was not to be put away, the trial of which would require great care. 4. Who the persons were that were found guilty of this crime. Their names are here recorded to their perpetual reproach; many of the priests, nay, of the family of Jeshua, the high priest, were found guilty (v. 18), though the law had particularly provided, for the preserving of their honour in their marriages, that being holy themselves they should not marry such as were profane, Lev. xxi. 7. Those that should have taught others the law broke it themselves and by their example emboldened others to do likewise. But, having lost their innocency in this matter, they did well to recant and give an example of repentance; for they promised under their hand to put away their strange wives (some think that they made oath to do so with their hands lifted up), and they took the appointed way of obtaining pardon, bringing the ram which was appointed by the law for a trespass offering (Lev. vi. 6), so owning their guilt and the desert of it, and humbly suing for forgiveness. About 113 in all are here named who had married strange wives, and some of them, it is said (v. 44), had children by them, which implies that not many of them had, God not crowning those marriages with the blessing of increase. Whether the children were turned off with the mothers, as Shechaniah proposed, does not appear; it should seem not: however it is probable that the wives which were put away were well provided for, according to their rank. One would think this grievance was now thoroughly redressed, yet we meet with it again (Neh. xiii. 23 and Mal. ii. 11), for such corruptions are easily and insensibly brought in, but not without great difficulty purged out again. The best reformers can but do their endeavour, but, when the Redeemer himself shall come to Sion, he shall effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

CHAP. X. Verſe 1. Now when Ezra had prayed.]

HAD preſented himſelf as a Suppliant, and opened his cauſe to God the Judge, appealing to him, that he might determine.

And when he had confeſſed] And begged pardon: deprecating the divine diſpleaſure,Hithpallel. as the word ſignifieth.

Weeping] Of this we read not in the former chapter, but of other effects of his paſſion, as renting his garments, tearing off the hair of his head and beard, &c. His ſorrow at firſt might be above tears, which afterwards came guſhing out amain, as the blood doth out of a Wound, but not till it hath firſt run back to the heart, to bear the newes to it, as I may ſo ſay. It is ſaid of Athanaſius, that by his tears, as by the bleeding of a chaſt vine, he cured the Leproſy of that tainted age. May we not ſay the ſame of this good man?

And caſting himſelf down before the houſe of God Where all might ſee him, that their eyes might affect their hearts, and contribute ſome tears of compunction and compaſſion toward the filling of Gods bottle, as they had done ſins toward the filling of his bag.

Of Men, Women, and Children] Anaſhim, Venaſhim, &c. A Woman is a man, cut ſhort by the head, 1 Cor. 11.3. Here was a general meeting of all Sexes and Sizes joyned together, to cut ſins cart-ropes.

And the people wept very ſore] They could not waſh their hands in innocency, they therefore waſhed them in tears: they knew, that as the ſins of the old World; ſo of this little World, needeth a deluge. Their ſins therefore are as ſo many Hazaels to them[illegible: 1 letter] their hearts as ſo many Hadad-rimmens, the place they made to become a very Bechi[illegible: 1 letter], they wept with a great weeping, and ſo vented their ſins at their eyes, as ſick people do their ill humours at the pores of their bodies.

Verſe 2. And Shechaniah the ſon of Jehiel] Egregie cordatus homo, A prudent and a pious man; one that had feeding lips, and a healing tongue, one that knew how to time a word, Eſay [illegible: 1 word] Prov. 25. [illegible: 1 letter]. and to ſet it upon the wheels.

Anſwered and ſaid unto Ezra] Such words as were uttered more from the bowels, then the brain: and thereby proved ſo effectual.

We have treſpaſſed againſt our God] His father Jehiel had taken a ſtrange Wife, ver. 18. 26. ſo perhaps had he himſelf: or if not, yet he might fear wrath, becauſe of the ſame body politike with thoſe ſinners againſt their own ſouls. God, he knew, might well draw blood of the arm for the cure of the head; as Theodoret ſaith he did when he ſlew Pharaohs firſt-born.

Yet now there is hope in Iſrael, &c.] Hope that the people will repent, and hope that God will have mercy, upon their repentance. Supereſt ſperare ſalutem, If it were not for hope, heart would break. God having opened a door of hope, let us go holdly to the Throne of grace; what ſhould hinder?

Qui nil ſperare poteſt, deſperet nihil.

Caſt not away your confidence which hath ſo great recompenſe of reward: but caſt Anchor within the veil, and wait for day, as Paul did in the Ship-wrack, See Eſay 50.10.

Verſe 3. Now therefore let us make a Covenant] And ſo tye our ſelves thereby, to the better abearance: that we ſlip not collar, that we detrect not the yoke of Gods obedience, Deut. 10.20 Cleaving to God with full purpoſe of heart will require ſwearing. Broken bones muſt have ſtrong bands to cloſe them. Tottering houſes muſt be crampt with iron barres, or they will ſoon down. If the vowes of God be upon us, if we be Covenanters, it will help againſt the fickleneſs of our falſe hearts: which cannot but know that if God ſhall be All-ſufficient to us, we muſt be Altogether his, Cant. 2.16. His is a Covenant of mercy, even the ſure mercies of David; ours is a Covenant of obedience to him, in every part and point of duty.

To put away all the Wives] This Jewes might do in this, and ſome other caſes. So did Romanes alſo with this onely bill of divorce, Res tuas tibi habeto, Take what is thine own, and be packing. But Chriſtians may not do thus, becauſe of difference in Religion: 1 Cor. 7. ver. 12. Whatever ſome late upſtarts have printed and practiſed to the contrary.

And ſuch as are born of them] The children of thoſe ſtrange Wives, perſiſting in their paganiſme. Theſe children though diſinherited, yet were not to be altogether deſerted; but nouriſhed, and nurtured alſo in the fear and admonition of the Lord, Eph. 6.4. Proving if perad venture, God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, &c. 2. Tim. 2.25.

According to the counſel of my Lord] Termes full of hearty reſpect, and humble ſubmiſſion. He calles Ezra My lord, as Hannah did Eli, with an eye to his dignity, and authority, both as a Prieſt, and as a Commiſſioner from the King of Perſia. At Venice every ordinary Mechanike is called Magnifico. At Vicenza in Italy the common title to a common Gentleman is Signor Conte, as much as My Lord Earle. But Ezra was every way honourable and deſerving: titles of honour were not worthy of him.

And of thoſe that tremble at the Commandement of our God] A periphraſis of a truly pious perſon, ſc. ſuch a one as feareth God and keepeth his Commandements. And this is the Man alone that is fit to judge of caſes of conſcience, and to comfort the feeble minded. Now although the comfort given by Gods Miniſters (ſuch as Ezra was) be ordinarily moſt effectual (as is the bleſſing of Parents, who are in Gods Room) yet others alſo (that are conſciencious and experienced perſons, that tremble at the Commandement of God, as here) may give excellent counſel and comfort in ſuch a caſe. But how like the motion of a Puppet, the language of a Parret is the beſt diſcourſe (in this ſubject of conſcience) of the not-intereſſed man.

And let it be done according to the Law] Which, though it take no direct and expreſſe order in this caſe, yet by due deduction and juſt inference it was determined both here and in Nehemiah, chap. 9.2. that thoſe ſtrange Wives ſhould be put away.

Verſe 4. Ariſe] Surge age Summe Pater, 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 Joſhuah chap. 7.10. Get thee up: why lyeſt thou here on thy face?

For this matter belongeth unto thee] Who haſt both an heart to do it, as appeares by thine humiliation, and alſo power in thine hand, as witneſſeth thy commiſſion.

We alſo will be with thee] Every man muſt ſhew 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. 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 verò illius oratione ſic incendebar, &c. I was ſo inflamed with his words, as if I had heard the Holy Ghoſt himſelf ſpeaking unto me.

Verſe 5. Then aroſe Ezra] According to the counſel of Shecaniah, ver. 4. How forcible are right words; Job 6.25. One ſeaſonable ſpeech falling upon a prepared heart, hath oft a ſtrong and ſweet operation; as that ſimilitude uſed by Peter martyr, reading upon the firſt to the Corinthians had upon Galeacius Caracciolus that Noble Italian convert: & as ſome ſpeeches of Staupicius, had upon Luther; who was likewiſe much confirmed and cheared up by conference with an old Prieſt at Erford; who largely diſcourſed about juſtification by faith, Life of Luther by Mr. Clark. and explained the Articles of the Creed to him.

And made the chief Prieſts, the Levites, and all Iſrael to ſwear] [non-Latin text not transcribed]. An oath is a fence: and, added to a vow or covenant: it, doth notably conduce (as a holy exorciſm) to conjure down our rebellious wills, and as cords or chains to hamper our treacherous hearts, that they backſlide not like back ſliding heifers; Moiſt bodies (as water) muſt be put into cloſe Veſſels: ſo muſt mans heart be bound together by ſtrongeſt helps, and reſolutions. Neither caſt we any new ſnare hereby upon ourſelves, (1 Cor. 7.35) but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt we owe to God. Such was that of Jacob, Gen. 28.20. and 31.13. of David, Pſal. 119.106. Of the Nazarites, Num. 6.2, 3. Rechabites, Jer. 35.6. This ſhewes a very earneſt deſire to obey: it ſharpneth alſo our prayers, and diſhearteneth the Devil: who ſeeing us thus peremptory and reſolute, will deſpair, and depart.

Then Ezra roſe up from before the Houſe of God] Where God had promiſed to hear prayers for Chriſts ſake, whereof that houſe was a type. See ver. 1.

And went into the chamber of Johanan] As a fit meeting-place, where they might conſider, conſult and give counſel. Over the Counſel-chamber at Venice is written, Let nothing be done here againſt the Weal-publike. A Profeſſour of the Turks Law proclaimeth before they adviſe or attempt ought, That nothing be done againſt Religion. Over the Town hall in Zant are ſet theſe two Verſes in letters of gold.

Hic locus odit, amat, punit, conſervat, honorat, Nequitiam, pacem, crimina, jura, bonos.

Think the ſame we muſt needs of this holy Conclave or Council-chamber, where the Sanhedrin was preſent, and Ezra Preſident.

He did eat no bread, nor drink no water] Though faſting and faint with much mourning; yet no food would down with him, till he had gone thorough-ſtitch with the work. It was his meat and drink to do the will of his Heavenly Father. So it was good Jobs, chap. 23.12. and our Saviours, Matth. 21.17, 23. It was then, when diſappointed of a breakfaſt at the barren Fig-tree, and coming hungry into the City, he went not into a Victualling-houſe, nor into a Friends houſe to refreſh himſelf: but into Gods Houſe, where he continued teaching the people all that day.

For he mourned becauſe of the tranſgreſſion] It was not then a natural abſtinence, ariſing from ſickneſſe; nor a civil for healths ſake; or for ſome other wordly reſpect: but a Religious faſt, which is uſually to be held out a whole day, uſque dum Stellae in Coelo appareant. (as an old Canon hath it) till the Stars appear, in the sky: yet ſo as that nature be chaſtiſed, not diſabled for duty.

Verſe 7. And they made proclamation] Heb. They cauſed a voyce to paſſe, viz. by an Herald or Cryer.

That they ſhould gather themſelves together] And ſo the guilty might be brought to their anſwer, in that general aſſembly.

Verſe 8. And that whoſoever would not come, &c.] Lawes, if they be not penal and compulſory, will ſoon be ſlighted by lawleſſe, aweleſſe perſons. Howbeit, Flies muſt not be killed upon mens browes with beetles? peccadillo's muſt not be puniſhed, as haynous crimes. Draco made it capital to be idle, to ſteal pot hearbs, &c. Of his Lawes Ariſtotle ſaith that they were not worthy remembrance, but onely for their over-great ſeverity, Ezra's Laws were more mild.

All his ſubſtance ſhall be forfeited] This to men of their mettle, was a forcible motive. When ſome have a loſſe in their riches, it is as it were raked out of their bellies: a piece of their very heart goes with it, Job 20.15. and they are filled with unmedicinable ſorrowes, Eccleſ. 5.

And himſelf ſeparated from the Congregation] Baniſhed the Land, or at leaſt caſt out of the Church. Wo be to thoſe that ſeparate themſelves, Jude 19. Cainites you may call them, Gen. 4.16. Our Church-forſakers, Worſhip-ſcorners, that laſt brood of Beelzebub.

Verſe 9. Within three dayes] They durſt not outſtand their time, becauſe their eſtates were at ſtake. Why is there not the like care taken, and ſpeed uſed to make peace with God, ſith for ought we know 'tis now or never, to day or not at all? Is it nothing to loſe an immortal ſoul? why then cry we Cras Domine? why ſtand we trifling and baffling from day to day, till it be all-too-late? Remember the fooliſh Virgins, and be wiſer.

It was the ninth Moneth] Which was the Moneth of May, ſaith Diodate; counting September for the firſt, after the manner of the Perſians, Eſth. 2.16. and this great rain, being out of the accuſtomed ſeaſon, was ſomwhat prodigious, & ſeemed to portend Gods wrath, as 1 Sam. 12.17. Others make it to be in December the deep of Winter: which though it be an ordinary time of raine (whence in Greek alſo it hath its name [non-Latin text not transcribed], and in Latine Hyems) yet theſe ſhowers were extraordinary, more like ſpouts then ſhowers; and thence the peoples fear much increaſed by their guilt: for as no body is without its ſhadow ſo is no ſin without its fear, quia nec ſine conſcientia ſui, Tertul. becauſe it cannot ſhake off conſcience.

Verſe 10. We have treſpaſſed] We have diſloyally or rather ſacrilegiouſly treſpaſſed, by tranſgreſſing the Covenant. Other mens ſins are rebellions againſt God, but the Saints ſinnes are treacheries. Let the Philiſtins bind Sampſon, it will be nothing ſo grievous to him, as that his brethren ſhould do it. Mens offences are much increaſed by their obligations.

To increaſe the treſpaſſe of Iſrael] To adde to the heap which thereby is grown as high as Heaven, chap. 9.6. and calls hard for fire from thence, Pſal. 11.6. to revenge the quarel of the Covenant. Draw water therefore before the Lord, as thoſe did, 1 Sam. 7.6. Yea poure out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for us, Pſal. 62.7.

Verſe 11 Now therefore make confeſſion] This is the ſouls vomit: which is the hardeſt kind of Phyſick,Vomitus ſordiū animae. Naz. but healthſomeſt. This the Devil knowes, viz. that there is no way to purge the ſick ſoul but upwards, by caſting out the vicious humour wherewith it is clogged: and therefore he holds the lips cloſe, that the heart may not disburden it ſelf by ſo wholeſome evacuation. Confeſſion muſt follow upon conviction, as here: and be followed by reformation.

And do his pleaſure and ſeparate, &c.] For they that confeſſe and forſake not their ſins are onely dog-ſick. When they have diſgorged their ſtomacks, and got a little eaſe, they will be as bad as before. Wicked people make account of confeſſion; as drunkards do of vomiting: that they may adde drunkenneſſe to thirſt. But the man that ſhall have mercy muſt both confeſſe and forſake, Prov. 28.13. Open a veyn, and let out his bad blood.

Verſe 12. Then all the Congregation anſwered and ſaid with a loud voyce] But not with a true heart, Heb. 10.22. For within a few years they returned to their vomit again.

As thou haſt ſaid, ſo muſt we do] Theſe were good words, and not unlike thoſe of Laelius in Lucan ſpoken to Caeſar.

Juſſa ſequi tàm velle mihi, quàm poſſe, neceſſe eſt.

But many of theſe fair promiſers turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their Fathers they were turned aſide like a deceitful bow, Pſal. 78.57. Look how a rotten bow, though otherwiſe fair, when an Arrow is drawn to the head, and both eye and arrow is leveld to the mark, yet it miſcarryeth: So do the deſires, purpoſes and promiſes that unſound hearts conceive in their afflictions, and under juſt convictions.

Verſe 13. Neither is this work of one day or two] No more is repentance, that firſt and continual work of every Chriſtian.Nulli reinatus [illegible: 1 letter] iſi poenitenti. [illegible: 1 letter]. Tert. de po[illegible: 1 letter]n. This made Tertullian ſay, that he was born for nothing elſe but for repentance. Surely as in a Ship there is continuall pumping; and as in a Beggers coat continual piecing; ſo in the beſt ſoul there wants not matter of daily repenting: this Houſe muſt be every day ſwept; this Candle-ſtick every day ſcoured. Beſides, ſome ſins are paſt in time, that are not paſt indeed, if we dwell not in the undoing and reverſing of them. The beſt of theſe hereafter mentioned, were to begin a new their repentance, becauſe they had not conſidered their marrying of ſtrange Wives.

For we are many that have tranſgreſſed] Heb. We have multiplyed to tranſgreſſe. The comfort is, that God will in like ſort multiply to pardon, if we return unto him that's the expreſſion, Eſay 55.7.

Verſe 14. Let now our Rulers of all the Congregation] Our Sanedrim or ſeventy Seniors, See Deut. 17.9. Let there be a matrimonial Conſiſtory erected, and matters in queſtion orderly heard and determined.

Ʋntil the fierce wrath of God] We muſt not think that he will ceaſe purſuing us, till the Traytours head be thrown over the Wall, till there be a thorough reformation. One Abimelech left alive, may be the death of Gideons 70 ſons: ſo may one ſin favoured, be thine utter undoing.

Verſe 15. Onely Jonathan the ſon of Aſahel and Jahaziah] Theſe two Prieſts onely, of all the company, had kept themſelves unſpotted, and ſo were fit to be employed in the work in hand.Hier. Epiſt. Diaconos paucitas honorabiles fecit, ſaith Hierome, of his times. The paucity of good Deacons hath rendred them honourable. And I do not think, ſaith Chryſoſtome, that among the Clergy there are many that ſhall be ſaved.D. Hall. Clerus Britannicus ſtupor mundi: and yet there never wanted amongſt us thoſe dehoneſtamenta Cleri, that might give ſome occaſion to black-mouthed Campian to tell the World. Miniſtris eorum nihil vilius, Camp. Ra[illegible: 1 letter] Many of their Miniſters are moſt baſe.

Verſe 16. And the children of the captivity did ſo] Appointed ſuch a courſe ſhould be taken. And ſo it was a plain Plebiſcitum, and accordingly executed.

Verſe 17. By the firſt day of the firſt moneth] So that it was not the work of one day or two, as ver. 13. but of full three moneths, and yet they were not ſlothful in that buſineſs, but fervent in ſpirit ſerving the Lord. In the work of repentance take time enough, dig deep enough by thorough humiliation; leſt the fall of the houſe be great. The Engliſh are not ſick ſoon enough, ſaith One, and they are well too ſoon: This is true of their minds, as well as of their bodies.

Verſe 18. And among the ſons of the Prieſts, &c.] What a ſhame was this, and a ſtain to their cloth? Theſe mens white ephods covered foul ſinnes: whereas they ſhould have been carefull to have kept all clean: as that Eleazer was of whom it is ſtoried, that he would not do any thing that might ſeem to be ſinful, becauſe be would not ſpot his white head.

Of the ſons of Joſhua the ſon of Jozadak] This good High-prieſt had ſons none of the beſt. White Halcyons hatch black young ones. Caligula fuit optimi Viri Germanici filius. Eli his ſons were ſons of Belial. Samuels were little better: and yet it is not likely that he was faulty in that indulgence, for which his own mouth had denounced Gods judgements againſt Eli. When Ceſar Borgia Duke of Valence invited his Nobility to a Feaſt, and after Dinner cut off their heads, Pope Alexander (who was his Father) hearing of it ſmiled and ſaid, his Son had ſerved them a Spaniſh trick. When Petro Alingi Farneſis had committed an unſpeakable Violence on the perſon of Coſmus Chaerius, Biſhop of Fanum, and then poyſoned him, he received no other Chaſtiſement of his Father Pope Paul the third, then Haec vitia me non commonſtratore didicit, he never learned theſe faults of his Father. Good Joſhua had better bred his children, then thus to break out into an open violation of that Law, which they could not but know, and ſhould have obſerved. But God will ſhew, that grace is by gift, not inheritance: and men will ſhew, that though nourture may ſomewhat amend nature, yet it is grace alone that can keep us within the bounds of obedience.

Verſe 19. And they gave their hands,] Id eſt, They plighted their troth, and aſſured the aſſent of their hearts, 2 Kings 10.15.

That they would put away their Wives] Though as dear to them haply, as was George Carpenters (Martyr) burnt at Munchen in Bavaria: My Wife and Children, ſaid he, are ſo dear unto me, that they cannot be bought from me for all the riches and poſſeſſions of the Duke of Bavaria: but for the love of my Lord God I will willingly forſake them. Act. & Mon. 806. Let us do ſo by our dilecta delicta, our deareſt, and moſt delicious ſins.

They offered a Ram of the Flock] This ſhewes that they ſinned againſt knowledge: for for a ſin of ignorance the oblation was not a Ram, but a goat.

Verſe 44. And ſome of them had Wives by whom they had Children] Who yet for all that were put away, together with their children, ver. 3. The Hebrew hath it thus, And there were of them Women, & they had put forth ſons, or expoſed their ſons to do as they might, or to be diſpoſed of by the Judges: as that good Woman who told Bonner, Act. & Mon. that if he burnt her, ſhe hoped he would keep Faith, Hope, and Charity (thoſe were the names of her three daughters) No by my troth will not I, quoth the Biſhop: Ile meddle with none of them.