John Trapp on Ezra 10:1

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.