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Ezra Chapter
Nine
Ezra 9
Chapter Contents
Ezra mourns for the Jews' conduct. (1-4) Ezra's
confession of sins. (5-15)
Commentary on Ezra 9:1-4
(Read Ezra 9:1-4)
Many corruptions lurk out of the view of the most careful
rulers. Some of the people disobeyed the express command of God
which forbade
all marriages with the heathen
Deuteronomy 7. Disbelief of God's
all-sufficiency
is at the bottom of the sorry shifts we make to help
ourselves. They exposed themselves and their children to the peril of idolatry
that had ruined their church and nation. Carnal professors may make light of
such connexions
and try to explain away the exhortations to be separate; but
those who are best acquainted with the word of God
will treat the subject in
another manner. They must forebode the worst from such unions. The evils
excused
and even pleaded for; by many professors
astonish and cause regret in
the true believer. All who profess to be God's people
ought to strengthen
those that appear and act against vice and profaneness.
Commentary on Ezra 9:5-15
(Read Ezra 9:5-15)
The sacrifice
especially the evening sacrifice
was a
type of the blessed Lamb of God
who in the evening of the world
was to take
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Ezra's address is a penitent confession
of sin
the sin of his people. But let this be the comfort of true penitents
that though their sins reach to the heavens
God's mercy is in the heavens.
Ezra
speaking of sin
speaks as one much ashamed. Holy shame is as necessary
in true repentance as holy sorrow. Ezra speaks as much amazed. The discoveries
of guilt cause amazement; the more we think of sin
the worse it looks. Say
God be merciful to me sinner. Ezra speaks as one much afraid. There is not a
surer or saddler presage of ruin
than turning to sin
after great judgments
and great deliverances. Every one in the church of God
has to wonder that he
has not wearied out the Lord's patience
and brought destruction upon himself.
What then must be the case of the ungodly? But though the true penitent has
nothing to plead in his own behalf
the heavenly Advocate pleads most
powerfully for him.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Ezra》
Ezra 9
Verse 3
[3] And
when I heard this thing
I rent my garment and my mantle
and plucked off the
hair of my head and of my beard
and sat down astonied.
I rent —
Both mine inner and my upper garment.
Verse 4
[4] Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the
God of Israel
because of the transgression of those that had been carried
away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
Evening sacrifice —
When the people used to assemble together. All good people ought to own those
that appear and act for God against vice and profaneness. Every one that fears
God
ought to stand by them
and do what he can to strengthen their hands.
Verse 5
[5] And
at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my
garment and my mantle
I fell upon my knees
and spread out my hands unto the
LORD my God
Heaviness —
From that mournful posture
and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. He
did this at the time of the evening sacrifice
because then devout people used
to come into the courts of the temple
that hearing his confession
they
likewise might be made sensible of the sins of the people. And he had an eye to
that great propitiation
of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type.
Verse 6
[6] And
said
O my God
I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee
my God: for
our iniquities are increased over our head
and our trespass is grown up unto
the heavens.
Our — He
includes himself in the number of the transgressors
because he himself was
guilty of many sins; and because the princes and priests
and so many of the
people having done this
the guilt was now become national.
Verse 7
[7] Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this
day; and for our iniquities have we
our kings
and our priests
been delivered
into the hand of the kings of the lands
to the sword
to captivity
and to a
spoil
and to confusion of face
as it is this day.
Have we been — We
are not purged from the guilt of our fathers sins
but we are still feeling the
sad effects of them; yea
and are repeating the same sins.
Verse 8
[8] And
now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God
to leave
us a remnant to escape
and to give us a nail in his holy place
that our God
may lighten our eyes
and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
A little space — It
is but a little while since God hath delivered us
and yet we are already
returned to our sin.
A remnant —
The far greatest part of the Israelitish nation were yet in captivity.
A nail —
Some kind of settlement; whereas before we were tossed and removed from place
to place as our masters pleased. It is a metaphor from tents
which are
fastened by cords and nails
or pins.
Holy place — In
Jerusalem
called the holy city
Nehemiah 11:1
18 Daniel 9:24
which is peculiarly mentioned
because of the temple
which was the nail that fastened their tents and gave
them some hopes of continuing in their land.
To lighten —
That he might revive and comfort our hearts. For as darkness is often put for a
state of sorrow and affliction
so light is put for joy and comfort.
In bondage —
For we are not quite delivered
being even here in subjection to our former
lords.
Verse 9
[9] For
we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage
but hath
extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia
to give us a
reviving
to set up the house of our God
and to repair the desolations
thereof
and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
A wall —
The favour of the kings of Persia whose edicts were their security against all
those enemies wherewith they were encompassed: and the gracious providence of
God
which had planted them in their own land
and watched over them from time
to time.
Verse 11
[11]
Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets
saying
The land
unto
which ye go to possess it
is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people
of the lands
with their abominations
which have filled it from one end to
another with their uncleanness.
It is unclean —
This land is as corrupt as any of the rest of the heathen nations.
Verse 12
[12] Now
therefore give not your daughters unto their sons
neither take their daughters
unto your sons
nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be
strong
and eat the good of the land
and leave it for an inheritance to your
children for ever.
Strong —
Although you may fancy making leagues and marriages with them
as the only way
to establish you
yet I assure you
it will weaken and ruin you
and the
contrary course will make you strong.
Verse 15
[15] O
LORD God of Israel
thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped
as it is
this day: behold
we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand
before thee because of this.
We are — We
are here in thy presence
and so are all our sins; we are arraigning ourselves
before thy tribunal
acknowledging thee to be just
if thou destroy us.
Before thee — In
judgment
as that word is often used
we must needs fall and perish at thy
presence.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Ezra》
09 Chapter 9
Verses 1-15
──《The Biblical Illustrator》
09 Chapter 9
\\INTRODUCTION
TO EZRA 9\\
Ezra being informed
by some of the princes who complained unto him
of the marriages of many of the Israelites with the people of the
land
the Canaanites and others
was greatly grieved and distressed
\\#Ezr 9:1-5\\
upon which he made a confession of their sins to God
with great shame
sorrow
and contrition
and deprecated the evils
which they deserved
\\#Ezr 9:6-15\\.
Now when these things were done
When the captives with Ezra had refreshed themselves
and weighed the money and
vessels they brought
and put them into the hands of proper persons
and
offered sacrifices
and delivered the king's commissions to his lieutenants and
governors
and shown his own:
the princes came to me;
some of the nobles of Israel
the most religious of them
who were concerned at
the corruptions that were among them
though not a sufficient number to reform
them:
saying the people of Israel
and the priests
and the Levites
have not
separated themselves from the people of the land:
but joined with them
though not in idolatrous practices
yet by marrying with
them
which might lead them into them:
doing according to their abominations;
not serving idols as they did
but imitating them in their marriages: even
of the Canaanites
the Perizzites
the Jebusites
the Ammonites
the
Moabites
the Egyptians
and the Amorites;
affinity with many of these was forbidden by an express law
( Deuteronomy 7:1 Deuteronomy 7:3 ) all but the Moabites
Ammonites
and Egyptians
and from these for the same reason they were to
abstain; namely
lest they should be drawn into idolatry; that the priests and
Levites should do this
who ought to have known the law
and instructed the
people better
was very sad and shocking.
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves
and for
their sorts
Some that were widowers not only took wives to themselves of the above nations
either when they were of Babylon
where many of these nations also were
or
rather since their return; but they took for their sons also; yea
some that
had wives took Heathenish ones to them
see ( Malachi 2:13-15 )
so that the holy seed;
such as the Lord had separated from other nations
chosen them to be an holy
people above all others
and devoted them to his service and worship:
have mingled themselves with the people of those lands;
before mentioned
by marrying with them:
yea
the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this
trespass;
they were the first that went into it
were ringleaders of it
who should by
their authority and example have restrained others; or they were
in this first trespass
F9;
which was the first gross and capital one the people fell into after their return
from the captivity.
FOOTNOTES:
F9 (hnavr hzh lemb) "in
praevaricatione ista prima"
Pagninus
Montanus.
And when I heard this thing
I rent my garment and my mantle
&c.] Both inward and outward garments
that which was close to his body
and that which was thrown loose over it; and this he did in token of sorrow and
mourning
as if something very dreadful and distressing
see ( Job
1:20 )
and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard;
did not shave them
and so transgressed not the law in ( Leviticus 19:27 ) but plucked off the hair of
them
to show his extreme sorrow for what was told him: which has frequently
been done by mourners on sorrowful occasions in various nations
see ( Isaiah
15:2 ) . So in the apocryphal "addition" to Esther
``And laid away
her glorious apparel
and put on the garments of anguish and mourning: and
instead of precious ointments
she covered her head with ashes and dung
and
she humbled her body greatly
and all the places of her joy she filled with her
torn hair.'' (Esther 14:2)
she is said to
fill every place of joy with the tearing of her hair; and Lavinia in Virgil F11;
several passages from Homer F12
and other writers
both Greek and Latin
are mentioned by Bochart F13
as instances of it:
and sat down astonished;
quite amazed at the ingratitude of the people
that after such favours shown
them
in returning them from captivity unto their own land
and settling them
there
they should give into practices so contrary to the will of God.
FOOTNOTES:
F11 Aeneid. 12. prope finem. Vid. Ciceron. Tusc. Quaest. l. 3.
F12 Vid. Iliad. 10. ver. 15. & Iliad. 22. ver. 77
78
406. & Iliad.
24. ver. 711.
F13 Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 45. col. 481.
There were assembled unto me everyone that trembled at the
words of the God of Israel
That had a reverence for the word of God
and the things contained in it;
feared to break the laws of God
and trembled at his judgments
which they
might apprehend would come upon transgressors
see ( Isaiah
46:2 )
because of the transgression of those that had been carried away;
into Babylon
and were now returned
and which was an aggravation of their
transgression:
and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice:
or until the ninth hour
as the Syriac version
which was about our three
o'clock in the afternoon
at which time the evening sacrifice was offered;
perhaps it was in the morning when Ezra first received his information from the
princes.
And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness
The signs and tokens of it
particularly sitting on the ground; or "from
my fasting" F14
having eaten nothing that day
it being early in the morning when he was told
the above case:
and having rent my garment and my mantle;
which he had done before
and still kept them on him in the same case:
fell upon my knees
and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God;
in the posture and with the gesture of an humble supplicant.
FOOTNOTES:
F14 (ytynetm) "jejunio
meo"
Michaelis; so Jarchi.
And said
O my God
Here begins the prayer of Ezra
and that with faith in God as covenant God
even when he was about to make confession of sin
and repentance for it; that
prayer is right which is put up in faith
and that repentance genuine which is
accompanied with faith
and flows from it:
I am ashamed
and blush to lift up my face to thee
my God;
a true sight and sense of sin causes shame and blushing
and never more than
when a man is sensible of his covenant interest in God
and of his grace and
favour to him
particularly in the forgiveness of his sin
see ( Ezekiel 16:61 Ezekiel 16:63 )
for our iniquities are increased over our head;
arisen and swelled like mighty waters
which seemed to threaten an overwhelming
of them:
and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens;
being done in an open
public
and insolent manner
and in such numbers
that
they were
as it were
piled up in heaps
reaching to heaven
and calling down
vengeance from thence. Ezra includes himself as being one of the same nation;
and these sins being so common were become national ones
which involved all
the individuals
and exposed them to the divine resentment.
Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass
unto this day
The sins they were guilty of had been long continued in
which was an
aggravation of them:
and for our iniquities have we
our kings
and our priests
been
delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands;
the ten tribes and their king into the hand of the king of Assyria
the kings
of Judah
Jehoiakim
Jeconiah
and Zedekiah
into the hands of the king of
Babylon
with the priests and people:
to the sword
to captivity
and to a spoil;
some were slain with the sword
others carried captive
and the houses of them
all plundered and spoiled:
and to confusion of face
as it is this day;
being filled with shame when they reflected on their sins
the cause of those
evils; and besides
the captivity of the ten tribes continued
and of many
others
which exposed them to shame among their neighbours.
And now
for a little space
grace hath been showed from the
Lord our God
It was but a small time since the Lord first began to show favour to them
so
that they soon after began to revolt from him; which argued the strange
propensity of their minds to that which is evil
and from which they could not
be restrained by the recent goodness of God unto them:
to leave us a remnant to escape;
out of captivity
from whence a small number were graciously and safely
returned to their own land:
and to give us a nail in his holy place;
a fixed settlement in the land of Judea
the holy land the Lord had chosen
and
in the temple
the holy place sacred to his worship; or a prince of their own
Zerubbabel
to be the governor of them
under whom they might enjoy settled
happiness and prosperity
see ( Isaiah 22:23 ) ( Zechariah 10:4 )
that our God may lighten our eyes;
refresh our spirits
cheer our souls
and give us light and gladness
see ( 1 Samuel 14:27 )
and give us a little reviving in our bondage;
for they were still in some degree of bondage
being in subjection
and
tributaries to the kings of Persia; but yet being returned to their own land
it was as life from the dead unto them
at least it was giving them a little
life
liberty
and joy.
For we were bondmen
To the Chaldeans when in Babylon
which was more than the Jews in the times of
Christ would own
( John 8:33 )
yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage;
had not left them to continue in it always:
but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of
Persia;
moved them to have pity and compassion on them
and release them:
to give us a reviving;
while in captivity
they were as in their graves
and like the dry bones in
Ezekiel's vision
but revived upon the proclamation of Cyrus
and the encouragement
he gave them to return to their own land:
to set up the house of our God
and repair the desolations thereof;
both to rebuild the temple
and to restore the worship of it:
and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem;
not to set up the walls of Jerusalem
and of other cities
which as yet was not
done; but rather the walls of their houses
which they had rebuilt; they had
walled houses given them in Judah and Jerusalem; though the word signifies an
hedge or fence
such as is about gardens and vineyards
and may denote the
protection of the kings of Persia
which was a fence to them against the
Samaritans and others; and especially the hedge of divine Providence about
them
which guarded and defended them
see ( Job
1:10 ) .
And now
O our God
what shall we say after this?
&c.] What apology or excuse can be made for such ingratitude? what can be
said in favour of such a people? what kindness can be expected to be shown to a
people who had behaved in so base a manner?
for we have forsaken thy commandments:
particularly those which related to marriages with people of other nations.
Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets
Moses
and Joshua
and others
see ( Deuteronomy 7:3 ) ( Joshua 23:12 ) ( Judges
2:2 )
saying
the land
unto which ye go to possess it;
meaning the land of Canaan:
is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands
with their abominations
which have filled it from one end to another
with their uncleanness;
which is to be understood not of their idolatries only
but of their incestuous
marriages
and impure copulations
on which account the Lord spewed out the old
inhabitants of it; for which reason the Jews ought to have been careful not to
have defiled it again by similar practices; see ( Leviticus 18:1-30 ) .
Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons
nor
take their daughters unto your sons
That is
in marriage
see ( Deuteronomy 7:3 )
where the prohibition is
expressed in the same language:
nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever;
that is
as long as they continue in their idolatries and impurities
see ( Deuteronomy 23:6 )
that ye may be strong
and eat the good of the land
and leave it
for an inheritance to your children for ever;
that they might be strengthened and established in the land into which they
were brought
and enjoy all the good things it produced
and leave their
children in the possession of it
to hold at least until the Messiah came
see
( Isaiah 1:19 ) .
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds
and for
our great trespass
As famine
sword
pestilence
and captivity
for their idolatries and other
heinous sins:
seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities
deserve;
for they deserved eternal punishment
whereas it was temporal punishment that
was inflicted
and this moderate
and now stopped; the sense is
according to
Aben Ezra
``thou hast
refrained from writing some of our sins in the book of remembrance
and thou
hast let them down below in the earth
according to the sense of thou wilt cast
all their sins into the depths of the sea;''
but Jarchi
better
``thou hast
refrained thyself from exacting of us all our sins
and hast exacted of us
beneath our sins (or less than they deserve)
and hast not taken vengeance on
us according to all our sins:''
and hast given
us such deliverance as this;
from captivity
which they now enjoyed.
Should we again break thy commandments
and join in affinity
with the people of these abominations?
&c.] That are guilty of abominable idolatries
and of all uncleanness:
wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us;
it might be justly expected:
so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
any left or suffered to escape the wrath of but all consumed by it.
O Lord God of Israel
thou art righteous
And would appear to be so
should Israel be entirely cut off
and utterly
consumed for their iniquities:
for we remain yet escaped
as it is this day;
that they remained yet escaped out of captivity
and escaped the wrath and
vengeance of God
was not owing to any deserts of theirs
but to the grace and
mercy of God
who had not stirred up all his wrath
as their sins deserved:
behold
we are before thee in our trespasses;
to do with us as seems good in thy sight; we have nothing to plead on our
behalf
but cast ourselves at thy feet
if so be unmerited favour may be shown
us:
for we cannot stand before thee because of this;
this evil of contracting affinity with the nations; we cannot defend ourselves;
we cannot plead ignorance of the divine commands; we have nothing to say for
ourselves why judgment should not be passed upon us; we leave ourselves in
thine hands
and at thy mercy.
── 《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible – Ezra》