Ezrachapter 9
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Ezra Kneels in Prayer, Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Key verse
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.
It stands in A prayer at the evening sacrifice: our iniquities are grown over our head, verses 5 to 15.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The princes bring word that the people, priests, and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands: 'and the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.' Ezra rends his garment and mantle, plucks hair from his head and beard, and sits astonished until the evening oblation. Then the confession, prayed in the first person plural though the sin was not his own: '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.' Yet for a little moment grace has been shown, 'to give us a nail in his holy place,' a reviving in their bondage.
Context
History · Ezra · Ezra overview
Where the chapter sits
Ezra 9 falls in Ezra's return and covenant reform (chapters 7–10). Ezra arrives 458 BC: priest and scribe; journey from Babylon; the mixed-marriage crisis and the covenant reform that closes the book.
Before it: First return under Zerubbabel, chapters 1–6.
The whole shape of Ezra→The world behind this chapter
Ezra 9The history
The officials come to Ezra with a report he did not expect: the people, the priests, and the Levites have intermarried with the surrounding peoples, "and the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." The leadership was leading it.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The concern was not ethnic. The list of peoples named is a list of religious traditions, the cults of the land that had pulled Israel apart for centuries and had, in the end, cost them the country. Malachi describes the same crisis as marrying "the daughter of a strange god."
Scale is what made it urgent. The whole province of Judah in this period was small, a district perhaps twenty-five miles across, with a population in the tens of thousands at most, surrounded by larger groups. A generation or two of intermarriage without conversion would have ended the community as a distinct people, and with it the line the promises ran through.
Ezra's reaction is physical and public: he tears his clothes and his robe, pulls hair from his head and beard, and sits stunned until the evening sacrifice. Then he kneels with his hands spread out and prays.
The prayer never says "they." It says "our iniquities are increased over our head," and "we are before thee in our trespasses." Ezra had been in the country four months and had nothing to do with it.
He also names what makes it worse: God had just given them "a nail in his holy place", a peg, a foothold, a little reviving in their bondage. This was happening after the mercy, not before it.
What it meant to them
For the community this chapter said the exile had not actually cured them. They had come home, rebuilt the house, and reproduced the old problem inside two generations.
It also gave them a leader who grieved rather than lectured. The people gathered around Ezra while he wept, and that is how the next chapter starts, a crowd assembled by somebody else's sorrow.
Sources cited
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament
- Edwin Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible
The structure of this chapter
People1
Places1
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. Ezra hears of mixed marriages and sits down astonished
1. (vv. 1-2)
Ezra 9:1
“After these things were completed, etc. The guilt of this transgression is also clearly described and reproved by prophetic authority in the prophet Malachi; because evidently those who returned from Babylonian captivity, both princes and priests and Levites, as well as the rest of the …”
Bede· written before 735· Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah· Ezra 9:1patristic
Ezra 9:1, 1 more voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Ezra 9:1
“Abominations - The mixed marriages had prevented that complete separation of the people of God from the idolatrous rites, or “abominations,” which the Law required, and which was necessary for purity of religion. See 1Ki 11:2 note.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:1evangelical
Ezra 9:2
“We are willing to hope that they did not worship their gods, but that their captivity had cured them of their idolatry: it is said indeed that they did according to their abominations; but that (says bishop Patrick) signifies here only the imitation of the heathen in promiscuous marriages with any nation whatsoever, which by degrees would lead them to idolatry.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:2puritan
a.have not separated themselves: The princes bring Ezra a report, not a confession: priests, Levites and the people of Israel have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, and the roll of eight nations echoes the conquest list of Deuteronomy 7:1 while adding Ammon, Moab and Egypt to it. Verse 2 names the wound precisely: the holy seed have mingled themselves with those peoples, and the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass. The leaders who should have guarded the covenant led its breach, the same pattern the wall roster later records in reverse, when the Tekoite nobles alone refuse the work.
2. (vv. 3-4)
Ezra 9:3
“Plucking out the hair with the hands, so common among the Classical nations, is, comparatively speaking, rarely mentioned as practiced by Asiatics.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:3evangelical
Ezra 9:3, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:3
“Note, (1.) The sins of others should be our sorrow, and the injury done by them to God's honour and the souls of men is what we should lay to heart. (2.) Sorrow for sin must be great sorrow; such Ezra's was, as for an only son or a first-born. (3.)”
Read the whole quotation
The scandalous sins of professors are what we have reason to be astonished at.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:3puritan
Ezra 9:4
“Those that had been carried away - Those that had returned long before with Zerubbabel; see Ezr 9:1. Until the evening sacrifice - The morning sacrifice was the first of all the offerings of the day, the evening sacrifice the last.”
Read the whole quotation
As the latter was offered between the two evenings, i.e., between sunset and the end of twilight, so the former was offered between break of day and sunrise. Ezra sat astonied - confounded in his mind, distressed in his soul, and scarcely knowing what to do.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)· Ezra 9:4evangelical
Ezra 9:4, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:4
“Those that tremble at the word of God cannot but tremble at the sins of men, by which the law of God is broken and his wrath and curse are incurred. The pious zeal of one against sin may perhaps provoke very many to the like, as the apostle speaks in another case, 2 Cor. ix.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:4puritan
a.rent my garment and my mantle: Ezra answers the report with his body before he answers it with words: he rents his garment and his mantle, plucks the hair of his head and beard, and sits down astonied. Those who tremble at the words of the God of Israel gather to him, drawn by grief rather than by summons, and Ezra sits astonied until the evening sacrifice. No blame is spoken yet; the chapter's first response to sin is sorrow, worn openly in the street rather than argued in private.
B. A prayer at the evening sacrifice: our iniquities are grown over our head
1. (vv. 5-6)
Ezra 9:5
“And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness,....”
Read the whole quotation
The signs and tokens of it, particularly sitting on the ground; or "from my fasting" (n), 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. (n) מתעניתי "jejunio meo", Michaelis; so Jarchi.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)· Ezra 9:5reformed
Ezra 9:5, 2 more voices
Ezra 9:5
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)· Ezra 9:5evangelical
Ezra 9:5
“In this he had an eye to God as the Lord, and as his God, a God of power, but a God of grace.”
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It is not properly to be called a prayer, for there is not a word of petition in it; but, if we give prayer its full latitude, it is the offering up of pious and devout affections to God, and very devout, very pious, are the affections which Ezra here expresses.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:5puritan
Ezra 9:6
“I am ashamed and blush - God had been so often provoked, and had so often pardoned them, and they had continued to transgress, that he was ashamed to go back again to the throne of grace to ask for mercy in their behalf. This is the genuine feeling of every reawakened backslider.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)· Ezra 9:6evangelical
Ezra 9:6, 3 more voices
Ezra 9:6
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)· Ezra 9:6evangelical
Ezra 9:6
"Iniquity has grown up to such a height among us that it reaches to the heavens, so very impudent that it dares heaven, so very provoking that, like the sin of Sodom, it cries to heaven for vengeance."
Read the whole quotation
But let this be the comfort of true penitents that though their sins reach to the heavens God's mercy is in the heavens, Ps. xxxvi. Where sin abounds grace will much more abound.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:6puritan
Ezra 9:6
“The consideration of our covenant-relation to God as ours will help to humble us, and break our hearts for sin, that we should violate both his precepts to us and our promises to him; it will also encourage us to hope for pardon upon repentance.”
Read the whole quotation
"He is my God, notwithstanding this;" and every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:6puritan
a.fell upon my knees: At the hour of the evening sacrifice Ezra rises from his heaviness and falls upon his knees, spreading out his hands unto the Lord his God, the posture of a supplicant rather than a mediator with standing to demand. What follows is confession without a single word of petition: 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. Ezra was not himself among the intermarried, yet he prays in the first person plural throughout, owning a national sin as his own.
2. (vv. 7-9)
Ezra 9:7
“Very similar in tone to this are the confessions of Nehemiah Neh 9:29-35 and of Daniel (see the marginal references). The captivity had done its work by deeply convincing of sin the Jewish nation that had previously been so proud and self-righteous.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:7evangelical
Ezra 9:7, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:7
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)· Ezra 9:7evangelical
Ezra 9:8
“And now for a little space - This interval in which they were returning from servitude to their own land. Grace hath been showed - God has disposed the hearts of the Persian kings to publish edicts in our favor.”
Read the whole quotation
To leave us a remnant to escape - The ten tribes are gone irrecoverably into captivity; a great part even of Judah and Benjamin had continued beyond the Euphrates: so that Ezra might well say, there was but a remnant which had escaped. A nail in his holy place - Even so much ground as to fix our tent-poles in.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)· Ezra 9:8evangelical
Ezra 9:8, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:8
“Observe, [1.] The time of mercy: Now for a little space, that is, "It is but a little while since we had our liberty, and it is not likely to continue long."”
Read the whole quotation
This greatly aggravated their sin, that they were so lately in the furnace and that they knew not how soon they might return to it again; and could they yet be secure? [2.] The fountain of mercy: Grace has been shown us from the Lord.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:8puritan
Ezra 9:9
“We were bondmen - Rather, “we are bondmen” (compare the marginal reference). The Israelites, though returned from the captivity, were still “bondmen.” The Persian monarch was their absolute lord and master.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:9evangelical
Ezra 9:9, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:9
“We are to reckon it a great comfort and advantage to have stated opportunities of worshipping God. Blessed are those that dwell in God's house, like Anna that departed not from the temple. This is my rest for ever, says the gracious soul. [4.] The effects of all this.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:9puritan
a.Since the days of our fathers: Ezra traces the trespass back before his own generation, since the days of our fathers, to the exile itself: kings and priests delivered to the sword, to captivity, to a spoil and to confusion of face. Against that verdict he sets the mercy of the moment, verified: for a little space grace has been shown, a remnant left to escape, a nail in his holy place, a little reviving in our bondage, and now a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. Clarke reads the nail as no more than ground enough to fix a tent-pole, and the confession measures grace on exactly that scale, small and named honestly rather than inflated. The wall named here in prayer is the same wall Nehemiah will raise with his own hands within a generation.
3. (vv. 10-12)
Ezra 9:10
“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this?.... 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?”
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for we have forsaken thy commandments: particularly those which related to marriages with people of other nations.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)· Ezra 9:10reformed
Ezra 9:11
“Saying - The words which follow in this verse are not quoted from any previous book of Scripture, but merely give the general sense of numerous passages. Compare the marginal references.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:11evangelical
Ezra 9:11, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:11
“For sin appears sin, appears exceedingly sinful, when we compare it with the law which is broken by it. Nothing could be more express: Give not your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons. The reason given is because, if they mingled with those nations, they would pollute themselves.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)· Ezra 9:11puritan
Ezra 9:12
“Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons,....”
Read the whole quotation
That is, in marriage, see Deu 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 Deu 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 Isa 1:19.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)· Ezra 9:12reformed
a.what shall we say after this?: The confession turns to helplessness: what shall we say after this, for we have forsaken thy commandments. Ezra gives the sense of the prophets' warning against the land's uncleanness rather than one quoted verse, then states the law itself almost word for word from Deuteronomy 7:3, give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons. The ground named for the prohibition is the land and the inheritance, that ye may be strong and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever, covenant fidelity rather than the ancestry of the nations themselves, and the same book later receives proselytes who separate themselves to the law at Nehemiah 10:28.
4. (vv. 13-15)
Ezra 9:13
“Hast punished us less than our iniquities - Great, numerous, and oppressive as our calamities have been, yet merely as temporal punishments, they have been much less than our provocations have deserved.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)· Ezra 9:13evangelical
Ezra 9:14
“Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?.... 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?”
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any left or suffered to escape the wrath of but all consumed by it.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)· Ezra 9:14reformed
Ezra 9:15
Some take “righteous” to mean here “kind” or “merciful.” Others give it the more usual sense of “just,” and understand the full meaning of the passage to be, “Thou art righteous, and hast punished us, because of our sin, the contraction of forbidden marriages, so that we are a mere remnant of what was once a great people.”
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)· Ezra 9:15evangelical
Ezra 9:15, 1 more voice
Ezra 9:15
“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 upon the Old Testament (1765)· Ezra 9:15evangelical
a.punished us less than our iniquities deserve: The confession names grace exactly: after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass, thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve. Ezra asks the question the whole chapter has been building toward, should we again break thy commandments and join in affinity with the people of these abominations, and answers it himself: God's anger would leave no remnant nor escaping. The prayer ends without petition or resolution, O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous, for we remain yet escaped and we cannot stand before thee because of this; the covenant's response comes only in the chapter that follows.
This page carries no textual note on Ezra 9. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley and Matthew Henry.
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