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Ezra 8:23

in Ezra 8

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

KJV

So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.

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This verse in Ezra 8

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
So we fasted, and besought our God for this,.... Sought the Lord by fasting and prayer for a good journey, and preservation in it: and he was entreated of us; accepted their prayer, as Jarchi, so that they came safe to Jerusalem.

This site's exposition

ashamed to require of the king

on Ezra 8:22-23

Ezra names the reason for the fast in one sentence that cost him something: he was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen, because he had already told the king that the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. Having preached that claim to a pagan king, Ezra cannot then ask for an armed escort without unsaying it in front of the same king, so the caravan crosses open country on the strength of its own testimony rather than a guard. The fast is answered in the chapter's shortest sentence: so we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was intreated of us. Derek Prince reads the choice as one between the carnal and the spiritual, a lower level of faith Ezra declined to fall back on.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Our prayers must always be seconded with our endeavours; the care of Christ's gospel, his church, and ordinances, must not be so left with him but that it must also be committed to faithful men, 2 Tim. ii.

Modern Voices1 voice

Really, Ezra had two alternatives there: the carnal or the spiritual. He could have resorted to the carnal and asked for that band of soldiers and horsemen; it would not have been sinful, but it would have been on a low level of faith.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַנָּצ֛וּמָהand we fasted !

    vanatzumahH6684 →

  • וַנְּבַקְשָׁ֥הand we sought !

    vanevakshahH1245 →225 times

  • מֵאֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּfrom God our

    meeloheinuH430 →2601 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • זֹ֑אתthis

    zotH2063 →603 times

  • וַיֵּעָתֵ֖רand he was entreated

    vaiyeaterH6279 →

  • לָֽנוּ׃by us

    lanu

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 29:12–13Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.18 worksGenesis 25:21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.17 worksMatthew 7:7–8Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.12 worksEzra 8:31On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.9 works2 Chronicles 33:12–13And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.9 worksDeuteronomy 4:29But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.6 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Esther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”5 works1 Chronicles 5:20And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.5 worksIsaiah 19:22And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.5 works2 Chronicles 33:13And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.5 worksNehemiah 9:1On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.5 worksDaniel 9:3So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.4 worksLuke 2:37and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.3 worksJeremiah 50:4–5“In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.3 worksPsalms 66:18–20If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.3 worksJeremiah 33:3Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.3 worksActs 10:30Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this, the ninth hour. Suddenly a man in radiant clothing stood before me2 worksActs 8:24Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 4:29

    But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:2

      Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.

    • Jeremiah 29:12–14

      Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

    • 2 Chronicles 15:4

      But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.

    • Isaiah 55:6–7

      Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

    • Psalms 119:10

      With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.

  • Through

    Ezra 8:31

    On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 8:21–22

      And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our…

    • Ezra 7:9

      He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his…

    • Ezra 8:15

      Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.

About Ezra

Ezra Kneels in Prayer, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra Kneels in Prayer, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra: the study guide →Read Ezra 8 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Derek Prince, Fasting for Self-Humbling (radio teaching, Fasting series pt. 1); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezra 8 →