Ezra 9:4
in Ezra 9Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening oblation.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezra 9
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThose 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. 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.
This site's exposition
rent my garment and my mantle
on Ezra 9:3-4
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵלַ֣י | veelai | and to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יֵאָסְפ֗וּ | yeasefu | they gathered | H622 → | |
| כֹּ֤ל | kol | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חָרֵד֙ | chared | [person] trembling | H2730 → | |
| בְּדִבְרֵ֣י | bedivrei | at [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽי־ | ʾelohei- | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מַ֣עַל | maal | [the] unfaithfulness of | H4604 → | 28 times |
| הַגּוֹלָ֑ה | hagolah | the exile[s] | H1473 → | 43 times |
| וַאֲנִי֙ | vaani | and I | H589 → | |
| יֹשֵׁ֣ב | yoshev | [was] sitting | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| מְשׁוֹמֵ֔ם | meshomem | appalled | H8074 → | |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| לְמִנְחַ֥ת | leminchat | <to> [the] offering of | H4503 → | |
| הָעָֽרֶב׃ | haarev | the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
וְאֵלַ֣יand to me
veelaiH413 →5510 times
יֵאָסְפ֗וּthey gathered
yeasefuH622 →
כֹּ֤לevery
kolH3605 →5413 times
חָרֵד֙[person] trembling
charedH2730 →
בְּדִבְרֵ֣יat [the] words of
bedivreiH1697 →1440 times
אֱלֹהֵֽי־[the] God of
ʾelohei-H430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
מַ֣עַל[the] unfaithfulness of
maalH4604 →28 times
הַגּוֹלָ֑הthe exile[s]
hagolahH1473 →43 times
וַאֲנִי֙and I
vaaniH589 →
יֹשֵׁ֣ב[was] sitting
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
מְשׁוֹמֵ֔םappalled
meshomemH8074 →
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
לְמִנְחַ֥ת<to> [the] offering of
leminchatH4503 →
הָעָֽרֶב׃the evening
haarevH6153 →134 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Isaiah 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
it leads to
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
- Psalms 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- Matthew 5:3–4
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 2 Chronicles 34:27–28
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and you have…
- Psalms 34:18
Through
Psalms 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 9:4
“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
- Ezekiel 9:4
Through
2 Chronicles 34:27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and you have…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:26
Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.
- 2 Chronicles 32:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezra
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.