Ezra 10:11
in Ezra 10Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.
KJV
Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.
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This verse in Ezra 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Ezra the priest stood up
on Ezra 10:10-12
Ezra's speech has three sentences. The people have been unfaithful, they must make confession to the LORD and do His will, and they must separate themselves from their foreign wives. The whole assembly answers in a loud voice, "Truly we must do as you say", before the details are settled.
This site's exposition
Separate yourselves from the people of the land
Tertullian reads Paul's rule at 1 Corinthians 7:39, that a Christian marry only in the Lord, as a law of the Creator. In his reading the Creator forbids marrying foreign women everywhere.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Commissioners were appointed to sit "de die in diem"--day after day, to enquire who had married strange wives and to oblige them to put them away, which was done accordingly (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
On these heads, we may suppose, he enlarged, and probably made such another confession of the sin now as he made ch. ix. , to which he required them to say Amen. The people submitted not only to Ezra's jurisdiction in general, but to his inquisition and determination in this matter: " As thou hast said, so must we do,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Now therefore make confession to the Lord God of your fathers,.... Of their sin, and express their detestation of it, and repentance for it: and do his pleasure; obey his will, and particularly in this case: and separate yourselves from the people of the land; the Canaanites, &c. have no fellowship with them, make no covenants, contracts, and alliances with them for the future: and from the strange wives; they had taken; put them away.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It was the ninth month--that is, between the end of December and the beginning of January, which is the coldest and most rainy season of the year in Palestine. all the people sat in the street--that is, the court.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ezra the priest stood up, and said--Having fully represented the enormity of their sin and urged them to dissolve their unlawful connections, he was gratified by receiving a prompt acknowledgment of the justice of his reproof and a promise of compliance with his recommendation.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Make confession - Acknowledge your sins before God, with deep compunction of heart, and the fullest resolution to forsake them.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| תְּנ֥וּ | tenu | give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| תוֹדָ֛ה | todah | praise | H8426 → | |
| לַיהוָ֥ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽי־ | ʾelohei- | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַעֲשׂ֣וּ | vaasu | and do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| רְצוֹנ֑וֹ | retzono | will his | H7522 → | |
| וְהִבָּֽדְלוּ֙ | vehibadelu | and separate yourselves | H914 → | 42 times |
| מֵעַמֵּ֣י | meamei | from [the] peoples of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּמִן־ | umin- | and from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַנָּשִׁ֖ים | hanashim | the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| הַנָּכְרִיּֽוֹת׃ | hanakheriyot | <the> foreign | H5237 → | 45 times |
וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
תְּנ֥וּgive
tenuH5414 →2011 times
תוֹדָ֛הpraise
todahH8426 →
לַיהוָ֥הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵֽי־[the] God of
ʾelohei-H430 →2601 times
אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖םancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
וַעֲשׂ֣וּand do
vaasuH6213 →2628 times
רְצוֹנ֑וֹwill his
retzonoH7522 →
וְהִבָּֽדְלוּ֙and separate yourselves
vehibadeluH914 →42 times
מֵעַמֵּ֣יfrom [the] peoples of
meameiH5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וּמִן־and from
umin-H4480 →1188 times
הַנָּשִׁ֖יםthe women
hanashimH802 →781 times
הַנָּכְרִיּֽוֹת׃<the> foreign
hanakheriyotH5237 →45 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
Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Ephesians 4:22–24
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Colossians 3:10
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 Peter 1:14
Through
Proverbs 28:13He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
it leads to
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3–5
When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- Job 31:33
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
- 1 John 1:8–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezra
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V.