Ezra 10:12
in Ezra 10And the whole assembly responded in a loud voice: “Truly we must do as you say!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.
KJV
Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.
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This verse in Ezra 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAs thou hast said, so must we do - They all resolved to do what Ezra then commanded, they did put away their wives, even those by whom they had children; Ezr 10:44: this was a great hardship on the women and children. Though by the Jewish laws such marriages were null and void, yet as the women they had taken did not know these laws, their case was deplorable.
This 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
Truly we must do as you say
Adam Clarke follows the assembly's answer through to verse 44, where some foreign wives had children. He calls it a great hardship on the women and children. By Jewish law such marriages were void, Clarke says, yet the foreign women had not known it, and he calls their case deplorable.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It was agreed that this affair should be carried on, not in a popular assembly, nor that they should think to go through with it all on a sudden, but that a court of delegates should be appointed to receive complaints and to hear and determine upon them. It could not be done at this time, for it was not put into a method, nor could the people stand out because of the rain.
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
Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice,.... That they might be heard, and to show that they were willing and ready to comply with what was proposed: as thou host said, so must we do; being convinced of their sin, they saw it was a duty incumbent on them to put away their strange wives, and that there was a necessity of it, to avert the wrath of God from them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and it is the rainy season for the rains are falling upon us.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּֽעְנ֧וּ | vaiya'nu | and they answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| כָֽל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַקָּהָ֛ל | hakahal | the assembly | H6951 → | 123 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ק֣וֹל | kol | a voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| גָּד֑וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| כֵּ֛ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כִּדְבָרְךָ֥ | kedivreikha | according to word your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| עָלֵ֖ינוּ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וַיַּֽעְנ֧וּand they answered
vaiya'nuH6030 →331 times
כָֽל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הַקָּהָ֛לthe assembly
hakahalH6951 →123 times
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
ק֣וֹלa voice
kolH6963 →506 times
גָּד֑וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
כֵּ֛ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
כִּדְבָרְךָ֥according to word your
kedivreikhaH1697 →1440 times
עָלֵ֖ינוּon us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃to do
laasotH6213 →2628 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
Psalms 78:37Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:8
Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 8:21
You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
- Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
- Psalms 78:8
Through
Psalms 78:57They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
it leads to
- Hosea 7:16
They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:27–28
Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me.
- Hosea 7:16
Through
Nehemiah 13:23In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
it leads to
- Ezra 9:1–2
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like…
- Ezra 10:10
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.
- Nehemiah 10:30
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.
- Ezra 9:1–2
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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.