Ezra 10:2
in Ezra 10Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.
KJV
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
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This verse in Ezra 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd Sechenias responded, etc. Josephus says that this Sechenias was the first of the Jerusalemites, and he himself, as befits a leader, with the greatest authority, soon helped Ezra's intention, both by confessing that the people had sinned together with him, and by advising that …
This site's exposition
falling facedown before the house of God
on Ezra 10:1-3
Shecaniah son of Jehiel speaks first, and his own name is absent from the list, though he says "We have been unfaithful to our God". He proposes a covenant to send away the foreign wives and their children according to the Law and says "there is hope for Israel".
This site's exposition
Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite
Bede reports from Josephus that Shecaniah was the first of the Jerusalemites, and that he confessed the people's sin as one who shared in it. He belongs to the house of Elam. That house has six men in the list at verse 26.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And now if there is repentance in Israel concerning this, etc. He says, if the people perfectly repent of this transgression, first let us turn to the Lord and promise correction, and ask for pardon; then turning back to ourselves, let us root out and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The matter is too plain to be denied and too bad to be excused." It does not appear that Shechaniah was himself culpable in this matter (if he had had the beam in his own eye, he could not have seen so clearly to pluck it out of his brother's eye), but his father was guilty, and several of his father's house (as appears
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Shechaniah the son of Jehiel - He speaks here in the name of the people, not acknowledging himself culpable, for he is not in the following list. It is in the same form of speech with that in James, Jas 3:9. With the tongue curse we men. He seems to have been a chief man among the people; and Ezra, at present, stood in need of his influence and support.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Shechaniah . . . answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed--This was one of the leading men, who was not himself a delinquent in the matter, for his name does not occur in the following list.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Jehiel was one of those who had taken an idolatrous wife Ezr 10:26; and Shechaniah had therefore had the evil brought home to him.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַן֩ | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| שְׁכַנְיָ֨ה | shekhanyah | Shecaniah | H7935 → | 10 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יְחִיאֵ֜ל | yechiel | Jehiel | H3171 → | 14 times |
| מִבְּנֵ֤י | mibenei | one of [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֵילָם֙ | olam | Elam | H5867 → | 28 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְעֶזְרָ֔א | leezra' | to Ezra | H5830 → | 22 times |
| אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ | ʾanachnu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| מָעַ֣לְנוּ | maalnu | we have acted unfaithfully | H4603 → | |
| בֵאלֹהֵ֔ינוּ | veloheinu | against God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַנֹּ֛שֶׁב | vanoshev | and we have married | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| נָשִׁ֥ים | nashim | women | H802 → | 781 times |
| נָכְרִיּ֖וֹת | nakheriyot | foreign | H5237 → | 45 times |
| מֵעַמֵּ֣י | meamei | from [the] peoples of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְעַתָּ֛ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| יֵשׁ־ | yesh- | there | H3426 → | |
| מִקְוֶ֥ה | mikveh | [is] hope | H4723 → | |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | leyisrael | for Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| זֹֽאת׃ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
וַיַּעַן֩and he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
שְׁכַנְיָ֨הShecaniah
shekhanyahH7935 →10 times
בֶן־[the] son of
ven-H1121 →4930 times
יְחִיאֵ֜לJehiel
yechielH3171 →14 times
מִבְּנֵ֤יone of [the] descendants of
mibeneiH1121 →4930 times
עֵילָם֙Elam
olamH5867 →28 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לְעֶזְרָ֔אto Ezra
leezra'H5830 →22 times
אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙we
ʾanachnuH587 →120 times
מָעַ֣לְנוּwe have acted unfaithfully
maalnuH4603 →
בֵאלֹהֵ֔ינוּagainst God our
veloheinuH430 →2601 times
וַנֹּ֛שֶׁבand we have married
vanoshevH3427 →1079 times
נָשִׁ֥יםwomen
nashimH802 →781 times
נָכְרִיּ֖וֹתforeign
nakheriyotH5237 →45 times
מֵעַמֵּ֣יfrom [the] peoples of
meameiH5971 →1873 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְעַתָּ֛הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
יֵשׁ־there
yesh-H3426 →
מִקְוֶ֥ה[is] hope
mikvehH4723 →
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖לfor Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
זֹֽאת׃this
zotH2063 →603 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
Ezra 9:2Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:23–24
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Ezra 10:18–44
Among the descendants of the priests who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers:
- Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
- Deuteronomy 7:1–4
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations…
- Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
- Nehemiah 13:23–24
Through
Exodus 34:12Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Joshua 23:12–13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,
- Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Exodus 23:32–33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezra

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Berean Standard Bible, Ezra 10; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
