4 Arise, for this matter is incumbent on thee, and we will be with thee: be of good courage, and do [it].
Consider now, that Jehovah has chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do [it].
Strengthen the weak hands and confirm the tottering knees. Say to them that are of a timid heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your God: vengeance cometh, the recompense of God! He will come himself, and save you.
And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou hast commanded us will we do, and whither thou shalt send us will we go. According as we hearkened to Moses in all things, so will we hearken to thee; only may Jehovah thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. Every one that is rebellious against thy commandment and hearkeneth not to thy words in everything that thou commandest us, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.
And Jehovah said to Joshua, Rise up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them, and they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it among their stuff. And the children of Israel shall not be able to stand before their enemies: they shall turn their backs before their enemies, for they have made themselves accursed. I will no more be with you, except ye destroy the accursed thing from your midst. Rise up, hallow the people, and say, Hallow yourselves for to-morrow; for thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, Israel: thou shalt not be able to stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from your midst. And ye shall be brought near in the morning according to your tribes; and it shall be, that the tribe which Jehovah taketh shall come forward by families, and the family which Jehovah taketh shall come forward by households; and the household which Jehovah taketh shall come forward man by man. And it shall be, that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, and because he hath wrought wickedness in Israel. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and caused Israel to come forward by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. And he caused the families of Judah to come forward, and he took the family of the Zarhites. And he caused the family of the Zarhites to come forward man by man, and Zabdi was taken. And he caused his household to come forward man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah the God of Israel, and make confession to him: tell me now what thou hast done, keep it not back from me. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed I have sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. I saw among the spoils a beautiful mantle of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a golden bar of fifty shekels weight, and I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before Jehovah. Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up into the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, How hast thou troubled us! Jehovah will trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones, [which is there] to this day. And Jehovah turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called, The Valley of Achor, to this day.
Now set your heart and your soul to seek Jehovah your God; and arise and build the sanctuary of Jehovah Elohim, to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the vessels of the sanctuary of God into the house that is to be built unto the name of Jehovah.
And behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites are for all the service of the house of God; and thou hast with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing man, skilful for every sort of service; and the princes and all the people are wholly at thy commandment.
Whatever is commanded by the God of the heavens, let it be carefully done for the house of the God of the heavens; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we inform you, as regards all the priests and Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim, and ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, tax, and toll upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, which is in thy hand, set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knows [them] not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed diligently upon him, whether unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. Blessed be Jehovah the God of our fathers, who has put [such a thing] as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem; and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened, as the hand of Jehovah my God was upon me; and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.
[it is] as a man gone out of the country, having left his house and given to his bondmen the authority, and to each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper that he should watch.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezra 10
Commentary on Ezra 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Ezr 10:1-17. Ezra Reforms the Strange Marriages.
1. Now when Ezra had prayed—As this prayer was uttered in public, while there was a general concourse of the people at the time of the evening sacrifice and as it was accompanied with all the demonstrations of poignant sorrow and anguish, it is not surprising that the spectacle of a man so respected, a priest so holy, a governor so dignified as Ezra, appearing distressed and filled with fear at the sad state of things, should produce a deep sensation; and the report of his passionate grief and expressions in the court of the temple having rapidly spread through the city, a great multitude flocked to the spot.
2-4. 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. He spoke in the general name of the people, and his conduct evinced a tender conscience, as well as no small fortitude in making such a proposal; for as his father and five paternal uncles (Ezr 10:26) were involved in the guilt of unlawful marriages, he showed, by the measure he recommended, that he deemed it better to obey God than to please his nearest relatives.
yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing—This hope, however, depended on timely measures of reformation, and therefore, instead of surrendering themselves to despair or despondency, he counselled them to amend their error without delay, relying on God's mercy for the past. Though the proposal may seem harsh and cruel, yet in the peculiar circumstances of the Jews it was just as well as necessary; and he urged the duty of seeing it executed on Ezra, as the only person competent to carry it into effect, being possessed of skill and address for so delicate and difficult a work, and invested by God, and under Him by the Persian king (Ezr 7:23-28), with the requisite authority to enforce it.
5-8. Then Ezra … went into the chamber of Johanan—At a private council of the princes and elders held there, under the presidency of Ezra, it was resolved to enter into a general covenant to put away their foreign wives and children; that a proclamation should be made for all who had returned from Babylon to repair within three days to Jerusalem, under pain of excommunication and confiscation of their property.
9-11. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin—The returned captives belonged chiefly to these tribes; but other Israelites are also included under these names, as they all were then occupying the territory formerly assigned to those two tribes.
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.
10-17. 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. But as the weather was ungenial and the defaulters were too numerous to be passed in review at one time, it was resolved that a commission should be appointed to examine into the whole matter. These commissioners, assisted by the judges and elders of the respective cities, made a minute investigation into every case, and after three months' labor completely removed all traces of the abuse. Doubtless, an adequate provision was made for the repudiated wives and children, according to the means and circumstances of the husbands.
Ezr 10:18-44. Those That Had Taken Strange Wives.
18. among the sons of the priests—From the names of so many men of rank appearing in the following list, some idea may be formed of the great and complicated difficulties attending the reformatory work.
19. they gave their hands—that is, came under a solemn engagement, which was usually ratified by pledging the right hand (Pr 6:1; Eze 17:18). The delinquents of the priestly order bound themselves to do like the common Israelites (Ezr 10:25), and sought to expiate their sin by sacrificing a ram as a trespass offering.