THE BOOK OF EZRA
Lesson 5: Chapters 9-10
Ezra's Decree Concerning Marriages to Pagans and the People's Response
Lord God,
To protect the identity of the covenant people and future
generations, Ezra denounced all marriages to foreigners who were not willing to
enter into a covenant relationship with Yahweh but were determined to hold on
to their pagan gods. Sometimes, we interpret God's commands as harsh, but that
is only because we fail to understand that a Divine Father knows what is best
for His children in the same way a good human father must discipline his
children for their good. Send Your Holy Spirit, Lord, to help us understand
God's ways that He warns are not our ways so we can submit to His divine will
in the events that unfold in our lives. We pray in the name of God the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
For my thoughts
are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways, declares Yahweh. For the
heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above
your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
When Yahweh
your God has brought you into the country which you are going to make your own,
many nations will fall before you .... You must not intermarry with them; you
must not give a daughter of yours to a son of theirs or take a daughter of theirs
for a son of yours, for your sons would be seduced from following me into
serving other gods; the wrath of Yahweh would blaze out against you and he
would instantly destroy you.... For you are a people consecrated to Yahweh
your God; of all the peoples on earth, you have been chosen by Yahweh your God
to be his own people.
Deuteronomy 7:1a, 3-4, 6
Persian King Cyrus issued an Edict of Return, allowing all displaced peoples in his kingdom to return to their homelands, including the people of Israel/Judah, in 539 BC. By 538 BC, the first returning exiles arrived in Jerusalem, rebuilt Yahweh's sacred altar of sacrifice on its original foundation and reestablished the morning and evening (afternoon) Tamid liturgical worship services.
They then began work on rebuilding Solomon's Temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/6 BC until the Samaritans and their other foreign neighbors threatened them and successfully stopped all work on the Temple. For 17/18 years work on the Temple was not renewed until God intervened by sending His prophets Haggai and Zechariah to command the people to fulfill their spiritual renewal and begin a new phase in salvation history by rebuilding the Temple. The exiles immediately set to work and completed the Temple in c. 517/516 BC, seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple.
The prophet Haggai also warned the covenant people that, despite the rebuilding of the altar and the observance of liturgical worship, they could not offer ritually "clean" sacrifices acceptable to Yahweh until they became a ritually "clean" people, living in obedience to God's commands and prohibitions (Hag 2:10-19). However, the people appeared to be incapable of bringing about living in obedience to the Law after seventy years living in a pagan land. Then, in 458 BC, eighty years after the return of the first exiles, God intervened. He called Ezra, the priestly scribe and expert in the Law, to lead a second group of exiles back to Judah and Jerusalem. After arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra immediately set about reading the Books of the Law to the people in a Sacred Assembly, teaching the necessity of its application in their daily lives, and addressing their failures of obedience to the Law (Nehemiah Chapters 8-9).
The last two chapters of the Book of Ezra deal with the issue of mixed marriages between Jews and pagans. Before the formation of the nation of Israel as a covenant people, mixed marriages were not forbidden as in the case of Joseph son of Jacob-Israel and Moses (cf. Gen 41:45; 48:5ff; Ex 2:21). Even after the ratification of the Sinai Covenant, marriages with foreigners who abandoned their pagan religion, converted and became members of the Sinai Covenant was possible. This incorporation into the covenant occurred in the case of Caleb the Kenizzite hero of the conquest of Canaan (Num 32:12; Josh 15:13) who married into the tribe of Judah and the women Rahab, the Canaanite heroine from Jericho, who married Salmon of the tribe of Judah and Ruth the Moabitess who married Boaz of the tribe of Judah.
Question: Rahab the former Canaanite who
married Salmon and Ruth the former Moabitess who married Boaz played what significant
role in Yahweh's divine plan for humanity's salvation? See Ruth 4:18-22 and Mt 1:1-6.
Answer: Both women are the ancestress of King
David and are listed in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus.
However, harsh warnings were issued against marriage with pagans who did not convert by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy (cf. 7:1-6). At Sinai, Israel became a holy people, consecrated and set apart from the other nations of the world as a people dedicated to preserving their national identity as those who worshipped only Yahweh the God of Israel. The children from marriages with pagan converts from the Egyptian or Edomites became fully incorporated into the covenant in the third generation (Dt 22:8-9/7-8), and the children of converts from the Ammonite or Moabite people not until the tenth generation, according to Deuteronomy 22:4/3. However, this restriction appears to have been lifted later as in the case of David whose great-grandmother was a Moabite.
Question: What was Yahweh's purpose in giving this
warning to the Israelites concerning marriages to pagans who were not willing
to enter into the covenant?
Answer: Yahweh's warning to the Israelites was
that marriages with pagans who continued to worship false gods would jeopardize
their identity that must be preserved for them to fulfill their destiny in His
divine plan.
Chapter 9: Ezra's Denunciation of Mixed Marriages
Ezra 9:1-4 ~ The Elders Reveal the Marriages of Some Jews to Pagans
1
Once this was done, the officials approached me to say, "The
people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, have not renounced the
disgusting practices of the people of the country [land]: the Canaanites, the
Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the
Amorites 2 since
they and their sons have married some of their women, as a result of which the
holy race [seed] has been contaminated by the people of the country. The
officials and leaders have been the worst offenders in this act of infidelity."
3 On hearing this, I tore my clothes
and my cloak; I pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down in horror. 4 All who trembled
at the words of the God of Israel gathered round me, when faced with the
infidelity of the exiles [golah], while I went on sitting there in horror until
the evening sacrifice. [...] = IBHE, vol. II, page 1255.
In Chapter 9, the book returns to Ezra's first-person narrative. 1 Once this was done, or "after these things," either refers to an account of the reading of the Law in Nehemiah Chapter 8 or the penitential service in Nehemiah 9 that came between Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem and the events of Ezra Chapters 9-10. As you will recall, the letter to King Artaxerxes in Ezra Chapter 4 and his response happened after the royal governor's letter to King Darius and the king's letter in Chapter 5. The collection of the events in Ezra and Nehemiah are not always in historical order.
the disgusting practices of the people of the country [land] refers to the pagan Gentiles who practice some of the same profane activities and religious rituals as the residents of Canaan before the conquest.
The despised mixed marriages the officials complained about to Ezra cannot be referring to Gentile converts to the faith since the complaint is that the Gentiles who married "the people of Israel" did not renounce their "disgusting practices," a reference to pagan worship and immoral practices associated with their pagan rituals (verse 1). This unclean behavior has contaminated the covenant people, leaving them ritually "unclean" and unfit for worship. The complaint may refer to the problem the prophet Haggai identified when he told the Jews they could not offer "clean" sacrifices if they were themselves "unclean" (Hag 2:14).
The eight pagan groups mentioned in verse 1 were the inhabitants of Canaan before the Israelite conquest. The same pagan peoples are mentioned to invoke the memory of the ancient law as relevant to the current situation in the Jews' return to the Promised Land. There are several lists in the Old Testament of different pagan peoples who inhabited Canaan. Yahweh listed ten different peoples living Canaan when He promised to give the land to Abraham's descendants (Gen 15:18-21). Moses named seven pagan nations in Deuteronomy 7:1 that included Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. There are also other lists with slight variations (also see Ex 3:8, 17; 13:5; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11; Dt 20:17; Jos 3:10; 9:1; 11:3; 12:8; 24:11; Judg 3:5; 1 Kng 9:20; 2 Chron 8:7; and Neh 9:8). The descendants of these pagan peoples, including the Ammonites, Moabites, and Egyptians, were still living in the Levant during the era of the postexile (cf., 2 Chron 8:7-8).(1)
2 since they and their sons have married some of
their women, as a result of which the holy race [seed] has been contaminated by
the people of the country. The officials and leaders have been the worst
offenders in this act of infidelity."
The shocking news Ezra receives is that even the
religious and civic leaders have committed the grave offense of intermarriage
with pagans, setting a bad example for the people. The phrase "holy seed" is
from Isaiah 6:13 with allusions to the covenant blessings to Abraham
(Gen 12:7; 13:14-16; 17:1-8). It refers to the continuing line of people preserved by God
(beginning with the promise in Genesis 3:15) who remain faithful to Him. It is
a line that continued through Adam's righteous son Seth (Gen 5:3), the ancestor
of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-Israel. The prohibition of marriages with
pagans concerns religious identity more than ethnic identity.
Question: The Jews' intermarriage with the pagans results
in what two failures?
Answer: Their flagrant
violation of the Law concerning intermarriage with the pagans results in contaminating
the holy status of the covenant people by introducing and accepting pagan
worship, but it is also an act of infidelity to Yahweh and His covenant.
Question: What was Ezra's response to hearing this
report in verse 3?
Answer: Ezra's expression of grief at the news was
to tear his clothes and rip hair from his head and beard.
Shaving one's head or beard was a common practice to express grief or mourning (cf., Job 1:20; Jer 41:5; 47:5; Ez 7:18; Amos 8:10). God's agent, Nehemiah, however, demonstrates a different response when confronted with the same crisis of intermarriage. He pulled out the hair of the offenders (Neh 13:25), which probably says something about the different personalities of Ezra and Nehemiah!
4 All who
trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered round me, when faced with
the infidelity of the exiles [golah], while I went on sitting there in horror
until the evening sacrifice.
All the members of the restored community who feared
offending God gathered around Ezra in silence until the hour of the "evening," (afternoon)
Tamid liturgical worship service and sacrifice. The evening/afternoon Tamid
service took place at the ninth hour or three in the afternoon in modern time.
Ezra calls the remnant of Israel "the exiles," (see 4:1; 6:16; 10:6, 8, 16), identifying
them with the covenant judgment of exile from the land that God promised and
delivered for covenant infidelity (Lev 26:31-34; Dt 28:36, 47; Ez 36:16-21) as
well as His promise of return for a "faithful remnant" of the "holy seed" after
serving their time of seventy years of atonement for their sins of apostasy
(Is 4:2-6; Jer 25:11-14; 29:10; 2 Chr 36:21-22; Ez 36:24-32; Dan 9:2). The ninth
hour of the "evening" sacrifice was the appropriate time for prayer and supplication
(1 Kng 18:36; Dan 9:21; Acts 3:1). The Jewish day ended and another day began
at sundown.
Question: What is the beginning of the most
significant event in salvation history that takes place in Jerusalem at the
ninth hour (3 PM) during the Feast of Unleavened Bread in c. 30 AD that reaches
its completion three days later (as the ancients counted)? These two events
cannot be separated. See
Mt 27:46, 50;
Mk 15:34, 36;
Lk 23:44-46.
Answer: The ninth hour will be the same hour that
Jesus will offer His life on the altar of the Cross. Three days later (as the ancients
counted), He was resurrected from death to live forever.
Ezra 9:5-15 ~ Ezra's Prayer and Confession of His People's Sin to Yahweh
5
At the evening sacrifice I came out of my stupor and, falling
on my knees in my torn clothes and cloak, stretched out my hands to Yahweh my
God, 6 and said: "My God, I am
ashamed, I blush to lift my face to you, my God. For our iniquities have
increased, until they are higher than our heads, and our guilt has risen as
high as heaven. 7 From the days of
our ancestors until now we have been deeply guilty and, because of our iniquities,
we, our kings and our priests, have been handed over to the kings of other
countries, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, to shame, as is the case today.
8 And now, for a brief moment, the favor
of Yahweh our God has allowed a remnant of us to escape and given us a stable
home in his holy place, so that our God can raise our spirits and revive us a
little in our slavery. 9 For we are
slaves [ebed = bondservants]; but God has not forgotten us in our slavery; he
has extended his faithful love to us even under the kings of Persia and revived
us to rebuild the Temple of our God, restore its ruins and provide us with a refuge
[a wall] in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 But
now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have abandoned your
commandments, 11 which you gave
through your servants the prophets in these terms, "The country which you are
about to possess is a polluted country, polluted by the people of the country
and their disgusting practices, which have filled it with their filth from end
to end. 12 Hence you are not to
give your daughters in marriage to their sons, or let their daughters marry
your sons, or ever concern yourselves about peace or good relations with them,
if you want to grow stronger, to live off the fat of the land and bequeath it
to your sons forever." 13 After all
that has befallen us because of our evil deeds and our deep guilt, though you,
our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have allowed us
to escape like this, 14 are we to
break your commandments again and intermarry with people with these disgusting
practices? Would you not be enraged with us to the point of destroying us, leaving
neither remnant nor survivor? 15 Yahweh,
God of Israel, you are upright. We survive only as the remnant we are today. We
come before you in our guilt; because of it we cannot stand in your presence."
[...] = Hebrew,
IBHE, vol. II, page 1256.
Question: In what two ways does Ezra respond to the news of the Jews' infidelity
to the Law? See 9:3-15.
Answer: He
responds with mourning (9:3-5) and by offering a prayer of repentance on behalf
of his people (9:5-15).
5 At the evening sacrifice
The "evening sacrifice" (Ex 29:38-42;
Num 28:4-8) was the daily liturgical worship service of the Tamid lambs. The
first lamb was brought to the altar at dawn and sacrificed at the third hour (9
AM) and the second brought to the altar at noon and sacrificed at the ninth
hour (3 PM). At three in the afternoon, Ezra recovered sufficiently from his
shock and grief to fall to his knees and extend his hands, palms upward, to God
in a gesture of supplication in prayer. Ezra feels that all the people are implicated
in this serious violation of the Law that recalls Yahweh's command in Leviticus 11:44-45 ~ For it is I, Yahweh who is your God. You have been sanctified
and have become holy because I am holy; do not defile ... Yes, it is I, Yahweh,
who brought you out of Egypt to be your God: you must therefore be holy because
I am holy." He confesses the peoples' sins in the past that resulted in God's
divine judgment that sent them into exile, but which now continue into the
present (verses 6-7).
6 and said: "My
God, I am ashamed, I blush to lift my face to you, my God. For our iniquities
have increased, until they are higher than our heads, and our guilt has risen
as high as heaven. 7 From the days
of our ancestors until now we have been deeply guilty and, because of our
iniquities, we, our kings and our priests, have been handed over to the kings
of other countries, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, to shame, as is the
case today. 8 And now, for a brief
moment, the favor of Yahweh our God has allowed a remnant of us to escape and
given us a stable home in his holy place, so that our God can raise our spirits
and revive us a little in our slavery.
Ezra's confession of their collective
guilt recalls the covenant judgments Yahweh visited on them but also what Yahweh
told Ezekiel, His prophet in exile, concerning the promise of His covenant
people's redemption in Ezekiel 36:24-38. God said that they must "be ashamed
and blush for your conduct, House of Israel" (Ez 36:32b) which Ezra does in
verse 6.
9 For we
are slaves [ebed = bondservant]; but God has not forgotten us in our slavery;
he has extended his faithful love to us even under the kings of Persia and revived
us to rebuild the Temple of our God, restore its ruins and provide us with a refuge
[a wall] in Judah and in Jerusalem.
Verse 9 may contain a mild complaint since they
have not returned as a free people ruled by a Davidic king. Instead, they are bondservants
ruled by the Persians. Persian kings Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius I, Xerxes, and
Artaxerxes I were all favorably disposed to the Jews, believing the prosperity of
the Jews was tied to their success as a dynasty of kings (Ezra 7:23). Despite
the fact that Yahweh did not return them as a free people, Ezra still gives
credit to God for restoring them to the land He promised to the descendants of
Abraham (Gen 15:18-21), even it is was only a portion of the territory that was
the Southern Kingdom and without a Davidic king. In the Hebrew text, "a wall
in Judah and in Jerusalem" is a metaphor for the protection of the Persian
government.
10 But now,
our God, what can we say after this? For we have abandoned your commandments, 11 which you gave through your servants the prophets
in these terms, "The country which you are about to possess is a polluted
country, polluted by the people of the country and their disgusting practices,
which have filled it with their filth from end to end. 12 Hence you are not to give your daughters in
marriage to their sons, or let their daughters marry your sons, or ever concern
yourselves about peace or good relations with them, if you want to grow
stronger, to live off the fat of the land and bequeath it to your sons forever."
The Canaanites "polluted the country" by their worship of
false gods and the immoral rituals associated with idol worship. The words
quoted by Ezra come mostly from the Pentateuch (there are allusions to
Dt 7:1;
Lev 18:24-30;
Dt 18:9; and also to
2 Kng 21:16;
Dt 7:3; 23:6; 11:8; 1:38-39). Verses
11-12 refer to the prohibition God gave against marrying pagans in
Leviticus 18:24-30 and Deuteronomy 7:1-6.(2) After Ezra's
prayer in 9:6-17, the narrative continues in the Book of Nehemiah where he read
the entire Book of the Law (Exodus " Deuteronomy) during the Feast of Shelters in
Nehemiah 8:1-18, followed by a liturgical service of repentance and expiation
in 9:1-37.
Question: What would have happened if marriages to the pagans who did not convert and taught their children pagan practices continued?
Answer: The Jews would have lost their identity as a covenant people dedicated to Yahweh that was necessary for the continuation of God's divine plan in bringing forth the Davidic Redeemer-Messiah born from a virgin of Israel.
Chapter 10: The People's Response
Ezra 10:1-6 ~ The People Respond to Ezra's Grief
1 While
Ezra, weeping and prostrating himself in front of the Temple of God, was
praying and making confession, a very large crowd of men, women and children of
Israel gathered round him, the people weeping bitterly. 2 Then Shechaniah son of Jehiel, one of
the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "We have been unfaithful to our
God by marrying foreign women from the people of the country. But, in
spite of this, there is still some hope for Israel. 3 We will make a covenant with our God to
send away all the foreign wives and their children in obedience to the advice
of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let us act in
accordance with the Law. 4 Go
ahead, do your duty; we support you. Be brave, take action!" 5 Then Ezra stood up and put the leading
priests and Levites and all Israel on oath to do what had been said. They took the
oath. 6 Ezra then left his
place in front of the Temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of
Eliashib, where he spent the night without eating food or drinking water,
because he was still mourning over the exiles' infidelity.
Chapter 10 returns to a third-person narrative. In 10:1-5, a group of elders propose the action Ezra should take to resolve the problem of intermarriage with foreigners. The people who have not engaged in marriage with pagans identify with Ezra's grief.
2 Then
Shechaniah son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, "We
have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of
the country. But, in spite of this, there is still some hope for Israel.
3 We will make a covenant
with our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children in obedience
to the advice of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God.
Let us act in accordance with the Law. 4 Go
ahead, do your duty; we support you. Be brave, take action!"
A man named Jehiel of the clan
of Elam was among those married to a pagan wife (10:26); therefore, if it is
the same Jehiel, his son Shechaniah agrees that his father should set aside his
pagan wife who was probably a second wife and not his mother. What Shechaniah
says in verse 3 refers to the law that Moses gave sanctioning divorce in the
case of a man finding something "unclean" in a wife (Dt 24:1-4). His motives
for supporting Ezra against his father's interests may have been fidelity to
the Law and the first-hand knowledge of the destructive power of paganism on a Jewish family or self-interest since he and his siblings would not have to share
their inheritance with the children of the second wife.
3 We
will make a covenant with our God to send away all the foreign wives and their
children in obedience to the advice of my lord and of those who tremble at the
commandment of our God. Let us act in accordance with the Law.
Different cultures had different laws concerning the placement
of children after a divorce. In Babylon, divorced women received custody of
their children but had to wait to remarry until the children reached maturity.
However, in ancient Greece, the children remained with their fathers.
In 10:6, Ezra went to a room in the Temple for accommodating priests and Levites when they had duty in the Temple. He spent the night fasting and in prayer before taking action against the foreign wives and their children.
Ezra 10:7-17 ~ The Proclamation and the Commission
7 A proclamation
was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles were to assemble
in Jerusalem, 8 and that anyone who
failed within three days to answer the summons of the officials and elders was
to forfeit all his possessions and himself be excluded from the community of
the exiles. 9 As a result, all the
men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days; it was
the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the people
sat down in the square in front of the Temple of God, trembling because of the matter
in hand and because of the heavy rain. 10
The priest Ezra then stood up and said to them, "You have been
unfaithful and have married foreign wives, thus adding to Israel's guilt. 11 So now give thanks to Yahweh, God of your
ancestors, and do his will by holding aloof from the people of the country and from
foreign wives." 12 In ringing
tones, the whole assembly answered, "Yes, our duty is to do as you say. 13 But there are many people here and it is the
rainy season; we cannot stay out in the open; besides, this is not something
that can be dealt with in one or two days, since many of us have been unfaithful
over this. 14 Let our officials deputize
for the whole community, and all the people in our towns who have married foreign
wives can come at stated times, accompanied by elders and judges from each
town, until our God's fierce anger over this is turned away from us." 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son
of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, were opposed to this.
16 The exiles did as had been proposed.
And the priest Ezra selected the family heads of the various families, all of
them by name, who began their sittings on the first day of the tenth month to
look into the matter. 17 And by the
first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married
foreign women.
Ezra calls for a Sacred Assembly that every exile throughout Judah and Jerusalem must attend. Anyone who refused to appear in Jerusalem within three days was to forfeit all his property and suffer the penalty of being excommunicated from the community.
9 As a
result, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the
three days; it was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the people sat
down in the square in front of the Temple of God, trembling because of the
matter in hand and because of the heavy rain.
The ninth month in the liturgical calendar was the
month of Chislev (Nov./Dec). It was the month when the heavy winter rains and
sometimes snow fell on Jerusalem which lies 2,400 feet above sea level. The square
in front of the Temple was the scene of Ezra's prayer in 10:1 and probably also
where he read from the Book of the Law in Nehemiah Chapter 8.
In verse 14, the appointment of a commission to examine the individual cases of foreign marriage provides legitimacy to the proceedings. However, the people had already agreed that the pagan women and their children who refuse to submit to a covenant relationship with Yahweh by denouncing their pagan gods must leave the land of Judah. In verse 15, only four men voice a public opposed to the commission, but there were probably more men who did not agree.
16 The
exiles did as had been proposed. And the priest Ezra selected the family heads
of the various families, all of them by name, who began their sittings on the
first day of the tenth month to look into the matter. 17 And by the first day of the first month
they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.
The tenth month was Tebet (Dec./Jan.). From
December 458 to March 457 BC, were spent on the identification of the
offenders. Ezra and the commission determine that the men must divorce their pagan
wives (10:6-17). Those guilty of marrying pagans had no excuse. God's standards
for marital unions were clearly recorded in the Law of the covenant. Even though
some of the marriages had produced children (verse 44), this was not accepted
as a reason for ignoring the statutes of the Law and the decision by Ezra to
dissolve the marriages that presented a danger to the sacred identity of the children
of Israel in God's divine plan to bring salvation to both Jews and Gentiles.
Ezra 10:18-44 ~ The List of the Guilty
18 Among the
priests who were found to have married foreign wives were: of the sons of Jeshua
son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah, 19 who agreed to send their wives away; their
guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt; 20 of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah; 21 of the
sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah; 22 of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah,
Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah; 23 of
the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah; that is, Kelita-Pethahiah, Judah, and
Eliezer; 24 of the singers:
Eliashib and Zaccur; of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem and Uri; 25 and of the Israelites: of the sons of Parosh:
Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah and Benaiah; 26 of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah,
Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah; 27
of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and
Aziza; 28 of the sons of Bebai:
Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Atlai; 29 of
the sons of Bigvai: Meshullam, Malluch, Jedaiah, Jashub, Sheal, Jeremoth; 30 of the sons of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah,
Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh; 31 of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah,
Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin,
Malluch, Shemariah; 33 of the sons
of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei; 34 of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bediah, Jeluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasau; 38 of the sons of Binnui: Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan and Adaiah; 40 of the sons of Zaccai: Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph; 43 of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah,
Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, Benaiah. 44 All
these had married foreign wives but sent them away with their children.
Ezra 10:18-44 is a list of the 113 men who married pagan women but submitted to Ezra's ruling and sent their wives and children away, probably back to their communities in Babylon. That is 113 men out of c. 29,000 families of returned exiles. Notice that the problem even existed in the family of the High Priest Jeshua (verse 18). The four priestly families are the same as the families listed in Ezra 2:36-39, and seven of the lay families listed in 2:3-35 and 8:3-14.
The problem of mixed marriages in the time of Ezra continues in the Book of Nehemiah 9:1-5, which should probably be read immediately after Ezra 10:44. However, the date given in Nehemiah 9:1 fits more accurately after Ezra 10:15 (cf. Haggai 2:10-14). It was important for the post-exilic community to maintain a distinctively Israelite/Jewish way of life and to faithfully exercise the practice of religion, in its commands and prohibitions, that Yahweh gave them at Mt. Sinai (cf. Neh 13:2-3). However, it is difficult for the modern reader not to sympathize with the dismissed wives and their children. Hints of opposition to Ezra's solution took place, even in some noble families (Neh 6:17-18), and Nehemiah responded to a similar situation (Neh 13:23-27).
Perhaps the fate of the Jewish community at Elephantine, Egypt, dating to sometime in the 5th century BC, at about the time Ezra expelled the foreign wives and their children in 458 BC, may put Ezra's harsh ruling into perspective for us. Archeologists recovered a trove of papyri from the Elephantine community, including legal documents and letters written in Aramaic. The documents reveal the failure of the Jewish community in Egypt. The Jews at Elephantine maintained an illicit temple in which they offered sacrifices.(3) However, since they failed to uphold the ban against mixed marriages, they engaged in polytheistic beliefs and practices. We know from the documents discovered there that the Jews of Elephantine intermarried to the point of spiritual extinction.
What does the Book of Ezra reveal to those of us called to live in faith and obedience according to the New Covenant in Christ Jesus? The faithful remnant of Jews who returned to Judah from the exile thought they were living in obedience to the Sinai Covenant when they rebuilt Yahweh's sacrificial altar, rebuilt His Temple, reestablished the liturgy of worship, and the holy feast days. However, the prophet Haggai told them that they were not offering Yahweh the pure sacrifices He required. As long as they remained an "unclean" people, they could not offer Yahweh "clean/unblemished" sacrifices in the liturgy of worship. The point was that they could not keep the Law of the covenant because they did not know or understand the Law of the covenant. The same is true for those of us on this side of salvation history. At Mass, we cannot come to the sacred meal of the Eucharist as a holy people in a state of grace if we do not know or understand New Covenant commands and faith demonstrated by living in obedience to the teachings of Mother Church. Ignorance is not an excuse. As long as we fail in obedience and neglect coming to worship at God altar in a state of grace, we risk divine judgment and jeopardize the future of our immortal souls (1 Cor 11:23-32).
Questions for discussion or reflection:
1. What comparisons can you make between Ezra's mission
and Moses' mission; between Ezra's mission and Jesus' mission?
2. Are mixed marriages with non-Christians a problem in the Church today? What are the dangers for the parents and children in such marriages? Are there many different paths to salvation or only one according to John 14:6 and Acts 4:12?
3. What does the Catechism teach regarding mixed marriages between Catholics and other Christians in CCC 1633-1636 and 1638?
4. What does the Church teach concerning marriage between Catholics and non-Christians in CCC 1637, and what did St. Paul write on the subject in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16?
Endnotes:
1. Marriages with the Ammonites and Moabites, the
descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot and recognized as members of the Semitic family
of nations, were also discouraged because they were not members of the covenant
with Yahweh (Dt 23:3-6).
2. Ancient documents from the city of Ugarit, an ancient port city in Northern Syria, describes the perverse practices and beliefs of the Canaanites that even disgusted the pagans of Ugarit.
3. Worship in the Elephantine community's temple was illicit because sacrifice to Yahweh could only be offered on His holy altar at the Jerusalem Temple.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates
Scripture is either quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Ezra 9-10 (CCC 1634)
Ezra 9:6-15 (CCC 2585)