Ezra 10:17

"The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers’ households, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter."

Key Reflection

Ezra 10:17 describes a significant administrative act in the post-exilic community. After the return from Babylon, Ezra, along with other leaders, convened to address the issue of intermarriage with foreign women. The verse indicates that a thorough examination was conducted on the first day of the tenth month, focusing on identifying those who had transgressed by marrying non-Israelites. This action underscores the importance of maintaining religious and cultural purity in the newly formed community, reflecting both the strictures of the Mosaic law and the efforts to restore faithful adherence post-exile.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The business occupied the commission full two months. In some cases, it may be presumed, they had to summon persons before them who did not wish to part with their foreign wives; in all, they had to assure themselves that the wives were foreign; finally, they had in every case where they decreed a divorce to make out the “writing of divorcement”Ezra 10:3.

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