Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 9:5
And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
5 15. Ezra’s Confession
5. And at the evening sacrifice ] R.V. And at the evening oblation, i.e. at the time of its being offered.
I arose up from my heaviness ] R.V. I arose up from my humiliation. Marg. fasting. The Hebrew word ‘Taanith’ occurs only here in the O.T.: in later Hebrew it became the accepted for religious fasting. This passage favours the original application to general humiliation rather than to abstinence from food. So the LXX. .
and having rent my garment and my mantle ] R.V. even with my garment and my mantle rent; and. There is no need to render as the A.V. and most commentators, as if Ezra for a second time rent his clothes. He calls attention to the fact that in the presence of the assembled people he stood before them with these evident signs of his grief and dismay, and thus by a mute appeal united them with him in his act of prayer.
fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands ] We find in Scripture both kneeling and standing as the postures of prayer. For kneeling compare 1Ki 8:54, Solomon kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. Dan 6:10 ‘And he kneeled upon his knees three times a day.’ Psa 95:6 ‘Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker’. Cf. Luk 22:41; Act 7:60; Act 9:40; Act 20:36; Act 21:5. For standing cf. 1Sa 1:26; 1Ki 8:22 ; 1Ch 23:30; Mat 6:5; Luk 18:11.
The attitude of spreading out the hands expressed the desire to receive and to embrace the Divine gift, the hands open and the palms turned upwards as if to accept. Cf. Exo 9:29; 1Ki 8:22, Isa 1:15 ‘And when ye spread forth your hands’. 2Ma 3:20 ‘All holding their hands toward heaven made supplication’.
the Lord my God ] Cf. Ezr 7:6; Ezr 7:9; Ezr 7:14; Ezr 7:19-20; Ezr 7:25-26 and especially 28.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. Fell upon my knees] In token of the deepest humility. Spread out my hands, as if to lay hold on the mercy of God. We have already had occasion to explain these significant acts.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From my heaviness, i.e. from that mournful posture, Ezr 8:4, and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. Or,
by reason of my heaviness, or affliction. Having mourned for the sin, I considered that was not sufficient, and that God expected the confession and amendment of it, and therefore I fell to prayer.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-15. I fell upon my knees, andspread out my hands unto the Lord my GodThe burden of hisprayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was thathe was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the boldimpiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recentlyexperienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begunto show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. Butthis only aggravated their sin, that, so soon after theirre-establishment in their native land, they openly violated theexpress and repeated precepts which commanded them to extirpate theCanaanites. Such conduct, he exclaimed, could issue only in drawingdown some great punishment from offended Heaven and ensuring thedestruction of the small remnant of us that is left, unless, by thehelp of divine grace, we repent and bring forth the fruits ofrepentance in an immediate and thorough reformation.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness,…. The signs and tokens of it, particularly sitting on the ground; or “from my fasting” n, having eaten nothing that day, it being early in the morning when he was told the above case:
and having rent my garment and my mantle; which he had done before, and still kept them on him in the same case:
fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God; in the posture and with the gesture of an humble supplicant.
n “jejunio meo”, Michaelis; so Jarchi.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ezra’s prayer and confession for the congregation. – Ezr 9:5 And at the time of the evening sacrifice, I rose up from my mortification ( , humiliation, generally through fasting, here through sitting motionless in deep affliction of soul), and rending my garment and my mantle. These words contribute a second particular to , and do not mean that Ezra arose with his garments torn, but state that, on arising, he rent his clothing, and therefore again manifested his sorrow in this manner. He then fell on his knees, and spread out his hands to God (comp. 1Ki 8:22), to make a confession of the heavy guilt of the congregation before God, and thus impressively to set their sins before all who heard his prayer.
Ezr 9:6
9:6, etc.
“I am ashamed, and am covered with shame, to lift up my face to Thee, my God.” united, as in Jer 31:19, comp. Isa 45:16, and other passages. , to be covered with shame, is stronger than . “For our iniquities are increased over our head,” i.e., have grown above our head. , to or over the head. serves to enhance the meaning of , like 1Ch 23:17. “And our guiltiness is great, (reaching) unto the heavens;” comp. 2Ch 28:9.
Ezr 9:7 “Since the days of our fathers, have we, our kings, our priests, been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to shame of face.” The words from onwards serve to explain what is meant by being delivered into the hand of strange kings. On the expression , comp. Dan 9:7, etc., 2Ch 32:21. , as it is this day, as is to-day the case; see remarks on Dan 9:7. The thought is: We are still sorely suffering for our sins, by being yet under the yoke of foreign sovereigns.
Ezr 9:8-9 “And now for a little moment there has been mercy from the Lord our God, to leave us a rescued remnant, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.” He calls the short interval between their release from captivity by Cyrus, and the time when he is speaking, , a little moment (comp. Isa 26:20), in comparison with the long period of suffering from the times of the Assyrians (comp. Neh 9:32) till the reign of Cyrus. , a rescued remnant, is the new community delivered from Babylon, and returned to the land of their fathers. In proportion to the numerous population of former days, it was but a remnant that escaped destruction; but a remnant which, according to the predictions of the prophets, was again to grow into a large nation. A foundation for this hope was given by the fact that God had given them “a nail in the place of His sanctuary.” The expression is figurative. is a nail or peg struck into the wall, to hang any kind of domestic utensils upon; comp. Isa 22:23, etc. Such a nail was the place of God’s sanctuary, the temple, to the rescued community. This was to them a firm nail, by which they were borne and upheld; and this nail God had given them as a support to which they might cling, and gain new life and vigour. The infinitive clauses following, and , are dependent upon the preceding infinitives and , and state the purpose for which God has given a nail in His house to this remnant. That our God may enlighten our eyes, i.e., may bestow upon us new vitality; comp. Psa 13:4. Suffering and misfortune make the eyes dim, and their light is quenched in death: the enlightened or beaming eye is an image of vital power; comp. 1Sa 14:27, 1Sa 14:29. is not to be translated, ut daret nobis vivificationem , the suffix to being not dative, but accusative. The literal rendering is: that He may make us a slight reviving. , the means of supporting life, restoration to life; see on 2Ch 14:13. Ezra adds ; for the life to which the community had attained was but feeble, in comparison with a vigorous social life. Their deliverance from Babylon and return to the land of their fathers was, so to speak, a revival from death; compare the embodiment of this figure in Ezekiel’s vision, Eze 37:1-14: they were, however, still in a state of vassalage, and had not yet regained their independence. This thought is further carried out in Ezr 9:9: “For we are bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy to us before the kings of Persia; so that they have given us a reviving to build up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and have given us a wall about us in Judah and Jerusalem.” They who have returned to Jerusalem and Judah are still bondmen, for they are yet under the Persian yoke; but God has disposed the kings of Persia so to favour them as to give them a reviving, to enable them to rebuild the house of God. Cyrus and Darius had not merely permitted and commanded the building of the temple, but had also furnished them with considerable assistance towards the carrying out of this work; comp. Ezr 1:3, etc. Ezr 6:7-9. The suffix in alludes to . The words of the last sentence are figurative. means the wall of a vineyard, the wall or fence built for its protection (Isa 5:2, Isa 5:5). Hence the wall, or enclosure, is an image of protection from the incursions and attacks of enemies. Such a wall has been given them in Judah and Jerusalem by the kings of Persia. “The meaning is not that they possess a place defended by walls (perhaps, therefore, the temple) in Jerusalem and Judah, but that the Persian kings have given to the new community a safe dwelling-place (or the means of existence), because the power of the Persian empire secures to the returned Israelites continued and undisturbed possession of the city and the land.” (Bertheau.)
After this statement concerning the divine favour, Ezra next sets himself to describe the conduct of his countrymen with respect to the mercy extended to them.
Ezr 9:10 “And now, O our God, what can we say after this? That we have forsaken Thy commandments,” , i.e., such proofs of the divine compassion as have just been mentioned. The answer which follows commences with , before which is mentally repeated: “we can only say that we have forsaken Thy commandments, requited Thy kindness with sins.”
Ezr 9:11-12 Namely, the commandments “which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets, saying, The land unto which ye go to possess it is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the people of the lands, through their abominations, wherewith they have filled it from one end to another through their impurity. And now give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons (for wives), nor seek their peace nor their wealth for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.” The words of the prophets introduced by are found in these terms neither in the prophetical books nor the Pentateuch. They are not, therefore, to be regarded as a verbal quotation, but only as a declaration that the prohibition of intermarriage with the heathen had been inculcated by the prophets. The introduction of this prohibition by the words: the land unto which ye go to possess it, refers to the Mosaic age, and in using it Ezra had chiefly in view Deu 7:1-3. He interweaves, however, with this passage other sayings from the Pentateuch, e.g., Deu 23:7, and from the prophetic writings, without designing to make a verbal quotation. He says quite generally, by His servants the prophets, as the author of the books of Kings does in similar cases, e.g., 2Ki 17:23; 2Ki 21:10; 2Ki 24:2, where the leading idea is, not to give the saying of some one prophet, but to represent the truth in question as one frequently reiterated. The sayings of Moses in Deuteronomy also bear a prophetical character; for in this book he, after the manner of the prophets, seeks to make the people lay to heart the duty of obeying the law. It is true that we do not meet in the other books of Scripture a special prohibition of marriages with Canaanites, though in the prophetical remarks, Jdg 3:6, such marriages are reproved as occasions of seducing the Israelites to idolatry, and in the prophetic descriptions of the whoredoms of Israel with Baalim, and the general animadversions upon apostasy from the Lord, the transgression of this prohibition is implicitly included; thus justifying the general expression, that God had forbidden the Israelites to contract such marriages, by His servants the prophets. Besides, we must here take into consideration the threatening of the prophets, that the Lord would thrust Israel out of the land for their sins, among which intermarriage with the Canaanites was by no means the least. Ezra, moreover, makes use of the general expression, “by the prophets,” because he desired to say that God had not merely forbidden these marriages one or twice in the law, but had also repeatedly inculcated this prohibition by the prophets. The law was preached by the prophets when they reiterated what was the will of God as revealed in the law of Moses. In this respect Ezra might well designate the prohibition of the law as the saying of the prophets, and cite it as pronounced according to the circumstances of the Mosaic period.
(Note: It is hence evident that these words of Ezra afford no evidence against the single authorship of the Pentateuch. The inference that a saying of the law, uttered during the wanderings in the wilderness, is here cited as a saying of the prophets the servants of Jahve, is, according to the just remark of Bertheau, entirely refuted even by the fact that the words cited are nowhere found in the Pentateuch in this exact form, and that hence Ezra did not intend to make a verbal quotation.)
The words: the land into which ye go, etc., recall the introduction of the law in Deu 7:1, etc.; but the description of the land as a land of uncleanness through the uncleanness of the people, etc., does not read thus either in the Pentateuch or in the prophets. , the uncleanness of women, is first applied to moral impurity by the prophets: comp. Lam 1:17; Eze 7:20; Eze 36:17, comp. Isa 64:5. The expression , from edge to edge, i.e., from one end to the other, like , 2Ki 10:21; 2Ki 21:16, is taken from vessels filled to their upper rim. introduces the consequence: and now, this being the case. The prohibition is worded after Deu 7:3. The addition: nor seek their peace, etc., is taken almost verbally from Deu 23:7, where this is said in respect of the Ammonites and Moabites. recalls Deu 11:8, and the promise: that ye may eat the good of the land for ever, Isa 1:19. , and leave it for an inheritance to your children, does not occur in this form in the Pentateuch, but only the promise: that they and their children should possess the land for ever. On in this sense comp. Jdg 11:24; 2Ch 20:11.
Ezr 9:13-14 And after all, continues Ezra, taking up again the of Ezr 9:10, – “after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass – yea, Thou our God has spared us more than our iniquity deserved, and hast given us this escaped remnant – can we again break Thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? Wilt Thou not be angry with us even to extirpation, so that no residue and no escaped remnant should be left?” The premiss in Ezr 9:13 is followed in Ezr 9:14 by the conclusion in the form of a question, while the second clause of Ezr 9:13 is an explanatory parenthesis. Bertheau construes the passage otherwise. He finds the continuation of the sentence: and after all this … in the words , which, calmly spoken, would read: Thou, O God, hast not wholly destroyed us, but hast preserved to us an escaped remnant; while instead of such a continuation we have an exclamation of grateful wonder, emphatically introduced by in the sense of . With this construction of the clauses, however, no advance is made, and Ezra, in this prayer, does but repeat what he had already said, Ezr 9:8 and Ezr 9:9; although the introductory leads us to expect a new thought to close the confession. Then, too, the logical connection between the question Ezr 9:14 and what precedes it would be wanting, i.e., a foundation of fact for the question Ezr 9:14. Bertheau remarks on Ezr 9:14, that the question: should we return to break (i.e., break again) the commands of God? is an antithesis to the exclamation. But neither does this question, to judge by its matter, stand in contrast to the exclamation, nor is any such contrast indicated by its form. The discourse advances in regular progression only when Ezr 9:14 forms the conclusion arrived at from Ezr 9:13, and the thought in the premiss (13 a) is limited by the thoughts introduced with . What had come upon Israel for their sins was, according to Ezr 9:7, deliverance into the hand of heathen kings, to the sword, to captivity, etc. God had not, however, merely chastened and punished His people for their sins, He had also extended mercy to them, Ezr 9:8, etc. This, therefore, is also mentioned by Ezra in Ezr 9:13, to justify, or rather to limit, the in . The is properly confirmatory: for Thou, our God, hast indeed punished us, but not in such measure as our sins had deserved; and receives through the tenor of the clause the adversative meaning of imo, yea (comp. Ewald, 330, b). , Thou hast checked, hast stopped, beneath our iniquities. is not used intransitively, but actively; the missing object must be supplied from the context: Thou hast withheld that, all of which should have come upon us, i.e., the punishment we deserved, or, as older expositors completed the sense, iram tuam . , infra delicta nostra , i.e., Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserved. For their iniquities they had merited extirpation; but God had given them a rescued remnant. , as this, viz., this which exists in the community now returned from Babylon to Judaea. This is the circumstance which justifies the question: should we, or can we, again ( is used adverbially) break Thy commandments, and become related by marriage? ( like Deu 7:3.) , people who live in abominations. The answer to this question is found in the subsequent question: will He not – if, after the sparing mercy we have experienced, we again transgress the commands of God – by angry with us till He have consumed us? (comp. 2Ki 13:17, 2Ki 13:19) is strengthened by the addition: so that there will be no remnant and no escaping. The question introduced by is an expression of certain assurance: He will most certainly consume us.
Ezr 9:15 “Jahve, God of Israel, Thou art righteous; for we remain an escaped remnant, as (it is) this day. Behold, we are before Thee in our trespass; for no one can stand before Thy face, because of this.” Ezra appeals to the righteousness of God, not to supplicate pardon, as Neh 9:33, for the righteousness of God would impel Him to extirpate the sinful nation, but to rouse the conscience of the community, to point out to them what, after this relapse into their old abominations, they had to expect from the justice of God. is confirmatory. God has shown Himself to be just by so sorely punishing this once numerous nation, that only a small remnant which has escaped destruction now exists. And this remnant has again most grievously offended: we lie before Thee in our trespass; what can we expect from Thy justice? Nothing but destruction; for there is no standing before Thee, i.e., no one can stand before Thee, , because of this (comp. Ezr 8:23; Ezr 10:2), i.e., because of the fresh guilt which we have incurred.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, 6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. 12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; 14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? 15 O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
What the meditations of Ezra’s heart were, while for some hours he sat down astonished, we may guess by the words of his mouth when at length he spoke with his tongue; and a most pathetic address he here makes to Heaven upon this occasion. Observe,
I. The time when he made this address–at the evening sacrifice, v. 5. Then (it is likely) devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, to grace the solemnity of the sacrifice and to offer up their own prayers to God in concurrence with it. In their hearing Ezra chose to make this confession, that they might be made duly sensible of the sins of their people, which hitherto they had either not taken notice of or had made light of. Prayer may preach. The sacrifice, and especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the great propitiation, that blessed Lamb of God which in the evening of the world was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, to which we may suppose Ezra had an eye of faith in this penitential address to God; he makes confession with his hand, as it were, upon the head of that great sacrifice, through which we receive the atonement. Certainly Ezra was no stranger to the message which the angel Gabriel had some years ago delivered to Daniel, at the time of the evening sacrifice, and as it were in explication of it, concerning Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:21; Dan 9:24); and perhaps he had regard to that in choosing this time.
II. His preparation for this address. 1. He rose up from his heaviness, and so far shook off the burden of his grief as was necessary to the lifting up of his heart to God. He recovered from his astonishment, got the tumult of his troubled spirits somewhat stilled and his spirit composed for communion with God. 2. He fell upon his knees, put himself into the posture of a penitent humbling himself and a petitioner suing for mercy, in both representing the people for whom he was now an intercessor. 3. He spread out his hands, as one affected with what he was going to say, offering it up unto God, waiting, and reaching out, as it were, with an earnest expectation, to receive a gracious answer. In this he had an eye to God as the Lord, and as his God, a God of power, but a God of grace.
III. The address itself. It is not properly to be called a prayer, for there is not a word of petition in it; but, if we give prayer its full latitude, it is the offering up of pious and devout affections to God, and very devout, very pious, are the affections which Ezra here expresses. His address is a penitent confession of sin, not his own (from a conscience burdened with its own guilt and apprehensive of his own danger), but the sin of his people, from a gracious concern for the honour of God and the welfare of Israel. Here is a lively picture of ingenuous repentance. Observe in this address,
1. The confession he makes of the sin and the aggravations of it, which he insists upon, to affect his own heart and theirs that joined with him with holy sorrow and shame and fear, in the consideration of it, that they might be deeply humbled for it. And it is observable that, though he himself was wholly clear from this guilt, yet he puts himself into the number of the sinners, because he was a member of the same community–our sins and our trespass. Perhaps he now remembered it against himself, as his fault, that he had staid so long after his brethren in Babylon, and had not separated himself so soon as he might have done from the people of those lands. When we are lamenting the wickedness of the wicked, it may be, if we duly reflect upon ourselves and give our own hearts leave to deal faithfully with us, we may find something of the same nature, though in a lower degree, that we also have been guilty of. However, he speaks that which was, or should have been, the general complaint.
(1.) He owns their sins to have been very great: “Our iniquities are increased over our heads (v. 6); we are ready to perish in them as in keep waters;” so general was the prevalency of them, so violent the power of them, and so threatening were they of the most pernicious consequences. “Iniquity has grown up to such a height among us that it reaches to the heavens, so very impudent that it dares heaven, so very provoking that, like the sin of Sodom, it cries to heaven for vengeance.” But let this be the comfort of true penitents that though their sins reach to the heavens God’s mercy is in the heavens, Ps. xxxvi. 5. Where sin abounds grace will much more abound.
(2.) Their sin had been long persisted in (v. 7): Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass. The example of those that had gone before them he thought so far from excusing their fault that it aggravated it. “We should have taken warning not to stumble at the same stone. The corruption is so much the worse that it has taken deep root and begins to plead prescription, but by this means we have reason to fear that the measure of the iniquity is nearly full.”
(3.) The great and sore judgments which God had brought upon them for their sins did very much aggravate them: “For our iniquities we have been delivered to the sword and to captivity (v. 7), and yet not reformed, yet not reclaimed–brayed in the mortar, and yet the folly not gone (Prov. xxvii. 22)– corrected, but not reclaimed.”
(4.) The late mercies God had bestowed upon them did likewise very much aggravate their sins. This he insists largely upon, Ezr 9:8; Ezr 9:9. Observe, [1.] The time of mercy: Now for a little space, that is, “It is but a little while since we had our liberty, and it is not likely to continue long.” This greatly aggravated their sin, that they were so lately in the furnace and that they knew not how soon they might return to it again; and could they yet be secure? [2.] The fountain of mercy: Grace has been shown us from the Lord. The kings of Persia were the instruments of their enlargement; but he ascribes it to God and to his grace, his free grace, without any merit of theirs. [3.] The streams of mercy,–that they were not forsaken in their bondage, but even in Babylon had the tokens of God’s presence,–that they were a remnant of Israelites left, a few out of many, and those narrowly escaped out of the hands of their enemies, by the favour of the kings of Persia,–and especially that they had a nail in his holy place, that is (as it is explained, v. 9), that they had set up the house of God. They had their religion settled and the service of the temple in a constant method. We are to reckon it a great comfort and advantage to have stated opportunities of worshipping God. Blessed are those that dwell in God’s house, like Anna that departed not from the temple. This is my rest for ever, says the gracious soul. [4.] The effects of all this. It enlightened their eyes, and it revived their hearts; that is, it was very comfortable to them, and the more sensibly so because it was in their bondage: it was life from the dead to them. Though but a little reviving, it was a great favour, considering that they deserved none and the day of small things was an earnest of greater. “Now,” says Ezra, “how ungrateful are we to offend a God that has been so kind to us! how disingenuous to mingle in sin with those nations from whom we have been, in wonderful mercy, delivered! how unwise to expose ourselves to God’s displeasure when we are tried with the returns of his favour and are upon our good behaviour for the continuance of it!”
(5.) It was a great aggravation of the sin that it was against an express command: We have forsaken thy commandments, v. 10. It seems to have been an ancient law of the house of Jacob not to match with the families of the uncircumcised, Gen. xxxiv. 14. But, besides that, God had strictly forbidden it. He recites the command, Ezr 9:11; Ezr 9:12. For sin appears sin, appears exceedingly sinful, when we compare it with the law which is broken by it. Nothing could be more express: Give not your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons. The reason given is because, if they mingled with those nations, they would pollute themselves. It was an unclean land, and they were a holy people; but if they kept themselves distinct from them it would be their honour and safety, and the perpetuating of their prosperity. Now to violate a command so express, backed with such reasons, and a fundamental law of their constitution, was very provoking to the God of heaven.
(6.) That in the judgments by which they had already smarted for their sins God had punished them less than their iniquities deserved, so that he looked upon them to be still in debt upon the old account. “What! and yet shall we run up a new score? Has God dealt so gently with us in correcting us, and shall we thus abuse his favour and turn his grace into wantonness?” God, in his grace and mercy, had said concerning Sion’s captivity, She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isa. xl. 2); but Ezra, in a penitential sense of the great malignity that was in their sin, acknowledged that, though the punishment was very great, it was less than they deserved.
2. The devout affections that were working in him, in making this confession. Speaking of sin,
(1.) He speaks as one much ashamed. With this he begins (v. 6), O my God! I am ashamed and blush, O my God! (so the words are placed) to lift up my face unto thee. Note, [1.] Sin is a shameful thing; as soon as ever our first parents had eaten forbidden fruit they were ashamed of themselves. [2.] Holy shame is as necessary an ingredient in true and ingenuous repentance as holy sorrow. [3.] The sins of others should be our shame, and we should blush for those who do not blush for themselves. We may well be ashamed that we are any thing akin to those who are so ungrateful to God and unwise for themselves. This is clearing ourselves, 2 Cor. vii. 11. [4.] Penitent sinners never see so much reason to blush and be ashamed as when they come to lift up their faces before God. A natural sense of our own honour which we have injured will make us ashamed, when we have done a wrong thing, to look men in the face; but a gracious concern for God’s honour will make us much more ashamed to look him in the face. The publican, when he went to the temple to pray, hung down his head more than ever, as one ashamed, Luke xviii. 13. [5.] An eye to God as our God will be of great use to us in the exercise of repentance. Ezra begins, O my God! and again in the same breath, My God. The consideration of our covenant-relation to God as ours will help to humble us, and break our hearts for sin, that we should violate both his precepts to us and our promises to him; it will also encourage us to hope for pardon upon repentance. “He is my God, notwithstanding this;” and every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant.
(2.) He speaks as one much amazed (v. 10) “What shall we say after this? For my part I know not what to say: if God do not help us, we are undone.” The discoveries of guilt excite amazement: the more we think of sin the worse it looks. The difficulty of the case excites amazement. How shall we recover ourselves? Which way shall we make our peace with God? [1.] True penitents are at a loss what to say. Shall we say, We have not sinned, or, God will not require it? If we do, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Shall we say, Have patience with us and we will pay thee all, with thousands of rams, or our first-born for our transgression? God will not thus be mocked: he knows we are insolvent. Shall we say, There is no hope, and let come on us what will? That is but to make bad worse. [2.] True penitents will consider what to say, and should, as Ezra, beg of God to teach them. What shall we say? Say, “I have sinned; I have done foolishly; God be merciful to me a sinner;” and the like. See Hos. xiv. 2.
(3.) He speaks as one much afraid, Ezr 9:13; Ezr 9:14. “After all the judgments that have come upon us to reclaim us from sin, and all the deliverances that have been wrought for us to engage us to God and duty, if we should again break God’s commandments, by joining in affinity with the children of disobedience and learning their ways, what else could we expect but that God should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and there should not be so much as a remnant left, nor any to escape the destruction?” There is not a surer nor sadder presage of ruin to any people than revolting to sin, to the same sins again, after great judgments and great deliverances. Those that will be wrought upon neither by the one nor by the other are fit to be rejected, as reprobate silver, for the founder melteth in vain.
(4.) He speaks as one much assured of the righteousness of God, and resolved to acquiesce in that and to leave the matter with him whose judgment is according to truth (v. 15): “Thou art righteous, wise, just, and good; thou wilt neither do us wrong nor be hard upon us; and therefore behold we are before thee, we lie at thy feet, waiting our doom; we cannot stand before thee, insisting upon any righteousness of our own, having no plea to support us or bring us off, and therefore we fall down before thee, in our trespass, and cast ourselves on thy mercy. Do unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee, Judg. x. 15. We have nothing to say, nothing to do, but to make supplication to our Judge,” Job ix. 15. Thus does this good man lay his grief before God and then leave it with him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Ezra Prays, Verses 5-15
Ezra arose from his mourning and deep depression at the time of the evening sacrifice in the temple. His actions had aroused the concerned people of Jerusalem, and they had joined him. He took this occasion of the hour to approach the Lord in prayer. This seems to have been a customary time of prayer already, as it certainly was by New Testament times (Act 3:1). His prayer at this time is one of the outstanding petitions of the Bible, and reminds the student of Daniel’s prayer near the end of the seventy years captivity (Dan 9:3-19).
The prayer had a natural progression. First, Ezra lays before the Lord the condition to which the remnant Jews have come. He was ashamed to lift up his face to the Lord for Israel’s repetitive bent to sin, which has reoccurred in spite of former chastisement and a return of the Lord’s great blessing. He felt that Israel was overwhelmed and drowning in sin, which had been accumulating since the days of the fathers, and for which the people, their kings, and their priests had been made to serve pagan kings and nations. For this the land suffered contempt, shame, spoilation to that very time.
Second, Ezra proceeded to admit the unworthiness of the blessing Israel was even then enjoying. God’s grace had spared the Jews a remnant, to allow them his grace in letting some return to the land, reviving them from their foreign bondage. The remnant was like a nail fixed in place and secure, it seemed, that they might restore the desolations caused to their city and land by the conquering kings.
Now what could Ezra say after all this? He had besought the Lord and He had granted him favor to return to the land, and this is the condition in the land, where he has come to further restore the worship of the Lord. Consequently, his next act is to confess that Israel has again forsaken the Lord’s commandments. God had warned Joshua and Israel that it was a foul and filthy land of pagan worship when they entered it, and they should not let themselves be contaminated by it. To prevent this they were admonished not to take daughters of the heathen for their sons nor give their daughters to the sons of the heathen. Their blessing and physical welfare depended on their adherence to the Lord’s precepts, and they had failed.
Ezra admitted that the Lord’s chastisement was less than Israel had deserved. God had given them this deliverance though they had remained most of them content to dwell among the heathen. And those who had seemed more devoted to the Lord, who had made the sacrifices to leave their foreign lands, had brought up in the succeeding generations, children who went back on all that for which they had been judged and again were intermarrying with the idolatrous people of the land. Ezra feared that the Lord would be so angry with them after this as to utterly consume them.
Finally, Ezra confessed the righteousness of the Lord, though the sinning remnant remained in the land, escaped from bondage. He places them in the Lord’s hands, with their trespasses, for they have no standing, or answer. There is no excuse. Is it not so with many professing Christians today? Is God any better pleased with these than He was with the Jewish remnant? (cf. Psa 130:3-5).
Some lessons which may be learned: 1) Satan quickly finds ways to dampen the zeal of the godly; 2) when one repents, or grieves for sin, others may join him; 3) the godly should have a time of prayer and meditation with the Lord; 4) God’s grace grants His righteousness to those undeserving; 5) in all things there is nothing better than to leave all in the hands of a merciful God.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5-15) Ezras prayer of confession and deprecation.
(5) And at the evening sacrifice I arose up.Until the afternoon Ezra had sat silent and in grief before the Temple, and in presence of the people. Then, amidst the solemnities of the sacrifice, he uttered the prayer which he had been meditating.
(6) And said, O my God.The confession begins with O my God; but Ezra is the representative of the people, and it proceeds O our God (Ezr. 9:10), without once returning to the first person.
(7) Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass.In these Common Prayers of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, the race of Israel is regarded as one, and national sins as one great trespass. The repetition of this day at the beginning and at the end of the verse is to be observed: in the former place in reference to the sin; in the latter in reference to the punishment.
(8) A little space.The little here and at the close of the sentence are emphatic. All the present tokens of mercy are said at the conclusion of the prayer (Ezr. 9:14) to be conditional in their continuance. The little space from the time of Cyrus was nearly two generations; but it was a moment only in relation to the past and the possible future. The idea is inverted in Isa. 54:7 : For a small moment have I forsaken thee.
Nail in his holy place.The Temple was itself the sure nail on which all their hopes hung.
A little reviving.Literally, make us a little life. The present revival was but the beginning, and still by manifold tokens precarious.
(9) We were bondmen.Better, we are bondmen. In this lies the emphasis of the appeal.
A wall.Like the nail, a figurative expression for security. The literal wall was not yet rebuilt. This completes the description of Divine mercy: first, the people were a delivered remnant; the Temple was a sure nail for the future of religion; and their civil estate was made secure.
(10) After this.But all was a mercy for which there had been no adequate return.
(11) Saying.In the later Old Testament Scriptures the quotation of the earlier is often of this character, giving the substance of many passages. The same style is observable in the New Testament.
(12) Give not your daughters.See Deu. 7:3, the only place where the interdict includes both daughters and sons. It is observable that the giving of daughters in marriage to heathens is not mentioned either in Ezra or in Nehemiah.
Nor seek their peace.An evident echo of that most stern injunction in Deu. 23:6.
(15) O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous.The solemn invocation shows that this is a summary of the whole prayer: Gods righteousness is magnified, as accompanied by the grace which had preserved them, although as only a remnant; and as such covered with their trespasses; and especially with this the present trespass, the guilt of which underlies all.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Fell upon my knees The appropriate attitude of an agonizing supplicant.
Spread out my hands Thus further indicating his own helplessness, and his imploring condition of soul.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezra’s Admission Of Israel’s Guilt Before YHWH On Behalf Of The People ( Ezr 9:5-15 ).
When the time of the evening sacrifice came, no doubt feeling that this act of atonement and dedication on the behalf of the whole of Israel was a suitable time , Ezra then rose from his sitting position and fell on his knees with his arms spread out towards YHWH. This presumably indicated spreading out his hands towards the sanctuary. And then he confessed before YHWH the sin of the people in the face of God’s gracious love towards them.
It was a prayer that suited the particular occasion only, not of a kind for general use, and is totally an admission of guilt. He does not even ask for mercy. He just leaves what response God will make in the hands of God. His prayer may in fact have been longer, but the gist of it is given here, for it is not only a prayer admitting guilt but is also an attempt to lead the people into similarly admitting their guilt, and that involved awakening their thoughts to the truth of the situation. He wants them to see the stark reality of what they have done>
Ezr 9:5
‘And at the evening oblation I rose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to YHWH my God,’
He had been sitting there with his garment and robe torn (Ezr 9:3), in a condition that demonstrated his humiliation, and it was in that condition that at the time of the daily evening sacrifice, he rose up and fell on his knees before God with his arms outstretched towards the Temple.
Ezr 9:6
‘And I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up to the heavens.”
Praying on behalf of the people he admitted to God the shame that ‘he’ felt concerning what ‘they all together’ had done. (‘I am ashamed — our iniquities’). He was so ashamed that he himself blushed at the thought of lifting up his face towards God. And this was because the sins of the new Israel, (in which he included himself), had grown and increased over their heads and their guilt had grown even up to the heavens. ‘Increased over our head’ probably indicates that they had got so big that they could not be contained within themselves but multiplied over their heads before God.
Ezra accepted communal responsibility. If Israel had sinned then he had sinned. He had not taken an idolatrous foreign wife but he shared guilt with those who had because he shared responsibility for what happened in the community. This was not just an ancient belief, there was logic to it, for the community should have done something to prevent it happening.
Ezr 9:7
“Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day, and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.”
By continuing in the sins of their (pre-exilic) fathers they shared their guilt, and they also shared in what had historically happened to them. It was that that was the cause of their present condition. For it was due to ‘our’ iniquities that they (Israel and its anointed ones, kings and priests) had been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, suffering the sword, captivity, plunder and total embarrassment right up to this day. These were the sore judgments described in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the curses on those who broke the covenant, which Israel had suffered again and again through history, as the book of Kings reveals. And they were still suffering under them to some extent. The sword and plunder were a common hazard at the hands of their adversaries and of lawless bands.
This must not be interpreted as signifying that they must necessarily continue to suffer for the sins of their fathers, for the very idea behind the putting away of idolatrous foreign wives was in order to ensure God’s continuing favour. Corporate responsibility did not mean that there was no way out. If they repented they would not suffer for the sins of their fathers.
‘The kings of the lands.’ This may refer to the kings of the great empires, Assyria, Babylon, Persia. Neh 9:32 speaks of ‘from the time when the kings of Assyria oppressed us to this day’. But Ezra may have had in mind all oppressing kings.
Ezr 9:8
“And now for a little moment grace has been shown from YHWH our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.”
But while they were still not truly free and were still in bondage to the Persian empire, God ‘for a little moment’ had shown them His unmerited favour and love (grace) in giving them a remnant who had escaped from exile, and were firmly established in His holy place, where God could enlighten their eyes and give them a little reviving of life even though they were in bondage. His ‘for a little moment’ contained within it the hint that it might not carry on unless they truly repented.
The remnant here is not simply those who survive disaster, as the word indicated when they were in the land, but has in mind specifically those who have returned to the land as a remnant of His people. He sees the people who have returned as very much the true Israel.
‘To give us a nail (or ‘tent peg’).’ This may indicate that God has firmly encamped them in his holy place so that they are ‘tent-pegged’ there (compare Isa 54:2), or that He has given them a nail as a means of support by providing them with reliable leaders (compare Isa 22:23). ‘His holy place’ may be the Temple, or Jerusalem, or even His land. In Psa 24:3 it indicates the Temple and it surrounds. In Psa 46:4 it indicates the city of God.
‘May lighten our eyes.’ Compare 1Sa 14:27, ‘he (Jonathan) dipped his rod in the honeycomb and put it to his mouth and his eyes were enlightened’. It describes the effect of good food for someone who is very hungry. Metaphorically therefore it signifies being revivified in spirit
Ezr 9:9
“For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended covenant love to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.”
Yet he recognised that they were still bondmen. He was under no grand illusions. Nevertheless God had shown His unmerited favour in that He had not forsaken them in their bondage, but had revealed His covenant love towards them, either in a way that could be observed by the kings of Persia, or by causing the kings of Persia to look favourably on them. And the consequence was that He (or they) had given them a reviving of life through the Law, through the setting up of the house of God, and the repairing of its ruins, and to ‘give them a wall in Judah and Jerusalem’. This last probably signified either the protection of the Persian empire, or the protection of God Himself as a consequence of His presence in the Temple among His people, rather than literal walls. The word for ‘walls’ is not the usual one for the walls of a city, but rather refers to fences round vineyards. Thus it indicates that Judah and Jerusalem are God’s vineyard under God’s protection. ‘A wall in Judah and Jerusalem’ would be a strange way to refer to the walls of Jerusalem.
Ezr 9:10-11
“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness, now therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ ”
But now his question is, what is he to say ‘after this’, that is after God has demonstrated His unmerited favour in this way? For unbelievably, after His goodness to them, they have done the very thing that their forefathers had done. They have allowed among them the very abominations (idols) that God had commanded them to cast out. Thus they had forsaken His commandments by allowing idols to enter into the very houses of His own people, His remnant who have returned to the land. They are turning it again into an unclean land as a result of these uncleannesses which have their source in the peoples of the land, and this in spite of God having forbidden them to take daughters from those peoples for themselves. Only by not taking these daughters will they be strong and eat the good of the land.
The citation is put together from a number of references in the Law and the prophets, e.g. Deu 7:1-3 – ‘the land to which you go to possess it –.’; Jos 22:19 – ‘if the land of your possession be unclean –’ (referring to a land which does not have in it the dwellingplace of YHWH); Lev 18:24-27 – ‘the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you, and the land is defiled — for all these abominations have the men of the land done who were before you and the land is defiled –’; 2Ki 21:16 – ‘Manasseh shed innocent blood — until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other –’; Deu 7:3 – ‘you shall not give his daughter to your son, nor will you take his daughter to your son –; Exo 34:16 – ‘And you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make your sons go a whoring after their gods –’ ; Deu 23:6 – you shall not seek their peace or their prosperity for ever –’; Isa 1:19 – ‘if you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land –’; see also Deu 11:8.
‘By your servants the prophets.’ Moses was seen as a supreme prophet (Deu 18:15; Deu 34:10). Compare also ‘his servants the prophets’ in 2Ki 21:10. See also Jer 7:25, and often.
Ezr 9:13-14
“And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant, shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples who do these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?”
Ezra then drew out before God the awfulness of what they were doing. He asked God whether, in view of the fact that He had punished them less than they deserved, after all that had come on them as a result of their evil behaviour and their great guiltiness, and had given them a remnant who had returned from exile, did He really think that they would again break His commandments and join in affinity with the very peoples who did these abominations? Surely it seemed impossible. Indeed would it not mean that He would be angry with them and consume them, so that as a consequence there would be no remnant, nor anyone to escape?
In other words he recognised that the people’s guilt was so great in doing what they had done, that really they could not hope for mercy any more. Having been given a second chance by deliverance, they had failed to take it. How could they then expect anything but the severest of judgment?
Ezr 9:15
“O YHWH, the God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left a remnant who have escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra does not pray for mercy. He does not ask forgiveness. He instead reminds YHWH that He is the Righteous One. In one sense that leaves them without hope because it means that He will judge righteously as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:25). But in another sense it means that He can bring to them His righteousness (Isa 46:13), so that in experiencing deliverance they can say, ‘Glory to the Righteous One’ (Isa 24:16). And it is this that Ezra is hoping for but dared not ask for.
He reminds YHWH that they are left as the remnant who have escaped as a consequence of His goodness, but immediately admits that that does not mean automatic pardon. He admits that they stand before Him in their guiltiness, something which means that none of them can stand before Him.
So his cry for mercy and pardon is unspoken and he recognises that that will all depend on God’s compassion as the One Who has chosen His remnant.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ezra’s Confession of the People’s Sin
v. 5. And at the evening sacrifice, v. 6. and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush, v. 7. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day, v. 8. And now for a little space, v. 9. For we were bondmen, v. 10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Thy commandments v. 11. which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants, the prophets, v. 12. Now, therefore, give not your daughters unto their Sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, v. 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass, v. 14. should we again break Thy commandments and Join in affinity with the people of these abominations, v. 15. O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 437
EZRAS HUMILIATION FOR THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE
Ezr 9:5-6. And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
IT is common both for individuals and Churches to appear hopeful before men, when a nearer acquaintance with them would furnish us with abundant cause of grief and shame. At Ezras coming to Jerusalem, about fourscore years after the Babylonish captivity, he found the temple built, and the ordinances of religion statedly performed. But on inquiring more particularly into the state of those who now inhabited the Holy Land, he received such information as filled him with the deepest anguish.
We propose to consider,
I.
The reason of his sorrow
Many of the people had connected themselves in marriage both with the Canaanites and other heathens around them. This he justly regarded as a most heinous evil,
1.
As being a violation of an express command
[Ezra himself speaks of it in this view [Note: ver. 1012. compared with Deu 7:2-3.]. It is possible that, whilst the generality sought only the gratification of their own corrupt appetites, the princes and rulers, who were chief in this matter, justified their conduct on the ground of policy. They might urge, that, being few in number, it was desirable, for their own preservation, to make alliances with those whose hostility they feared. It is certain that in this way many set their own reasoning in opposition to Gods revealed will. But reason is altogether out of its place on such occasions. Gods authority is not to be trampled on by us: we are not at liberty to sit in judgment on his commands, and to determine how far it is expedient to obey them: when once we are told, Thus saith the Lord, we have no option, no alternative left: a cheerful and unreserved compliance is our bounden duty, and our highest wisdom.]
2.
As having an evident tendency to bring the people back to idolatry
[It was for their idolatries more especially that the nation had been sent into captivity; and a recurrence of the same evils was most likely to result from so intimate a connexion with idolaters. This danger had been particularly pointed out, when the prohibition had been originally given [Note: Deu 7:4.]: and their disregard of this danger shewed how little they had profited by the judgments that had been inflicted on them, or the mercies that had been vouchsafed unto them. But thus it is with all who seek the friendship of the world: God has told them, that friendship with the world is enmity with God [Note: Jam 4:4.]; that it is impossible to maintain communion with both [Note: Mat 6:24, and 2Co 6:14-15.]; and that therefore all who cultivate the friendship of the world will be regarded and treated as the enemies of God [Note: 1Jn 2:15-17.]: yet they will run the risk, and for the sake of gratifying their corrupt wishes, will endanger the everlasting salvation of their souls. O that those who are inclined to take worldly persons for their associates, and especially those who are tempted to unite with them in the indissoluble bonds of marriage, would consider the guilt and danger of such measures, ere they bring upon themselves the wrath of an offended God! If only they would look around them and see the injury which others have sustained in their souls by such conduct, they would pause, and not venture to purchase any fancied good at so great a price.]
How great his sorrow on this occasion was, we may judge from,
II.
The expressions of it
That which first calls for our notice is, the expression of his grief the instant he was informed of their misconduct
[This was more violent than any of which we read in the Holy Scriptures. Often have men rent their mantle and their garments; but of him alone we are told that he plucked off the hair of his head and of his beard. In the first paroxysm of his grief he was almost distracted; yea, he was so overwhelmed as to be incapable of speech or action: hence he sat down astonied, as one altogether stupified through excess of sorrow. And shall we think all this extravagant? No truly, if we duly estimate the evil they had committed, and the danger to which the whole nation was reduced [Note: ver. 14.]. We are told of David, that horror took hold upon him, and that rivers of tears ran down his cheeks, because of those who kept not Gods law: and St. Paul appeals to God himself, that he had great sorrow and continual heaviness in his heart for his brethrens sake [Note: Rom 9:1-3.]. We may be sure therefore that the grief which Ezra manifested was no more than what the occasion called for.]
But his humiliation before God is that which more particularly demands our attention
[At the time of the evening sacrifice, as if revived and encouraged by the consideration of the great atonement, he arose from his heaviness, and fell upon his knees, and spread out his hands unto the Lord his God, and confessed with shame and anguish of heart both his own sins and the sins of all the people. What a just view had he of national transgressions! Many would have thought, that, because he disapproved of the evils that had been committed, he had no share in the guilt contracted by them, nor any occasion to humble himself before God on account of them: but the members of the body politic are, in their corporate capacity, like the members of the natural body, all to a certain degree responsible for those evils, which generally, though not universally, prevail among them. At the day of judgment indeed, none will have to answer for any thing but what they themselves were personally guilty of; but in this world, where alone nations can be dealt with as nations, we should consider ourselves as participating in whatever relates to the nation at large.
And here we cannot but admire the humility with which he confessed the sins of the nation before God, and the fervour with which he implored the forgiveness of them. O that we felt even for our own sins, as he felt for the sins of others! However fools may make a mock at it, sin is no light evil: there is no contrition too deep for us to feel on account of sin, nor any earnestness too great to use in order to obtain the remission of it. Let the view then of this holy man put us all to shame: let us bluch and be confounded at the thought that our repentance from day to day is so cold and superficial; and let us tremble for ourselves, lest we be found at last to have been hypocrites and dissemblers with God. We are told plainly enough what is that repentance which godly sorrow will produce [Note: 2Co 7:10-11.]: let us therefore look to it that we approve ourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Application
[And now, methinks, the evening sacrifice is just offered: now once, in the end of the world, hath Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [Note: Heb 9:26.]. O let our eyes be fixed on that Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world! Let us spread before him both our national and personal transgressions; and let us lay them all on the head of that heavenly victim; not doubting but that, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [Note: 1Jn 1:9.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
I would have the Reader observe, that until the hour of the evening sacrifice, the man of God expressed the perturbations of his mind in humble silence. Neither the rending of the garment, nor the mantle, could expiate the offence. Not all the silence, and humbleness of soul, could atone for it, or do it away. Neither tears, nor prayers, nor repentance, sweet signs as they are of the humbled state of the soul, can wash away sin. But Jesus alone, in his complete salvation, can make up the deadly breach. Oh! Reader! how precious is it to see Jesus, and his atoning blood, thus looked to by faith, in ages so long before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doth it not comfort your heart in the review? I profess, with all thankful acknowledgment to the Lord, it doth mine. We have another beautiful example, which the Lord favored the prophet Daniel with, in the preceding generation to this of Ezra, while in Babylon. Dan 9:3-21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
Ver. 5. I arose up from my heaviness ] In affliction, sc. of spirit, wherewith his heart was leavened and soured, as David’s was, Psa 73:21 ; embittered, as Peter’s, Mat 26:75 ; poured out upon him, as Job’s, Job 30:16 . He did really afflict himself with voluntary sorrows for the transgressions of his people.
And having rent, &c.
I fell upon my knees
And spread out my hands
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 9:5-9
5But at the evening offering I arose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the LORD my God; 6and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. 8But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
Ezr 9:5
NASBhumiliation
NKJV, NRSVmy fasting
TEVgrieving
NJBout of my stupor
This is the Hebrew term (BDB 777) for humiliation by fasting (cf. Ezr 8:21). Ezra had grieved all day with his spiritual companions. This represents sorrow and grief brought on by the knowledge of human sin and rebellion and its possible consequences for the whole group of restored Jews in Judah.
I fell on my knees The normal stance for Jewish prayer was standing with hands and eyes uplifted. Whenever kneeling or prostration is mentioned in the Bible it signifies intensity (cf. 1Ki 8:54; 2Ch 6:13; Psa 95:6; Isa 45:23; Dan 6:10).
stretched out my hands This is literally with palms up, which was the normal position for Jewish prayer (cf. Exo 9:29; Exo 9:33; 1Ki 8:22; 2Ch 6:12; Job 11:13; Psa 28:2; Psa 44:20; Psa 68:31; Psa 88:9; Psa 134:2; Psa 141:2; Psa 143:6; Isa 1:15).
the LORD my God This is the covenant title for the deity of Israel (e.g., Gen 2:4; Deu 6:4-5). YHWH refers to deity as the covenant-making Savior, while Elohim refers to deity as the creator, provider, and sustainer of all life. See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Ezr 9:6 I am ashamed. . .for our iniquities Here is a unique combination between individual and corporate responsibility. Ezra, as all great OT leaders, identifies himself with a sinning, covenant community (e.g., Dan 9:4-19; Neh 9:5-38).
ashamed and embarrassed The two VERBS (BDB 101, KB 116, Qal PERFECT) are often found together in the prophets.
1. Isa 30:3-5; Isa 41:11; Isa 45:16-17; Isa 50:7; Isa 54:4
2. Jer 20:11; Jer 22:22; Jer 31:19
3. Eze 16:52; Eze 16:54; Eze 36:22
our iniquities. . .our guilt This is prose, but structured in parallel thought. The sin of these leaders is so big that it reaches heaven (i.e., God takes notice, e.g., Jer 51:9; Rev 18:5).
Risen above our heads may be an idiom for an overwhelming flood (cf. Psa 38:4) or a great wall between us and God (cf. Psa 40:12).
Ezr 9:7 Ezra recognizes that the very rebellion which had caused the military defeat of the Israelites throughout the years, has returned (cf. Nehemiah 9). These leaders had not trembled at the words of God (cf. Ezr 9:4)! They had flaunted their positions and power. The curses (cf. Deuteronomy 27-29) of mixing with Canaan had manifested again!
Nehemiah gives an historical account of Israel’s history in Ezr 9:6-15. It was a history of their unfaithfulness, but YHWH’s mercy and faithfulness.
have been given into the hand of the kings of the land Menaham and Pekah (kings of Israel) were given into the hand of Tiglath-Pileser (Assyria); Hoshea was given into the hand of Shalmaneser or Sargon II (Assyria); Manasseh (king of Judah) was given into the hand of Esarhaddon (Assyria); Josiah was given into the hand of Pharaoh Necho II (Egypt); Jehoachin, Jehoakim, Jehoachin, and Zedekiah were given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylon).
Again Ezra’s prose is poetic and patterned. It is represented in English as a series of INFINITIVES.
1. to the sword
2. to captivity
3. to plunder
4. to open shame
Ezr 9:8 Notice that the unchanging character of the God of covenant mercy, and not the people’s performance, is the key to His people’s hope (cf. Eze 36:22-38). Yet, obedience is a covenant requirement. In the OT, it was the condition of blessing that fallen mankind could not achieve; in the NT it is a gift of YHWH to which fallen mankind must respond in faithfulness. Obedience is not the basis of covenant hope, but the result of God’s merciful character (cf. Jer 31:31-34, the new covenant). The goal of both the OT and NT is a people who reflect God’s character. Obedience is still crucial (cf. Luk 6:46; John 15).
to leave us an escaped remnant These people were the beginning of God’s new covenant people (cf. Ezr 9:13-15). If they wilfully sinned, what would become of the promises of God to the world (cf. Ezr 9:9, in the sight of the kings of Persia). Remnant terminology and theology is most common in Isaiah (cf. Isa 1:9; Isa 4:3; Isa 10:20-22; Isa 11:11-16; Isa 46:3) and in Amos (Amo 1:8; Amo 5:3; Amo 5:15; Amo 9:12). See Special Topic: THE REMNANT, THREE SENSES .
a peg in His holy place This is a metaphor from Israel’s nomadic period which describes their new foothold in the Promised Land. It was drawn from putting up secure tents (cf. Isa 22:23; Isa 33:20; Zec 10:4). It was also used as an idiom for blessing (cf. Isa 54:2-3).
that our God may Ezra prays for two merciful acts of God (these may be parallel, the first is an idiom for the second):
1. enlighten our eyes
2. revive amidst our bondage
This is not what they deserved. They deserved judgment, but because God wants to use them to bless a world (cf. Ezr 9:9; Gen 12:3; Exo 19:5-6) Ezra prays to His compassion and larger redemptive purpose (cf. Isa 60:1-3; Isa 60:19-20).
Ezr 9:9 Here Ezra uses contrasting statements to make his theological point.
1. YHWH has not forsaken us (BDB 736, KB 806, Qal PERFECT, cf. Gen 24:27; Isa 49:14; Isa 55:7).
2. YHWH has extended lovingkindness to us (BDB 639, KB 692, Hiphil IMPERFECT, cf Ezr 7:28).
There are several places in the OT where this word, forsaken (BDB 736), is used in contrasting senses. YHWH has not forsaken or abandoned, but His people have forsaken and abandoned Him (cf. Deu 31:16-17; 2Ch 12:5; 2Ch 13:10-11; 2Ch 15:2; 2Ch 24:20; and Ezr 9:9-10, taken from NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 365).
lovingkindness This is the Hebrew NOUN hesed (BDB 338). It developed a special connotation as the covenant word which describes God’s loyalty and love to His covenant people. See Special Topic: Lovingkindness (Hesed) .
to restore its ruins This may be an allusion to the restoration prophecy of Isa 44:24-28 (esp. Isa. 9:26).
a wall in Judah and Jerusalem This is another metaphor and it does not relate directly to the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Zec 2:4-5). The Hebrew term (BDB 154) means an enclosing wall or a rock wall showing ownership; so this refers to the covenant people being restored to the land of promise, in order that all the world can see the mercy and power of God in fulfilling His covenant promises (e.g., Gen 15:12-21)!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
having rent = having already rent.
I feel upon my knees. Compare Ezr 10:1. 2Ch 6:13. Dan 6:10. Luk 22:41. Act 7:60; Act 9:40; Act 20:36; Act :21:5.
the LORD.Hebrew Jehovah.App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ezr 9:5-15
Ezr 9:5-15
EZRA’S PRAYER REGARDING ISRAEL’S SIN IN THE MIXED MARRIAGES
“And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God; and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness: now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity forever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant, shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness;for none can stand before thee because of this.”
“At the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation” (Ezr 9:5). “This is probably to be identified with the ninth hour (3:00 P.M.) (Act 3:1).”
“Our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens” (Ezr 9:6). This was also the conviction of Nehemiah (Neh 9:29-35), and likewise that of Daniel (Dan 9:5-8). “The captivity had effectively done its work in convincing a previously proud and self-righteous nation of their gross wickedness and unfaithfulness to God.”
“Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty” (Ezr 9:7). “The guilt which Ezra confessed was not merely that of his contemporary generation but that of their whole history. The guilt of the corporate community transcended that of a given generation.”
“To give us a nail in his holy place” (Ezr 9:8). “This metaphor is probably derived from a tent-pin, driven into the earth to secure the tent.”
“We are bondmen … God hath not forsaken us … to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezr 9:9). Although the Persian kings had granted favors to the Jews regarding their return to Jerusalem and the building of their temple, they nevertheless still remained subjects of the Persian king, bound to obey him in everything. The mention of “a wall” here does not mean that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. “The word wall means a fence, and is used of a fence around a vineyard; and it is used here metaphorically for protection.”
“Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets” (Ezr 9:11). Ezra here, by the words, “The land unto which ye go to possess it,” clearly had the Mosaic age in mind; and we have already cited three references in the Books of Moses that forbade foreign covenants including marriages; but the mention here of “prophets” has led some scholars to point out that there are no specific commandments in the prophets regarding this. However, as Moses was the Great Prophet unto whom even the Christ was compared; and since all of the prophets endorsed the Mosaic Law and commanded the people to observe it, “It was proper for Ezra to designate the Mosaic Law as the sayings of the prophets also.”
“God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezr 9:13). It is significant that Ezra includes himself along with the guilty people, identifying himself in every way with the sinful nation. Note also that he acknowledges the righteous judgment of God in the acceptance of his punishments as being “less than they deserved.”
We appreciate Bowman’s rejection of the criticism of some radical scholars who deny the authenticity of this prayer, on the basis of several, erroneous assumptions and `guesses.’ He wrote: “This prayer does not have an artificial or secondary nature, but is psychologically as well as historically appropriate. It is relevant to the occasion and necessary for the development of the situation.”
This magnificent prayer was used by the Lord to rally Israel around Ezra and to provide sufficient support for the drastic rejection of the mixed marriages.
E.M. Zerr:
Ezr 9:5. At that hour it would be necessary for Ezra to be concerned with the religious activities, including an address to God as well as the regular sacrifice.
Ezr 9:6. Increased over our heads signified that their iniquities were not confined to their personal surroundings; that they had reached up to the notice of high heaven. Ezra was not personally guilty of any of the evils present, but his concern for the nation was so great that he was overwhelmed with humiliation.
Ezr 9:7. This verse is a general view of the history of the people, going back to the first generations. As a whole, the record of the nation was one of shameful disobedience, and it had brought them into contact with the heathen lands, whose people had been suffered to afflict them with the sword and other means of torture.
Ezr 9:8. This verse comes down to the more favorable conditions at present surrounding the better part of the congregation. Little space is a comparative term, referring to the period that followed the 70 years of captivity. The remnant was noted in Ezr 2:64, which see. When nail is used figuratively it means a fixed place. It here applied to the assurance that, while the nation had been subjected to great humiliation, yet through the preservation of the remnant, the people of God would still have a secure abode in the holy place, which was the temple in Jerusalem. Reviving refers to the renewed hope that had been brought to the remnant by the favorable turn of affairs through the king of Persia.
Ezr 9:9. Were bondmen refers to the 70 years of captivity, during which time God kept a jealous eye over his people. And when their term of bondage was served out, the people who had been God’s instruments for the chastisement due them, were themselves overthrown. The Persians came into power and would have been the overlords to continue the bondage of the people of God. But that was not the divine will, and the new rulers were infiuenced to be merciful to the captives they found in the country they took over. Reviving is defined in Strong’s lexicon as “preservation of life.” That was not restricted to the physical life of the individual, but applied to them as a nation. By granting the Jews a release from bondage, and by authorizing the restoration of their temple, their national existence also was preserved. A wall in Judah means that a defense was assured them, since a wall about a city was one of its fortifications. While the word is used figuratively in this place, yet it had a literal application in its effect, for Ezr 7:26 decreed that force should be used if necessary to protect the Jews in the privileges granted them by the Persian government.
Ezr 9:10-11. This paragraph starts with what is a question in form, but rather is an admission that something worthwhile should be done. The reasons for the admissions are then stated. The people had forsaken the commandments of God concerning the land into which they had been led by divine grace. They had been told beforehand that the people of the land were filthy and abominable. For that and other reasons they had been forbidden to permit marriages between their own young people and those of the nations. This law had been disregarded, and now Ezra made an admission in question form, that something should be done about it. This paragraph was addressed to God. It will be interrupted temporarily to give attention to the people.
Ezr 9:12. In keeping with the agreement implied in his address to God in the preceding paragraph, Ezra then addressed himself to the people. It was on the subject that directly concerned the prevailing conditions, which pertained to their marriage relations. He forbade their marriages with the nations around them. They were not even to seek their peace, which means they were not to make any compromise with them in order to be at peace with them. As an inducement for such conduct, they were promised the best of the land for their enjoyment, and to be able to leave it for their children when they were gone.
Ezr 9:13. Ezra then addressed himself to God again, and the whole speech was in the spirit of confession, and acknowledgement for the many favors they had received from the Lord. It also acknowledged that the punishment inflicted on them was less than they deserved. How different that spirit from what is so often manifested by the professed servants of God. We complain and speak of our lot as if it were unjust, when we should realize that if we were treated according to the just desert of our deeds, “we would long since have been lifting our piteous cries where hope and mercy can never reach.” Let us read carefully and ponder Psa 103:10.
Ezr 9:14. Ezra continued his prayer and lamentation to God. While it was in question form, it was a declaration of the unreasonableness of their thought of disobeying God, after he has done so much for them. Should they do so, it should be expected that God would be angry with them and bring them to final destruction.
Ezr 9:15. After exclaiming that God is righteous, Ezra gave a logical reason for his statement. It was the fact that they had yet escaped, notwithstanding the great sins of the nation. Before thee in our trespass means that their trespasses were exposed before God. We cannot stand signifies they had no justification to face the Lord in their awful sinful condition.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
heaviness: or, affliction
I fell: 2Ch 6:13, Psa 95:6, Luk 22:41, Act 21:5, Eph 3:14
spread: Exo 9:29, Exo 9:33, 1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:38, 1Ki 8:54, Psa 141:2, Psa 143:6, Isa 1:15
Reciprocal: Exo 29:41 – offer Num 28:4 – and the other Jdg 20:26 – wept 1Sa 7:6 – We have sinned 1Ki 8:33 – pray 1Ki 18:36 – at the time 2Ki 19:14 – spread it 2Ch 6:24 – pray Son 2:14 – that art Isa 37:1 – and went Eze 9:8 – that I Dan 6:10 – he kneeled Dan 9:3 – with Dan 9:21 – the time Dan 10:2 – I Daniel Act 7:60 – he kneeled Act 10:30 – I was
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A HEAVY-HEARTED LEADER
My Heaviness.
Ezr 9:5
I. On Ezras arrival at Jerusalem complaint was made to him of the failure and sin of the people.What an appalling story it was, that during these sixty years, even though there had been no return to heathen idolatry, there had been the wilful breaking of Gods law about inter-mixture with the people of the land, and the chief offenders had been the princes and the rulers. The picture of Ezra in the presence of this confession is very fine. It is that of a man tempest-tossed with righteous indignation. As the storm of his passion subsided, in which he had rent his garments and plucked off his beard, he sank into silent astonishment until the evening oblation.
II. Then he fell upon his knees before his God and poured out his soul in prayer.It was a wonderful prayer. Beginning with confession of his personal shame, he at once gathered into his outcry the whole of the people, identifying himself with them as he spoke of our iniquities our guiltiness, and so forth. He went back over all the history in imagination as he knelt before his God, and clearly saw that it had been one long story of failure and of consequent disaster. He then spoke of his consciousness of the grace of God manifest in the making possible of the return of the remnant through favour of the kings of Persia. Then the surging sorrow of the new failure found expression in free and full confession, until at last, without any petition for deliverance, he cast the people before God with a recognition of His righteousness, and of their inability to stand in its presence. It is a fine revelation of the only attitude in which any man can become a mediator. The passion of the whole movement is evidence of its reality. No man can really know the righteousness of God, and in its light see sin, and be quiet and calculating and unmoved.
Illustrations
(1) Ezra speaks as the true priest. During the years which had passed since the first detachment of exiles had returned, though there had been no return to idolatry, there had been a large amount of intermarriage between the Jews and the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had settled on the land, as well as with neighbouring peoples. And, sad to say, the hand of the princes and priests had been chief in this trespass. Ezras behaviour when these tidings were brought to him was very remarkable. He seemed almost distraught.
(2) They are most ill-matched who have not common interests in the deepest concerns of the soul. Then it needs to be remembered in these days, when ease and comfort are unduly prized, that there are occasions on which even the peace and love of the home must be sacrificed to the supreme claims of God. Our Lord ominously warned His disciples that He would send a sword to sever the closest domestic tiesto set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, etc., and He added He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Ezr 9:5. I rose up from my heaviness From that mournful posture, and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. He did this at the time of the evening sacrifice, because then devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, that, hearing his confession, they likewise might be made sensible of the sins of the people. And he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 9:5-15. Ezras Confession.
Ezr 9:5. at the evening Oblation: therefore in the presence of the assembled worshippers.
Ezr 9:7. from the days of our fathers: i.e. from the times of the patriarchs onwards.
Ezr 9:8. a nail in his holy place: lit. a tent-peg in, etc.; the rendering in the Greek Ezra is to be preferred, viz.: a root and a name in the place of thy sanctuary.in our bondage: the expression is a strong one; the Jews, though dependents of the Persian king, were not in servitude in the sense that their fathers had been in Egypt.
Ezr 9:9. a wall: lit. a fence; cf. Isa 5:5; the word is used of a fence round vineyards; it is used metaphorically for protection, and does not, of course, refer to the wall of the city, which was in ruins (see Neh 2:11-17).
Ezr 9:11. by thy servants the prophets saying . . .: cf. Deu 7:1-3; Deu 23:7. Ezra regards the teaching of the Law as identical with that of the prophets, and vice versa, and is thus the first to enunciate a principle which is often insisted upon in later Jewish literature.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Ezra’s prayer 9:5-15
The priests presented the evening offering (Ezr 9:5) between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Jesus’ day. [Note: Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Service, p. 144.] This was the traditional time for this offering. Ezra’s prayer contains four primary characteristics: solidarity, confession, readiness to change, and faith in God’s mercy. [Note: McConville, pp. 63-65.] In his sermonic prayer, Ezra identified with the body of believers, even though he had not personally participated in their sin (cf. Dan 9:4-19).
"In a time like today in which individuality is emphasized, people cannot always understand this attitude. For the Israelites, and later for the Jews, the Lord contracted a covenant with all the people and not only with individuals. All the people were responsible for the acts of every individual or group (cf. also Judges 19-21)." [Note: Fensham, The Books . . ., pp. 123-24.]
We enter into the blessing and discipline of others simply because we are part of the group to which we belong.
Ezra’s posture (Ezr 9:5) reflected his attitude of humility and submission to God. Israel had departed from God’s revealed will. Ezra confessed this as sin (Ezr 9:6-7; Ezr 9:10). He also thanked God for His grace to the immigrants (Ezr 9:8-9). The "peg" (Ezr 9:8) in view could refer to both the temple [Note: Whitcomb, p. 431.] and the returned exiles. [Note: The New Scofield Reference Bible, p. 543.] These were the first small beginnings of a larger establishment in the land that would follow, as the pounding in of a tent peg is the first step in erecting a tent. It was "a foothold."
"This is language from nomadic life, and it refers to a place reached after a long journey where a tent may be pitched." [Note: Fensham, The Books . . ., p. 129.]
"A little grace had been granted by God to his people; a small remnant had found its weary way back to its home and driven a single peg into its soil; a solitary ray of light was shining; a faint breath of freedom lightened their slavery." [Note: Slotki, p. 166.]
Ezra summarized the teaching of former prophets in Ezr 9:11-12. Then he reflected on the destiny of the Israelites (Ezr 9:13-15). He contrasted Israel’s sin and guilt with God’s holiness and righteousness. He made no request or promise. He just confessed the sin of the people and reflected on its significance. This is one of the great prayers God recorded in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Chronicles 6; Nehemiah 9; Daniel 9). It illustrates how a faithful individual should respond to the sins of the people among whom he or she lives.