Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 9:12

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave [it] for an inheritance to your children forever.

12. Now therefore give not, &c.] This sentence reproduces the substance of Deu 7:3 ‘Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son’.

nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever ] R.V. or their prosperity. This phrase is found in Deu 23:6 ‘Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever’, where the Ammonites and Moabites are especially referred to. The words had probably become almost proverbial. Here its application is destitute of any reference to the context in Deuteronomy 23. The thought reproduces the prohibition of Exo 23:32 ‘Thou shalt make no covenant with them (i.e. the inhabitants of the land) nor with their gods’. Compare Jer 29:7 ‘And seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captive’.

that ye may be strong ] The same blessing is promised Deu 11:8 ‘Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment that ye may be strong’. The power to maintain God’s gift was the measure of their true prosperity.

and eat the good of the land ] Isa 1:19 ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land’. The present enjoyment of the gift. The clause, in spite of the reference to ‘the land’, has no verbal parallel in the Pentateuch.

and leave it for an inheritance ] The blessing perpetuated. Practically equivalent to ‘That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee’. Cf. Deu 11:9. The allusion to Pro 13:22; Eze 37:25 can only be of the most shadowy kind.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Nor seek their peace; but root them out, as I have commanded you to do; which also they have abundantly deserved, both of mine and of your hands. See Deu 7:2.

That ye may be strong: although you may fancy that this way of making leagues and marriages with them is the only way to establish and settle you, yet I assure you it will weaken and ruin you, and the contrary course will make you stronger.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons,…. That is, in marriage, see De 7:3, where the prohibition is expressed in the same language:

nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever; that is, as long as they continue in their idolatries and impurities, see De 23:6,

that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever; that they might be strengthened and established in the land into which they were brought, and enjoy all the good things it produced, and leave their children in the possession of it, to hold at least until the Messiah came, see Isa 1:19.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

12. Nor seek their peace or their wealth Quoted from Deuteronomy xxiii, 6. The sense is, thou shalt not make it an object of care to promote the welfare or prosperity of the heathen.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Ezr 9:12 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.

Ver. 12. Now therefore give not your daughters ] Unless ye have a mind to pitch them into the mouth of hell. See Ezr 9:2 . See Trapp on “ Ezr 9:2 “

Nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever ] For they were devoted by God to utter destruction; and therefore Israel might have no intercourse with them. The Jews at this day count and call us Canaanites, Edomites, &c., and hold it an almsdeed to knock us on the head. The best among the Gentiles, say they, is worthy cui caput conteratur tanquam serpenti, to be killed up as a serpent. Tacitus long since observed of them, that as they were very kind to their own, so to all others they bare a deadly hatred. Thrice a day in their prayers they curse us Christians, and in Polony (where they have a toleration) they print base and blasphemous things against Christ and religion (Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 5).

That ye may be strong ] viz. By my presence amongst you and providence over you; for cui adhaereo, praeest, as Queen Elizabeth could write; how much more may God Almighty, he whom I favour is sure to prevail.

And eat the good of the land ] The best of the best, the finest wheat, the choicest fruit, and those a pledge and foretaste of the happiness of heaven, where there is nec fames, nec fastidium (as one saith), neither lack nor loathing, neither measure nor mixture, but sweetest varieties, felicities, eternities.

And leave it for an inheritance ] Personal goodness is profitable to posterity: the righteous shall leave inheritance to his children’s children, Pro 13:22 . God never casteth out his good tenants, nor leaveth his servants unprovided for. See Psa 103:17 ; Psa 112:1-2 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

nor seek their peace. Reference to Pentateuch: the very words of Deu 23:6.

children = sons.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

give not: Exo 23:32, Exo 34:16, Deu 7:3, Jos 23:12, Jos 23:13

nor seek their peace: Deu 23:6, 2Ch 19:2, 2Jo 1:10, 2Jo 1:11

that ye may: Deu 6:1, Deu 6:2, Jos 1:6-9

and eat: Isa 1:19

and leave it: Gen 18:18, Gen 18:19, Psa 112:1, Psa 112:2, Pro 13:22, Pro 20:7

Reciprocal: Gen 6:2 – and they Gen 45:20 – the good Jdg 3:6 – General 1Ki 11:2 – Ye shall not go in 1Ch 28:8 – leave it Neh 10:30 – General Neh 13:23 – married Hos 7:8 – he hath Mal 2:11 – and hath Act 11:8 – unclean 2Co 6:14 – unequally

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge