Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 10:5
Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore.
5. Ezra’s prompt action: an oath administered to the princes.
the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel ] R.V. the chiefs of the priests. Here as in Ezr 8:29 the A.V. by rendering ‘chief priests’ gives an erroneous meaning. ‘The chiefs’ here spoken of are the princes or leaders of the three groups into which the people divides itself at this time, priests, Levites, and Israel or laity. Cf. ‘the chiefs of the priests’ (2Ch 36:14), ‘the chiefs of the Levites’ (2Ch 35:9), ‘the princes (or chiefs) of Judah’ (Neh 12:31), ‘the princes of the people’ (Neh 11:1). The rendering of the LXX. ( … ) seems to make ‘the princes’ or chiefs a separate class from the priests and the Levites.
Ezra’s policy was at once to bind to his side the leaders of the people. By administering to them the oath of cooperation in the work of reform, while public feeling was still intensely aroused, he secured from them a public assurance of support. After that, they could not well recede from their oath. If they did not second his efforts, their hands were effectually tied. In dealing with a community which was to all intents and purposes a religious oligarchy, to compromise the chiefs or princes in his favour was the first and surest step to a successful result.
according to this word ] i.e. Shecaniah’s proposal that the people should put away from them the foreign women, whom they had married.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. And they sware.] The thing was evidently contrary to the law of God; and now he bound them by an oath to rectify the abuse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
5-8. Then Ezra . . . went into thechamber of JohananAt a private council of the princes andelders held there, under the presidency of Ezra, it was resolved toenter into a general covenant to put away their foreign wives andchildren; that a proclamation should be made for all who had returnedfrom Babylon to repair within three days to Jerusalem, under pain ofexcommunication and confiscation of their property.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then arose Ezra,…. From the ground where he lay:
and made the chief priests, and the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word: he took an oath of all that were present to do what was proposed, namely, to put away strange wives and their children:
and they sware; by means of which they were kept to their word of promise, an oath being a solemn, sacred, thing.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Then Ezra (who during this speech had continued upon his knees) arose, and made the chiefs of the priests, of the Levites, and of all Israel swear to do according to this word; and they swore. is Shecaniah’s proposal to put away the strange wives.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
2. The decision is shared by the leaders, and an assembly is ordered.
TEXT, Ezr. 10:5-8
5
Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel, take oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath.
6
Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he did not eat bread, nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
7
And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should assemble at Jerusalem,
8
and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
COMMENT
His next step was to invite compliance by all of the nation. He first got the support of the leaders of each of the three groups: priests, Levites, and all Israel. These were required to take an oath; for more on this, see the Word Studies that follow.
According to Ezr. 10:6 he spent the night in fasting and mourning in the quarters of one of the priests in the Temple. Here in all likelihood the two worked out the details of their course of action.
Some speculation has arisen whether the Jehohanan of this verse is the high priest Johanan mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri. The idea is tremendously fascinating, but if it is so it would require dating this part of Ezra fifty years later than we had supposed: later, in fact, than Nehemiah. As it is, the Jehohanan of Ezr. 10:6 is not identified as the high priest; in fact, the book of Ezra never refers to any individual, even Jeshua, by this title.
With Ezr. 10:7 their plan begins to unfold; they call an assembly of all the exiles at Jerusalem.
Ezr. 10:8 specifies that they (the men) must appear within three days. This would not have been unreasonable since they still had not spread out very far from Jerusalem. The authority back of the order was that of the leaders and elders. Penalty for not appearing in person would be the loss of all their possessions, and their expulsion from the community. The land basically was the Lords, and it was distributed among the people in His name for their use, though He continued to hold title to it: therefore their continued occupancy was conditioned on their obedience to Him.
WORD STUDIES
COVENANT (Ezr. 10:3, Berith): comes from the verb, eat. To make (literally, cut) a covenant, persons butchered and cut up a domestic vegetarian (peaceful) animal (see Genesis 15) and arrived at their agreements around a table of good fellowship. Peace treaties, religious obligations, personal contracts were all sealed in this way. Gods covenant with man always had this connotation of fellowship, or sharing, including His obligation to bless if the covenant was kept.
TAKE OATH (Ezr. 10:8, Shaba): swear, to seven oneself. Seven, a sacred number, calls attention also to offerings that would be made to seal an oath (Gen. 21:28 ff).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
5. Made all Israel to swear That is, all Israel that were present and represented on that occasion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Who but must admire the holy zeal of Ezra? What a wonderful attempt it must have been? What a crucifixion of the flesh with its affections and lusts? Do, Reader, observe how the Lord seemed to answer the droppings of his people’s tears by the droppings of the heavens in rain. This heavy rain is spoken of as being evidently a peculiar manifestation, intimating that God looked on and took part in the reform of the people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ezr 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
Ver. 5. Then arose Ezra ] According to the counsel of Shechaniah, Ezr 10:4 . “How forcible are right words!” Job 6:25 . One seasonable speech, falling upon a prepared heart, hath oft a strong and sweet operation; as that similitude used by Peter Martyr, reading upon the First to the Corinthians, had upon Galeacius Caracciolus, that noble Italian convert; and as some speeches of Staupicius had upon Luther, who was likewise much confirmed and cheered up by conference with an old priest at Erfurt, who largely discoursed about justification by faith, and explained the articles of the Creed to him (Life of Luther, by Mr Clark).
And made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 10:5-8
5Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, take oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath. 6Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. 7They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, 8and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
Ezr 10:5 priests. . .Levites. . .Israel These were the three levels of Jewish society (cf. Ezr 9:1).
take oath This VERB (BDB 989, KB 1396) is used twice in this verse (Hiphil IMPERFECT andNiphal IMPERFECT). It means to swear to God as an act of worship (cf. Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; Eze 16:8). Ezra believed they had a change of heart, but still required that they act on that change both by actions (cf. Ezr 10:4) and oath.
Ezr 10:6 Jehohanan the son of Eliashib Many have used this person to assert that Ezra is chronologically after Nehemiah, but both are very common names and we cannot be too dogmatic on the sketchy history of this period.
The name Eliashib can refer to
1. a person who helped Ezra (cf. Ezr 10:6; Neh 12:10; Neh 12:22-23)
2. a Levitical singer who had married a pagan (cf. Ezr 10:24)
3. a son of Zattu who had married a pagan (cf. Ezr 10:27)
4. a son of Bani who had married a pagan (cf. Ezr 10:36)
5. the high priest during Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 3:1; Neh 3:20-21; Neh 13:4; Neh 13:7; Neh 13:28)
The name Jehohanan can refer to
1. a son of Bebai who married a pagan (cf. Ezr 10:6)
2. a priest who returned with Zerubabbel (cf. Neh 12:13)
3. a Levitical singer who participated in the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 12:43)
These are both very common names and they cannot be identified with precision. For a good brief discussion of this issue of chronology, see Derek Kidner, Ezra and Nehemiah, Tyndale Commentary Series, pp. 146-158.
he did not eat bread nor drink water This was a total fast (cf. Exo 34:28; Deu 9:18; Jon 3:7). Ezra was very concerned about these acts of unfaithfulness towards YHWH (cf. Ezr 9:3-15; Ezr 10:1).
Ezr 10:7 It must be remembered how small the territory that the returnees had been allocated by the Persian court. Only Jerusalem and a small part of the territory of Judah before the exile made up post-exilic Judah. Therefore, it was possible for all the people to come to Jerusalem as Ezra commanded.
Ezr 10:8
NASB, NRSV,
NJBforfeited
NKJV, TEVconfiscated
This is the Hebrew term (BDB 355, KB 353, Hophal IMPERFECT) herem, which denotes something given to God (cf. Lev 27:28-29), like Jericho (cf. Deu 13:12-18; Jos 6:17-19; Jos 7:1; Jos 7:11; Jos 7:15, under the ban). Apparently those who refused to assemble also refused to put away their foreign wives and children, therefore, their property was given to the temple (or the priests, cf. Lev 27:21) and they personally were excommunicated (excluded, BDB 95, KB 110, Niphal IMPERFECT) from the people of God.
For a good brief discussion of herem, see Robert B. Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament, pp. 278-281.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the chief priests = the princes of the priests. Compare 2Ch 36:14.
the Levites. Some codices, with one early printed edition, read “and the Levites”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ezr 10:5-6
Ezr 10:5-6
THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE AND EZRA’S FAST
“Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespasses of them in the captivity.”
“By making the people to swear to follow the suggested course of action while feelings were still running high, Ezra ensured that there could be no turning back at a later stage.”
In Ezr 10:6, “The reference to Johanan the son of Eliashib has featured prominently in discussions of the date of Ezra.” However, Williamson in his award-winning commentary, after several pages of discussions regarding the bearing this passage is alleged to have regarding the date of Ezra, concluded that, “The issue is too uncertain to be admitted as evidence for the dating of Ezra.” In his conclusion Williamson affirmed his preference for the early date of Ezra.
Bowman identified the arguments from this passage that are alleged as excuses for dating Ezra after Nehemiah as, “One of the strongest arguments for doing so”; and in the weakness of this argument we are assured that the traditional date of Ezra prior to Nehemiah is correct. Also, the Jewish conviction on this is paramount. They were the divinely appointed custodians of the Scriptures, not the current crop of critics.
Ezra’s fast, which was secretly observed in one of the rooms of the temple, assures us of his sincerity. Furthermore, his prayer was not a mere pretense ostentatiously exhibited, “To produce an effect on the audience rather than upon God, like many other public prayers,” as some critics have alleged.
E.M. Zerr:
Ezr 10:5. The first act of Ezra was to call upon the whole assembly to take an oath to comply with the covenant that Shechaniah suggested. In his address to the audience he recognized 3 classes; chief priests, the Levites and all Israel. The first were the leading men who were the descendants of Aaron; the second was the tribe in general, and the third a listing of the congregation as a whole. The groups thus addressed by Ezra responded favorably and agreed to take the oath.
Ezr 10:6. After securing the promise of the groups to correct the iniquity among them, Ezra “took time out” for a season of rest. He entered the room of one of the leading men, named Johanan. But it was not for the purpose of entertainment, for he was still mourning over the condition of the congregation. He even refused to partake of the necessities of life, he was so humiliated over the situation.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
arose: Pro 1:5, Pro 9:9, Pro 15:23, Pro 25:11, Pro 25:12, Pro 27:9
made: Ezr 10:3, Neh 5:12, Neh 10:29, Neh 13:25, Mat 26:63
Reciprocal: Exo 14:15 – General Exo 18:24 – General Mat 2:4 – the chief
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The assembling of the people 10:5-8
Ezra first secured the cooperation of Israel’s leaders (Ezr 10:5). The Eliashib of Ezr 10:6 was not the same Eliashib who was the high priest in Nehemiah’s day (Neh 3:1; Neh 13:4; Neh 13:28). [Note: See Kidner, pp. 153-55.] Ezra executed the power over the exiles that he had received from Artaxerxes (Ezr 10:8; cf. Ezr 7:26).