Ezra 10:5

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

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our

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 sware.Ver. 5. Then arose Ezra] According to the counsel of Shechaniah, Ezra 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] Oρκος, ερκος. An oath is a fence; and, added to a vow or covenant, it doth notably conduce (as a holy exorcism) to conjure down our rebellious wills, and, as cords or chains, to hamper our treacherous hearts, that they backslide not, like backsliding heifers. Moist bodies, as water, must be put into close vessels; so must man’ s heart be bound together by strongest helps and resolutions. Neither cast we any new snare hereby upon ourselves, 1 Corinthians 7:35, but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt we owe to God. Such was that of Jacob, Genesis 28:20; Genesis 31:13; of David Psalms 119:106; of the Nazarites, Numbers 6:2-3 Rechabites, Jeremiah 35:6. This shows a very earnest desire to obey; it sharpeneth also our prayers, and disheartens the devil; who, seeing us thus peremptory and resolute, will despair, and depart.

X.(1-6) The covenant of repentance and amendment. Here the narrative assumes another form; and, in accordance with the solemnity of a great public transaction, Ezra adopts the third person. (1) Before the house of God.—Prostrating himself towards the Temple in the court, where all the people saw him and marked his distress. Wept very sore.—The evil penetrated domestic life, and the punishment, as was already foreseen by “the women bringing the children with them,” brought special family distress. (2) Shechaniah.—The son of one of the transgressors (Ezra 10:2), whose action as the representative of the people gives him an honourable memorial in Scripture. There is hope in Israel.—A noble sentiment for a reformer even at the worst of times. (3) Special covenants with God—general, as in 2 Kings 23:3, and in regard to particular offences, as here, and in Jeremiah 34:8—were familiar in Jewish history. And at all times of critical sin or danger the voluntary intervention of individuals was held in honour. (Comp. Numbers 25:12 seq.) According to the counsel of my lord.—Better, according to, or in, the counsel of the Lord. Ezra would hardly be called “my lord,” nor had he given any counsel. According to the law.—Which in Deuteronomy 24 prescribes the terms of divorce. (4) Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee.—The commission given to Ezra (Ezra 7:11 seq.) seems specially referred to, and the deep prostration of his spirit renders the encouragement here given very appropriate. It had its effect: as Ezra’s grief had made the people sorrowful, so their vigour made him energetic. (5) According to this word.—“According to” occurs three times, and each instance must be noted. First, it was “in the counsel of the Lord” as God’s law, rightly interpreted, demanded this measure, however seemingly harsh; secondly, it was to be done “according to the law;” and, thirdly, according to the present covenant, which, went beyond the law of Moses. (6) The chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib.—Ezra retired for fasting and prayer into one of the chambers opening on the court. It seems impossible to identify these names with the Eliashib of Neh 12:10 and his grandson. Both names were common.

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.

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 Ezra 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’ (2 Chronicles 36:14), ‘the chiefs of the Levites’ (2 Chronicles 35:9), ‘the princes (or chiefs) of Judah’ (Nehemiah 12:31), ‘the princes of the people’ (Nehemiah 11:1). The rendering of the LXX. (ὥρκισετοὺςἄρχονταςτοὺςἱερεῖςκ.τ.λ.) 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.

5. Made… all Israel to swear — That is, all Israel that were present and represented on that occasion.