Ezra 9:3

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle,.... Both inward and outward garments, that which was close to his body, and that which was thrown loose over it; and this he did in token

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.

My garment and my mantle; both my inner and my upper garment. Plucked off the hair of my head, and of my beard, in testimony of my great grief and indignation; which was usual among all these eastern and ancient people, wherein he did not transgress that law, , because he did not shave off all the hair, but only plucked off some hairs. Sat down astonied; partly for grief and shame at the sin; and partly for fear of some great and dreadful judgment which he expected and feared for it.

Ezra 9:3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.Ver. 3. I rent my garment and my mantle] In token of his deep and downright humiliation, indignation, detestation of their dealing therein. And plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard] To show how passionately grieved and offended he was. The raging Turk did the like at the last assault of Scodra; being extremely vexed at the dishonour and loss he had received there. But what followed? In his choler and frantic rage he most horribly blasphemed God; whereas holy Ezra, though he sat astonied till the evening sacrifice, yet then he poureth forth his soul in a heavenly prayer, Ezra 9:5-6. And sat down astonied] As one that hath neither life nor soul (as we say), that can neither say nor do for himself, being wonderfully amazed, astonished, or desolate, as David had been, Psalms 143:4. The true zealot, as his love is fervent, his desires eager, his delights ravishing, his hopes longing; so his hatred is deadly, his anger fierce, his grief deep, his fear terrible, &c. Zeal is an extreme heat of all the affections, Romans 12:11, boiling hot, hissing hot, as the Greek importeth (ζεοντες).

IX.(1) Now when these things were done.—The remainder of the book is occupied with the execution of Ezra’s function as a moral reformer. One chief disorder is mentioned, that of the mixed marriages (Ezra 9:2), which the new lawgiver evidently regarded as fatal to the purity of the Divine service, and to the design of God in separating for a season this peculiar people. (1-4) The report of the abuse of mixed marriages is formally brought before Ezra. (1) The princes—Heads of tribes, native rulers of Jerusalem, as distinguished from the satraps and governors. Zerubbabel’s office had no successor; and the term princes expressed rather their eminence than their authority, which had been powerless to check the abuses they complain of. Doing according to their abominations.—Rather, as it regards their abominations. They are not charged with abandonment to idolatry, but with that peculiar laxity which appears in the sequel. The Ammonites.—It is remarkable that all the ancient proscribed races are mentioned, and not the specific nations by the names of which the Samaritans were known, as if to make the case as hateful as possible. At the same time, many of these races still lingered in the neighbourhood of Judæa.(2) The holy seed.—The “holy nation” or “peculiar people” of Exodus 19:6 is called the “holy seed” by Isaiah (Ezra 6:13), with reference to its being preserved and kept holy amidst judgments; and here the same term is used with reference to its desecration by being made common among the nations. The princes and rulers.—The upper classes, whether priests and Levites or laymen. This trespass.—There is no question as to the unlawfulness of these intermarriages, nor any palliation on account of necessity. The rulers report it, and Ezra receives the report as evidence that the whole purpose of God with regard to the people was, at the very outset of their new economy, in course of being defeated by the guilt of the heads of Israel. Their delinquency as such is admitted on all hands.(3) I rent my garment and my mantle.—The actions of Ezra betoken his horror and grief. But both the rending of the outer and inner garment and the plucking the hair were symbolical acts, teaching their lesson to the people who witnessed, and, as we see, were deeply impressed.(4) Trembled.—In fear of the Divine judgments. Transgression of those that had been carried away.—The usual name of the people at this time. During their captivity, however, they had not been thus guilty. It was the aggravation of their guilt that they committed the trespass now.

Verse 3. I rent my garment and my mantle] The outer and inner garment, in sign of great grief. This significant act is frequently mentioned in the sacred writings, and was common among all ancient nations. Plucked off the hair] Shaving the head and beard were signs of excessive grief; much more so the plucking off the hair, which must produce exquisite pain. All this testified his abhorrence, not merely of the act of having taken strange wives, but their having also joined them in their idolatrous abominations.

3. I rent my garment and my mantle] Ezra’s conduct betrays his surprise, his grief, and his indignation. The rending of the clothes is frequently mentioned in Scripture as a sign of grief: Ezra here is described as rending the under-garment or tunic (the ‘begedh’) and the long loose robe (the m‘îl) in which he was attired. Reuben rent his ‘clothes’ (plur. of ‘begedh’) on not finding Joseph (Genesis 37:29): Jacob rent his ‘garments’ (plur. of ‘simlah’) on seeing Joseph’s blood-stained coat (Genesis 37:34): Joseph’s brethren rent their clothers (plur. of ‘simlah’) when the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack (Genesis 44:13): Joshua rent his ‘clothes’ (plur. of ‘simlah’) after the repulse at Ai (Joshua 7:6): Jephthah rent his clothes (plur. of ‘begedh’) on meeting his daughter (Judges 11:35): the messenger from the field of Ziklag came with his clothes (plur. of ‘begedh’) rent (2 Samuel 1:2, cf. 1 Samuel 4:12): Job rent his mantle (‘m‘îl’) on hearing of his children’s death (Job 1:20), and his friends rent each one his mantle (‘m‘îl’) when they came to visit him (Job 2:12). These were all signs of grief. The action also denoted ‘horror’ on receiving intelligence or hearing words, which shocked: thus Hezekiah and his ministers rent their clothes (plur. of ‘begedh’) after Rabshakeh’s speech (2 Kings 18:37; 2 Kings 19:1): Mordecai rent his clothes (plur. of ‘begedh’) on hearing of Haman’s determination (Esther 4:1): the High-priest rent his garments on hearing the testimony of Jesus (Matthew 26:65). See also Isaiah 36:22; Jeremiah 41:5; 2 Chronicles 34:27. The ‘mantle’ was a long flowing robe; by this name is designated the High-priest’s robe (Exodus 28:31; Exodus 28:34; Exodus 39:22-23); the ‘robe’ which Hannah made for Samuel (1 Samuel 2:19); Jonathan’s ‘robe’, which he presented to David (1 Samuel 18:4); Samuel’s robe (1 Samuel 15:27); Saul’s ‘robe’ (1 Samuel 24:4); the ‘robe’ which covered the apparition of Samuel (1 Samuel 28:14). Its use in metaphor (Psalms 109:29; Isaiah 59:17) agrees with this. and pluckt off the hair &c.] This sign of grief is not described elsewhere in the O. T. Compare Esther (additions to), Esther 14:2, ‘All the places of her joy she filled with her torn hair’. The shaven head was a common sign of mourning, e.g. Job 1:20; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10. Ezra’s action denotes in an exaggerated way his great grief. Nehemiah’s indignation made him ‘pluck off’ the hair of his opponents (Nehemiah 13:25; cf. 2Es 1:8), but is hardly a parallel case. and sat down astonied] cf. Daniel 4:19 ‘Then Daniel … was astonied or a while’. The word in the original is the same as that rendered ‘desolator’ (marg. desolate) in Daniel 9:27, and ‘that maketh desolate’ Daniel 11:31. Here the sense of ‘bewilderment’ is uppermost. See the use of ‘astonied’ in the R.V., Job 17:8; Job 18:20; Ezekiel 4:17; Daniel 3:24; Daniel 4:19.

Plucking out the hair with the hands, so common among the Classical nations, is, comparatively speaking, rarely mentioned as practiced by Asiatics.

EZRA’S GRIEF AND PRAYER, Ezra 9:3-15. 3. I rent my garment and my mantle — Both the inner and the outer clothing. This was a sign of most excessive grief. Job rent only his mantle, Job 1:20. Compare Joshua 7:6.