Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezra 10:4

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ezra 10:4. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee] By the decree of Artaxerxes, he was authorized to do everything that the law of God required: see Ezra 7:23-28. And all officers were commanded to be aiding and assisting; hence Shechaniah says, We are with you.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The problem solved (10:1-44)

People heard of Ezra’s grief and gathered with their families to meet him. They confessed their wrongdoing and promised on oath before Ezra that they would correct it (10:1-5). But the problem could not be solved in a day, for it was widespread and its consequences were far-reaching. Ezra therefore went away to a quiet room in a friend’s house where he could spend the night considering the matter before God. The result was that a meeting of all families was arranged for three days later (6-8).
The weather on the day of the meeting was unfavourable, but the people sat and shivered in the rain to hear Ezra’s judgment. They were genuinely concerned to put things right. Only a few objected when Ezra announced that the offenders should get rid of their foreign wives (9-15). This was going to take time, so officials were appointed to oversee the matter. Their work took three months to complete (16-17). Mixed marriages were as widespread among the religious leaders as among the common people, but in the end all alike put away their foreign wives. They also offered sacrifices for their sin (18-44).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ISRAEL'S PUTTING AWAY OF THEIR FOREIGN WIVES AND CHILDREN;
THEY ACCEPT SHECHANIAH'S PROPOSAL

"Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and bowing himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children, for the people wept very sore. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. 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 God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it."

Two things in this paragraph are disputed:

(1)    Shechaniah is identified by HamrickBroadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 467. as the son of the violator (Jehiel) mentioned in Ezra 10:26, but Williamson denied the certainty of that identification, writing that, "Jehiel is a common enough name to preclude certainty of identity, even with a single extended family."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Vol. 16, p. 150. Keil wrote that, "This Shechaniah is a different person from the descendant of Zattu (Ezra 8:5), nor is Jehiel identical with the individual of that name mentioned in Ezra 10:26."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3c, p. 126.

(2)    "Let us make a covenant… according to the counsel of my lord" The words `my lord' are given in the ASV margin as `my Lord'. Some scholars consider them as a reference to Ezra; others view them as a reference to God. Williamson's comment is that, "Shechaniah here refers to `the advice of my lord,' i.e. Ezra";Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 250. and, based upon this, there is a postulation that Ezra had already discussed the matter previously with Shechaniah. However, there is absolutely nothing in the text which supports a proposition like that. We believe that the Douay Version properly translates this verse, "Let us make a covenant… according to the will of the Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God." Keil also agreed that in this passage the Hebrew text has, "According to the counsel of the Lord," and that "there is no critical authority for changing it."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries, op. cit., p. 126 It appears that translators have been too much influenced by the LXX.

"And let it be done according to the law" This was part of Shechaniah's proposal to put away the foreign wives and their children. Deuteronomy 24:1 gave instructions for the divorcing of a wife; but, "According to the teaching of the Rabbis, divorce was allowed for every cause (Matthew 19:3)."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7a, p. 152. Thus, there would have been no legal impediment to the adoption of Shechaniah's proposal, a proposal which on that occasion was received by the vast majority of the people present. Some phases of the implementation of this drastic remedy are not mentioned in the text.

Ezra, however, very wisely moved at once to require all the people to swear that they would accept and execute this requirement to put away their foreign wives and their children.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 10

But here a very stringent and harsh measure was taken. They put away all of these wives, and they said unto him with a loud voice,

As thou hast said, so must we do ( Ezra 10:12 ).

They realized that it was a divine imperative. We must do it. It seems cruel. It seems harsh. But it had to be done if they were going to survive. It was a matter now of survival. So they took this cruel, harsh measure, put away all the wives and the children and separated themselves again unto God. And since that time, though Israel is guilty and the people have been guilty of many sins, they had not been guilty of idolatry. It seemed to be the cure finally for an idolatrous people whose major sin was that of idolatry. And that seemed to be a determinate cure for Israel as far as idolatry was concerned.

Now the names of those that were involved are listed towards the end of the book. And thus, we get to the end of the book of Ezra.

May the Lord bless you and watch over you this week. May His hand be upon your life to strengthen you, to guide you. May He use you as His instrument to do His work. May God fill you with love, and with understanding, compassion, His Spirit. May you walk in the Spirit and be led of the Spirit of God this week. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The proposal of Shecaniah 10:1-4

The writer did not list Shecaniah among those who had married foreign wives (cf. Ezra 10:18-44). He appears to have been another faithful Jew like Ezra. The present situation distressed him. He too, though faithful, identified with the unfaithful.

Shecaniah proposed divorce, not separation. The Hebrew word translated "put away" (Ezra 10:3) is the same as the one translated "leaves" in Deuteronomy 24:2 where divorce is in view. "According to the law" (Ezra 10:3) probably refers to the law specifying the procedure for divorce in Deuteronomy 24 (i.e., with a certificate of divorce). In Deuteronomy 24:1 God permitted divorce for "some indecency" in the wife. Perhaps Ezra viewed these pagan women’s beliefs and practices as indecent. [Note: Howard, p. 296; Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Hard Sayings of the Old Testament, p. 142.] In the ancient Near East, mothers received custody of their children when there was a divorce (cf. Genesis 21:14). However, in Greece they went with their fathers. [Note: Yamauchi, "Ezra-Nehemiah," p. 669.]

"Foreign women were married contrary to the law of God. The marriages were illegal from the outset. The sending away of the women is to guard the exiles against the continuation of an illegal act. With their foreign wives they lived in sin. It is thus clear from Ezra 10:4 that there is a strong legal background against which Shecaniah has formulated his proposal. The dividing line between the permissible and impermissible is strongly emphasized. Even the children born from the illegal marriages must be sent away. This proposal is harsh in the light of modern Christian conceptions. Why should innocent children be punished? We must remember that the religious influence of the mothers on their children was regarded as the stumbling block. To keep the religion of the Lord pure was the one and only aim of Ezra and the returned exiles. As a small minority group, the repatriates lived in the Holy Land among a large population of influential people who were followers of various polytheistic religions. Against such larger numbers they had to defend themselves and their religious identity. Thus the drastic measures are understandable." [Note: Fensham, The Books . . ., p. 135. Cf. Merrill, in The Old . . ., pp. 352-53.]

Even today, some Jewish leaders view intermarriage with non-Jews as the major threat to the continuation of Judaism.

"Therefore, the greatest danger to Jewish survival outside Israel today is not anti-Semitism but assimilation, epitomized by the threat of intermarriage . . . [and it] is a direct threat to Judaism, for without Jews Judaism cannot exist." [Note: Dow Marmur, Intermarriage, p. 2.]

". . . the situation described in Ezra 9, 10 was a classic example of one in which the lesser of two evils had to be chosen." [Note: Kidner, p. 71. See also A. Philip Brown II, "The Problem of Mixed Marriages in Ezra 9-10," Bibliotheca Sacra 162:648 (October-December 2005):437-58.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Arise,.... From the ground, where he lay prostrate:

for this matter belongeth unto thee; as a priest and scribe of the law, well versed in it, and therefore could direct what was to be done according to it; and as a ruler under the king of Persia, and a commissioner of his, to inquire whether the law of God was observed by the Jews, Ezra 7:14 and so had authority to put the law in execution:

we also will be with thee; to help and assist in the reformation of this evil:

be of good courage, and do it; do not despair of going through it, though there may be some opposition to it; begin, and doubt not of succeeding.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.   2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.   3 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 God; and let it be done according to the law.   4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.   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.

      We are here told,

      I. What good impressions were made upon the people by Ezra's humiliation and confession of sin. No sooner was it noised in the city that their new governor, in whom they rejoiced, was himself in grief, and to so great a degree, for them and their sin, than presently there assembled to him a very great congregation, to see what the matter was and to mingle their tears with his, Ezra 10:1; Ezra 10:1. Our weeping for other people's sins may perhaps set those a weeping for them themselves who otherwise would continue senseless and remorseless. See what a happy influence the good examples of great ones may have upon their inferiors. When Ezra, a scribe, a scholar, a man in authority under the king, so deeply lamented the public corruptions, they concluded that they were indeed very grievous, else he would not thus have grieved for them; and this drew tears from every eye: men, women, and children, wept very sore, when he wept thus.

      II. What a good motion Shechaniah made upon this occasion. The place was Bochim--a place of weepers; but, for aught that appears, there was a profound silence among them, as among Job's friends, who spoke not a word to him, because they saw that his grief was very great, till Shechaniah (one of Ezra's companions from Babylon, Ezra 8:3; Ezra 8:5) stood up, and made a speech addressed to Ezra, in which,

      1. He owns the national guilt, sums up all Ezra's confession in one word, and sets to his seal that it is true: "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives,Ezra 10:2; Ezra 10:2. The matter is too plain to be denied and too bad to be excused." It does not appear that Shechaniah was himself culpable in this matter (if he had had the beam in his own eye, he could not have seen so clearly to pluck it out of his brother's eye), but his father was guilty, and several of his father's house (as appears Ezra 10:26; Ezra 10:26), and therefore he reckons himself among the trespassers; nor does he seek to excuse or palliate the sin, though some of his own relations were guilty of it, but, in the cause of God, says to his father, I have not known him, as Levi, Deuteronomy 33:9. Perhaps the strange wife that his father had married had been an unjust unkind step-mother to him, and had made mischief in the family, and he supposed that others had done the like, which made him the more forward to appear against this corruption; if so, this was not the only time that private resentments have been over ruled by the providence of God to serve the public good.

      2. He encourages himself and others to hope that though the matter was bad it might be amended: Yet now there is hope in Israel (where else should there be hope but in Israel? those that are strangers to that commonwealth are said to have no hope,Ephesians 2:12) even concerning this thing. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease is threatening, but not incurable. There is hope that the people may be reformed, the guilty reclaimed, a stop put to the spreading of the contagion; and so the judgments which the sin deserves may be prevented and all will be well. Now there is hope; now that the disease is discovered it is half-cured. Now that the alarm is taken the people begin to be sensible of the mischief, and to lament it, a spirit of repentance seems to be poured out upon them, and they are all thus humbling themselves before God for it, now there is hope that God will forgive, and have mercy. The valley of Achor (that is, of trouble) is the door of hope (Hosea 2:15); for the sin that truly troubles us shall not ruin us. There is hope now that Israel has such a prudent, pious, zealous governor as Ezra to manage this affair. Note, (1.) In melancholy times we must see and observe what makes for us, as well as what makes against us. (2.) There may be good hopes through grace, even when there is the sense of great guilt before God. (3.) Where sin is seen and lamented, and good steps are taken towards a reformation, even sinners ought to be encouraged. (4.) Even great saints must thankfully receive seasonable counsel and comfort from those that are much their inferiors, as Ezra from Shechaniah.

      3. He advises that a speedy and effectual course should be taken for the divorcing of the strange wives. The case is plain; what has been done amiss must be undone again as far as possible; nothing less than this is true repentance. Let us put away all the wives, and such as are born of them,Ezra 10:3; Ezra 10:3. Ezra, though he knew this was the only way of redressing the grievance, yet perhaps did not think it feasible, and despaired of ever bringing the people to it, which put him into that confusion in which we left him in the foregoing chapter; but Shechaniah, who conversed more with the people than he did, assured him the thing was practicable if they went wisely to work. As to us now, it is certain that sin must be put away, a bill of divorce must be given it, with a resolution never to have any thing more to do with it, though it be dear as the wife of thy bosom, nay, as a right eye or a right hand, otherwise there is no pardon, no peace. What has been unjustly got cannot be justly kept, but must be restored; but, as to the case of being unequally yoked with unbelievers, Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so clear in, will not hold now; such marriages, it is certain, are sinful, and ought not to be made, but they are not null. Quod fierinon debuit, factum valet--That which ought not to have been done must, when done, abide. Our rule, under the gospel, is, If a brother has a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away,1 Corinthians 7:12; 1 Corinthians 7:13.

      4. He puts them in a good method for the effecting of this reformation, and shows them not only that it must be done, but how. (1.) "Let Ezra, and all those that are present in this assembly, agree in a resolution that this must be done (pass a vote immediately to this effect: it will now pass nemine contradicente--unanimously), that it may be said to be done according to the counsel of my lord, the president of the assembly, with the unanimous concurrence of those that tremble at the commandment of our God, which is the description of those that were gathered to him, Ezra 9:4; Ezra 9:4. Declare it to be the sense of all the sober serious people among us, which cannot but have a great sway among Israelites." (2.) "Let the command of God in this matter, which Ezra recited in his prayer, be laid before the people, and let them see that it is done according to the law; we have that to warrant us, nay, that binds us to what we do; it is not an addition of our own to the divine law, but the necessary execution of it." (3.) "While we are in a good mind, let us bind ourselves by a solemn vow and covenant that we will do it, lest, when the present impressions are worn off, the thing be left undone. Let us covenant, not only that, if we have strange wives ourselves, we will put them away, but that, if we have not, we will do what we can in our places to oblige others to put away theirs." (4.) "Let Ezra himself preside in this matter, who is authorized by the king's commission to enquire whether the law of God be duly observed in Judah and Jerusalem (Ezra 7:14; Ezra 7:14), and let us all resolve to stand by him in it (Ezra 10:4; Ezra 10:4): Arise, be of good courage. Weeping, in this case, is good, but reforming is better." See what God said to Joshua in a like case, Joshua 7:10; Joshua 7:11.

      III. What a good resolution they came to upon this good motion, Ezra 10:5; Ezra 10:5. They not only agreed that it should be done, but bound themselves with an oath that they would do according to this word. Fast bind, fast find.