Ezra 10:11

make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers R.V. make confession (marg. Or, give thanks) unto the Lord, the God of your fathers. -Make confession". Literally -give thanksgiving or praise". The substantive is connected with the verb which in its reflexive form means, as in Ezra 10:1, -made confession". It is found elsewhere in these books (Nehemiah 12:27; Nehemiah 12:31; Nehemiah 12:38-40; 2 Chronicles 29:31; 2 Chronicles 33:16) with the meaning of -thanksgiving", which is the general sense of the word in other books (Leviticus 7:12-13; Leviticus 7:15; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 42:4; Psalms 50:14; Psalms 50:23; Psalms 56:12; Psalms 100:4; Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17; Psalms 147:7; Isaiah 51:3; Jeremiah 17:26; Jeremiah 30:19; Jeremiah 33:11; Amos 4:5; Jonah 2:9). The only possible exception is Joshua 7:19 -My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession (marg. Or, give praise) unto him". There, as in this passage, -make confession" is a good paraphrase rather than a strict translation. -Praise" was given to God by the utterance of confession. The penitent who renounced his sin and threw himself upon the mercies of God rendered that true praise of trust and love, from which -confession" springs. Cf. Psalms 50:23 -Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgivingglorifieth me". On -the Lord, the God of your fathers", see note on Ezra 8:28.

and do his pleasure The words of praise to be verified in action. The same phrase as in Psalms 40:8 -I delight to do thy will, O God", Psalms 143:10 -Teach me to do thy will".

and … from the people of the land, and from the strange wives R.V. from the peoples of the land and from the strange women. See note on Ezra 10:2. The separation entailed not merely the divorce of the wives but a complete breaking of intercourse with all residents in the land who had not adopted the religion of the Jews.