Ezra 10:8

_AND THEY MADE PROCLAMATION THROUGHOUT JUDAH AND JERUSALEM UNTO ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE CAPTIVITY, THAT THEY SHOULD GATHER THEMSELVES TOGETHER UNTO JERUSALEM;_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

6-14 There is hope concerning people, when they are convinced, not only that it is good to part with their sins, but that it is necessary; we must do it, or we are undone. So rich is the mercy, and so plenteous the redemption of God, that there is hope for the vilest who hear the gospel, and are willing to accept of free salvation. When sinners mourn for their sins, and tremble at the word of God, there is hope that they will forsake them. To affect others with godly sorrow or love to God, we must ourselves be affected. It was carefully agreed how this affair should be carried on. That which is hastily resolved on seldom proves lasting....

Verse Ezra 10:8. _ALL HIS SUBSTANCE SHOULD BE FORFEITED_] To _the use of_ _the temple_. So the _Septuagint_ understood the place: Αναθεματισθησεται πασα ἡ ὑπαρξις αυτου, "All his substance shall be devoted to a holy use." _HIMSELF SEPARATED_] _Excommunicated_ from the Church of God, and _exiled_ from Israel....

SEPARATED FROM THE CONGREGATION - i. e., “excommunicated” (compare Exodus 12:19; Numbers 19:20, etc.). The power assigned to Ezra is stated in Ezra 7:25....

EXPOSITION REPENTANCE OF THE PEOPLE, AND COVENANT SWORN TO, ON THE RECOMMENDATION OF SHECHANIAH (Ezra 10:1). While Ezra was uttering his prayer aloud, upon his knees, in front of the temple, where the evening sacrifice was being offered upon the great brazen altar (Ezra 3:2), the people gathered about him, heard what he said, and had their feelings so stirred that numbers of them burst into tears and "wept very sore" (Ezra 10:1). When he had ended, Sheehaniah, the son of Jehiel, took the word, and suggested an

AND THAT WHOSOEVER WOULD NOT COME WITHIN THREE DAYS,.... Or at the end of three days, as Jarchi, this was the space of time allowed, and which was decided upon for the quick dispatch of this affair, to prevent any schemes that might be formed to obstruct it, and lest those who had agreed to it, and promised to assist in it, should repent and go from their word: ACCORDING TO THE COUNSEL OF THE PRINCES, AND OF THE ELDERS; for though Ezra had a commission at large from the king of Persia, to inquire into and reform all abuses, he chose not to act of himself, but to have the opinion and consent of the senate of the nation; this he prudently did to avoid their envy, and that he might have less opposition, and better success: HIS SUBSTANCE SHOULD BE FORFEITED; or "devoted" p to sacred uses, to be put into the treasury of the temple, and used in the service of it, and therefore never to be re...

CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The effect of Ezra's prayer on the people (Ezra 10:1)_ 2. Ezra summons an assembly (Ezra 10:5) 3. The gathering, confession and the evil judged (Ezra 10:9) 4. The register of those who had married strange women (Ezra 10:18) Ezra 10:1. Ezra's prayer, confession and humiliation were before the house of the LORD.” The people saw his great sorrow and his tears, they heard his words confessing the nation's sins. It produced a wonderful effect among the people. “There assembled unto him out of Israel a great congregation of me

THE JEWS ASSEMBLE IN JERUSALEM; OFFICERS ARE APPOINTED FROM EACH CITY TO SEE THAT THE FOREIGN WIVES ARE PUT AWAY. Ezra 10:6. Jehohanan: _cf._ Nehemiah 12:13. AND WHEN HE CAME THITHER: read, and he lodged there (_mg.), i.e._ spent the night there. Ezra 10:8. forfeited: devoted, _i.e._ put under a religious ban (see pp. 99, 114, Deuteronomy 2:34 * Joshua 6:17 *). SEPARATED FROM THE CONGREGATION: equivalent to the later put out of the synagogue; _cf._...

FORFEITED. devoted. CARRIED AWAY. into captivity....

_and that whosoever would not come_ R.V. AND THAT WHOSOEVER CAME NOT, i.e. whosoever failed (not, whosoever refused) to appear. The causes for non-appearance are not hinted at. All defaulters were to be treated as contumacious. _within three days_ An expression which shows within what narrow limits the new community was established. The mention of Bethel (Ezra 2:28), Lod (Ezra 2:33), and Jericho (Ezra 2:34) as some of the most distant towns belonging to the Jews, shows that the requirement to be in Jerusalem within three days made no impossible demand upon the powers of an ordinarily active man. _according to the counsel of the princes and the elders_ The real administrative body in Jerusalem. The representatives of