Ezra being informed, by some of the princes who complained unto him, of the marriages of many of the Israelites with the people of the land, the Canaanites and others, was greatly grieved and distressed, Ezra 9:1–5, upon which he made a confession of their sins to God, with great shame, sorrow, and…

Now when these things were done When the captives with Ezra had refreshed themselves, and weighed the money and vessels they brought, and put them into the hands of proper persons, and offered sacrifices, and delivered the king’s commissions to his lieutenants and governors, and shown his own: the…

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sorts Some that were widowers not only took wives to themselves of the above nations, either when they were of Babylon, where many of these nations also were, or rather since their return; but they took for their sons also; yea,…

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, &c.] 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 of sorrow and mourning, as if something very dreadful and distressing, see and plucked off the…

There were assembled unto me everyone that trembled at the words of the God of Israel That had a reverence for the word of God, and the things contained in it; feared to break the laws of God, and trembled at his judgments, which they might apprehend would come upon transgressors, see , because of…

And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness The signs and tokens of it, particularly sitting on the ground; or “from my fasting” [[12]], having eaten nothing that day, it being early in the morning when he was told the above case: and having rent my garment and my mantle; which he had…

And said, O my God Here begins the prayer of Ezra, and that with faith in God as covenant God, even when he was about to make confession of sin, and repentance for it; that prayer is right which is put up in faith, and that repentance genuine which is accompanied with faith, and flows from it: I am…

Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day The sins they were guilty of had been long continued in, which was an aggravation of them: and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands; the ten tribes…

And now, for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God It was but a small time since the Lord first began to show favour to them, so that they soon after began to revolt from him; which argued the strange propensity of their minds to that which is evil, and from which they could…

For we were bondmen To the Chaldeans when in Babylon, which was more than the Jews in the times of Christ would own, , yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage; had not left them to continue in it always: but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia; moved them to have…

And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? &c.] What apology or excuse can be made for such ingratitude? what can be said in favour of such a people? what kindness can be expected to be shown to a people who had behaved in so base a manner? for we have forsaken thy commandments: particularly…

Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets Moses, and Joshua, and others, see saying, the land, unto which ye go to possess it; meaning the land of Canaan: is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to…

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons That is, in marriage, see , where the prohibition is expressed in the same language: nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever; that is, as long as they continue in their idolatries and impurities,…

And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass As famine, sword, pestilence, and captivity, for their idolatries and other heinous sins: seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve; for they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was…

Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? &c.] That are guilty of abominable idolatries, and of all uncleanness: wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us; it might be justly expected: so that there should be no remnant…

O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous And would appear to be so, should Israel be entirely cut off, and utterly consumed for their iniquities: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day; that they remained yet escaped out of captivity, and escaped the wrath and vengeance of God, was not owing…