Ezra 9:5

5 And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,

Ezra 9:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 9:5

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" ^F14, 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 done before, and still kept them on him in the same case:

fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God;
in the posture and with the gesture of an humble supplicant.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (ytynetm) "jejunio meo", Michaelis; so Jarchi.

Ezra 9:5 In-Context

3 And hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.

4 Then everyone who went in fear of the words of the God of Israel, because of the sin of those who had come back, came together to me; and I kept where I was, overcome with grief, till the evening offering.

5 And at the evening offering, having made myself low before God, I got up, and with signs of grief, falling down on my knees, with my hands stretched out to the Lord my God,

6 I said, O my God, shame keeps me from lifting up my face to you, my God: for our sins are increased higher than our heads and our evil-doing has come up to heaven.

7 From the days of our fathers till this day we have been great sinners; and for our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been given up into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword and to prison and to loss of goods and to shame of face, as it is this day.