Ezra 10:8

8 Every one who shall not arrive within three days, as the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and he shall be separated from the congregation of the captivity.

Ezra 10:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 10:8

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" F16 to sacred uses, to be put into the treasury of the temple, and used in the service of it, and therefore never to be returned:

and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been
carried away;
into captivity, but now returned from it; that is, should be excommunicated from them as a church, and be no more reckoned of the body politic, or a freeman of Israel, and so deprived of all privileges both in church and state.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 (Mrxy) "anathema erit [vel] fore", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "devoveretur", Michaelis.

Ezra 10:8 In-Context

6 And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to the treasury of Joanan the son of Elisub; he even went thither: he ate no bread, and drank no water; for he mourned over the unfaithfulness of the captivity.
7 And they made proclamation throughout Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, ,
8 Every one who shall not arrive within three days, as the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and he shall be separated from the congregation of the captivity.
9 So all the men of Juda and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. This the ninth month: on the twentieth day of the month all the people sat down in the street of the house of the Lord, because of their alarm concerning the word, and because of the storm.
10 And Esdras the priest arose, and said to them, Ye have broken covenant, and have taken strange wives, to add to the trespass of Israel.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.