Ezra 9:12

12 Therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.'

Ezra 9:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 9:12

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor
take their daughters unto your sons
That is, in marriage, see ( Deuteronomy 7:3 ) , 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, see ( Deuteronomy 23:6 ) ,

that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it
for an inheritance to your children for ever;
that they might be strengthened and established in the land into which they were brought, and enjoy all the good things it produced, and leave their children in the possession of it, to hold at least until the Messiah came, see ( Isaiah 1:19 ) .

Ezra 9:12 In-Context

10 "And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken thy commandments,

11 which thou didst command by thy servants the prophets, saying, 'The land which you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land unclean with the pollutions of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness.

12 Therefore give not your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.'

13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserved and hast given us such a remnant as this,

14 shall we break thy commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou wouldst consume us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?