Ezra 10:8

8 and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and of the elders, all his substance should be forfeited and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

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 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johanan, the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of the transgression of those that had been carried away.
7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the sons of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem
8 and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and of the elders, all his substance should be forfeited and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
9 Thus were all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the plaza of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.
10 And Ezra, the priest, stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed because ye have taken strange women, thus increasing the guiltiness of Israel.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010