Ezra 8:21

21 I proclaimed a fast there beside the Ahava Canal, a fast to humble ourselves before our God and pray for wise guidance for our journey - all our people and possessions.

Ezra 8:21 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 8:21

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava
After the messengers to Iddo were returned with those they brought with them:

that we might afflict ourselves before our God;
humble themselves before him for their sins, confess them, and declare their repentance of them, and ask forgiveness for them:

to seek of him a right way for us;
to take from thence towards Jerusalem, to be directed by him in it: either by a prophet, or by a vision in a dream, as Eben Ezra; or rather by the guidance of his providence; this they sought in prayer by the river side, where it had been usual with them, and since has been, to perform religious exercises, see ( Ezekiel 1:1 ) ( 3:15 ) ( Acts 16:13 ) , hence Tertullian ^F26 calls the prayers of the Jews "orationes littorales"; they sought not so much which was the shortest and easiest way for them to travel in, as which was the safest:

and for our little ones and for all our substance;
for the safe conveyance of them; this shows, that though males only are numbered, as before, yet they had their wives and children with them; for little ones cannot be supposed without women to take care of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Ad nationes, l. 1. c. 13. Vid. lib. de jejuniis, c. 16.

Ezra 8:21 In-Context

19 They also brought Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of the family of Merari, with brothers and their sons, another twenty.

20 And then there were 220 temple servants, descendants of the temple servants that David and the princes had assigned to help the Levites in their work. They were all signed up by name.

21 I proclaimed a fast there beside the Ahava Canal, a fast to humble ourselves before our God and pray for wise guidance for our journey - all our people and possessions.

22 I was embarrassed to ask the king for a cavalry bodyguard to protect us from bandits on the road. We had just told the king, "Our God lovingly looks after all those who seek him, but turns away in disgust from those who leave him."

23 So we fasted and prayed about these concerns. And he listened.