Ezra 9:13

13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that Thou Eloheinu hast punished us less than avoneinu deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this,

Ezra 9:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 9:13

And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for
our great trespass
As famine, sword, pestilence, and captivity, for their idolatries and other heinous sins:

seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve;
for they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was temporal punishment that was inflicted, and this moderate, and now stopped; the sense is, according to Aben Ezra,

``thou hast refrained from writing some of our sins in the book of remembrance, and thou hast let them down below in the earth, according to the sense of thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea;''

but Jarchi better,

``thou hast refrained thyself from exacting of us all our sins, and hast exacted of us beneath our sins (or less than they deserve), and hast not taken vengeance on us according to all our sins:''

and hast given us such deliverance as this;
from captivity, which they now enjoyed.

Ezra 9:13 In-Context

11 Which Thou hast commanded by Thy avadim the nevi’im, saying, HaAretz, unto which ye go to possess it, is an eretz niddah (unclean land) with the filthiness of the Am HaAretz, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their tum’a.

12 Now therefore give not your banot unto their banim, neither take their banot unto your banim, nor further their shalom or their prosperity ad olam, that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land and leave it for your banim ad olam.

13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that Thou Eloheinu hast punished us less than avoneinu deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this,

14 Should we again break Thy mitzvot, and join in affinity with the people of these to’evot (abominations)? Wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no she’erit (remnant) nor escaping?

15 Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Thou art tzaddik; for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day; hineni, we are before Thee in our guilt, though we cannot stand before Thee because of it.