Ezra 10:8

8 and [that] each man that cometh not thither (with)in three days, by the counsel of the princes and of [the] elder men, all his chattel shall be taken away from him, and he shall be cast away from the company of (the) transmigration (and he shall be cast out, or sent away, from those who have returned from 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 Ezra rose up before the house of God, and he went to the bed [place] of Johanan, the son of Eliashib, and he entered [in] thither; he ate not bread, nor drank water; for he bewailed the trespassing of them, that were come from the captivity.
7 And a voice of them was sent into Judah and Jerusalem (And so the word was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem), to all the sons of (the) captivity, that they should be gathered together in Jerusalem;
8 and [that] each man that cometh not thither (with)in three days, by the counsel of the princes and of [the] elder men, all his chattel shall be taken away from him, and he shall be cast away from the company of (the) transmigration (and he shall be cast out, or sent away, from those who have returned from the captivity).
9 Therefore all the men of Judah and of Benjamin came together into Jerusalem in three days; that is the ninth month, in the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of God's house, and trembled for (the) sin, and for (the) rain. (And so all the men of Judah and of Benjamin came together in Jerusalem within the three days; that was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the square of God's House, that is, in the Temple Square, and trembled because of the sin, and because of the rain.)
10 And Ezra, the priest, rose up, and said to them, Ye have trespassed, and ye have wedded wives, alien women, that ye should lay to, or increase, upon the trespass of Israel. (And Ezra, the priest, rose up, and said to them, Ye have trespassed, and ye have wedded wives, foreign women, and so ye have increased Israel's trespass, or sin.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.