Now let our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God is turned from us, until this matter is resolved.”
Parallel Translations
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Now let our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God is turned from us, until this matter is resolved.”
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Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.
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Let now our princes of all the congregation stand, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, as touching this matter.'
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Ezra 10:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 29:10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
- 2 Chronicles 30:8 Now don’t be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to Yahweh, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
- Numbers 25:4 Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers,
- Deuteronomy 17:9 You shall come to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict.
- Deuteronomy 17:18-19 It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;
- Joshua 7:26 They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.
- 2 Chronicles 19:5-7 He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment. Now therefore let the fear of Yahweh be on you. Take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.”
- Psalms 78:38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
- Isaiah 12:1 In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, Yahweh; for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Let them be appointed to examine this matter.
Let them be appointed to examine this matter.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ezr 10:14 Let now our rulers of all the…
Ezr 10:14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.
Ver. 14. Let now our rulers of all the congregation] Our sanhedrim or seventy seniors, see Deu 17:9. Let there be a matrimonial consistory erected, and matters in question orderly heard and determined.
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Until the fierce wrath of God] We must not think that he will cease pursuing us till the traitor’s head be thrown over the wall, till there be a thorough reformation. One Abimelech, left alive, may be the death of Gideon’s 70 sons; so may one sin favoured be thine utter undoing.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Let our rulers of all the congregation stand; let…
Let our rulers of all the congregation stand; let the great council, called the Sanhedrim, be settled, and meet to judge and determine of all particular causes.
Them which have taken strange wives, to wit, of these heathen nations, such as were not proselyted to the Jewish religion before their marriage, or since revolted from it.
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The elders of every city, and the judges thereof; who are best able to inform the great council of the quality of the persons, and of all matters of fact and circumstances.
Until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, i.e. until the thing be done, and God’s wrath thereby removed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let now our rulers of all the congregations stand,....…
Let now our rulers of all the congregations stand,.... Let the great sanhedrim, or court of judicature at Jerusalem, be fixed and continued, and others:
and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times; to the court at Jerusalem, at certain and fixed known times of their sittings there for this purpose:
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and with the elders of every city and the judges thereof; the principal magistrates of it, who were to testify that upon search and inquiry those were the men and all the men in their city, that had taken strange wives, and that they had put them away according to the order of the princes and elders; and this they proposed to be done in every city, and the account to be brought to the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, who were to sit at certain times till this affair was finished:
until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us: which it seems had broke out in some instances, and they feared would do yet more, unless this step was taken, whereby they hoped it would be averted.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Our rulers - Let the great council, called the…
Our rulers - Let the great council, called the Sanhedrim, be settled, and meet to determine of all particular causes. Judges - Who are best able to inform the great council of the quality of the persons, and all matters of fact and circumstances. Until - Until the thing be done, and God's wrath thereby removed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ezr 10:14. Let now our rulers stand — They…
Ezr 10:14. Let now our rulers stand — They propose that the rulers in Jerusalem should meet, to take cognizance of this matter, and to judge and determine in all particular cases: and that, at appointed times, the offenders in every city should be brought before them by the elders and judges of those cities, who should either testify against them for offending, or witness that they had seen the divorces made, and their strange wives put away. For these elders and judges of the several cities were best able to inform the great council at Jerusalem, concerning the quality of the persons accused, and all matters of fact, and circumstances. And this proceeding, they proposed, should continue as long as there remained any thing to be done in this business, that the wrath of God might be turned away from them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Cities. It is not clear whether the rulers went…
Cities. It is not clear whether the rulers went to the different cities, or the principal men of each gave information, and caused the guilty to appear before Esdras, at Jerusalem. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14. Come at appointed times — They probably arranged…
14. Come at appointed times — They probably arranged for them to come according to families, or, perhaps, according to cities, and the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, came along with them to be witnesses and judges of cases known to them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. A commission recommended.
14. A commission recommended.
Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand] R.V. Let now our princes be appointed (marg. Heb. stand) for all the congregation. The A.V. fails to give the idea of the original, where a difficulty is occasioned by the preposition ‘for’. There are practically two ways of explaining the passage (1) Let now our princes stand for (i.e. in the place of ἀντὶ) all the congregation. (2) Let there now stand our princes for (i.e. in the interests of, ὑπὲρ) all the congregation. The latter is the preferable. The commission then was to consist of the princes who, in conjunction with the local elders and judges, should enquire into the cases that had occurred in each town and district.
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and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities] R.V. and let all them that are in our cities which have married strange women. The R.V. reproduces the two relative sentences of the original, the one giving the locality of the offender, the other particularizing the offence; perhaps the formal character of the actual wording of the decree here peeps out.
in our cities] This expression seems to exclude Jerusalem. The case of those who dwelt in the capital could be investigated by the princes on the spot and without delay. In the case of inhabitants of other towns, the officials of each town were to be convened at Jerusalem and to assist the permanent commission; the offenders at the same time were to be summoned to attend the investigation in person.
at appointed times] Cf. ‘at times appointed’, Neh_10:34; Neh_13:31.
the elders of every city, and the judges thereof] i.e. the representatives of the populace and the administrators of justice, belonging to each town.
until the fierce wrath of our God … be turned from us] So also R.V. It is much to be doubted whether this can be regarded as a satisfactory rendering.
(1) There is no real connexion between the previous sentence ‘let our princes be appointed &c.’ and the words ‘until the fierce wrath, &c.’ ‘The fierce wrath’ had not been displayed, as in David’s day, by a visitation such as a plague or a famine, nor by any fresh hostile oppression. There is therefore no natural explanation for the expression, such as there is for the very similar words ‘Hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast’, Isa_26:20; ‘Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge, until these calamities be overpast’, Psa_57:1. If there was no external symptom of the Divine displeasure, its continuance could only be apprehended mentally or morally, and would have no sort of relation to the investigation and punishment of the offence.
(2) The work of the commission—in a great measure an undertaking of popular contrition, but very largely also the expression of a definite policy of excluding aliens from the community—could not be concluded, until its ends had been accomplished. Now unless we are prepared to change the words ‘until the fierce wrath, &c.’ into so different a meaning as ‘until the cause of the fierce wrath &c. be removed’, it seems that a limitation of time has no rightful place here.
(3) The English rendering ignores the literal transitive meaning of the verb. Literally translated, the sentence runs, ‘up to the point of, to turn away the fierce wrath of our God’. It seems very probable that we should reject the temporal signification of the word rendered ‘until’, and treat it as an instance of a redundancy not uncommon in late Hebrew. It will then merely strengthen the preposition, denoting purpose, prefixed to the verb. Supposing this to be the true explanation, the rendering will be ‘with a view (or, unto this end) to turn away the fierce wrath of our God’.
The verb, which is transitive, is thus given its proper force familiar in other similar passages. Psa_78:38 ‘Yea, many a time turned he his anger away’; Psa_106:23 ‘Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach to turn away his wrath’; Jer_18:20 ‘Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy fury from them’; Pro_15:1 ‘A soft answer turneth away wrath’.
The English version gives the general sense in the same way as the Vulgate ‘donec revertatur ira Dei nostri a vobis’. But the English reader would never guess that the verb is used, not in the intransitive form ‘to return’ (as in Num_25:4; 2Ch_29:10; 2Ch_30:8 : Jer_30:24), but in the causative ‘to cause to return’, ‘to turn away’ ‘to avert’.
the fierce wrath of our God] This particular expression ‘the fierce wrath’, as applied to the Almighty, occurs in the O.T. thirty-four times, being used with special frequency (ten times) in Jeremiah. See also 2Ch_28:11; 2Ch_28:13; 2Ch_29:10; 2Ch_30:8.
for this matter] R.V. until this matter be dispatched. Marg. Or, as touching this matter. Literally rendered, the Hebrew words give ‘up to the point of (or, until), to this matter’. The R.V. apparently coordinates this clause with the preceding one. But there can be but one opinion that the whole sentence ‘Let now our princes be appointed … until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be dispatched’, is quite intolerably harsh. The last clause only receives definiteness from the insertion of the words ‘be dispatched’. But it constitutes a most empty addition to state that the enquiry should last until its business was dispatched. The present phrase is apparently only another instance, if the text be correct, of the same redundancy of expression in the later Hebrew mentioned above. The word, rendered ‘until’, amplifies the preposition. And the usage of the compound preposition is the same as that of the simple preposition when found with the same words elsewhere. Gen_19:21 ‘concerning this thing’; 1Sa_30:24; Dan_1:14 ‘in this matter’. The rendering of the margin is therefore to be preferred, ‘to turn away the fierce wrath of our God as touching this matter’. The words are the same in meaning as Ezr_9:15 ‘because of this’, Ezr_10:2 ‘concerning this thing’.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Let now our rulers of the congregation stand. Let…
Let now our rulers of the congregation stand. Let Ezra, together with the princes and the elders at Jerusalem (ver. 8), form a standing body to act with the elders and judges of the provincial towns in this matter, and let the case of each town be taken separately, and the inhabitants of each attend at Jerusalem in their turn. Until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. This is probably the true meaning of the writer, but it is not to be obtained from the ordinary text. To produce it we must read by lfor d and haddabar for laddabar hazzeh. As the text stands, it is unintelligible.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 at the time that will be fixed with the…
at the time that will be fixed with the city elders and the city judges
This can be translated in active form and as separate sentences. AT: "at the time that you will determine. Let them come with the city elder and the city judges" (See: Active or Passive)
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Jonathan ... Asahel ... Jahzeiah ... Tikvah ... Meshullam ... Shabbethai
men's names (See: How to Translate Names)
Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this
Possible meanings are, 1) these men did not want the city officials to investigate the offenses or 2) they did not want anyone to investigate the people's marriages.
translationWords
judge, judges
wrath
Jonathan
Levi
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.