At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;
Parallel Translations
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At the evening offering I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn; and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to Yahweh my God;
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And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
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And at the evening offering I arose up from my fasting, even with my garment and my mantle rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God;
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Ezra 9:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 8:22 Solomon stood before Yahweh’s altar in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;
- 1 Kings 8:38 whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and spread out his hands toward this house,
- 1 Kings 8:54 It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to Yahweh, he arose from before Yahweh’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven.
- Exodus 9:29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s.
- Exodus 9:33 Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.
- 2 Chronicles 6:13 (for Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, and five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the middle of the court; and he stood on it, and knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven)
- Psalms 95:6 Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
- Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
- Psalms 143:6 I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land.
- Ephesians 3:14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
- Luke 22:41 He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed,
- Acts 21:5 When those days were over, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, brought us on our way until we were out of the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose…
Ezr 9:5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
Ver. 5. I arose up from my heaviness] In affliction, sc. of spirit, wherewith his heart was leavened and soured, as David’s was, Psa 73:21; embittered, as Peter’s, Mat 26:75; poured out upon him, as Job’s, Job 30:16. He did really afflict himself with voluntary sorrows for the transgressions of his people.
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And having rent, &c.] See Ezr 9:3.
I fell upon my knees] This gesture did both evidence and increase the ardency of his affection.
And spread out my hands] With the palms open toward heaven, in a having, craving way, as beggars. This was the Jewish manner of praying, and it was very becoming.
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 From my heaviness, i.e. from that mournful posture, Ezr…
From my heaviness, i.e. from that mournful posture, Ezr 8:4, and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. Or,
by reason of my heaviness, or affliction. Having mourned for the sin, I considered that was not sufficient, and that God expected the confession and amendment of it, and therefore I fell to prayer.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain What the meditations of Ezra's heart were, while for…
What the meditations of Ezra's heart were, while for some hours he sat down astonished, we may guess by the words of his mouth when at length he spoke with his tongue; and a most pathetic address he here makes to Heaven upon this occasion. Observe,
I. The time when he made this address - at the evening sacrifice, Ezr 9:5. Then (it is likely) devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, to grace the solemnity of the sacrifice and to offer up their own prayers to God in concurrence with it. In their hearing Ezra chose to make this confession, that they might be made duly sensible of the sins of their people, which hitherto they had either not taken notice of or had made light of. Prayer may preach. The sacrifice, and especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the great propitiation, that blessed Lamb of God which in the evening of the world was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself, to which we may suppose Ezra had an eye of faith in this penitential address to God; he makes confession with his hand, as it were, upon the head of that great sacrifice, through which we receive the atonement. Certainly Ezra was no stranger to the message which the angel Gabriel had some years ago delivered to Daniel, at the time of the evening sacrifice, and as it were in explication of it, concerning Messiah the Prince (Dan 9:21, Dan 9:24); and perhaps he had regard to that in choosing this time.
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II. His preparation for this address. 1. He rose up from his heaviness, and so far shook off the burden of his grief as was necessary to the lifting up of his heart to God. He recovered from his astonishment, got the tumult of his troubled spirits somewhat stilled and his spirit composed for communion with God. 2. He fell upon his knees, put himself into the posture of a penitent humbling himself and a petitioner suing for mercy, in both representing the people for whom he was now an intercessor. 3. He spread out his hands, as one affected with what he was going to say, offering it up unto God, waiting, and reaching out, as it were, with an earnest expectation, to receive a gracious answer. In this he had an eye to God as the Lord, and as his God, a God of power, but a God of grace.
III. The address itself. It is not properly to be called a prayer, for there is not a word of petition in it; but, if we give prayer its full latitude, it is the offering up of pious and devout affections to God, and very devout, very pious, are the affections which Ezra here expresses. His address is a penitent confession of sin, not his own (from a conscience burdened with its own guilt and apprehensive of his own danger), but the sin of his people, from a gracious concern for the honour of God and the welfare of Israel. Here is a lively picture of ingenuous repentance. Observe in this address,
1. The confession he makes of the sin and the aggravations of it, which he insists upon, to affect his own heart and theirs that joined with him with holy sorrow and shame and fear, in the consideration of it, that they might be deeply humbled for it. And it is observable that, though he himself was wholly clear from this guilt, yet he puts himself into the number of the sinners, because he was a member of the same community - our sins and our trespass. Perhaps he now remembered it against himself, as his fault, that he had staid so long after his brethren in Babylon, and had not separated himself so soon as he might have done from the people of those lands. When we are lamenting the wickedness of the wicked, it may be, if we duly reflect upon ourselves and give our own hearts leave to deal faithfully with us, we may find something of the same nature, though in a lower degree, that we also have been guilty of. However, he speaks that which was, or should have been, the general complaint.
(1.) He owns their sins to have been very great: "Our iniquities are increased over our heads (Ezr 9:6); we are ready to perish in them as in keep waters;" so general was the prevalency of them, so violent the power of them, and so threatening were they of the most pernicious consequences. "Iniquity has grown up to such a height among us that it reaches to the heavens, so very impudent that it dares heaven, so very provoking that, like the sin of Sodom, it cries to heaven for vengeance." But let this be the comfort of true penitents that though their sins reach to the heavens God's mercy is in the heavens, Psa 36:5. Where sin abounds grace will much more abound.
(2.) Their sin had been long persisted in (Ezr 9:7): Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass. The example of those that had gone before them he thought so far from excusing their fault that it aggravated it. "We should have taken warning not to stumble at the same stone. The corruption is so much the worse that it has taken deep root and begins to plead prescription, but by this means we have reason to fear that the measure of the iniquity is nearly full."
(3.) The great and sore judgments which God had brought upon them for their sins did very much aggravate them: "For our iniquities we have been delivered to the sword and to captivity (Ezr 9:7), and yet not reformed, yet not reclaimed - brayed in the mortar, and yet the folly not gone (Pro 27:22) - corrected, but not reclaimed."
(4.) The late mercies God had bestowed upon them did likewise very much aggravate their sins. This he insists largely upon, Ezr 9:8, Ezr 9:9. Observe, [1.] The time of mercy: Now for a little space, that is, "It is but a little while since we had our liberty, and it is not likely to continue long." This greatly aggravated their sin, that they were so lately in the furnace and that they knew not how soon they might return to it again; and could they yet be secure? [2.] The fountain of mercy: Grace has been shown us from the Lord. The kings of Persia were the instruments of their enlargement; but he ascribes it to God and to his grace, his free grace, without any merit of theirs. [3.] The streams of mercy, - that they were not forsaken in their bondage, but even in Babylon had the tokens of God's presence, - that they were a remnant of Israelites left, a few out of many, and those narrowly escaped out of the hands of their enemies, by the favour of the kings of Persia, - and especially that they had a nail in his holy place, that is (as it is explained, Ezr 9:9), that they had set up the house of God. They had their religion settled and the service of the temple in a constant method. We are to reckon it a great comfort and advantage to have stated opportunities of worshipping God. Blessed are those that dwell in God's house, like Anna that departed not from the temple. This is my rest for ever, says the gracious soul. [4.] The effects of all this. It enlightened their eyes, and it revived their hearts; that is, it was very comfortable to them, and the more sensibly so because it was in their bondage: it was life from the dead to them. Though but a little reviving, it was a great favour, considering that they deserved none and the day of small things was an earnest of greater. "Now," says Ezra, "how ungrateful are we to offend a God that has been so kind to us! how disingenuous to mingle in sin with those nations from whom we have been, in wonderful mercy, delivered! how unwise to expose ourselves to God's displeasure when we are tried with the returns of his favour and are upon our good behaviour for the continuance of it!"
(5.) It was a great aggravation of the sin that it was against an express command: We have forsaken thy commandments, Ezr 9:10. It seems to have been an ancient law of the house of Jacob not to match with the families of the uncircumcised, Gen 34:14. But, besides that, God had strictly forbidden it. He recites the command, Ezr 9:11, Ezr 9:12. For sin appears sin, appears exceedingly sinful, when we compare it with the law which is broken by it. Nothing could be more express: Give not your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons. The reason given is because, if they mingled with those nations, they would pollute themselves. It was an unclean land, and they were a holy people; but if they kept themselves distinct from them it would be their honour and safety, and the perpetuating of their prosperity. Now to violate a command so express, backed with such reasons, and a fundamental law of their constitution, was very provoking to the God of heaven.
(6.) That in the judgments by which they had already smarted for their sins God had punished them less than their iniquities deserved, so that he looked upon them to be still in debt upon the old account. "What! and yet shall we run up a new score? Has God dealt so gently with us in correcting us, and shall we thus abuse his favour and turn his grace into wantonness?" God, in his grace and mercy, had said concerning Sion's captivity, She hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins (Isa 40:2); but Ezra, in a penitential sense of the great malignity that was in their sin, acknowledged that, though the punishment was very great, it was less than they deserved.
2. The devout affections that were working in him, in making this confession. Speaking of sin,
(1.) He speaks as one much ashamed. With this he begins (Ezr 9:6), O my God! I am ashamed and blush, O my God! (so the words are placed) to lift up my face unto thee. Note, [1.] Sin is a shameful thing; as soon as ever our first parents had eaten forbidden fruit they were ashamed of themselves. [2.] Holy shame is as necessary an ingredient in true and ingenuous repentance as holy sorrow. [3.] The sins of others should be our shame, and we should blush for those who do not blush for themselves. We may well be ashamed that we are any thing akin to those who are so ungrateful to God and unwise for themselves. This is clearing ourselves, Co2 7:11. [4.] Penitent sinners never see so much reason to blush and be ashamed as when they come to lift up their faces before God. A natural sense of our own honour which we have injured will make us ashamed, when we have done a wrong thing, to look men in the face; but a gracious concern for God's honour will make us much more ashamed to look him in the face. The publican, when he went to the temple to pray, hung down his head more than ever, as one ashamed, Luk 18:13. [5.] An eye to God as our God will be of great use to us in the exercise of repentance. Ezra begins, O my God! and again in the same breath, My God. The consideration of our covenant-relation to God as ours will help to humble us, and break our hearts for sin, that we should violate both his precepts to us and our promises to him; it will also encourage us to hope for pardon upon repentance. "He is my God, notwithstanding this;" and every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant.
(2.) He speaks as one much amazed (Ezr 9:10) "What shall we say after this? For my part I know not what to say: if God do not help us, we are undone." The discoveries of guilt excite amazement: the more we think of sin the worse it looks. The difficulty of the case excites amazement. How shall we recover ourselves? Which way shall we make our peace with God? [1.] True penitents are at a loss what to say. Shall we say, We have not sinned, or, God will not require it? If we do, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Shall we say, Have patience with us and we will pay thee all, with thousands of rams, or our first-born for our transgression? God will not thus be mocked: he knows we are insolvent. Shall we say, There is no hope, and let come on us what will? That is but to make bad worse. [2.] True penitents will consider what to say, and should, as Ezra, beg of God to teach them. What shall we say? Say, "I have sinned; I have done foolishly; God be merciful to me a sinner;" and the like. See Hos 14:2.
(3.) He speaks as one much afraid, Ezr 9:13, Ezr 9:14. "After all the judgments that have come upon us to reclaim us from sin, and all the deliverances that have been wrought for us to engage us to God and duty, if we should again break God's commandments, by joining in affinity with the children of disobedience and learning their ways, what else could we expect but that God should be angry with us till he had consumed us, and there should not be so much as a remnant left, nor any to escape the destruction?" There is not a surer nor sadder presage of ruin to any people than revolting to sin, to the same sins again, after great judgments and great deliverances. Those that will be wrought upon neither by the one nor by the other are fit to be rejected, as reprobate silver, for the founder melteth in vain.
(4.) He speaks as one much assured of the righteousness of God, and resolved to acquiesce in that and to leave the matter with him whose judgment is according to truth (Ezr 9:15): "Thou art righteous, wise, just, and good; thou wilt neither do us wrong nor be hard upon us; and therefore behold we are before thee, we lie at thy feet, waiting our doom; we cannot stand before thee, insisting upon any righteousness of our own, having no plea to support us or bring us off, and therefore we fall down before thee, in our trespass, and cast ourselves on thy mercy. Do unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee, Jdg 10:15. We have nothing to say, nothing to do, but to make supplication to our Judge," Job 9:15. Thus does this good man lay his grief before God and then leave it with him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from…
And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my heaviness,.... The signs and tokens of it, particularly sitting on the ground; or "from my fasting" (n), having eaten nothing that day, it being early in the morning when he was told the above case:
and having rent my garment and my mantle; which he had done before, and still kept them on him in the same case:
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fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God; in the posture and with the gesture of an humble supplicant.
(n) "jejunio meo", Michaelis; so Jarchi.
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 Heaviness - From that mournful posture, and put myself…
Heaviness - From that mournful posture, and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. He did this at the time of the evening sacrifice, because then devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, that hearing his confession, they likewise might be made sensible of the sins of the people. And he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type.
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Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Fell upon my knees] In token of…
Verse 5. Fell upon my knees] In token of the deepest humility. Spread out my hands, as if to lay hold on the mercy of God. We have already had occasion to explain these significant acts.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ezr 9:5. I rose up from my heaviness —…
Ezr 9:5. I rose up from my heaviness — From that mournful posture, and put myself into the posture of a petitioner. He did this at the time of the evening sacrifice, because then devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, that, hearing his confession, they likewise might be made sensible of the sins of the people. And he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain PRAYS TO GOD. (Ezr 9:5-15)
PRAYS TO GOD. (Ezr 9:5-15)
I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God--The burden of his prayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was that he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begun to show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. But this only aggravated their sin, that, so soon after their re-establishment in their native land, they openly violated the express and repeated precepts which commanded them to extirpate the Canaanites. Such conduct, he exclaimed, could issue only in drawing down some great punishment from offended Heaven and ensuring the destruction of the small remnant of us that is left, unless, by the help of divine grace, we repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance in an immediate and thorough reformation.
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Next: Ezra Chapter 10
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. Fell upon my knees — The appropriate attitude…
5. Fell upon my knees — The appropriate attitude of an agonizing supplicant.
Spread out my hands — Thus further indicating his own helplessness, and his imploring condition of soul.
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 5–15. Ezra’s Confession
5–15. Ezra’s Confession
5. And at the evening sacrifice] R.V. And at the evening oblation, i.e. at the time of its being offered.
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I arose up from my heaviness] R.V. I arose up from my humiliation. Marg. fasting. The Hebrew word ‘Taanith’ occurs only here in the O.T.: in later Hebrew it became the accepted for religious fasting. This passage favours the original application to general humiliation rather than to abstinence from food. So the LXX. ταπείωσις.
and having rent my garment and my mantle] R.V. even with my garment and my mantle rent; and. There is no need to render as the A.V. and most commentators, as if Ezra for a second time rent his clothes. He calls attention to the fact that in the presence of the assembled people he stood before them with these evident signs of his grief and dismay, and thus by a mute appeal united them with him in his act of prayer.
fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands] We find in Scripture both kneeling and standing as the postures of prayer. For kneeling compare 1Ki_8:54, Solomon … kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. Dan_6:10 ‘And he kneeled upon his knees three times a day.’ Psa_95:6 ‘Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker’. Cf. Luk_22:41; Act_7:60; Act_9:40; Act_20:36; Act_21:5. For standing cf. 1Sa_1:26; 1Ki_8:22; 1Ch_23:30; Mat_6:5; Luk_18:11.
The attitude of spreading out the hands expressed the desire to receive and to embrace the Divine gift, the hands open and the palms turned upwards as if to accept. Cf. Exo_9:29; 1Ki_8:22, Isa_1:15 ‘And when ye spread forth your hands’. 2Ma_3:20 ‘All holding their hands toward heaven made supplication’.
the Lord my God] Cf. Ezr_7:6; Ezr_7:9; Ezr_7:14; Ezr_7:19-20; Ezr_7:25-26 and especially 28.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5-15) Ezra’s prayer of confession and deprecation.
(5-15) Ezra’s prayer of confession and deprecation.
(5) And at the evening sacrifice I arose up.—Until the afternoon Ezra had sat silent and in grief before the Temple, and in presence of the people. Then, amidst the solemnities of the sacrifice, he uttered the prayer which he had been meditating.
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(6) And said, O my God.—The confession begins with “O my God;” but Ezra is the representative of the people, and it proceeds “O our God” (Ezr_9:10), without once returning to the first person.
(7) Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass.—In these Common Prayers of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, the race of Israel is regarded as one, and national sins as one “great trespass.” The repetition of “this day” at the beginning and at the end of the verse is to be observed: in the former place in reference to the sin; in the latter in reference to the punishment.
(8) A little space.—The “little” here and at the close of the sentence are emphatic. All the present tokens of mercy are said at the conclusion of the prayer (Ezr_9:14) to be conditional in their continuance. The little space from the time of Cyrus was nearly two generations; but it was a moment only in relation to the past and the possible future. The idea is inverted in Isa_54:7 : “For a small moment have I forsaken thee.”
Nail in his holy place.—The Temple was itself the sure nail on which all their hopes hung.
A little reviving.—Literally, make us a little life. The present revival was but the beginning, and still by manifold tokens precarious.
(9) We were bondmen.—Better, we are bondmen. In this lies the emphasis of the appeal.
A wall.—Like “the nail,” a figurative expression for security. The literal wall was not yet rebuilt. This completes the description of Divine mercy: first, the people were a delivered remnant; the Temple was a sure nail for the future of religion; and their civil estate was made secure.
(10) After this.—But all was a mercy for which there had been no adequate return.
(11) Saying.—In the later Old Testament Scriptures the quotation of the earlier is often of this character, giving the substance of many passages. The same style is observable in the New Testament.
(12) Give not your daughters.—See Deu_7:3, the only place where the interdict includes both daughters and sons. It is observable that the giving of daughters in marriage to heathens is not mentioned either in Ezra or in Nehemiah.
Nor seek their peace.—An evident echo of that most stern injunction in Deu_23:6.
(15) O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous.—The solemn invocation shows that this is a summary of the whole prayer: God’s righteousness is magnified, as accompanied by the grace which had preserved them, although as only a remnant; and as such covered with their trespasses; and especially with “this” the present trespass, the guilt of which underlies all.
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The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain EZRA"S CONFESSION AND PRAYER TO GOD. (Ezr_9:5-15) The most…
EZRA"S CONFESSION AND PRAYER TO GOD. (Ezr_9:5-15) The most remarkable feature of Ezra"s confession is the thoroughness with which he identifies himself with his erring countrymen, blushes for their transgressions, and is ashamed for their misconduct. All their sins he appears to consider as his sins, all their disobedience as his disobedience, all their perils as his perils. Another striking feature is his sense of the exceeding sinfulness of the particular sin of the time (see vers. 6, 7, 10). He views it as a "great trespass one that "is grown up into the heavens which is equivalent to a complete forsaking of God"s commandments, and on account of Which he and his people "cannot stand before" God. This feeling seems based partly on the nature of the sin itself (ver. 14), but also, and in an especial way, on a strong sense of the ingratitude shown by the people in turning from God so soon after he had forgiven their former sins against him, and allowed them to return from the captivity, rebuild the temple, and re-establish themselves as a nation. If after their deliverance they again fell away, the sin could not but be unpardonable; and the punishment to be expected was a final uprooting and destruction from which there could be no recovery (vers. 13, 14).
At the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness. The time of sacrifice was the fittest time for prayer, especially for a prayer in which acknowledgment of sin was to form a large part. Sacrifice symbolized expiation; and Ezra probably felt that his supplication would be helped by the expiatory rite which was being performed at the time. He rent his garment and his mantle a second time, as a renewed indication of sorrow, and with the view of impressing the people who "were assembled unto him" (ver. 4) the more, and stirring them up to penitence. "Segnius irritant animum demissa per aures Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.
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Vers. 5-15.
A flood of tears.
As we noticed before, and as is here noticed again, the approach of the evening sacrifice seems to have been the first thing which opened Ezra"s lips. Speaking to him at last as he sat like a rock, (comp. Psa_105:41) it was answered immediately by a mingled outburst of confession and tears. Again by outward gesture expressing his sorrow, but not, as before, his indignation, he added now, by falling on his knees and spreading out his hands, the outward tokens of humiliation and prayer. And all that he says we find to be in exact accordance therewith. Unqualified shame; irresistible proof; inexcusable guilt. In these words we have a sufficient key to the nature and order of his thoughts.
I UNQUALIFIED SHAME. How difficult a thing it is to look on any one to whom we have done wrong. How especially difficult if that other is one to whom we are especially bound to show honour. This was the great trial of the prodigal"s case. He had to say to his father, I have sinned before thee (Isa_1:2; Mal_1:6) The same kind of feeling is traceable here. "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God." As one of thy chosen people Israel, how can I look on thee as things are? My own countenance proclaims its shame, its burning shame, if I do. For, indeed, there is cause for shame in this case. There is nothing else, in fact, as things are. Like a man in the waters, when, being above his head, they destroy his life, so are we overwhelmed now with our shame. Like those who have nothing to say to thee because the proof of their guilt is before thee, so are we silenced now by our shame. "Our guiltiness (margin) is grown up into the heavens". (comp. Psa_90:8) Altogether this opening confession is like that of Job. (Job_40:4 Job_42:6) Behold, I am vile, and abhor myself; or, like that of the prodigal, before referred to, "I am not worthy to be called thy son." My very privileges having become my disgrace, what disgrace can be worse?
II IRRESISTIBLE PROOF. There being nothing perhaps less pleasing to God than to accuse ourselves before him without knowing why, such an extreme confession as the above ought not to be made without sufficient proof. This we have in abundance in the words which come next (vers. 7-12). The sin which Ezra had that day heard of, and which had led him t make this confession, was in every way a reproach. It was so because committed
1. In defiance of God"s judgments. For similar sin in previous days on the part of their fathers an almost unexampled visitation of judgment had come on them as a nation. Though a people sacred to Jehovah, he had handed them over in consequence, together with their "kings and priests," the most sacred classes among them, (2Sa_1:14, 2Sa_1:21; Psa_106:16; Lam_4:20) into the hands of their foes. Loss of life, or liberty, or substance in the best case loss of respect had been the result (see end ver. 7). Even to that "day," in fact (ibid. ), this "confusion of face," of which Daniel had spoken so feelingly some eighty years ago, after some seventy years" trial of it, remained as part of their lot. Yet, with all this in their memory and experience, what had been their reply? To repeat again now the very offence for which they had suffered so much!
2. In despite of God"s mercy. Notwithstanding this heavy displeasure, there had been compassion as well. For some little time back (little in the life-history of a nation, that is to say) various signs of "grace" or favour had been vouchsafed to them. The destruction of the people, e.g. , had not been total; a "remnant" had "escaped a great token of good in itself. (Eze_14:22, Eze_14:23) Nor had their dispersion from the home under God"s wing been for ever. On the contrary, a "nail," or fixed habitation, (Isa_22:23 Isa_33:20) had been given them "in his holy place." There was some cheerfulness also, or "lightening of the eyes," with all their "confusion of face," and some "reviving" in their death-like bondage. Truly wonderful mercy, indeed, it was! that restored house after such long desolation; that restored "wall" or fence round such captives; how much it proved; how much it promised; what an undeserved mercy it was. How amazingly wicked, therefore, how ungrateful, to despise it as they had done.
1. In contempt of God"s express will. Most clearly, most strongly, most earnestly, and that from the very first, had God declared his mind on this point. lie had done so by his words, as here quoted. He had done so by his actions, as here referred to. Why had he ever swept away from Canaan its original inhabitants? Why had he introduced the Israelites in their place
2. What had he made their inheritance of it to depend on? The answers to these various questions were clear and emphatic on this subject, and made the conduct which Ezra was bewailing like that of soldiers ordered by their commander to charge the enemy, and drawing their swords instead against himself. These were the three reasons why Ezra spoke as he did of their sin. (2Ch_28:22; Luk_12:47; Rom_2:4; Rev_9:20, Rev_9:21)
III INEXCUSABLE GUILT. In circumstances such as these, what could they say or expect? After such experience, after such deliverance, and in the face of such knowledge, they had begun again the old sin. Must not this bring down again the old anger, and this time without bound (ver. 14)? Even as things were, would not God be "righteous" (ver. 15) if their whole remnant were destroyed? So much so, that it does not seem to occur to Ezra even to speak to God of any other course of proceeding. It is even a marvel to him, in the circumstances, that they continue "escaped." Here we are do as thou willest we cannot stand before thee in our trespasses (Psa_130:3) we can only place ourselves before thee in the dust we have nothing to urge. This total absence of all plea or entreaty almost reminds one of Eli"s silence in 1Sa_3:18 (comp. also 2:25), knowing as he did the inexcusable guilt and impenitence of his sons. Even Daniel, in his deepest humiliation on account of the sins of his people, could take a different line. (Dan_9:19)
CONCLUSION. In this remarkable picture of true penitence we may notice
1. Its singular accuracy of judgment. Sin here, as with David and Joseph and all truly "God-conscious" men and minds, is an offence against God himself. (see Gen_39:9; 1Sa_12:23; Psa_51:4; Rom_4:15; 1Jn_3:4)
2. Its unswerving. loyalty. See the acknowledgments here of God"s mercy and justice in vers. 13, 15; and comp. Psalm 51. end ver. 4, also 1. 4, 6; Luk_7:29; Rom_3:4, Rom_3:19. This sin, at any rate, the sin which renders amendment and forgiveness impossible, the sin of charging God foolishly, the true penitent is free from.
3. Its unsparing sincerity. So far from denying, hiding, or palliating the evil it refers to, it seems anxious rather to bring to light and exhibit its very worst traits. We read of Elias in one place. (Rom_11:2) as making "intercession against Israel." Ezra here, identifying his own case with that of Israel, may be almost said to do it against himself. Could even the great accuser (Rev_12:10) with truth have said very much worse? Contrast Gen_3:12, Gen_3:13; khsiv 1Sa_15:13, 1Sa_15:20, 1Sa_15:21; and comp. perhaps the ejkdi of 2Co_7:11.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD Ver. 5.
The dawn of hope.
Here is a graphic scene. Behold Ezra, the chief man of his nation, and a prince of the Persian Empire, with his garment and his mantle rent, his hair and beard torn and disordered, bowed in silent grief, and surrounded by the best men of his people, all trembling at the word of God. But lo! a ray of hope from the fire of the altar kindles in his soul. "And at the evening sacrifice," etc. Here learn
I THAT THE ONE WAY TO GOD IS THROUGH THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT.
1. Ezra sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
(1) He saw the sin of his people. Its enormity. Its aggravations.
(2) He saw the gathering storm of Divine anger. The more he reflected, the blacker became the cloud.
(3) He saw no way of escape. His suspense was awful, until the fire of the altar began to light up the darkness of the gathering night.
2. Now he is encouraged to pray.
(1) God has found out a way. Sacrifice would never have occurred to the unaided reason of man; or even had it occurred to him, he could not be sure that God would accept it.
(2) God has made his ways known unto men. It was revealed soon after the. (Gen_3:15, 24 4:4 8:20, 21) More formally established in the Levitical law. This was authenticated by all the miracles of the exodus. Fulfilled in the solemnities of Calvary.
II THAT HE MUST BE APPROACHED IN THE SPIRIT OF HUMILIATION.
1. Ezra rent his garment and his mantle.
(1) His "garment" to express his personal grief at the dishonour done to God. At the wickedness of his people. At their consequent. liability to fearful punishment.
(2) His" mantle," which was such a robe as was worn by persons of birth and station, was rent to express his distress in his magisterial. and representative capacity. Public men should recognise a public responsibility to God.
2. This he now did the second time.
(1) In the first instance he rent his clothes to express to men his grief. It produced the desired effect. All those who "trembled at the word of God" gathered round him. We should witness for God to man against sin. We should do this in the most emphatic manner, so as to produce conviction.
(2) Now by similar acts he expresses his grief to God. This second rending of his garment and mantle was in connection with his rousing himself to pray. God expects from us a formal and full confession of sin. He does not need information, but requires it for our benefit.
3. Ezra also now fell upon his knees.
(1) Hitherto he had been sitting in his grief, bewildered and astonished, not knowing what to do to avert the looming" vengeance. To pray he knew not how until his spirit was stirred within him "at the evening- sacrifice." All true prayer is from God. (Pro_16:1) The fire that stirs a prayerful soul is from the altar of Calvary. (see Isa_6:6, Isa_6:7)
(2) Kneeling is an appropriate attitude for prayer. It expresses submission. (Php_2:10) We should beware of the hypocrisy of bowing the knee when there is no submission in the soul.
(3) Posture, however, is not essential to prayer. Scripture furnishes examples of various postures. The attitude of the heart is of vital importance. This is a comfort to those who are physically incapacitated for kneeling. (1Ti_4:8)
III THAT WE MUST DRAW NEAR TO GOD IN FAITH. Ezra "spread out his hands to the Lord his God.
1. He recognised God as his covenant friend.
(1) Note the possessive case. All that is meant in the title "God" he claims as his. What a proprietary is here!
(2) There is a glorious complement to this. If the Lord be our covenant God, then are we his covenanted people. He too has a property in us. (Son_2:16) We are his "peculiar. treasure.". (Psa_135:4)
(3) The covenant, relationship evermore recognises Christ who is the Covenant of his people, and whose blood is the "blood of the covenant." The recognition of all this is faith, and when this recognition is raised in us by the Spirit of God the faith becomes saving.
2. Therefore he spread out his hands.
(1) The open hand is the symbol of truth. Ezra approached God with the sincerity of a genuine faith. (see Psa_24:4) The open hand of the impenitent hypocrite is bloody in the sight of God. (Isa_1:15)
(2) The hands spread out are in the attitude of craving and receiving. Corresponding to this, the outstretched hands of God denote the offers of his mercy. (Pro_1:24) Let us ask and receive, that our joy may be full. J.A.M.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL Vers. 5-15.
A good man"s sight of sin.
I That the sight of sin AWAKENS WITHIN THE GOOD MAN A SPIRIT OF EARNEST PRAYER. "I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God" (ver. 5).
1. The humility of the prayer. Ezra fell upon his knees in deepest self-abasement; he did not stand erect like the Pharisee in the temple, but smote upon his breast like the publican. (Luk_18:13) Surely the sin of God"s chosen people could not but inspire humility within the patriot.
2. The earnestness of the prayer. Ezra spread out his hands in earnest entreaty before God; the solemnity of the circumstance awakened him to holy fervour. At such a time a lifeless prayer could be of no avail.
3. The direction of the prayer. Ezra directed his prayer to the Lord his God; he felt the vanity of human help, and that God only could avert the consequence of their transgression. A sense of sin should lead to God.
4. The personal claim of the prayer. "My God," "O my God.
II THAT THE SIGHT OF SIN AWAKENS WITHIN THE GOOD MAN A SENSE OF SHAME. "I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens (ver. 6). He is ashamed
1. Because he is morally sensitive to sin. Purity is sensitive to evil.
2. Because he understands the true nature of sin. "Our iniquities," "our trespass.
3. Because he realises the magnitude of sin. "Our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up to heaven." Sin brings shame; this the good man feels.
III THAT THE SIGHT OF SIN AWAKENS WITHIN THE GOOD MAN MEMORIES OF SORROW. "And for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil" (ver. 7).
1. A memory of degradation. Sin will send kings and priests into degrading captivity.
2. A memory of cruelty. Sin delivers men as to the sword.
3. A memory of bondage. Sin is slavery.
4. A memory of loss. Sin spoils men of their best treasures. The history of sin is a history of sorrow, and the sight of sin calls up to the mind of the good man sad memories.
IV THAT THE SIGHT OF SIN AWAKENS WITHIN THE GOOD MAN THE THOUGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
1. Its mercy. "And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God" (vers. 8, 9).
2. Its fidelity. "Yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage" (ver. 9).
3. Its forbearance. "Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve" (ver. 13). This life is not the scene of complete punishment.
4. Its delay. "For we remain." Sin is not immediately punished in this life.
5. Its rectitude. "O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous" (ver. 15). "Its retribution. "For we cannot stand before thee because of this" (ver. 15).
Thus Ezra viewed the sin of Israel in its relation to the moral government of God. E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Ezra’s Confession of the People’s Sin
Ezra’s Confession of the People’s Sin
v. 5. And at the evening sacrifice, about the middle of the afternoon, I arose up from my heaviness, from the stupor which had benumbed him; and having rent my garment and my mantle, once more indicating his anger, sorrow, and grief, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord, my God, in a gesture of humble supplication,
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v. 6. and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush, a very emphatic expression of his repentant sorrow for his people, to lift up my face to Thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens, their great abundance being like a flood which threatened to engulf the Jews forever.
v. 7. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day, as the history of both Israel and Judah under the kingdom had shown; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to be killed outright, to captivity, to languish in exile, and to a spoil, their land having been plundered time and again by the enemies, and to confusion of face, to the deepest shame and humiliation, as it is this day.
v. 8. And now for a little space, for almost sixty years, grace hath been showed from the Lord, our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His Holy Place, the figure being that of a peg on which domestic utensils were hung and the meaning that God had again given them a part and a right in His house, in His Temple, that our God may lighten our eyes, by removing the night of trouble and weakness resting upon them, and give us a little reviving in our bondage, by bestowing salvation, strength, and encouragement.
v. 9. For we were bondmen, held captive by the enemies; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, restoring them once more as a nation and as a congregation of Jehovah, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem, by protecting them against all their oppressors. The mercies of God having been mentioned, the sin of the people stands out all the more strongly by comparison.
v. 10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Thy commandments
v. 11. which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants, the prophets, for their mixed marriages involved idolatry, saying, The land unto which ye go to possess it is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
v. 12. Now, therefore, give not your daughters unto their Sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, Ezra here quotes from Moses, Exo 23:32; Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever, that ye may be strong and eat the good of the land, enjoy all its richest blessings, and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever, as a permanent possession of the children of Israel.
v. 13. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass, the punishment of their exile, seeing that Thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, literally, "hast restrained a part of our sins from below," namely, in this, that His punishment was below the measure of their misdeeds, and hast given us such deliverance as this,
v. 14. should we again break Thy commandments and Join in affinity with the people of these abominations, by entering into mixed marriages with them? The thought is that the remembrance of the leniency of the Lord in dealing with the people ought certainly to restrain them from transgressing His precept. Wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? This fate the general blameworthiness of the people in the new transgression would certainly have deserved.
v. 15. O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous, a Judge whose holiness would constrain Him to bring punishment upon the congregation if its members would continue in the present transgression; for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before Thee in our trespasses, for we cannot stand before Thee because of this. The implication was that, unless, by the help of divine grace, they would repent and bring forth fruit meet for repentance in a prompt change of tactics, the wrath of the righteous God would be sure to strike them. A confession of this kind also includes the prayer for forgiveness and will therefore surely be heard.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 my position of humiliation
my position of humiliation
another way of saying he was "sitting ashamed" ( Esra 9:4). "where I was sitting on the ground to show how ashamed I was"
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knelt down and spread my hands
"got on my knees and stretched out my arms with my hands open toward the sky"
our iniquities increase over our head, and our guilt grows to the heavens
These words are two ways of speaking of iniquity and guilt as if they were physical objects that could grow to be larger than people. The abstract nouns "iniquity" and "guilt" can be expressed as a noun and an adjective, respectively. AT: "we have committed wicked deeds and we are very guilty" (See: Parallelism and Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
humiliate
Yahweh
iniquity
guilt
heaven
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:5 Ezra’s inner humility before God was consistent with…
9:5 Ezra’s inner humility before God was consistent with his falling on his knees. His outstretched hands demonstrated his pleading with God to intervene.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.