Ezra 9, Pagan Wives

As Ezra and others engaged in setting up, anew, the covenant law, a problem arises. 

Ezra 9: 1-4, The problem of pagan wives
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness."

When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

The issue of influence from pagan neighbors is an ancient one. The of "neighboring peoples" echoes previous lists with small differences. For example, in Exodus 3: 17, we have a similar list where the Ammonites and Moabites are replaced by the Hivites. Throughout the Torah, the Jews were warned against marrying wives from other nations, as they would bring pagan idolatry with them. This did happen, repeatedy, throughout the reign of kings, and is a major reason for the nation's defeat and exile.  This appears to be happening again and Ezra is distressed.

The Jebusites were a people group who originally lived in Jerusalem but were ousted by David (1 Chronicles 11: 4-5.)

Ezra's expressions of dismay, tearing his tunic and cloak, were common statements of distress in ancient Israel.  However, according to Yamauchi, this is the only place where the distressed one is described as pulling out his hair! As Yamauchi points out, Ezra is not officially a leader of Israel but the leaders do come to him. Ezra, because of his standing as a priest and in knowledge of the Mosaic Covenant, is a person of influence.

Ezra 9: 5-9,  Ezra's prayer

Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed: 

"O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 

From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

"But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

 

Ezra, a "skilled scribe", is very aware of the prohibitions against pagan wives and so throws himself down before YHWH and prays for grace and success for this new nation. The prayer is a mixture of confession, repentance and gratitude. Ezra makes it clear that he has learned the lesson of the exile and ask that this remnant of the ancient Israelite people be restored to Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra's posture of prayer is hands spread out (palms up, says Yamauchi), on his knees. This also is Solomon's prayer posture at the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6: 12-13.

Ezra 9: 10-15, What can we say?

"But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: `The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other.

Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.'

"What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Shall we again break your commands and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor?

O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence."

Ezra recalls some of the commands of Moses, back when the first entrance to Canaan was to occur.  Here is a second entrance, a second chance, and the educated priest, a descendant of Aaron, wants to get this right!

The marriage prohibition here is not one of race, but of religious worship. The ideal of the Mosaic Covenant is to have husband and wife worshiping YHWH together, raising their children to worship YHWH. (See Deuteronomy 6: 4-15.)