Глава 9

1–2. Ezra's receipt of information about the existence of marriages with foreigners. 3–5. The Sorrow of Ezra. 6–15. Ezra's Prayer. 1Ezra 9:1. At the end of this, the rulers came to me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, did not separate themselves from the foreign nations with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites, "At the end of this." A vague indication that has the meaning that after the events described earlier, what the writer talks about next happened soon. From the fact that Ezra was informed of the existence of mixed marriages by others, and from the description of the strong impression made on Ezra by these messages (vv. 3-5), one can also conclude that the event described in ch. IX, took place shortly after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem. “We did not separate ourselves from the nations... with their abominations,” - more precisely from the Hebrews. в виду мерзостей их. From the enumeration of pagan peoples made in Art. 1, one cannot conclude that the Canaanite peoples still existed at that time: the enumeration is made according to the model of the Pentateuch (cf. Deut. 7.1–11). The Law of Moses prohibited marriages only with Canaanite women (Exodus 34.12–16; Deut. 7.2 et c.; Judges 3.5 et c.). The violation of this law in the period described was largely due to necessity, since during resettlement and colonization the number of men always exceeds the number of women. 1Ezra9:3. When I heard this word, I tore my outer and lower garments and tore the hair of my head and my beard, and sat sad. The tearing of the lower and outer clothing served among the ancient Jews as a sign of deep sorrow (cf. Joshua 7.6); pulling out hair on the head and beard was a sign of strong anger and indignation of the moral sense (cf. Nehemiah 13.25), 1Ezra9:4. Then all who feared the words of the God of Israel because of the transgression of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat in sorrow until the evening sacrifice. "Because of the crimes of the migrants". In view of the reading of the Greek. text, the words given are best placed at the end of Art. 3. We are talking about immigrants who arrived before Ezra. 1Ezra9:5. And during the evening sacrifice I arose from the place of my lamentation, and with my lower and upper garments torn, I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord my God. “And in torn lower and upper clothes.” The writer points with these words to a new expression of Ezra's grief, and not to what was said in v. 3 (glory: “and always my robe was torn”). This expression of grief could make a strong impression on the people gathered for the evening sacrifice. 1Ezra9:6. and said: My God! I am ashamed and afraid to raise my face to You, my God, because our iniquities have become higher than our heads, and our guilt has increased to heaven. From 6 tbsp. Ezra's prayer is stated. From its contents it is clear that Ezra does not pray for the forgiveness of sins: his intention is to point out to society the gravity of his crime and encourage him to do everything to block sin and soften divine wrath. In ch. X describes how society acted. 1Ezra9:7. From the days of our fathers we have been in great guilt until this day, and for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, were delivered into the hands of foreign kings, under the sword, into captivity and to plunder and to shame, as is the case now. In Art. 7 Ezra expresses the conviction that the Jewish community has not been cleansed of old sins and continues to be punished for them (“as now”). Meanwhile, people are adding new ones to the old crimes. 1Ezra9:8. And so, after a short time, we were granted mercy from the Lord our God, and He left us with a few survivors and allowed us to establish ourselves in the place of His holiness, and our God enlightened our eyes, and allowed us to live a little in our slavery. “And so, after a short time.” The expression, as in Isa. 26.20 denotes a relatively short period, namely the time from the liberation of the community from Babylon by Cyrus to the moment of Ezra’s speech. This period, in comparison with the time of disasters that began with the rise of the Assyrians, is called small. During this short period, Israel was granted mercy, consisting in the fact that the remnant (peletah) of the people survived and the Lord allowed the people to establish themselves (“and give us a jathed stake for fastening the tent, a nail, a portable support) in the place of their shrine. “He enlightened our eyes,” i.e. after the darkness of disasters, he made it possible for them to see the dawn of the day of salvation (cf. Proverbs 29.13; 1 Sam. 14.27–29; Ps. 14.4). “He made us live a little in our slavery”: of course, the restoration of the life of Israel as a small community enjoying a certain degree of independence. A sign of this life was the restoration of the church. But, compared with ancient times, this life was only meat, smallness, insignificance. 1Ezra9:9. We are slaves, but our God did not leave us in our slavery. And He inclined towards us the mercy of the kings of Persia, so that they would let us come to life, erect the house of our God and restore it from its ruins, and give us a fence in Judea and Jerusalem. “They gave us a fence (gader) in Judea and in Jerusalem” (cf. Isa. 5:2–5). Gader – fence, fortified place. The expression does not indicate the walls of Jerusalem, which by this time had not yet been restored, but has a general meaning. Ezra wants to say that, thanks to the patronage of the Persian kings, the Jews received a calm and safe stay in their former homeland. 1Ezra9:10. And now, what will we say, our God, after this? For we have departed from Your commandments, “What will we say, our God, after this?” those. after the manifestation of the previously indicated (vv. 7–9) mercies to the criminal people. We cannot say anything except that (Heb. ki, Russian for) “they have departed from Thy commandments.” 1Ezra9:11. which You commanded through Your servants the prophets, saying: the land into which you are going to take possession of it is an unclean land, it is defiled by the uncleanness of foreign nations, their abominations, with which they filled it from end to end in their defilements. “Which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying,” etc. Quoted to the end of Art. 12. words close to Deuteronomy 7.1–3 are not literally found in the prophetic books. But the idea expressed in them about the need to withdraw from communication with pagan peoples is the thought of all the prophets, starting with Moses. 1Ezra9:12. Therefore, do not marry your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters to marry your sons, and do not seek their peace and their blessings forever, so that you may be strengthened and eat the good things of that land and pass it on as an inheritance to your sons forever. The words “seek not peace and their goodness forever” occur in Deuteronomy 23.6–7, where the requirement contained therein is limited to the Moabites and Ammonites only. You might be interested in: