Ezra 9:3

Ezra 9:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
• New International Version (NIV)When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled.
• English Standard Version (ESV)As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.

Context of Ezra 9:3

1When we had done all these things, the Jewish leaders came to speak to me. They said, ‘Some of the Israelites have done disgusting things, like the people of other nations do. Some priests and Levites have done the same bad things. They live in the same way as the other people who live in this land, the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have not kept themselves separate. 2They have married some of the foreign people's daughters. They have let their sons do the same thing. In this way, God's holy people have become mixed with the foreign people who live near to them. Our own leaders and officers have led the way in these bad things.’ When I heard this, I was very upset. I tore my shirt and my coat. I pulled out hair from my head and my beard. I was angry and ashamed. I sat down. 4Then everyone who respected the words of Israel's God came around me. They were afraid of what God might do, because the Israelites who came from Babylon had not obeyed him. I continued to sit there, until the time of the evening sacrifice. I was still very upset. 5When the time came for the evening sacrifice, I stood up. I still wore my shirt and coat that I had torn because I was so sad. Then I went down on my knees. I held out my hands and I prayed to the Lord, my God.

Ezra 9:3 word by word

וּכְשָׁמְעִי֙ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה קָרַ֥עְתִּי אֶת־בִּגְדִ֖י וּמְעִילִ֑י וָאֶמְרְטָ֞ה מִשְּׂעַ֤ר רֹאשִׁי֙ וּזְקָנִ֔י וָאֵשְׁבָ֖ה מְשׁוֹמֵֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And when I heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
• this thingדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• I rentקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
• my garmentבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
• and my mantleמְעִילme‛îyl · robeH4598
• and plucked offמָרַטmâraţ · to smoothH4803
• the hairשֵׂעָרώê‛âr ώa‛ar · hairH8181
• of my headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• and of my beardזָקָןzâqân · beardH2206
• and sat downיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• astoniedשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: appalledH8074

Cross-references for Ezra 9:3

• Joshua 7:6Joshua was so upset that he tore his clothes. He fell with his face to the ground in front of the Lord's Covenant Box. He stayed there until evening time, together with the Israelite leaders. They all put dirt on their heads.
• 2 Kings 18:37Then King Hezekiah's three officers, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah, went back to Hezekiah. They had torn their clothes because they were very upset. They told the king what the Assyrian officer had said.
• 2 Kings 19:1When King Hezekiah heard the report of his officers, he tore his clothes. Then he put on rough sackcloth and he went into the Lord's temple.
• Job 1:20When Job heard this news he was very upset. He tore his clothes and he cut off all his hair. Then he bent down low on the ground to worship God.
• Jeremiah 36:24As the king and his officers heard Jehudi read each section of the scroll, it did not make them afraid. None of them tore their clothes because they were upset.
• Leviticus 21:5A priest must not cut all the hair from his head. He must not cut the sides of his beard. He must not cut his body.
• Nehemiah 13:25I was angry with them. I asked God to curse them. I hit some of the men. I pulled out the hair of some of them. I told them to make a promise in God's name. I said to them, ‘You must not let your daughters marry the sons of those foreign people. You must not let their daughters marry your sons. You yourselves must not marry foreign women either.
• Isaiah 15:2The people in Dibon have gone up to their temple to weep. They have gone up to the altars where they worship their gods. Moab's people are weeping because of what has happened at Nebo and Medeba. They are so upset that they have cut off their hair and their beards.
• Jeremiah 7:29Now show that you are upset. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go to the tops of the hills and sing sad songs about death. Realize that today's people have made the Lord very angry. So he has decided to turn away from them and leave them.” ’
• Jeremiah 48:37All the men will be very upset. They will cut the hair off their heads and their faces. They will use knives to cut their hands. They will wear sackcloth as their clothes.
• Ezekiel 7:18They will wear sackcloth. They will be very afraid. Their faces will show that they are ashamed. They will cut all the hair from their heads.
• Micah 1:16People in Judah, cut off all your hair. Make yourselves bald like vultures, because you will be very sad. Your enemies will take your children away. They will take your children, whom you love so much, away to another country!
• Nehemiah 1:4After they told me this, I sat down and I wept. I was very sad for many days. I did not eat or drink anything and I prayed to God.
• Job 2:12When they could see Job from far away, they did not easily recognize him. They began to weep very loudly. They were so upset that they tore their clothes. They threw dust into the air and on their heads.
• Psalms 66:3Say to God, ‘You do great things! Your great power makes your enemies afraid. They come to you and they bend down to the ground.
• Psalms 143:4My strength is leaving me, and I feel very upset.

Commentaries on Ezra 9:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3I rent my garment and my mantle - The outer and inner garment, in sign of great grief. This significant act is frequently mentioned in the sacred writings, and was common among all ancient nations. Plucked off the hair - Shaving the head and beard were signs of excessive grief; much more so the plucking off the hair, which must produce exquisite pain. All this testified his abhorrence, not merely of the act of having taken strange wives, but their having…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Plucking out the hair with the hands, so common among the Classical nations, is, comparatively speaking, rarely mentioned as practiced by Asiatics.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3sat down in horror: Compare Genesis 37:34; 2 Kings 22:11; Job 1:20.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, &c.--the outer and inner garment, which was a token not only of great grief, but of dread at the same time of the divine wrath; plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard--which was a still more significant sign of overpowering grief.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezra 9:3

• Beard
• Dress
• Mantle
• Mourning
• Rending

In the dictionaries

• Beard
• Chief
• Escaping
• Hair
• Join
• Mingle
• Captivity
• Esdras, the First Book of
• Peel; Pill
• Proselyte

Commentaries on Ezra 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings