Ezra 9:8

Ezra 9:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
• New International Version (NIV)“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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

Context of Ezra 9:8

6I said, ‘My God, I am too ashamed to look up at you. Our sins are very great. They are so many that they reach far above us. We are completely guilty. 7Since our ancestors were alive, we have continued to do wrong things. Because of our sins, you have given our enemies power over us, our kings and our priests. Foreign kings and their armies have killed some of our people. They have made some of us prisoners. They have robbed us and they have caused us to be ashamed. And we are still ashamed today. But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us remain alive. He has given us a safe place to live in this holy place. He has made our lives happier. He has given us rest from work as slaves. 9We are still slaves, but our God has not left us alone to serve other people. Because he loves us, he has caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us. He has let us live so that we can build again the temple of our God. It had become a heap of stones, but now we have built it again. He has given us a safe place to live in Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah. 10Our God, we can say nothing good about ourselves. We have turned away from your commands.

Ezra 9:8 word by word

וְעַתָּ֡ה כִּמְעַט־רֶגַע֩ הָיְתָ֨ה תְחִנָּ֜ה מֵאֵ֣ת׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ לְהַשְׁאִ֥יר לָ֙נוּ֙ פְּלֵיטָ֔ה וְלָתֶת־לָ֥נוּ יָתֵ֖ד בִּמְק֣וֹם קָדְשׁ֑וֹ לְהָאִ֤יר עֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ וּלְתִתֵּ֛נוּ מִֽחְיָ֥ה מְעַ֖ט בְּעַבְדֻתֵֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And now for a littleמְעַטme‛aţ me‛âţ · littleH4592
• spaceרֶ֫גַעrega‛ · momentH7281
• graceתְּחִנָּהtechinnâh · supplicationH8467
• from the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• to leaveשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
• us a remnant to escapeפְּלֵיטָהpelêyţâh pelêţâh · survivorH6413
• and to giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• us a nailיָתֵדyâthêd · pegH3489
• in his holyקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
• placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
• may lightenאוֹר'ôr · to lightH215
• our eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• revivingמִחְיָהmichyâh · recoveryH4241
• in our bondageעַבְדוּת‛abdûth · slaveryH5659

Cross-references for Ezra 9:8

• Ezra 9:9We are still slaves, but our God has not left us alone to serve other people. Because he loves us, he has caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us. He has let us live so that we can build again the temple of our God. It had become a heap of stones, but now we have built it again. He has given us a safe place to live in Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah.
• Nehemiah 1:11Please listen to my prayer, my Lord. Hear the prayers of your people who love to respect your name. Please cause the king to be kind to me. May he give me what I ask for.’ I was the king's cupbearer.
• Nehemiah 9:31But because you are very kind, you did not turn away from them or destroy them. You are a God who is very kind and you forgive people.
• Habakkuk 3:2Lord, I have heard the report about you. I see the things that you have done, Lord, and I respect your power. Please do great things like that again. Do them again now for us to see. When you are angry with us, please still remember to be kind!
• Ezra 9:14But now we still refuse to obey your commands! Some of us have married foreign people who do disgusting things. If we continue to do that, you may destroy us all. None of us will remain alive!
• 2 Kings 19:4The Assyrian officer has brought a message from his king to insult the God who lives for ever. Maybe the Lord your God has heard that message. He should punish the officer for his wicked message. So please pray for the people who remain in Jerusalem.’
• Isaiah 1:9Unless the Lord Almighty had left some of us alive, we would have become like Sodom. We would have been completely destroyed, like Gomorrah.
• Jeremiah 42:2They said to Jeremiah, ‘Please listen to us. Pray to the Lord your God for those of us who remain alive. You can see that only a few of us remain from the many people that we were before.
• Jeremiah 44:14None of the people who remained in Judah and who came to live here in Egypt will escape. They will not remain alive to return to Judah. They may want very much to return, but only a few will be able to run away and go home.” ’
• Ezekiel 6:8But I will allow some of you to live. Those people will escape when the enemy army attacks. They will run away to live in foreign countries.
• Ezekiel 14:22But some people will still be alive. Some sons and daughters will come out from the city. They will come to you here in Babylon. You will see the way that those people have lived. You will see the things that they have done. Then you will not be upset that I have punished Jerusalem in all these ways.
• Zechariah 8:6‘This may seem impossible to the few people that remain,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘But nothing is impossible to me,’ says the Lord Almighty.
• Zechariah 8:12‘The seeds and the plants will grow well. The trees will give fruit. There will be water from the skies. I will bless the few people that will return.
• Romans 9:27Also, Isaiah, God's prophet, said this about Israel's people: ‘There are so many of Israel's people, nobody can count them. They are as many as the bits of sand on the shore of the sea. But God will save only a few of them.
• Romans 11:5It is the same at this time too. There is a small number of Israel's people that God has chosen to trust him. He has chosen them because he is very kind.
• Ecclesiastes 12:11The words of wise people are like sharp sticks that a farmer uses to move his animals along. Their messages are like strong nails in a piece of wood. It is God, our one Shepherd, who gives these messages to us.

Commentaries on Ezra 9:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8And now for a little space - This interval in which they were returning from servitude to their own land. Grace hath been showed - God has disposed the hearts of the Persian kings to publish edicts in our favor. To leave us a remnant to escape - The ten tribes are gone irrecoverably into captivity; a great part even of Judah and Benjamin had continued beyond the Euphrates: so that Ezra might well say, there was but a remnant which had escaped. A nail in…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8The “little space” was above 60 years, counting from the second year of Darius Ezra 4:24, or about 80 years, counting from the first year of Cyrus Ezra 1:1. This does not seem to Ezra much in the “lifetime” of a nation. A remnant to escape - Rather, “a remnant that has escaped.” The “remnant” is the new community that has returned from the captivity. A nail - Compare the marginal note and reference. The metaphor is probably drawn from a tent-pin, which is…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-15Verses 5-15 The sacrifice, especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the blessed Lamb of God, who in the evening of the world, was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Ezra's address is a penitent confession of sin, the sin of his people. But let this be the comfort of true penitents, that though their sins reach to the heavens, God's mercy is in the heavens. Ezra, speaking of sin, speaks as one much ashamed. Holy shame is as necessary in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9God's abundant grace and unfailing love should influence how people respond to him (see Deuteronomy 30:1–5). After all God had done for the remnant, it was shameful they were so quick to betray him. grace in the sight of the kings of Persia: Babylon and Assyria had tortured and exiled their enemies (2 Kings 17; 25), but Persia treated exiled people kindly and returned them to their homelands (see Ezra 1:1–3). a wall of protection: This phrase refers to…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-155-15. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezra 9:8

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Church
• God Continued...
• Intercession
• Nail

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Holy place
• Bondage
• Chief
• Confession
• Escaping
• Join
• Mingle
• Nail

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