English Standard Version
Ezra 9:3
3As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked.
Context of Ezra 9:3
1After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost." As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God,
Read all of Ezra 9Ezra 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 7:6Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads.
- 2 Kings 18:37Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
- 2 Kings 19:1As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.
- Job 1:20Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
- Jeremiah 36:24Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments.
- Leviticus 21:5They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.
- Nehemiah 13:25And I confronted them and cursed them and beat some of them and pulled out their hair. And I made them take an oath in the name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves.
- Isaiah 15:2He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn;
- Jeremiah 7:29"'Cut off your hair and cast it away; raise a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'
- Jeremiah 48:37"For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth.
- Ezekiel 7:18They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
- Micah 1:16Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.
- Nehemiah 1:4As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
- Job 2:12And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.
- Psalms 66:3Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
- Psalms 143:4Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries