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

1After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have failed to keep themselves separate from the neighboring groups of people and from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. 2The Israelites and their sons have married some of these foreign women. They have mixed our holy race with the neighboring groups of people. Furthermore, the leaders and officials have led the way in being unfaithful.” When I heard this, I tore my clothes ⌞in distress⌟, pulled hair from my scalp and my beard, and sat down in shock. 4Since the former exiles had been unfaithful, everyone who gathered around me there trembled at the words of the God of Israel. I sat in shock until the evening sacrifice. 5At the evening sacrifice I got up from my misery, and with my clothes torn, I knelt down, stretched out my hands to the Lord my God in prayer,

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 and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes in grief. They put dust on their heads and bowed down to the ground in front of the Lord’s ark. They stayed there until evening.
• 2 Kings 18:37Then Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was the son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief. They told him the message from the field commander.
• 2 Kings 19:1When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Lord’s temple.
• Job 1:20Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped.
• Jeremiah 36:24The king and all his attendants didn’t show any fear or tear their clothes in fear when they heard everything being read.
• Leviticus 21:5“You should never mourn by shaving bald spots on your heads, shaving the edges of your beards, or slashing your bodies.
• Nehemiah 13:25So I reprimanded those Jews, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God: “We won’t allow our daughters to marry their sons, and we won’t allow their daughters to marry us or our sons.”
• Isaiah 15:2The people of Dibon go to the temple, to the worship sites, to cry. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved bald, and every beard is cut off.
• Jeremiah 7:29“Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, because in his anger the Lord has rejected and abandoned the people of this generation.
• Jeremiah 48:37“Every head is shaved, and every beard is cut off. There are gashes on every hand and sackcloth on every waist.
• Ezekiel 7:18They will put on sackcloth, and horror will cover them. All their faces will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved.
• Micah 1:16Shave your head in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures because your children will be taken from you into exile.
• Nehemiah 1:4When I heard this, I sat down and cried. I mourned for days. I continued to fast and pray to the God of heaven.
• Job 2:12When they saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads.
• Psalms 66:3Say to God, “How awe-inspiring are your deeds! Your power is so great that your enemies will cringe in front of you.
• Psalms 143:4That is why I begin to lose hope and my heart is in a state of shock.

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