Ezra 10:3

Ezra 10:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
• New International Version (NIV)Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Context of Ezra 10:3

1While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. 2Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the local peoples. Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. Therefore let us enact a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, and that of those who respect the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 4Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!” 5So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. And they all took a solemn oath.

Ezra 10:3 word by word

וְעַתָּ֣ה נִֽכְרָת־בְּרִ֣ית לֵ֠אלֹהֵינוּ לְהוֹצִ֨יא כָל־נָשִׁ֜ים וְהַנּוֹלָ֤ד מֵהֶם֙ בַּעֲצַ֣ת אֲדֹנָ֔י וְהַחֲרֵדִ֖ים בְּמִצְוַ֣ת אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וְכַתּוֹרָ֖ה יֵעָשֶֽׂה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Now therefore let us makeכָּרַתkârath · to cut: make(covenant)H3772
• a covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
• with our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• to put awayיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: sendH3318
• all the wivesאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• and such as are bornיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• of them, according to the counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
• of my lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• and of those that trembleחָרֵדchârêd · tremblingH2730
• at the commandmentמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
• and let it be doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• according to the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451

Cross-references for Ezra 10:3

• Deuteronomy 29:12so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today.
• Joshua 9:6They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.”
• 2 Kings 11:17Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord.
• 2 Chronicles 29:10Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, so that he may relent from his raging anger.
• 2 Chronicles 34:31The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll.
• Nehemiah 9:38(10:1) “Because of all of this we are entering into a binding covenant in written form; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests have affixed their names on the sealed document.”
• Nehemiah 10:29hereby participate with their colleagues the town leaders and enter into a curse and an oath to adhere to the law of God which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commandments of the lord our Lord, along with his ordinances and his statutes.
• 2 Chronicles 30:12In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the Lord’s command.
• Ezra 9:4Everyone who held the words of the God of Israel in awe gathered around me because of the unfaithful acts of the people of the exile. Devastated, I continued to sit there until the evening offering.
• 2 Chronicles 34:21“Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and those who remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord by doing all that this scroll instructs!”
• Psalms 119:59I consider my actions and follow your rules.
• Isaiah 66:2My hand made them; that is how they came to be,” says the Lord. I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say.
• Ezekiel 9:4The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
• Deuteronomy 7:2and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy!
• Joshua 23:12But if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them,
• Nehemiah 8:14They discovered written in the law that the lord had commanded through Moses that the Israelites should live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month,

Commentaries on Ezra 10:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Let us make a covenant - ברית נכרת nichrath berith, let us cut or divide the covenant sacrifice. See the notes on Genesis 15:10.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Let it be done according to the law - i. e., let a formal “bill of divorcement” be given to each foreign wife, whereby she will be restored to the condition of an unmarried woman, and be free to marry another husband (see Deuteronomy 24:1-2). The facility of divorce among the Jews is well-known. According to many of the rabbis, a bill of divorcement might he given by the husband for the most trivial cause. Thus, no legal difficulty stood in the way of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3A covenant is a binding agreement. In this case, it refers to divorcing pagan wives whom the people of Israel had married inappropriately. By doing this, they would renew their commitment to the Sinai covenant. Women usually received custody of their children when a marriage ended (compare Hagar and Ishmael, Genesis 21:14).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-42-4. Shechaniah ... answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed--This was one of the leading men, who was not himself a delinquent in the matter, for his name does not occur in the following list. He spoke in the general name of the people, and his conduct evinced a tender conscience, as well as no small fortitude in making such a proposal; for as his father and five paternal uncles (Ezr 10:26) were involved in the guilt of unlawful marriages, he…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezra 10:3

• Church
• Decision
• Divorce
• Ezra
• Fear of God
• Righteous

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Covenant
• Shecaniah
• Transgression
• Trespass
• Azaelus
• Bacchurus
• Covenant, in the Old Testament
• Esdras, the First Book of

Commentaries on Ezra 10

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings