1 Esdras 9: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Esdras mourns and fasts over the people's wrongdoing, and a proclamation calls all who returned from captivity to gather at Jerusalem within three days. In the rain the crowd agrees to Esdras's charge to separate from the foreign women, and men are appointed to examine the cases; the chapter then lists by family those found to have foreign wives, who put them away with their children. Later the whole crowd asks Esdras to bring the law of Moses, and he reads it aloud from a wooden platform while the Levites explain it. Attharates and the Levites tell the people the day is holy, so they go off to eat, drink, share with those who have nothing, and rejoice, because they understood what was read.

Claim by Claim

1. 9:1
   • Esdras rose up from the court of the temple.
   • Esdras went to the chamber of Joanan the son of Eliasib.
2. 9:2
   • Esdras remained in that chamber.
   • Esdras ate no food there.
   • Esdras drank no water there.
   • Esdras was mourning for the great iniquities of the multitude.
3. 9:3
   • A proclamation was made throughout all Judea and Jerusalem.
   • The proclamation was addressed to all those who had returned from the captivity.
   • The proclamation ordered them to gather together at Jerusalem.
4. 9:4
   • The proclamation set a limit of two or three days for appearing, as the ruling elders had appointed.
   • Whoever did not appear within that time would have his cattle seized for the use of the temple.
   • Whoever did not appear within that time would himself be cast out from the company of those who had returned from the captivity.
5. 9:5
   • Within three days all the men of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem.
   • This gathering took place on the twentieth day of the ninth month.
6. 9:6
   • All the multitude sat trembling in the broad court of the temple.
   • They trembled because of the foul weather then present.
7. 9:7
   • Esdras stood up.
   • Esdras spoke to them.
   • Esdras said they had transgressed the law by marrying foreign wives.
   • Esdras said that by this they increased the sins of Israel.
8. 9:8
   • Esdras told them to make confession now.
   • Esdras told them to give glory to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
9. 9:9
   • Esdras told them to do God's will.
   • Esdras told them to separate themselves from the heathen of the land.
   • Esdras told them to separate themselves from the foreign women.
10. 9:10
    • The whole multitude cried out.
    • They said with a loud voice that they would do just as Esdras had spoken.
11. 9:11
    • They said the people were many.
    • They said the weather was foul.
    • They said they could not stand outside.
    • They said this was not a work of one day or two.
    • They said their sin in these matters was spread far.
12. 9:12
    • They said the rulers of the multitude should stay.
    • They said all those of their settlements who had foreign wives should come at the appointed time.
13. 9:13
    • They said the rulers and judges of every place should come with them.
    • They said this should continue until the wrath of the Lord was turned away from them over this matter.
14. 9:14
    • Jonathan the son of Azael took this matter upon himself.
    • Ezechias the son of Theocanus took this matter upon himself.
    • Mosollam helped them.
    • Levis helped them.
    • Sabbatheus helped them.
15. 9:15
    • Those who had returned from the captivity acted according to all these things.
16. 9:16
    • Esdras the priest chose for himself the principal men of their families.
    • He chose them all by name.
    • On the first day of the tenth month they sat together to examine the matter.
17. 9:17
    • The cases of the men who held foreign wives were brought to an end on the first day of the first month.
18. 9:18
    • Among the priests who had come together there were found men who had foreign wives.
19. 9:19
    • Of the sons of Jesus the son of Josedec and his brethren there were Matthelas, Eleazar, Joribus and Joadanus.
20. 9:20
    • These men gave their hands in pledge to put away their wives.
    • These men pledged to offer rams to make atonement for their errors.
21. 9:21
    • Of the sons of Emmer there were Ananias, Zabdeus, Eanes, Sameius, Hiereel and Azarias.
22. 9:22
    • Of the sons of Phaisur there were Elionas, Massias Israel, Nathanael, Ocidelus and Talsas.
    • It is unclear whether Massias and Israel are one name or two.
23. 9:23
    • Of the Levites there were Jozabad, Semis, Colius, Patheus, Judas and Jonas.
    • Colius was called Calitas.
24. 9:24
    • Of the holy singers there were Eleazurus and Bacchurus.
25. 9:25
    • Of the porters there were Sallumus and Tolbanes.
26. 9:26
    • Of those of Israel, of the sons of Phoros, there were Hiermas, Eddias, Melchias, Maelus, Eleazar, Asibias and Baanias.
27. 9:27
    • Of the sons of Ela there were Matthanias, Zacharias, Hierielus, Hieremoth and Aedias.
28. 9:28
    • Of the sons of Zamoth there were Eliadas, Elisimus, Othonias, Jarimoth, Sabatus and Sardeus.
29. 9:29
    • Of the sons of Babai there were Johannes, Ananias, Josabad and Amatheis.
30. 9:30
    • Of the sons of Mani there were Olamus, Mamuchus, Jedeus, Jasubus, Jasael and Hieremoth.
31. 9:31
    • Of the sons of Addi there were Naathus, Moosias, Lacunus, Naidus, Mathanias, Sesthel, Balnuus and Manasseas.
32. 9:32
    • Of the sons of Annas there were Elionas, Aseas, Melchias, Sabbeus and Simon Chosameus.
33. 9:33
    • Of the sons of Asom there were Altaneus, Matthias, Baanaia, Eliphalet, Manasses and Semei.
34. 9:34
    • Of the sons of Maani there were Jeremias, Momdis, Omaerus, Juel, Mabdai, Pelias, Anos, Carabasion, Enasibus, Mamnitanaimus, Eliasis, Bannus, Eliali, Samis, Selemias and Nathanias.
    • Of the sons of Ozora there were Sesis, Esril, Azaelus, Samatus, Zambis and Josephus.
35. 9:35
    • Of the sons of Ethma there were Mazitias, Zabadaias, Edes, Juel and Banaias.
36. 9:36
    • All these men had taken foreign wives.
    • They put those wives away together with their children.
37. 9:37
    • The priests, the Levites and those of Israel dwelt in Jerusalem and in the country on the first day of the seventh month.
    • The children of Israel were in their own settlements.
38. 9:38
    • The whole multitude came together with one accord.
    • They came into the broad place of the holy porch toward the east.
39. 9:39
    • They spoke to Esdras the priest and reader.
    • They asked him to bring the law of Moses.
    • They said that law had been given by the Lord, the God of Israel.
40. 9:40
    • Esdras the chief priest brought the law to the whole multitude, both men and women.
    • He brought it also to all the priests.
    • The purpose was for them to hear the law.
    • This happened on the first day of the seventh month.
41. 9:41
    • Esdras read in the broad court before the holy porch.
    • He read from morning until midday.
    • He read before both men and women.
    • The multitude gave heed to the law.
42. 9:42
    • Esdras the priest and reader of the law stood up on a wooden pulpit.
    • That pulpit had been made for this purpose.
43. 9:43
    • Mattathias, Sammus, Ananias, Azarias, Urias, Ezecias and Balasamus stood up beside him on his right hand.
44. 9:44
    • Phaldaius, Misael, Melchias, Lothasubus and Nabarias stood on his left hand.
45. 9:45
    • Esdras took the book of the law in front of the multitude.
    • He sat honourably in the first place in the sight of them all.
46. 9:46
    • When Esdras opened the law, all the people stood straight up.
    • Esdras blessed the Lord God most High.
    • Esdras called him the God of hosts and Almighty.
47. 9:47
    • All the people answered, Amen.
    • They lifted up their hands.
    • They fell to the ground.
    • They worshipped the Lord.
48. 9:48
    • Jesus, Anus, Sarabias, Adinus, Jacubus, Sabateas, Auteas, Maianeas, Calitas, Asrias, Joazabdus, Ananias and Biatas were Levites.
    • These Levites taught the law of the Lord.
    • They made the people understand the law.
49. 9:49
    • Attharates spoke to Esdras the chief priest and reader.
    • Attharates spoke also to the Levites who taught the multitude.
    • Attharates spoke to all of them.
50. 9:50
    • Attharates said that this day was holy to the Lord.
    • All the people wept when they heard the law.
51. 9:51
    • Attharates told them to go and eat the fat.
    • Attharates told them to drink the sweet.
    • Attharates told them to send portions to those who had nothing.
52. 9:52
    • Attharates said this day was holy to the Lord.
    • Attharates told them not to be sorrowful.
    • Attharates said the Lord would bring them to honour.
53. 9:53
    • The Levites made all these things known to the people.
    • The Levites said this day was holy to the Lord.
    • The Levites told them not to be sorrowful.
54. 9:54
    • The people went their way.
    • Every one went to eat and drink.
    • They went to make merry.
    • They gave portions to those who had nothing.
    • They made great cheer.
55. 9:55
    • They did this because they understood the words in which they had been instructed.
    • They did this because of the matter for which they had been assembled.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

9:1

Esdras is the Greek form of the name Ezra. Throughout this book personal names appear in their Greek shapes rather than the Hebrew ones familiar from Ezra and Nehemiah: Joanan is Jehohanan, Eliasib is Eliashib. A "chamber" was one of the rooms built around the temple courts, used for storage and as lodging for priests.

9:2

The King James "did eat no meat" uses "meat" in its older sense of food of any kind, not flesh in particular. Going without food and water was a public act of grief and self humbling, done where others could see it, not a private discipline.

9:3

"Jewry" is the older English word for Judea, the territory around Jerusalem, and does not mean a Jewish quarter of a town. "Them that were of the captivity" are the Judeans deported to Babylon two generations earlier and their descendants, permitted to return home under Persian rule. The phrase marks them out as a defined community with its own membership rolls.

9:4

"Cattle" in the King James means livestock of every kind, not just cows. The two penalties named here, confiscation of a man's animals for the temple and expulsion from the community of returned exiles, were the heaviest sanctions the assembly could impose short of physical punishment: losing his herds cost him his livelihood, and losing his membership cost him his place in the land allotments and the worship of the temple.

9:5

Judah and Benjamin were the two tribes of the old southern kingdom, and so stand for the whole returned community. The ninth month is Kislev, falling in our November and December. This is the middle of the Judean rainy season, which explains the weather in the next verse.

9:6

The "broad court" or wide open place was the paved plaza in front of the temple, the only space large enough to hold a crowd. The Greek word behind "trembling" covers both shivering with cold and shaking with fear, and the text does not settle which is meant; the reader is probably expected to hear both at once.

9:7

"Strange" in the King James means foreign, belonging to another people, not odd or unfamiliar. The objection is to marriage outside the returned community, not to the wives' character.

9:8

"Give glory unto the Lord" was a way of saying: tell the whole truth out loud and hide nothing.

9:9

"Heathen" is the King James word for the other nations, the peoples who were not Israel. It carries no comment on how those peoples behaved; it is simply a term for outsiders.

9:14

What these men did is disputed in the sources. 1 Esdras reads as though Jonathan and Ezechias took charge of the inquiry with the other three assisting. The parallel verse in Ezra 10:15 can be read the same way, but its Hebrew can equally mean that they stood up against the plan and opposed it. The wording here does not resolve the question.

9:16

The Greek says "on the new moon" of the tenth month, which is the same thing as the first day, since the Hebrew month began with the new moon. The tenth month is Tebeth, in our December and January.

9:17

The first month is Nisan, in our March and April, so the inquiry ran about three months from the sitting described in the previous verse.

9:19

"Sons of" in these lists means descendants of, and names an extended family or clan tracing itself to a common ancestor, not a man's own children. Jesus the son of Josedec is the Greek form of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest of the returned community; the men listed under his name are therefore of the high priestly family.

9:20

To "give the hand" was to strike an agreement by clasping hands, the ordinary gesture for a binding pledge. The rams are a reparation offering, the sacrifice prescribed for a wrong done unwittingly or requiring compensation: the animal is handed over to the sanctuary as the price of settling the matter.

9:22

The King James prints "Massias Israel" as though it were one man's name. The underlying Greek lists appear to name two men, Massias and Ismael, and other copies read differently here. The confusion is in the manuscripts, not in the original list.

9:23

The Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who served the temple in supporting roles: care of the building and its equipment, music, gatekeeping, and instruction of the people. They were distinguished from the priests, a narrower group within the same tribe who alone handled the altar.

9:24

The "holy singers" were the guild of temple musicians, a hereditary body of Levites responsible for the singing that accompanied the sacrifices.

9:25

"Porters" in the King James means gatekeepers, men who guarded the temple entrances and controlled who came in, not carriers of luggage.

9:26

"The sons of Phoros" means the whole family line that came from a man named Phoros, not just his own children.

9:36

"Put away" is the standard older English for divorce. The children go with the mothers, which in practice means they are removed from the community and lose any claim in it.

9:37

The seventh month is Tishri, in our September and October. The narrative here jumps back to an earlier point in the year rather than continuing forward from the first month of verse 17; the scene that follows runs parallel to Nehemiah 8.

9:38

The "holy porch" is the covered portico at the front of the temple building. The crowd gathers in the open plaza before it, on the eastern side, where the entrance faced.

9:39

"Reader" translates a Greek word for one who reads aloud publicly. It stands where the Hebrew books call Ezra a scribe, an official trained in the written law and authorized to interpret it, so the title means far more than someone who happens to be reading.

9:40

"From man to woman" is a literal rendering of an idiom meaning everyone alike, men and women together. The phrase is included because a public reading of the law was not automatically assumed to include women in the audience.

9:41

From morning until midday is something like five or six hours of continuous reading.

9:42

The "pulpit of wood" was a raised wooden platform or tower built for the occasion so that one man could be seen and heard by a large crowd standing in the open. It is not a piece of church furniture.

9:45

Sitting was the posture of a teacher with authority, and the front seat was the place of honor. The detail that he sat while the crowd stood, described in the next verse, marks the reading as an official act rather than a private one.

9:46

Standing up when the scroll was opened was a mark of respect, the same gesture given to a ruler entering a room. "Lord God of hosts" means the God of armies; "host" in the King James is an army, and the title pictures God at the head of massed forces.

9:47

"Amen" is a Hebrew word carried over untranslated into Greek, then into English. It means roughly "it is so" or "let it stand," and was the crowd's way of making a leader's words their own.

9:48

"Withal" means as well, in addition. What the Levites did was go through the reading with the people and make its sense plain. By this period many in Judea spoke Aramaic day to day, so the work may have included rendering the Hebrew text into the spoken language as well as explaining it.

9:49

Attharates is almost certainly not a personal name but a garbled Greek spelling of the Tirshatha, the Persian title for the provincial governor. In the parallel account in Nehemiah the man holding that office is Nehemiah himself.

9:50

The first day of the seventh month was itself a festival day marked by trumpet blasts, which is part of why the weeping is out of place: a day set apart for the Lord called for celebration rather than mourning.

9:51

"Eat the fat and drink the sweet" means rich food and sweet wine, the fare of a feast rather than an ordinary meal. Sending a share to those who have nothing was the customary way of including the poor, who had no feast of their own to lay on.

9:52

The Greek here says the Lord will glorify you, or bring you to honor. The parallel line in Nehemiah 8:10 runs differently, saying that the joy of the Lord is your strength. The two versions of the sentence have diverged somewhere in transmission, and it is not clear which stood first.

9:55

The book stops here, in the middle of the scene, at a point matching Nehemiah 8:13. The last sentence of the surviving Greek is incomplete, so 1 Esdras as we have it simply breaks off rather than concluding.