Ezra 7:7

7:7 In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Ezra brought ¹  up to Jerusalem ²  some of the Israelites and some of the priests, the Levites, the attendants, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ³  Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you –

Ezra 10:1-2

The People Confess Their Sins

10:1 While 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. ⁴  10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, ⁵  addressed Ezra:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying ⁶  foreign women from the local peoples. ⁷  Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. ⁸ 

Ezra 10:5

10:5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ⁹  And they all took a solemn oath.

Ezra 10:10

10:10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.

Ezra 10:16

10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ¹⁰  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ¹¹  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

---

¹ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּעֲל (vayya’al, “he [Ezra] brought up”) rather than the Qal plural וַיַּעַלוּ (vayya’alu, “they came up”) of the MT.

tn Heb “he brought”; the referent (Ezra) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Aram “who are in.”

⁴ tn Heb “with much weeping.”

⁵ tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate עֵילָם (’elam, “Elam”) rather than the reading עוֹלָם (’olam, “eternity”) found in the MT.

⁶ tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.

⁷ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

⁸ tn Heb “upon this.”

⁹ tn Heb “to do according to this plan.”

¹⁰ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

¹¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”