Ezra 10:28

10:15-44 The best reformers can but do their endeavour; when the Redeemer himself shall come to Zion, he shall effectually turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And when sin is repented of and forsaken, God will forgive it; but the blood of Christ, our Sin-offering, is the only atonement which takes away our guilt. No seeming repentance or amendment will benefit those who reject Him, for self-dependence proves them still unhumbled. All the names written in the book of life, are those of penitent sinners, not of self-righteous persons, who think they have no need of repentance.

And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives,.... They proposed to do it, and actually did it: and being guilty; of which they were fully convinced: they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass; to make atonement for it, and thereby set an example to others to do the like. Aben Ezra observes, that we do not find that the trespass offering was a mulct to such who married strange wives, and conjectures, that it was the advice of the chief men to do it. From hence, to the end of Ezra 10:43, is a list of the men that had married strange wives, and put them away; those in Ezra 10:20, were priests; in Ezra 10:23, Levites, and those of them who were singers or porters; the rest were Israelites: and it is a very common distinction, in rabbinical writers, to distinguish the Jews into priests, Levites, and Israelites; of these we know no more than their names; some of the heads of the families may be observed in Ezra 2:1.

19. they gave their hands—that is, came under a solemn engagement, which was usually ratified by pledging the right hand (Pr 6:1; Eze 17:18). The delinquents of the priestly order bound themselves to do like the common Israelites (Ezr 10:25), and sought to expiate their sin by sacrificing a ram as a trespass offering.

Of Israel, as distinguished from priests and Levites, i.e., of the laity. Of these latter are given in all eighty-six names, belonging to ten races, vv. 25-43, who returned with Zerubbabel. See Nos. 1, 5, 6, 9, 8, 4, 30, 17, and 27 of the survey of these races. ירמות in Ezra 10:29 should, according to the Chethiv, be read ירמות. - The twofold naming of sons of Bani in this list ( Ezra 10:29 and Ezra 10:34 ) is strange, and Bani is evidently in one of these places a mistake for some other name. Bertheau supposes that Bigvai may have stood in the text in one of these places. The error undoubtedly lies in the second mention of Bani ( Ezra 10:34 ), and consists not merely in the wrong transcription of this one name. For, while of every other race four, six, seven, or eight individuals are named, no less than seven and twenty names follow בּני מבּני, though all these persons could hardly have belonged to one race, unless the greater number of males therein had married strange wives. Besides, no names of inhabitants of cities of Judah and Benjamin are given in this list (as in Ezra 2:21-28 , and Ezra 2:33-35 ), although it is stated in Ezra 10:7 and Ezra 10:14 that not only the men of Jerusalem, but also dwellers in other cities, had contracted these prohibited marriages, and been summoned to Jerusalem, that judgment might be pronounced in their several cases.

These reasons make it probable that the twenty-seven persons enumerated in Ezra 10:34-42 were inhabitants of various localities in Judah, and not merely individuals belonging to a single house. This supposition cannot, however, be further corroborated, since even the lxx and 1 Esdr. read the name Bani in Ezra 10:27 and Ezra 10:34 , nor can any conjecture respecting the correct reading laying claim to probability be ventured on. In the single names, the Greek texts of the Septuagint and 1 Esdras frequently differ from the Hebrew text, but the differences are almost all of a kind to furnish no material for criticism. A considerable number of these names reappear in the lists of names in the book of Nehemiah, but under circumstances which nowhere make the identity of the persons bearing them certain.

25–43 . Israel, or the laity as distinguished from priests and Levites. Cf. Ezra 2:2 ‘the men of the people of Israel’. Ezra 9:1 ‘the people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites’. Moreover of Israel ] R.V. And of Israel. There is no variety to break the simplicity of the list. The names of the houses here mentioned have all been mentioned in chap. 2. Thus Parosh ( Ezra 10:25 ) in Ezra 2:3 : number of offenders 7 Elam ( Ezra 10:26 ) in Ezra 2:7 number of offenders 6 Zattu ( Ezra 10:27 ) in Ezra 2:8 number of offenders 6 Bebai ( Ezra 10:28 ) in Ezra 2:11 number of offenders 4 Bani ( Ezra 10:29 ) in Ezra 2:10 number of offenders 6 Pahath-Moab ( Ezra 10:30 ) in Ezra 2:6 number of offenders 8 Harim ( Ezra 10:31 ) in Ezra 2:32 number of offenders 8 Hashum ( Ezra 10:33 ) in Ezra 2:19 number of offenders 7 Bani ( Ezra 10:34 ) in Ezra 2:10 number of offenders 27 Nebo ( Ezra 10:43 ) in Ezra 2:29 number of offenders 7 In this list, as compared with that in Ezra 2, the following points may be observed: ( a ) The house of Bani is twice mentioned ( Ezra 10:29 and Ezra 10:33 ). This is almost certainly due to an early error in the text.