Ezra 9:21

21–36 . The Events of the Journey 21–30 . Preparations for the journey. ( a ) 21–23. The rendezvous and solemn fast at Ahava 21 . I proclaimed a fast ] For “fasting” see also on Ezra 9:3 , Ezra 10:6 . Here however the fast is not proclaimed in connexion with any special commission of sin. Ezra appoints the fast ( a ) as the symbol of submission before God’s will and of repentance from sin, ( b ) as the means of intensifying religious fervour in prayer through the restraint laid upon physical appetite, ( c ) as the testimony that ‘man lives not by bread alone’. Viewed in this aspect, the public fast proclaimed by Ezra was a spiritual exercise; from which the pagan notion of propitiating God’s favour by voluntary human suffering was altogether absent. Cf. 2 Chronicles 20:3 . Compare the fast of Judas Maccabeus and his companions ( 1Ma 3:47 ) before they addressed themselves to the conflict with the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes. that we might afflict ourselves ] R.V. that we might humble ourselves . A moral not a physical discipline. The self-affliction or humiliation is expressed by a verb which gave rise to the regular word in later Hebrew for fasting, “Taanith”. a right way ] R.V. a straight way . Both a direct road, that they might not have to turn aside on account of attacks and dangers from robbers or enemies, and a level road without obstacles and inequalities. Cf.

Verse 21. - Then I proclaimed a fast there. The fight of the civil ruler to "proclaim a fast" was unquestioned among the Jews and Israelites. Jezebel proclaimed one in Ahab's name when she wished to impress the Jezreelites with the notion that a great crime had been committed. Jehoshaphat did the same when he was invaded by the Ammonites, Moabites, and Mehunim ( 2 Chronicles 20:1-3 ). A fast was proclaimed in the fifth year of Jehoiakim when the kingdom of Judah was menaced by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jeremiah 36:9 ). Ezra therefore assumes that he may command one now, in connection with the perils of the coming journey. That we might afflict ourselves. The Jews were commanded to "afflict themselves" on the great day of atonement ( Leviticus 16:29 ), and understood that the affliction was to be mainly by fasting and abstaining from the bath. To ask of him a right way. Or "a direct road," i.e. a prosperous and unimpeded journey to Jerusalem. For us and our little ones. The colonists went up attended by their families. Ezra 8:21

Daniel's prayer. This prayer has been judged very severely by modern critics. According to Berth., v. Leng., Hitzig, Staeh., and Ewald, its matter and its whole design are constructed according to older patterns, in particular according to the prayers of Nehemiah 9 and Ezra 9:1-15 , since Daniel 9:4 is borrowed from Nehemiah 1:5 ; Nehemiah 9:32 ; Daniel 9:8 from Nehemiah 9:34 ; Daniel 9:14 from Nehemiah 9:33 ; Daniel 9:15 from Nehemiah 1:10 ; Nehemiah 9:10 ; and, finally, Daniel 9:7 , Daniel 9:8 from Ezra 9:7 . But if we consider this dependence more closely, we shall, it is true, find the expression הפנים בּשׁת (confusion of faces, Ezra 9:7 , Ezra 9:8 ) in Ezra 9:7 , but we also find it in 2 Chronicles 32:21 ; Jeremiah 7:19 , and also in Psalm 44:16 ; סלחות (forgivenesses, Daniel 9:9 ) we find in Nehemiah 9:17 , but also in Psalm 130:4 ; and על תּתּך (is poured upon, spoken of the anger of God, Daniel 9:11 ) is found not only in 2 Chronicles 12:7 ; 2 Chronicles 34:21 , 2 Chronicles 34:25 , but also Jeremiah 42:18 ; Jeremiah 44:6 , and Nahum 1:6 . We have only to examine the other parallel common thoughts and words adduced in order at once to perceive that, without exception, they all have their roots in the Pentateuch, and afford not the slightest proof of the dependence of this chapter on Nehemiah 9 .

The last sentence ( Ezra 8:36 ), "And they furthered the people and the house of God," plainly shows that such an understanding with the royal functionaries was effected, by transactions which must have preceded what is related Ezra 9:1-15 . This matter having been arranged, and Ezra being now about to enter upon the execution of his commission to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of his God (Ezra 7:12), he received information of the illegal marriages. While he was in the temple, the princes (השּׂרים, the princes, are those who give the information, the article being used e.g., like that in הפּליט, Genesis 14:13) came to him, saying: The people (viz., Israel, the priests, and the Levites; the three classes of the Israelite community) do not separate themselves from the people of the lands; comp. Ezra 6:21. כּתעבתיהם, with respect to their abominations, i.e., as Israel should have done with respect to the abominations of these people. The ל to לכּנעני might be regarded as introducing the enumeration of the different nations, and corresponding with מעמּי; it is, however, more likely that it is used merely as a periphrasis for the genitive, and subordinates the names to תּעבתיהם: their, i.e., the Canaanites', etc., abominations, the suffix relating, as e.g., at Ezra 3:12 and elsewhere, to the names following.