Ezra 10:15-17

Amplified Bible

¹⁵Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah ^[a]opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

¹⁶Then the [former] exiles did so. Ezra the priest and men who were heads of fathers’ households were selected, according to their fathers’ households, each of them by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. ¹⁷And by the first day of the first month they finished investigating all the men married to foreign wives.

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Footnotes

Ezra 10:15 No reason is given for this opposition, though it would hardly seem strange if some of the people were concerned about the severity of Ezra’s instructions. On the other hand, the ancient rabbis understood the Hebrew text to mean, “stood up in regard to this,” as in volunteering to begin the task in support of Ezra. So instead of opposing the reform, this interpretation has the four men showing great zeal for it, and in v 16 the former exiles then follow their lead.