Ezra 10:15-17
The Voice
Ezra is able to fulfill all of Artaxerxes’ requirements and ensure his support. He leads the inquiry into the Jews’ practice of God’s laws, and he selects tribal leaders as judges over their people. This story of the legal system may seem unimportant when compared to the sweeping cultic reforms of Josiah and Hezekiah, but it is a microcosm of Ezra’s work throughout Jerusalem and Judah. Throughout his reforms, Ezra focuses on God and takes deliberate steps to improve the nation’s relationship with Him.
15-16 With the exception of four men, Jonathan (son of Asahel), Jahzeiah (son of Tikvah), Meshullam, and Shabbethai (the Levite), everyone supported this plan. Ezra selected one leader from each tribe to represent his people and recorded their names. These tribal leaders then gathered on the first day of the tenth month to begin the inquiries. 17 By the first day of the first month, the investigations of all men who had married foreign women was finished, and the offenders were recorded.
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