Ezra 9:2-4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 for they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, thus intermingling the holy seed with the peoples of the lands. Furthermore, the leaders and rulers have taken a prominent part in this apostasy!”
Ezra’s Reaction. 3 (A)When I had heard this, I tore my cloak and my mantle, plucked hair from my head and beard, and sat there devastated. 4 (B)Around me gathered all who were in dread of the sentence of the God of Israel[a] on the apostasy of the exiles, while I remained devastated until the evening sacrifice.
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- 9:4 All who were in dread…God of Israel: lit., “all who trembled”; these people are also mentioned at 10:3, and a similar designation occurs at Is 66:2, 5, a text more or less contemporary with this passage. The allusion may be to a distinct social group of rigorist tendencies who supported Ezra’s marriage reform.
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