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NASB | Ezra 10:3 "So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ezra 10:3 "Therefore let us now make a covenant with our God to send away all the [foreign] wives and their children, in accordance with the advice of my lord and of those who tremble [in reverent obedience] at the commandment of our God; and let it be done in accordance with the Law. |
Subject: Ezra and Family Values? |
Bible Note: Thanks, Kalos. The discussion of OT inclusion of foreigners has been interesting in this thread. It still is not reflected in Ezra, however. For this scene of rededication, there is no talk of converting family members --- only of divorcing "foreign wives." This is very different than what we see in Paul's writing. For Paul, if someone becomes a Christian, he or she shouldn't end the marriage bond with the unbeliever -- but instead, remain faithful to God and faithful to the spouse, praying that God would work in their lives. 1 CorĀ 7:12 ff. "But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?" This is pretty different from the mass divorce in Ezra, don't you think? And about the children: Paul says that one Christian parent is enough to produce "holy" children. In Ezra, the children of foreign parentage are "sent away". Again, in an effort to understand this, I look at the context. The Jews have been scattered, and taken into captivity. Now, after their identity as God's people has been so challenged, they are trying to rebuild Jerusalem, the Temple, and their relationship with God. They are countering the dilution of their covenant identity by expelling foreign influences --- including marriages and children. No distractions. But also, by tightening their identity as God's people in this way, certain elements of their people are cast aside. This is why I asked about daughters that married foreign men --- they are not called upon to divorce their husbands (which they would have been powerless to do, no?). It seems like they are just abandoned to the pagan culture of their spouses. And think of all the children that are "sent away." I guess it is saying there are times when a small focused group is more benefitial than a larger group with mixed alegiances. JRM. |