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NASB | Ezra 9:2 "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ezra 9:2 "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this unfaithful act and direct violation [of God's will]." [Deut 7:3, 4] |
Subject: Intermarriage |
Bible Note: Hello ischus, Let me quote from the Expositor's Bible Commentary on the issue of putting away the foreign wives. Though the actions of Ezra and later of Nehemiah may strike some readers as harsh, they were more than racial or cultural measures and were necessary to preserve the spiritual heritage of Israel. Both from the principle and from exceptions to the rule, warnings against intermarriage were clearly concerned not so much about racial miscegenation as about spiritual adulteration. David Bossman ("Ezra's Marriage Reform: Israel Redefined," BTh 9 [1979]: 32-38) argues that Ezra's purification of the people followed a "priestly ideal of separation from all that is unclean." What happened to a Jewish community that was lax concerning intermarriage can be seen from the example of the Elephantine settlement contemporary with Ezra and Nehemiah. Intermarriages took place among both lay leaders and priests. According to Porten (Archives, p. 174), "Some of the pagans who married Jews may have, like the early Samaritans, continued to worship their ancestral god(s) at the same time that they adopted the worship of YHW. Conversely, some of these Jews occasionally expressed devotion to the god(s) of their spouses at the same time that they continued to revere YHW." The Jews at Elephantine worshiped not only Yahweh, but the goddess Anath-Yahweh (cf. Jer 7:16-18; B. Porten, "The Religion of the Jews of Elephantine in Light of the Hermopolis Papyri," JNES 28 [1969]: 116-21). Myers (The World of the Restoration, p. 122) concludes: "It is not accidental that Jewish communities in exile gradually disintegrated--for example, the one at Elephantine.... A pure cult with a pure people conducted in their religious and domestic affairs in a pure language was essential." I don't understand the comparison with Jer 29. In that passage the Lord directs them to marry and have families, but it does not say to marry the Babylonian women. I'm not sure where you were going with that. Steve |