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Ezra 9:5–15 — Ezra’s Prayer of Confession. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Until the afternoon Ezra had sat silent and in grief before the Temple, and in presence of the people. Then, amidst the solemnities of the sacrifice, he uttered the prayer which he had been meditating.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

He did this at the time of the evening sacrifice, because then devout people used to come into the courts of the temple, that, hearing his confession, they likewise might be made sensible of the sins of the people. And he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type.

Benson makes the typological claim explicitly and early; our own christ section leans on it rather than inventing it.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

in later Hebrew it became the accepted for religious fasting. This passage favours the original application to general humiliation rather than to abstinence from food.

The sentence is defective in the source text (a word appears to have dropped after "the accepted"); it is quoted as printed.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

These words contribute a second particular to קמתּי, and do not mean that Ezra arose with his garments torn, but state that, on arising, he rent his clothing, and therefore again manifested his sorrow in this manner.

K&D here contradicts Cambridge, quoted above, on whether Ezra rent his clothes a second time. Both readings are recorded in the brief; the grammar does not decide.

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At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·‘e·reḇ ū·ḇə·min·ḥaṯ qam·tî mit·ta·‘ă·nî·ṯî ḇiḡ·ḏî ū·mə·‘î·lî ū·ḇə·qā·rə·‘î wā·’eḵ·rə·‘āh ‘al- bir·kay wā·’ep̄·rə·śāh ḵap·pay ’el- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hāy

Word by word15 · parsed

הָעֶ֗רֶבhā·‘e·reḇAt the eveningH6153

√ ʻereb — duskArticleNounmasculine singular

ʻereb: dusk, evening The hour of the standing evening offering. Benson and Henry both read the timing as deliberate rather than incidental: Ezra waits until the courts fill and the sacrifice is actually burning, so that the confession is spoken from inside an atoning rite, not merely near one.

וּבְמִנְחַ֣תū·ḇə·min·ḥaṯofferingH4503

√ minchâh — a donationConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

קַ֚מְתִּיqam·tîI got upH6965

√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)VerbQalPerfectfirst person common singular

qûwm: to rise, arise Qal perfect, first person. The one active verb of the verse that goes upward; every other motion in it goes down (knees) or open (palms). Ellicott sets the scene: Ezra had sat silent in grief before the Temple all afternoon before this rising.

מִתַּֽעֲנִיתִ֔יmit·ta·‘ă·nî·ṯîfrom my humiliationH8589

√ taʻănîyth — affliction (of self), iPreposition-mNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common singular

taʻănîyth: self-affliction, humiliation A hapax in the Hebrew Bible, so its sense must be argued from cognates and later usage rather than from parallel verses. Cambridge argues for general humiliation and notes the LXX ταπείωσις; Gill keeps the fasting sense. The brief carries both readings and settles neither, and neither will this note.

בִגְדִ֖יḇiḡ·ḏîwith my tunicH899

√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular

וּמְעִילִ֑יū·mə·‘î·lîand cloakH4598

√ mᵉʻîyl — a robe (iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular

וּבְקָרְעִ֥יū·ḇə·qā·rə·‘îtornH7167

√ qâraʻ — to rend, literally or figuratively (revile, paint the eyes, as if enlarging them)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-bVerbQalInfinitive constructfirst person common singular

qâraʻ: to rend, tear Torn clothing is the public, visible grammar of grief. Cambridge's point is that the tearing is not repeated here but displayed: Ezra stands before the assembled people already rent, "and thus by a mute appeal united them with him in his act of prayer."

וָֽאֶכְרְעָה֙wā·’eḵ·rə·‘āhand I fellH3766

√ kâraʻ — to bend the kneeConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singularthird person feminine singular

kâraʻ: to bend the knee Consecutive imperfect, first person. Cambridge gathers the canonical company of this posture: Solomon at the dedication of the house (1 Kings 8:54), Daniel kneeling three times a day (Daniel 6:10), Psalm 95:6. Standing was equally a posture of prayer in Israel; kneeling is chosen here, and the choice is part of the confession.

עַל־‘al-onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

בִּרְכַּ֔יbir·kaymy kneesH1290

√ berek — a kneeNounfeminine dual constructfirst person common singular

berek: a knee Feminine dual construct with the first person suffix. The dual is simply anatomical; the weight lies on the verb before it.

וָאֶפְרְשָׂ֥הwā·’ep̄·rə·śāhspread outH6566

√ pâras — to break apart, disperse, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singularthird person feminine singular

כַפַּ֖יḵap·paymy handsH3709

√ kaph — the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree)Nounfeminine dual constructfirst person common singular

kaph: the hollow hand, palm The open, upturned palm is the gesture of a receiver, not a claimant. Cambridge's catena of parallels (Exodus 9:29, 1 Kings 8:22, Isaiah 1:15) shows that the same gesture can be either accepted or refused by God; the posture guarantees nothing by itself.

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

יְהוָ֥הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

The covenant name. Note the possessive that follows it: Ezra prays to YHWH as my God. Ellicott observes that the prayer opens in the first person singular and then passes at v. 6 into "our God" without ever returning to the first person.

אֱלֹהָֽי׃’ĕ·lō·hāymy GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

ʼĕlôhîym: God Masculine plural construct with a first person singular suffix. The pairing of the covenant name with the personal claim is what makes the shame of the next verse possible: only one who may say "my God" can be ashamed to lift his face to Him.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-at-the-evening and-at-offering-of I-arose from-my-self-affliction, and-in-my-tearing my-garment and-my-robe, and-I-bent-the-knee upon my-knees, and-I-spread-out my-palms unto YHWH my-God,

Where the English smooths the original

מִתַּֽעֲנִיתִ֔י מִתַּֽעֲנִיתִ֔י (mit·ta·‘ă·nî·ṯî, H8589 taʻănîyth) is glossed by BSB as "from my humiliation." Cambridge records that the noun occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, and that only in later Hebrew did it settle into the technical sense of religious fasting; Cambridge therefore prefers the wider sense of general self-abasement. Gill, following Michaelis and Jarchi, still renders it "from my fasting." The English word "humiliation" hides a term with no second occurrence to control it.
וָֽאֶכְרְעָה֙ וָֽאֶכְרְעָה֙ (wā·’eḵ·rə·‘āh, H3766 kâraʻ) is not "I fell." The root means specifically to bend the knee, and the very next word is בִּרְכַּ֔י (berek, knee). The Hebrew says that Ezra knelt the knee upon his knees: a chosen posture, not a collapse.
כַפַּ֖י כַפַּ֖י (ḵap·pay, H3709 kaph) is not "hands" but the hollow of the hand, the open palm, in the feminine dual. Cambridge: the attitude "expressed the desire to receive and to embrace the Divine gift, the hands open and the palms turned upwards as if to accept." The scribe who carries the king's commission takes a beggar's shape.
וּבְקָרְעִ֥י וּבְקָרְעִ֥י (ū·ḇə·qā·rə·‘î, H7167 qâraʻ) is a Qal infinitive construct with the preposition b and a first person suffix: literally "and in my tearing." BSB smooths this to the passive "with my tunic and cloak torn." K&D reads an act done on rising, a second rending; Cambridge denies any second rending and renders "even with my garment and my mantle rent." The Hebrew form itself does not decide between them.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

a true sight and sense of sin causes shame and blushing, and never more than when a man is sensible of his covenant interest in God

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The consciousness of sin will not permit the humble supplicant to ‘lift up so much as his eyes to heaven’ ( Luke 18:13 ). The first person singular is here dropped.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Ezra, with these words in his thoughts possibly, begins his confession with a protestation that he at any rate is not open to this reproach - he blushes and burns with shame

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

I scarcely dare to lift up my fact to God, through shame for the greatness of our misdeeds

"fact" is a printing error for "face" in the source text of this translation; it is quoted as printed rather than silently corrected.

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and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wā·’ō·mə·rāh ’ĕ·lō·hay bō·šə·tî wə·niḵ·lam·tî lə·hā·rîm pā·nay ’ê·le·ḵā ’ĕ·lō·hay kî ‘ă·wō·nō·ṯê·nū rā·ḇū lə·ma‘·lāh rōš wə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nū ḡā·ḏə·lāh ‘aḏ laš·šā·mā·yim

Word by word17 · parsed

וָאֹמְרָ֗הwā·’ō·mə·rāhand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singularthird person feminine singular

אֱלֹהַי֙’ĕ·lō·hayO my GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

בֹּ֣שְׁתִּיbō·šə·tîI am ashamedH954

√ bûwsh — properly, to pale, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common singular

bûwsh: to pale, be ashamed Qal perfect. Henry makes the pastoral point that this is not weakness but evidence: "Holy shame is as necessary in true repentance as holy sorrow." Cambridge sets the word against Jeremiah's indictment of a generation that "were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush" (Jeremiah 6:15), so that Ezra's shame is itself the mark that he is not of that generation.

וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּיwə·niḵ·lam·tîand embarrassedH3637

√ kâlam — properly, to woundConjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular

kâlam: to wound, be disgraced Niphal, passive or middle: to be struck with disgrace, not merely to feel it. K&D pairs the two verbs as a fixed idiom and cites Jeremiah 31:19 and Isaiah 45:16 for the collocation. Cambridge adds Ezekiel 36:32, where God commands the house of Israel to be ashamed and confounded for their ways: Ezra is obeying a command, not indulging a mood.

לְהָרִ֧יםlə·hā·rîmto lift upH7311

√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

rûwm: to be high, lift up Hifil infinitive construct: to cause the face to rise. The same root returns at 9:9 as lᵉrômêm, to raise up the house of God. Ezra cannot raise his own face to a God who is raising a house through him.

פָּנַ֖יpā·naymy faceH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

pânîym: the face, the part that turns Masculine plural construct. The face is what turns toward or away; that is why shame is located there and why the phrase "shame of face" closes v. 7.

אֵלֶ֑יךָ’ê·le·ḵāto YouH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

אֱלֹהַ֛י’ĕ·lō·haymy GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

כִּ֣יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

עֲוֺנֹתֵ֤ינוּ‘ă·wō·nō·ṯê·nūour iniquitiesH5771

√ ʻâvôn — perversity, iNouncommon plural constructfirst person common plural

ʻâvôn: perversity, iniquity The root names the crookedness of the act itself, not its penalty in the first instance, though the word slides toward punishment across the Hebrew Bible. Here it is plural and possessed: not sin in the abstract but our specific twistings, countable enough to be piled.

רָבוּ֙rā·ḇūare higher thanH7235

√ râbâh — to increase (in whatever respect)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

râbâh: to increase Qal perfect, third plural. The image is hydraulic. Poole, Cambridge and Pulpit all independently read it through Psalm 38:4, iniquities gone over the head, and Cambridge traces the metaphor to the waters of the flood in Genesis 7. Benson: "like deep waters, in which we are, as it were, drowned, and ready to perish."

לְמַ֣עְלָהlə·ma‘·lāh. . .H4605

√ maʻal — properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etcPreposition-lAdverbthird person feminine singular

maʻal: upward, overhead The adverb that turns a rising count into a rising flood line, reaching above the head of the one confessing.

רֹּ֔אשׁrōšour headsH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine singular

וְאַשְׁמָתֵ֥נוּwə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nūand our guiltH819

√ ʼashmâh — guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of asin-offeringConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

ʼashmâh: guiltiness Cambridge's note is the load-bearing one for the whole unit: this precise word recurs at 9:7, 9:13, 9:15 and Ezra 10:10, 10:19, and it denotes the objective state of guilt that sin leaves behind, the state Leviticus 4:3 says a priest can bring upon a whole people. Ezra is not describing remorse; he is describing liability.

גָדְלָ֖הḡā·ḏə·lāhhas reachedH1431

√ gâdal — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)VerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular

gâdal: to become large Qal perfect, third feminine singular, agreeing with ʼashmâh. Guilt is the subject of its own growth verb; it enlarges without anyone tending it.

עַ֥ד‘aḏ. . .H5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

לַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃laš·šā·mā·yimthe heavensH8064

√ shâmayim — the sky (as aloftPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine plural

shâmayim: the sky, the heavens Cambridge offers two readings and prefers the first: hyperbole of magnitude, like the tower whose top may reach heaven (Genesis 11:4), or else the thought that the guilt has forced itself on God's notice like the cry of Sodom (Genesis 18:20). Henry's answer holds the same altitude: "though their sins reach to the heavens, God's mercy is in the heavens."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-I-said: my-God, I-am-ashamed and-I-am-disgraced to-lift-up my-face unto-Thee, my-God; for our-iniquities have-multiplied to-above-the-head, and-our-guilt has-grown-great unto the-heavens.

Where the English smooths the original

בֹּ֣שְׁתִּי בֹּ֣שְׁתִּי (bō·šə·tî, H954 bûwsh) carries in its root the sense "properly, to pale," the blood leaving the face. The English "I am ashamed" states a condition; the Hebrew names a visible bodily event in the very face that the next clause cannot lift.
וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּי וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּי (wə·niḵ·lam·tî, H3637 kâlam, Niphal) is rooted in the sense "properly, to wound." BSB's "and embarrassed" is far too mild. K&D states the relation flatly: to be covered with shame "is stronger than bôsh." The pair is an ascent, not a repetition.
רָבוּ֙ רָבוּ֙ (rā·ḇū, H7235 râbâh) means to increase, to become many, not "are higher than." The height is supplied by the following לְמַ֣עְלָה (maʻal, upward, overhead), which K&D says "serves to enhance the meaning of" the verb. Sins are first counted, and only then stacked.
וְאַשְׁמָתֵ֥נוּ וְאַשְׁמָתֵ֥נוּ (wə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nū, H819 ʼashmâh) is rendered "our guilt," and Cambridge is careful about the word: it is not the maʻal of Ezra 9:1 but "the state of guilt resulting from sin," the cultic condition that requires a guilt offering (Leviticus 4:3). English "guilt" hears a feeling; the Hebrew names a standing.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The record of Israelite history, i.e. sin and its retribution. But for their sin, the Israelites would have had a far different history.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

we are not purged from the guilt and filth of our fathers’ sins, but we are still feeling the sad effects of their sins in the continuing captivity of a great number of our brethren; and we are still repeating the same sins.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Very similar in tone to this are the confessions of Nehemiah Neh 9:29-35 and of Daniel (see the marginal references). The captivity had done its work by deeply convincing of sin the Jewish nation that had previously been so proud and self-righteous.

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From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mî·mê ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·nū ’ă·naḥ·nū ‘aḏ haz·zeh hay·yō·wm bə·’aš·māh ḡə·ḏō·lāh ū·ḇa·‘ă·wō·nō·ṯê·nū ’ă·naḥ·nū mə·lā·ḵê·nū ḵō·hă·nê·nū nit·tan·nū bə·yaḏ mal·ḵê hā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯ ba·ḥe·reḇ baš·šə·ḇî ū·ḇab·biz·zāh ū·ḇə·ḇō·šeṯ pā·nîm haz·zeh kə·hay·yō·wm

Word by word23 · parsed

מִימֵ֣יmî·mêFrom the daysH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Preposition-mNounmasculine plural construct

אֲבֹתֵ֗ינוּ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·nūof our fathersH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

ʼâb: father Cambridge notes that the exact phrase "from the days of our fathers" is otherwise almost confined to Malachi 3:7, where it reaches back to the first giving of the Law. Pulpit is more cautious and suspects Ezra has the kingly idolatries from Solomon to Zedekiah chiefly in view. Both readings are recorded; the text does not date its own starting point.

אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙’ă·naḥ·nūH587

√ ʼănachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

עַ֖ד‘aḏtoH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

הַזֶּ֑הhaz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

הַיּ֣וֹםhay·yō·wmdayH3117

בְּאַשְׁמָ֣הbə·’aš·māhour guiltH819

√ ʼashmâh — guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of asin-offeringPreposition-bNounfeminine singular

ʼashmâh: guiltiness The second of five occurrences in this prayer. Here it is predicated of the whole national history rather than of a moment, which is what turns the confession from an apology into a diagnosis.

גְדֹלָ֔הḡə·ḏō·lāhhas been greatH1419

√ gâdôwl — great (in any sense)Adjectivefeminine singular

וּבַעֲוֺנֹתֵ֡ינוּū·ḇa·‘ă·wō·nō·ṯê·nūBecause of our iniquitiesH5771

√ ʻâvôn — perversity, iConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNouncommon plural constructfirst person common plural

אֲנַחְנוּ֩’ă·naḥ·nūweH587

√ ʼănachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

מְלָכֵ֨ינוּmə·lā·ḵê·nūand our kingsH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

כֹהֲנֵ֜ינוּḵō·hă·nê·nū[and] priestsH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

kôhên: priest Cambridge reads the triad "we, our kings, our priests" as the nation with its civil and sacred heads, and Pulpit documents from 2 Kings 25:18 and Jeremiah 52:24 that the priests were not spared. The sacred office gave no immunity; Ezra, himself a priest, is naming his own order.

נִתַּ֡נּוּnit·tan·nūhave been deliveredH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbNifalPerfectfirst person common plural

nâthan: to give Niphal perfect, first plural. The theologically loaded verb of the unit. God does not merely permit the conquest; the grammar makes Israel the object handed over. K&D: the words that follow "serve to explain what is meant by being delivered into the hand of strange kings."

בְּיַ֣ד׀bə·yaḏinto the handsH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

yâd: a hand, power The open hand as an image of power and disposal. The same construct bᵉyad reappears at 9:11 for the hand of the prophets: Israel is given into one hand because it refused the word sent through another.

מַלְכֵ֣יmal·ḵêof the kingsH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine plural construct

הָאֲרָצ֗וֹתhā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯof the earthH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine plural

בַּחֶ֜רֶבba·ḥe·reḇ[and subjected] to the swordH2719

√ chereb — droughtPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

chereb: sword Cambridge itemises the four penalties as a ladder of loss: "Life, freedom, property, honour." Sword takes life, captivity freedom, spoiling property, shame of face honour. Nothing is left unpaid.

בַּשְּׁבִ֧יbaš·šə·ḇîand to captivityH7628

√ shᵉbîy — exiledPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

וּבַבִּזָּ֛הū·ḇab·biz·zāhto pillageH961

√ bizzâh — bootyConjunctive waw, Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

וּבְבֹ֥שֶׁתū·ḇə·ḇō·šeṯand humiliationH1322

√ bôsheth — shame (the feeling and the condition, as well as its cause)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

bôsheth: shame, the feeling and the condition The lexicon entry itself carries both senses, feeling and condition, and that is exactly the ambiguity Ezra exploits: the inward blush of v. 6 and the outward dishonour of exile are one Hebrew root.

פָּנִ֖יםpā·nîm. . .H6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural

הַזֶּֽה׃haz·zehas we are thisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

כְּהַיּ֥וֹםkə·hay·yō·wmdayH3117

yôwm: a day With the preposition k: "as at this day." K&D reads the phrase as the verse's whole burden: "We are still sorely suffering for our sins, by being yet under the yoke of foreign sovereigns." The punishment is not remembered; it is current.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

From-days-of our-fathers we [have-been] in-guilt great unto the-day the-this; and-in-our-iniquities we, our-kings, our-priests, have-been-given into-the-hand-of the-kings-of the-lands, to-the-sword, to-the-captivity, and-to-the-plunder, and-to-shame-of-face, as-the-day the-this.

Where the English smooths the original

נִתַּ֡נּוּ נִתַּ֡נּוּ (nit·tan·nū, H5414 nâthan, Niphal) is "we were given," the passive of the ordinary verb to give. BSB's "have been delivered" is accurate but loses the sting: the same root nâthan is what God does with mercy at 9:8 and 9:9 and with the land at 9:12. Israel is a gift God gave away to foreign kings.
בְּאַשְׁמָ֣ה גְדֹלָ֔ה בְּאַשְׁמָ֣ה (bə·’aš·māh, H819) with גְדֹלָ֔ה is literally "in great guiltiness," a state one is in, marked by the preposition b. The Revised Version quoted by Cambridge renders "we have been exceedingly guilty." Ellicott notes the corporate compression: "the race of Israel is regarded as one, and national sins as one great trespass."
וּבְבֹ֥שֶׁת פָּנִ֖ים וּבְבֹ֥שֶׁת פָּנִ֖ים (ū·ḇə·ḇō·šeṯ pā·nîm, H1322 with H6440) is literally "and in shame of face," the same root as bûwsh in v. 6. BSB's "humiliation" severs the link. Cambridge names it "lit. shame of face, i.e. dishonour" and points to Daniel 9:7. Ezra's private blush in v. 6 turns out to be the nation's public sentence in v. 7.
הַזֶּ֑ה ... כְּהַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה The phrase "this day" stands at both ends of the verse. Ellicott insists the repetition is deliberate: "in the former place in reference to the sin; in the latter in reference to the punishment." English translations that vary the wording ("to this day" then "as we are this day") obscure the frame.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

He calls the short interval between their release from captivity by Cyrus, and the time when he is speaking, רגע כּמעט, a little moment (comp. Isaiah 26:20 ), in comparison with the long period of suffering from the times of the Assyrians (comp. Nehemiah 9:32 ) till the reign of Cyrus.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The passage from Isaiah gives us the image of a nail or peg firmly fastened into a wall so that vessels could be hung from it securely. Others have derived the metaphor from camp life: upon the peg being driven into a firm soil depended the security of the tent.

Cambridge lays out both derivations of the peg image without choosing between them here, then chooses later in the same entry against Ellicott's temple reading.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The metaphor is probably drawn from a tent-pin, which is driven into the earth to make the tent firm and secure.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

In giving us a resting place it is a comparison taken from them that still remain in a place who strike nails to hang things on

source ↗

But now, for a brief moment, grace has come from the LORD our God to preserve for us a remnant and to give us a stake in His holy place. Even in our bondage, our God has given us new life and light to our eyes.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·‘at·tāh kim·‘aṭ- re·ḡa‘ ṯə·ḥin·nāh hā·yə·ṯāh mê·’êṯ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū lə·haš·’îr lā·nū pə·lê·ṭāh wə·lā·ṯeṯ- lā·nū yā·ṯêḏ qā·ḏə·šōw bim·qō·wm bə·‘aḇ·ḏu·ṯê·nū ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū ū·lə·ṯit·tê·nū miḥ·yāh mə·‘aṭ lə·hā·’îr ‘ê·nê·nū

Word by word23 · parsed

וְעַתָּ֡הwə·‘at·tāhBut nowH6258

√ ʻattâh — at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletiveConjunctive wawAdverb

כִּמְעַט־kim·‘aṭ-for a briefH4592

√ mᵉʻaṭ — a little or few (often adverbial or comparPreposition-kAdjectivemasculine singular construct

mᵉʻaṭ: a little, few Ellicott notes that "the little here and at the close of the sentence are emphatic." The verse opens and closes on the same adjective: a little moment, a little reviving. The mercy is confessed as real and measured in the same breath.

רֶגַע֩re·ḡa‘momentH7281

√ regaʻ — a wink (of the eyes), iNounmasculine singular

regaʻ: a wink of the eyes, a moment K&D and Cambridge both read the phrase against Isaiah 26:20, and Ellicott notes that Isaiah 54:7 inverts it: there God forsakes for a small moment. Ellicott also supplies the hard arithmetic: the "little space" was close to two generations, roughly eighty years by Pulpit's and Barnes's reckoning. It is little only against the length of the punishment behind it.

תְחִנָּ֜הṯə·ḥin·nāhgraceH8467

√ tᵉchinnâh — graciousnessNounfeminine singular

tᵉchinnâh: graciousness, supplication Cambridge's lexical point deserves its weight: the one Hebrew noun covers both the plea and the favour that answers it, and only here does it clearly mean the latter. The exiles' prayer and God's mercy are named by the same word, which is itself an argument about how mercy arrives.

הָיְתָ֨הhā·yə·ṯāhhas comeH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular

hâyâh: to exist, come to pass Qal perfect, feminine, agreeing with tᵉchinnâh. Favour is the grammatical subject that acts; Israel appears only in the dative "to us."

מֵאֵ֣ת׀mê·’êṯfromH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPreposition-mDirect object marker

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

לְהַשְׁאִ֥ירlə·haš·’îrto preserveH7604

√ shâʼar — properly, to swell up, iPreposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

לָ֙נוּ֙lā·nūfor us

Prepositionfirst person common plural

פְּלֵיטָ֔הpə·lê·ṭāha remnantH6413

√ pᵉlêyṭâh — deliveranceNounfeminine singular

pᵉlêyṭâh: deliverance, an escaped remnant K&D states the hope attached to the word: "but a remnant which, according to the predictions of the prophets, was again to grow into a large nation." Cambridge distinguishes two escapes compressed into one noun, escape from the destruction of Jerusalem and escape from the degenerating influence of Babylon.

וְלָתֶת־wə·lā·ṯeṯ-and to giveH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

לָ֥נוּlā·nūus

Prepositionfirst person common plural

יָתֵ֖דyā·ṯêḏa stakeH3489

√ yâthêd — a pegNounfeminine singular

yâthêd: a peg The single most contested image in the unit. Cambridge rejects two common identifications outright: "The nail here is neither the Temple, as some have supposed, nor the princes and priests, but the community returned from Babylon established at Jerusalem." Ellicott says plainly the opposite: "The Temple was itself the sure nail on which all their hopes hung." K&D sides with Ellicott. The brief preserves the disagreement, and this note does not resolve it.

קָדְשׁ֑וֹqā·ḏə·šōwin His holyH6944

√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

qôdesh: a sacred place or thing With the following mâqôwm: the place of His holiness. Cambridge: that holy place "was the centre of the nation's life, the witness to the Divine Presence." The peg is not driven into Israel's strength but into God's chosen ground.

בִּמְק֣וֹםbim·qō·wmplaceH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

בְּעַבְדֻתֵֽנוּ׃bə·‘aḇ·ḏu·ṯê·nūEven in our bondageH5659

√ ʻabdûwth — servitudePreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

וּלְתִתֵּ֛נוּū·lə·ṯit·tê·nūhas given usH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructfirst person common plural

מִֽחְיָ֥הmiḥ·yāhnew lifeH4241

√ michyâh — preservation of lifeNounfeminine singular

michyâh: preservation of life A rare noun, occurring in only eight verses in the Hebrew Bible, and so a word Ezra could not have used casually. K&D reads it through Ezekiel 37: the return from Babylon "was, so to speak, a revival from death." Ezra immediately qualifies it with mᵉʻaṭ, a little, because the life is real and still feeble.

מְעַ֖טmə·‘aṭ. . .H4592

√ mᵉʻaṭ — a little or few (often adverbial or comparAdjectivemasculine singular

לְהָאִ֤ירlə·hā·’îrand lightH215

√ ʼôwr — to be (causative, make) luminous (literally and metaphorically)Preposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

ʼôwr: to be luminous, give light Hifil infinitive: to cause our eyes to shine. K&D grounds the idiom in physiology before theology: "Suffering and misfortune make the eyes dim, and their light is quenched in death: the enlightened or beaming eye is an image of vital power," citing 1 Samuel 14:27 and Psalm 13:3. Gill hears the same note: "refresh our spirits, cheer our souls."

עֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙‘ê·nê·nūto our eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Nouncdcfirst person common plural

ʻayin: an eye The eyes that could not be lifted in v. 6 are the eyes God lightens here. The prayer's own vocabulary is doing the work of its argument.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-now as-a-little moment there-has-been favor from-with YHWH our-God, to-leave to-us an-escaped-remnant, and-to-give to-us a-tent-peg in-the-place-of His-holiness, to-make-shine our-eyes, our-God, and-to-give-us a-preservation-of-life, a-little, in-our-bondage.

Where the English smooths the original

תְחִנָּ֜ה תְחִנָּ֜ה (ṯə·ḥin·nāh, H8467 tᵉchinnâh) is rendered "grace." Cambridge documents that this noun is "practically always elsewhere in the O.T. rendered supplication," listing more than a dozen occurrences. The word normally names the cry going up; here it names the favour coming down. English "grace" conceals how unusual the usage is.
יָתֵ֖ד יָתֵ֖ד (yā·ṯêḏ, H3489) is a peg, and BSB's "stake" is right, but the image is disputed in the sources and the dispute matters. Barnes and Benson take it from tent life, the pin driven into the ground to hold the tent. Cambridge and K&D take it from Isaiah 22:23, the peg driven into a wall to hang vessels on. Cambridge adds the crucial qualification: "Its power to do so, however strong the nail may be itself, depends upon the firmness of that into which it is driven."
פְּלֵיטָ֔ה פְּלֵיטָ֔ה (pə·lê·ṭāh, H6413) is not "remnant" in the neutral sense but deliverance, an escaped company. Barnes corrects the translation directly: "Rather, a remnant that has escaped." The word returns at 9:13, 9:14 and 9:15, where it becomes the thing that might yet be taken away.
מִֽחְיָ֥ה מִֽחְיָ֥ה (miḥ·yāh, H4241) is "preservation of life," the means of keeping alive. K&D insists the suffix on lᵉthittênû is accusative, not dative, so the literal sense is "that He may make us a slight reviving": Israel is not given a revival, Israel is made into one. BSB's "has given us new life" loses that.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

while in captivity, they were as in their graves, and like the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, but revived upon the proclamation of Cyrus, and the encouragement he gave them to return to their own land

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The bondage is not past. The Jews are still bondmen, in servitude to the king of Persia.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

to recover us from the grave of dreadful calamities, in which we lay like dead men and dry bones

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The Jews had not recovered their independence. They continued to be the subjects of a despotic monarch, and were therefore ' abddim , "slaves." All the favour shown them by the kings of Persia had not changed this fact.

source ↗

Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and giving us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî- ’ă·naḥ·nū ‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū lō ‘ă·zā·ḇā·nū ū·ḇə·‘aḇ·ḏu·ṯê·nū way·yaṭ- ‘ā·lê·nū ḥe·seḏ lip̄·nê mal·ḵê p̄ā·ras lā·ṯeṯ- lā·nū miḥ·yāh lə·rō·w·mêm ’eṯ- bêṯ ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū ū·lə·ha·‘ă·mîḏ ’eṯ- ḥā·rə·ḇō·ṯāw wə·lā·ṯeṯ- lā·nū ḡā·ḏêr bî·hū·ḏāh ū·ḇî·rū·šā·lim

Word by word28 · parsed

כִּֽי־kî-ThoughH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אֲנַ֔חְנוּ’ă·naḥ·nūweH587

√ ʼănachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

עֲבָדִ֣ים‘ă·ḇā·ḏîmare slavesH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural

ʻebed: a servant, slave Gill notes the sharp historical irony: this confession of national servitude is precisely what the Judeans of John 8:33 would later refuse to make. Ezra's community is more honest about its condition than its descendants would be.

אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

לֹ֥אlōhas notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

עֲזָבָ֖נוּ‘ă·zā·ḇā·nūforsaken usH5800

√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singularfirst person common plural

ʻâzab: to loosen, forsake Qal perfect with a first plural object suffix, under the negative. The verb's own lexical sense is loosening a grip, which is why it governs both a God who does not let go and a people who let the commandments go. This is the unit's most load-bearing verbal repetition, and it is a true lexical identity, not an English coincidence.

וּבְעַבְדֻ֔תֵנוּū·ḇə·‘aḇ·ḏu·ṯê·nūin our bondageH5659

√ ʻabdûwth — servitudeConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

ʻabdûwth: servitude An extremely rare abstract noun: it stands in only three verses of the Hebrew Bible, and two of them are here and at 9:8. The third is Nehemiah 9:17. A word Ezra uses twice in two verses, and which the next great confession of the returned community also uses, is not a neutral choice of vocabulary.

וַֽיַּט־way·yaṭ-but He has extendedH5186

√ nâṭâh — to stretch or spread outConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

עָלֵ֣ינוּ‘ā·lê·nūto usH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionfirst person common plural

חֶ֡סֶדḥe·seḏgraceH2617

√ chêçêd — kindnessNounmasculine singular

chêçêd: kindness, covenant loyalty Cambridge observes how the mercy actually operated: "God, by the kings of Persia, gave the reviving." The chesed is not felt inwardly; it is administered through a pagan imperial chancery. K&D notes that Cyrus and Darius did not merely permit the temple but funded it.

לִפְנֵי֩lip̄·nêin the sightH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

מַלְכֵ֨יmal·ḵêof the kingsH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine plural construct

פָרַ֜סp̄ā·rasof PersiaH6539

√ Pâraç — Paras (iNounproperfeminine singular

לָֽתֶת־lā·ṯeṯ-givingH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

לָ֣נוּlā·nūus

Prepositionfirst person common plural

מִֽחְיָ֗הmiḥ·yāhnew lifeH4241

√ michyâh — preservation of lifeNounfeminine singular

לְרוֹמֵ֞םlə·rō·w·mêmto rebuildH7311

√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbPielInfinitive construct

rûwm: to raise, lift high Piel infinitive, the causative of the root that at 9:6 Ezra could not perform on his own face. He cannot lift his face; God through him lifts a house. The reversal is exact and is carried by one root.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

בֵּ֤יתbêṯthe houseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙’ĕ·lō·hê·nūof our GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

וּלְהַעֲמִ֣ידū·lə·ha·‘ă·mîḏand repairH5975

√ ʻâmad — to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

ʻâmad: to stand Hifil infinitive: to cause the ruins to stand. The same root closes the unit at 9:15, where no one can stand before God. God makes ruins stand; guilt makes people unable to. One verb holds both ends of the prayer.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

חָרְבֹתָ֔יוḥā·rə·ḇō·ṯāwits ruinsH2723

√ chorbâh — properly, drought, iNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine singular

chorbâh: a waste, ruin From a root meaning drought, desolation. Poole and Gill divide over whether the repair is of stonework or of neglected worship, Poole preferring the latter since the building was named in the previous clause. The brief records both.

וְלָֽתֶת־wə·lā·ṯeṯ-and givingH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

לָ֣נוּlā·nūus

Prepositionfirst person common plural

גָדֵ֔רḡā·ḏêra wall of protectionH1447

√ gâdêr — a circumvallationNounmasculine singular

gâdêr: a hedge, wall of a vineyard Cambridge suggests the word is chosen as an allusion to Isaiah 5:5 and Psalm 80:12, where God breaks down the hedge of His vineyard. If so, Ezra is saying that the hedge which judgment tore away has been put back, and saying it in the same breath as a confession that the vineyard has begun again to yield wild grapes. Gill widens it to the hedge of providence in Job 1:10.

בִּֽיהוּדָ֖הbî·hū·ḏāhin JudahH3063

√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

וּבִירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃סū·ḇî·rū·šā·limand JerusalemH3389

√ Yᵉrûwshâlaim — Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of PalestineConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

For slaves we [are]; and-in-our-bondage not has-He-forsaken-us our-God, and-He-stretched-out upon-us steadfast-love before the-kings-of Persia, to-give to-us preservation-of-life, to-raise-up the-house-of our-God and-to-make-stand its-ruins, and-to-give to-us a-hedge in-Judah and-in-Jerusalem.

Where the English smooths the original

אֲנַ֔חְנוּ עֲבָדִ֣ים אֲנַ֔חְנוּ עֲבָדִ֣ים is a verbless clause with no tense at all: "slaves we." Both Barnes and Cambridge correct the older English past tense: "Rather, we are bondmen." Ellicott says where the weight falls: "In this lies the emphasis of the appeal." BSB's concessive "Though we are slaves" is right in sense but adds a conjunction the Hebrew does not have.
עֲזָבָ֖נוּ עֲזָבָ֖נוּ (‘ă·zā·ḇā·nū, H5800 ʻâzab, "to loosen, forsake") is the hinge verb of the whole prayer, and it is the same verb Israel is the subject of at 9:10: we have forsaken Thy commandments. God did not loosen His grip; Israel loosened hers. No English rendering of the two verses preserves the identity unless it repeats the word.
וַֽיַּט־ ... חֶ֡סֶד וַֽיַּט־ (way·yaṭ, H5186 nâṭâh, Hifil) is "and He stretched out, extended, spread," the verb used of spreading a tent or extending a hand. With חֶ֡סֶד (ḥe·seḏ, H2617, covenant kindness) the image is of loyalty physically reached out over a people. BSB's "extended to us grace" is fair; "grace" for chesed nonetheless drops the covenant obligation the word carries.
גָדֵ֔ר גָדֵ֔ר (ḡā·ḏêr, H1447) is glossed in the lexicon as "a circumvallation," and Cambridge is precise: it "is specially used of a fence round a vineyard," as in Isaiah 5:5 and Psalm 80:12, both of them vineyard allegories for Israel. BSB's "a wall of protection" is interpretively right and figuratively flattened. Poole and Pulpit both note that the literal city wall was still in ruins.

And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandments

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·‘at·tāh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū mah- nō·mar ’a·ḥă·rê- zōṯ kî ‘ā·zaḇ·nū miṣ·wō·ṯe·ḵā

Word by word9 · parsed

וְעַתָּ֛הwə·‘at·tāhAnd nowH6258

√ ʻattâh — at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletiveConjunctive wawAdverb

ʻattâh: now The second "and now" of the prayer (see 9:8). The first introduced mercy; this one introduces the question mercy makes unanswerable.

אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

מַה־mah-whatH4100

√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative

Interrogative particle. Its force here is legal rather than conversational: what plea can be entered?

נֹּאמַ֥רnō·marcan we sayH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

אַֽחֲרֵי־’a·ḥă·rê-afterH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition

זֹ֑אתzōṯthisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

כִּ֥יkîForH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

עָזַ֖בְנוּ‘ā·zaḇ·nūwe have forsakenH5800

√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common plural

ʻâzab: to loosen, forsake Qal perfect, first plural, the exact counterpart of the third masculine singular at 9:9. This is the theological centre of the unit: the covenant is a two-sided grip, and only one side let go. Gill narrows the referent honestly to the commandments "which related to marriages with people of other nations"; the verb itself is broader than that application.

מִצְוֺתֶֽיךָ׃miṣ·wō·ṯe·ḵāthe commandmentsH4687

√ mitsvâh — a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

mitsvâh: a command, the Law collectively Feminine plural construct with a second person suffix: Thy commandments. The possessive is the aggravation. The same noun returns at 9:14 as the object of a verb meaning to break or annul.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-now, our-God, what shall-we-say after this? For we-have-forsaken Thy-commandments,

Where the English smooths the original

עָזַ֖בְנוּ עָזַ֖בְנוּ (‘ā·zaḇ·nū, H5800 ʻâzab) is the identical root and stem used one verse earlier of God: our God has not forsaken us. Ezra sets the two perfects side by side and lets the contrast be the confession. English translations that use "forsaken" in v. 9 and "abandoned" or "disobeyed" in v. 10 destroy the argument; BSB happily keeps "forsaken" in both.
מַה־נֹּאמַ֥ר מַה־נֹּאמַ֥ר (mah-nō·mar) is a real interrogative, not a rhetorical shrug: "what shall we say?" K&D notes that the answer which follows begins with kî, before which the verb "we can say" must be mentally supplied, so the sense is: the only thing we can say is that we have forsaken Thy commandments. The question is answered by a confession, not by silence.
אַֽחֲרֵי־זֹ֑את אַֽחֲרֵי־זֹ֑את (’a·ḥă·rê-zōṯ, "after this") is deliberately unspecified in the Hebrew, and the commentators split on its referent. K&D and the general tradition take it as "such proofs of the divine compassion as have just been mentioned." Cambridge argues instead that Ezra breaks off abruptly and means "after this fresh violation of commandment." The demonstrative alone cannot decide.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

It is better then to regard the passage as a perfectly general statement by Ezra of prophetical teaching upon the subject of intermarriage with foreign nations.

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

They are not, therefore, to be regarded as a verbal quotation, but only as a declaration that the prohibition of intermarriage with the heathen had been inculcated by the prophets.

K&D adds a long footnote arguing that this loose citation is no evidence against Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch; the argument is apologetic in intent and is flagged as such.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The land was not unclean in itself, but only polluted by the filthiness of its inhabitants.

source ↗

that You gave through Your servants the prophets, saying: ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the impurity of its peoples and the abominations with which they have filled it from end to end.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·šer ṣiw·wî·ṯā bə·yaḏ ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā han·nə·ḇî·’îm lê·mōr hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer ’at·tem bā·’îm lə·riš·tāh hî ’e·reṣ nid·dāh bə·nid·daṯ ‘am·mê hā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯ bə·ṯō·w·‘ă·ḇō·ṯê·hem ’ă·šer mil·’ū·hā mip·peh ’el- peh bə·ṭum·’ā·ṯām

Word by word24 · parsed

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

צִוִּ֗יתָṣiw·wî·ṯāYou gaveH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielPerfectsecond person masculine singular

tsâvâh: to enjoin, command Piel perfect, second masculine singular. The subject is God and the addressee is God: Ezra quotes God's own command back to Him. That is the rhetorical structure of the whole middle of the prayer.

בְּיַ֨דbə·yaḏthroughH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

yâd: a hand The construct of mediation. Cambridge documents the idiom across Leviticus 8:36, Numbers 36:13 and 2 Kings 17:23; K&D makes the same observation about the books of Kings, where the phrase marks a truth "frequently reiterated" rather than a single oracle.

עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāYour servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

הַנְּבִיאִים֮han·nə·ḇî·’îmthe prophetsH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural

nâbîyʼ: a prophet The crux of the verse, and the sources are unusually candid about it. Barnes: the words that follow "are not quoted from any previous book of Scripture, but merely give the general sense of numerous passages." Cambridge: "There is no passage in the prophets resembling the words here given." K&D agrees they are "not, therefore, to be regarded as a verbal quotation" and argues that Moses in Deuteronomy speaks in a prophetic character. Ellicott adds that in the later Scriptures such citation "of the earlier is often of this character, giving the substance of many passages."

לֵאמֹר֒lê·mōrsayingH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

הָאָ֗רֶץhā·’ā·reṣThe landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אַתֶּ֤ם’at·temyouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

בָּאִים֙bā·’îmare enteringH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּlə·riš·tāhto possessH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person feminine singular

yârash: to occupy by dispossessing Qal infinitive with a feminine suffix: to take possession of her. The verb already contains the eviction of prior tenants, which is why the uncleanness of those tenants is the next thing named. The same root returns in the Hifil at 9:12 for leaving the land to one's sons.

הִ֔יאhîisH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person feminine singular

אֶ֤רֶץ’e·reṣa landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singular construct

נִדָּה֙nid·dāhpollutedH5079

√ niddâh — properly, rejectionNounfeminine singular

niddâh: impurity, rejection Cambridge notes that the construction "land of uncleanness" is not found in the Pentateuch of the promised land, which is part of why the citation cannot be located. The image is that the land itself has contracted a ritual state, and a people who marry into it contract it too.

בְּנִדַּ֖תbə·nid·daṯby the impurityH5079

√ niddâh — properly, rejectionPreposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

עַמֵּ֣י‘am·mêof its peoplesH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine plural construct

ʻam: a people as a unit The phrase "peoples of the lands" is the standing designation of the surrounding populations in Ezra and Nehemiah. It is a corporate category, and the prohibition that follows is corporate.

הָאֲרָצ֑וֹתhā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯ. . .H776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine plural

בְּתוֹעֲבֹֽתֵיהֶ֗םbə·ṯō·w·‘ă·ḇō·ṯê·hemand the abominationsH8441

√ tôwʻêbah — properly, something disgusting (morally), iPreposition-bNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerwith whichH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

מִלְא֛וּהָmil·’ū·hāthey have filled itH4390

√ mâlêʼ — to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively)VerbPielPerfectthird person common pluralthird person feminine singular

mâlêʼ: to fill, be full Piel perfect with a feminine object suffix. The intensive stem: they have packed her full. The land is treated grammatically as a vessel, which sets up the "mouth to mouth" measurement that follows.

מִפֶּ֥הmip·pehfrom endH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

פֶּ֖הpehendH6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Nounmasculine singular

בְּטֻמְאָתָֽם׃bə·ṭum·’ā·ṯāmH2932

√ ṭumʼâh — religious impurityPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural

ṭumʼâh: religious impurity The third distinct uncleanness word in a single verse, after niddâh twice and tôwʻêbah. Cambridge notes it is the same term rendered "filthiness" at Ezra 6:21 and points to Leviticus 18:24 to 30 for the full application.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

which Thou-commandedst by-the-hand-of Thy-servants the-prophets, saying: the-land which you are-entering to-possess-her, a-land-of menstrual-impurity she [is], by-the-impurity-of the-peoples-of the-lands, by-their-abominations with-which they-have-filled-her from-mouth to-mouth by-their-uncleanness.

Where the English smooths the original

נִדָּה֙ נִדָּה֙ (nid·dāh, H5079) is glossed in the lexicon as "properly, rejection," and in the Levitical system it is the specific term for menstrual separation. BSB's "polluted" is decorous and weak. Cambridge calls it "a strong word to denote anything that would convey defilement," and Ezra uses it twice in one clause: a land of niddâh, by the niddâh of its peoples.
בְּיַ֨ד בְּיַ֨ד (bə·yaḏ, H3027) is literally "by the hand of," as Cambridge notes, a standard Hebrew idiom for prophetic mediation. It is the same construct that at 9:7 delivered Israel into the hand of foreign kings. The word came through one hand; the nation was handed over by another.
מִפֶּ֥ה אֶל־פֶּ֖ה מִפֶּ֥ה אֶל־פֶּ֖ה is literally "from mouth to mouth," not "from end to end." Cambridge: "perhaps the metaphor has been taken from a drinking vessel," filled to the brim. The English idiom measures territory; the Hebrew measures capacity, and the land is full.
בְּתוֹעֲבֹֽתֵיהֶ֗ם בְּתוֹעֲבֹֽתֵיהֶ֗ם (bə·ṯō·w·‘ă·ḇō·ṯê·hem, H8441 tôwʻêbah) rests on a root meaning "properly, something disgusting (morally)." Cambridge notes that these abominations "are described as acts of impurity because these were the accompaniment of the local worship." The word is cultic and visceral at once; "abominations" in English has become merely formal.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Here Deuteronomy 7:3 is plainly referred to, though not verbally quoted. This is the sole place in the Law where the double injunction is given, Exodus 34:16 referring to the taking of wives only.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

although you may fancy that this way of making leagues and marriages with them is the only way to establish and settle you, yet I assure you it will weaken and ruin you, and the contrary course will make you stronger.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

This phrase is found in Deuteronomy 23:6 ‘Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever’, where the Ammonites and Moabites are especially referred to. The words had probably become almost proverbial.

source ↗

Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·‘at·tāh ’al- tit·tə·nū bə·nō·w·ṯê·ḵem liḇ·nê·hem tiś·’ū ū·ḇə·nō·ṯê·hem ’al- liḇ·nê·ḵem wə·lō- ‘aḏ- ‘ō·w·lām ṯiḏ·rə·šū šə·lō·mām wə·ṭō·w·ḇā·ṯām lə·ma·‘an te·ḥez·qū wa·’ă·ḵal·tem ’eṯ- ṭūḇ hā·’ā·reṣ wə·hō·w·raš·tem liḇ·nê·ḵem ‘aḏ- ‘ō·w·lām

Word by word25 · parsed

וְ֠עַתָּהwə·‘at·tāhNow, thereforeH6258

√ ʻattâh — at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletiveConjunctive wawAdverb

אַל־’al-do notH408

√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb

ʼal: not, the qualified negation The deprecative negative used with the imperfect for prohibition: not an absolute lôʼ but a direct command to these hearers. It governs both halves of the marriage clause.

תִּתְּנ֣וּtit·tə·nūgiveH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

nâthan: to give The same verb that at 9:7 handed Israel over to foreign kings and at 9:8 and 9:9 gave Israel the peg and the hedge. Here Israel is forbidden to give. The prayer's economy of giving runs in one direction only: God gives, Israel receives, and the one thing Israel must not do is give itself away.

בְּֽנוֹתֵיכֶ֞םbə·nō·w·ṯê·ḵemyour daughters {in marriage}H1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

לִבְנֵיהֶ֗םliḇ·nê·hemto their sonsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

תִּשְׂא֣וּtiś·’ūor takeH5375

√ nâsâʼ — to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

וּבְנֹֽתֵיהֶם֙ū·ḇə·nō·ṯê·hemtheir daughtersH1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

אַל־’al-. . .H408

√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb

לִבְנֵיכֶ֔םliḇ·nê·ḵemfor your sonsH1121

וְלֹֽא־wə·lō-NeverH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

עַד־‘aḏ-. . .H5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

עוֹלָ֑ם‘ō·w·lām. . .H5769

√ ʻôwlâm — properly, concealed, iNounmasculine singular

תִדְרְשׁ֧וּṯiḏ·rə·šūseekH1875

√ dârash — properly, to tread or frequentVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

dârash: to tread, frequent, seek Ellicott calls this clause "an evident echo of that most stern injunction in Deuteronomy 23:6." Cambridge is sharper about the transfer: "Here its application is destitute of any reference to the context in Deuteronomy 23," that is, Ezra applies to the Canaanite peoples a prohibition originally aimed at Ammon and Moab. That is an interpretive move by Ezra, not a quotation.

שְׁלֹמָ֛םšə·lō·māmtheir peaceH7965

√ shâlôwm — safe, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

shâlôwm: safe, whole, at peace Cambridge sets beside it Jeremiah 29:7, where the exiles are commanded to seek the peace of Babylon. The same verb and the same noun, opposite commands, different situations. Neither text cancels the other, and the tension is worth stating rather than smoothing.

וְטוֹבָתָ֖םwə·ṭō·w·ḇā·ṯāmor prosperityH2896

√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural

לְמַ֣עַןlə·ma·‘anso thatH4616

√ maʻan — properly, heed, iConjunction

תֶּחֶזְק֗וּte·ḥez·qūyou may be strongH2388

√ châzaq — to fasten uponVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

châzaq: to fasten upon, be strong Cambridge points to Deuteronomy 11:8 for the same promise attached to the same condition, and adds the definition that matters: "The power to maintain God's gift was the measure of their true prosperity."

וַאֲכַלְתֶּם֙wa·’ă·ḵal·temand may eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

ט֣וּבṭūḇthe good thingsH2898

√ ṭûwb — good (as a noun), in the widest sense, especially goodness (superlative concretely, the best), beauty, gladness, welfareNounmasculine singular construct

ṭûwb: goodness, the best Cambridge notes the clause has no verbal parallel in the Pentateuch and matches Isaiah 1:19 instead, which is further evidence that Ezra is compounding several strands of Scripture rather than citing one.

הָאָ֔רֶץhā·’ā·reṣof the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּ֥םwə·hō·w·raš·temleaving it as an inheritanceH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

yârash: to occupy by dispossessing Hifil conjunctive perfect. Cambridge is honest about the limits of the parallels here: the allusions sometimes claimed to Proverbs 13:22 and Ezekiel 37:25 "can only be of the most shadowy kind."

לִבְנֵיכֶ֖םliḇ·nê·ḵemto your sonsH1121

עַד־‘aḏ-foreverH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

עוֹלָֽם׃‘ō·w·lām. . .H5769

√ ʻôwlâm — properly, concealed, iNounmasculine singular

ʻôwlâm: long duration, forever The word closes both halves of the verse: never seek their peace, forever; leave it to your sons, forever. Two permanences are set against each other, and the second is made to depend on the first.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-now your-daughters do-not give to-their-sons, and-their-daughters do-not take for-your-sons, and-not shall-you-seek their-peace and-their-good unto forever, so-that you-may-be-strong and-you-may-eat the-good of-the-land, and-you-shall-cause-your-sons-to-inherit-it unto forever.

Where the English smooths the original

תִדְרְשׁ֧וּ תִדְרְשׁ֧וּ (ṯiḏ·rə·šū, H1875 dârash) rests on a root meaning "properly, to tread or frequent," and so to resort to, inquire after, care for. "Never seek their peace" in English sounds like malice; the Hebrew prohibits diplomatic cultivation, the treading of a path to another's door. Cambridge notes the phrase is lifted from Deuteronomy 23:6, spoken there of Ammon and Moab, and "had probably become almost proverbial."
שְׁלֹמָ֛ם וְטוֹבָתָ֖ם שְׁלֹמָ֛ם (šə·lō·mām, H7965 shâlôwm) with וְטוֹבָתָ֖ם (H2896) is "their peace and their good." BSB's "peace or prosperity" is right, but the second noun is the same root that four words later becomes "the good of the land" which Israel may eat. The command withholds from the nations exactly the word it then grants to Israel.
וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּ֥ם וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּ֥ם (wə·hō·w·raš·tem, H3423 yârash, Hifil) is the causative of the verb "to possess by dispossessing" used in 9:11. BSB renders it "leaving it as an inheritance," which is the effect; the form literally means to cause your sons to take possession. The root that evicts the Canaanites is the root that installs the sons.
תֶּחֶזְק֗וּ תֶּחֶזְק֗וּ (te·ḥez·qū, H2388 châzaq) is from a root meaning "to fasten upon," to grow firm, to grip. Poole reads the promise polemically: "although you may fancy that this way of making leagues and marriages with them is the only way to establish and settle you, yet I assure you it will weaken and ruin you." The strength promised is a grip on the land, and alliance is presented as the thing that loosens it.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The words in the original are difficult. Literally, ‘hast kept back, downward, from our sins’. Some have rendered ‘hast as it were held back, and kept down from rising to view, many of (partitive) our sins’. Others, ‘hast spared beneath our sins’, i.e. thy mercy has been out of all proportion greater than our sins, has as it were gone deeper than our iniquities.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

for they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was temporal punishment that was inflicted, and this moderate, and now stopped

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

If neither severity nor kindness avail anything, what can God do more? must he not view our case as hopeless, and so make an end of us altogether?

Pulpit is voicing Ezra's rhetorical question, not asserting that God's patience is in fact exhausted; the surrounding text points to Isaiah 5:1-7 and Luke 13:6-9 as the same figure.

source ↗

After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’a·ḥă·rê kāl- hab·bā ‘ā·lê·nū hā·rā·‘îm bə·ma·‘ă·śê·nū hag·gə·ḏō·lāh ū·ḇə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nū kî ’at·tāh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū ḥā·śaḵ·tā lə·maṭ·ṭāh mê·‘ă·wō·nê·nū wə·nā·ṯat·tāh lā·nū pə·lê·ṭāh kā·zōṯ

Word by word18 · parsed

וְאַֽחֲרֵי֙wə·’a·ḥă·rêAfterH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partConjunctive wawPreposition

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַבָּ֣אhab·bāthat has comeH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

bôwʼ: to come, go in Qal participle with the article: "all the coming upon us." The participle keeps the judgment ongoing rather than closed, which is why Ezra can list it as a present condition in 9:7 and as a completed premiss here.

עָלֵ֔ינוּ‘ā·lê·nūupon usH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionfirst person common plural

הָרָעִ֔יםhā·rā·‘îmbecause of our evilH7451

√ raʻ — bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)ArticleAdjectivemasculine plural

בְּמַעֲשֵׂ֙ינוּ֙bə·ma·‘ă·śê·nūdeedsH4639

√ maʻăseh — an action (good or bad)Preposition-bNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

הַגְּדֹלָ֑הhag·gə·ḏō·lāhand our greatH1419

√ gâdôwl — great (in any sense)ArticleAdjectivefeminine singular

וּבְאַשְׁמָתֵ֖נוּū·ḇə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nūguiltH819

√ ʼashmâh — guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of asin-offeringConjunctive waw, Preposition-bNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

ʼashmâh: guiltiness Cambridge sharpens the sense against a natural misreading: "Not an isolated offence, but the condition of deep obligation for sin." That distinction governs the logic of 9:14, which follows: a single lapse could be repented of, a standing condition cannot simply be repeated without consequence.

כִּ֣י׀kîthoughH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אַתָּ֣ה’at·tāhYouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine singular

אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

חָשַׂ֤כְתָּֽḥā·śaḵ·tāhave punished usH2820

√ châsak — to restrain or (reflexVerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine singular

châsak: to restrain, hold back Qal perfect, second masculine singular, with no stated object. The absent object is the whole theological content of the clause: what God held back is the punishment. Gill states the proportion this implies: "they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was temporal punishment that was inflicted, and this moderate, and now stopped." Gill also records Aben Ezra's and Jarchi's competing Jewish readings of the same difficult phrase.

לְמַ֙טָּה֙lə·maṭ·ṭāhlessH4295

√ maṭṭâh — downward, below or beneathPreposition-lAdverb

maṭṭâh: downward, beneath The deliberate inverse of maʻal at 9:6. Cambridge offers two ways to feel it: God has held our sins down out of sight, or God's mercy "has as it were gone deeper than our iniquities." Either way the spatial vocabulary of the prayer is consistent: guilt measured upward, mercy measured downward, and the two never meet.

מֵֽעֲוֺנֵ֔נוּmê·‘ă·wō·nê·nūthan our iniquities [deserve]H5771

√ ʻâvôn — perversity, iPreposition-mNouncommon singular constructfirst person common plural

ʻâvôn: perversity, iniquity The same noun as 9:6 and 9:7, now singular and construct. In 9:6 iniquities rose above the head; here punishment stops beneath them. The noun is the fixed point against which both directions are measured.

וְנָתַ֥תָּהwə·nā·ṯat·tāhand have givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

לָּ֛נוּlā·nūus

Prepositionfirst person common plural

פְּלֵיטָ֖הpə·lê·ṭāh[such] a remnantH6413

√ pᵉlêyṭâh — deliveranceNounfeminine singular

pᵉlêyṭâh: deliverance, escaped remnant The third of four occurrences in this prayer (9:8, 9:13, 9:14, 9:15). Its function changes each time: at 9:8 it is the mercy received, here it is the evidence that punishment was restrained, at 9:14 it is what stands to be lost, at 9:15 it is what stands accused. One noun carries the whole arc.

כָּזֹֽאת׃kā·zōṯas thisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Preposition-kPronounfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-after all that-has-come upon-us for-our-deeds the-evil and-for-our-guilt the-great (for Thou, our-God, hast-held-back downward from-our-iniquities, and-hast-given to-us an-escaped-remnant such-as-this),

Where the English smooths the original

חָשַׂ֤כְתָּֽ חָשַׂ֤כְתָּֽ (ḥā·śaḵ·tā, H2820 châsak, "to restrain") has no object in the Hebrew. BSB supplies one and renders "have punished us less than our iniquities deserve," which is the sense but not the syntax. Cambridge is candid: "The words in the original are difficult. Literally, hast kept back, downward, from our sins." K&D supplies the object from context: "Thou hast withheld that, all of which should have come upon us, i.e., the punishment we deserved." Both LXX and Vulgate, Cambridge notes, paraphrase.
לְמַ֙טָּה֙ לְמַ֙טָּה֙ (lə·maṭ·ṭāh, H4295 maṭṭâh, "downward, beneath") is the exact counterweight to לְמַ֣עְלָה (maʻal, upward) at 9:6. Iniquities piled upward above the head; punishment held downward below the iniquities. The prayer's two measurements of the same guilt run in opposite directions, and no English rendering that uses "higher" and "less" preserves the pairing.
כִּ֣י כִּ֣י (kî, H3588) is rendered "though" by BSB, which makes the clause concessive. K&D argues it is "properly confirmatory" and takes on "the adversative meaning of imo, yea" from the sense of the clause. Cambridge allows a third reading, "the mark of an exclamation": to think that God should have so spared us. The particle is doing real interpretive work and the sources do not agree on which.
פְּלֵיטָ֖ה כָּזֹֽאת פְּלֵיטָ֖ה כָּזֹֽאת is "an escaped remnant such as this." Barnes corrects the older English "deliverance": "Or, remnant, as in Ezra 9:8." K&D identifies the demonstrative: "as this, viz., this which exists in the community now returned from Babylon to Judaea." Ezra is pointing at the people standing in front of him.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The question expects the answer ‘yes’. Ezra recalls the declarations of God’s displeasure in such passages as Deuteronomy 7:4

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

was this a fit and just requital of all thy kindnesses? or was this thy end and design in these actions? or wilt thou take this well from our hands? There should be no remnant nor escaping: can we reasonably expect any thing from thee less than utter ruin?

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us; it might be justly expected

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

was that he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure.

JFB's entry in this brief is a single block attached to every verse of the unit rather than a comment on 9:14 specifically; it is quoted once, here, where its subject matter sits.

source ↗

shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hă·nā·šūḇ lə·hā·p̄êr miṣ·wō·ṯe·ḵā ū·lə·hiṯ·ḥat·tên bə·‘am·mê hā·’êl·leh hat·tō·‘ê·ḇō·wṯ hă·lō·w ṯe·’ĕ·nap̄- bā·nū ‘aḏ- kal·lêh lə·’ên šə·’ê·rîṯ ū·p̄ə·lê·ṭāh

Word by word15 · parsed

הֲנָשׁוּב֙hă·nā·šūḇshall we againH7725

√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)VerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

shûwb: to turn back Qal imperfect, first plural, with the interrogative hă. K&D notes it is used adverbially here. The irony is lexical rather than rhetorical: the verb of repentance is conscripted to describe relapse, which is exactly Henry's warning: "There is not a surer or saddler presage of ruin, than turning to sin, after great judgments, and great deliverances."

לְהָפֵ֣רlə·hā·p̄êrbreakH6565

√ pârar — to break up (usually figuratively), iPreposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive construct

pârar: to break up, annul Hifil infinitive. Cambridge's evidence that this is covenant vocabulary is the substance of the verse: Ezra is not describing a lapse in observance but the voiding of an instrument. Compare its use at Ezra 4:5 of frustrating a purpose.

מִצְוֺתֶ֔יךָmiṣ·wō·ṯe·ḵāYour commandmentsH4687

√ mitsvâh — a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

וּ֨לְהִתְחַתֵּ֔ןū·lə·hiṯ·ḥat·tênand intermarryH2859

√ châthan — to give (a daughter) away in marriageConjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbHitpaelInfinitive construct

châthan: to give a daughter in marriage Hitpael infinitive, the stem of reciprocal or reflexive action. Its single Pentateuchal occurrence at Deuteronomy 7:3 is the verse Ezra has just cited in 9:12, so the question is framed in the exact vocabulary of the prohibition it contemplates breaking.

בְּעַמֵּ֥יbə·‘am·mêwith the peoplesH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Preposition-bNounmasculine plural construct

הָאֵ֑לֶּהhā·’êl·lehwho commit theseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural

ʼêl-leh: these The demonstrative is not decorative. Cambridge notes the Revised Version's "with the peoples that do these abominations," and K&D glosses the construct as "people who live in abominations." The nations are defined by the practice, not merely associated with it.

הַתֹּעֵב֖וֹתhat·tō·‘ê·ḇō·wṯabominationsH8441

√ tôwʻêbah — properly, something disgusting (morally), iArticleNounfeminine plural

הֲל֤וֹאhă·lō·wWould You notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

תֶֽאֱנַף־ṯe·’ĕ·nap̄-become so angryH599

√ ʼânaph — to breathe hard, iVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

ʼânaph: to breathe hard, be angry Qal imperfect, second masculine singular. The root's physical sense is the snort of the nostril; Hebrew locates anger in the breath. Cambridge states the grammar of the question flatly: "The question expects the answer yes."

בָּ֙נוּ֙bā·nūwith us

Prepositionfirst person common plural

עַד־‘aḏ-as toH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

כַּלֵּ֔הkal·lêhwipe us outH3615

√ kâlâh — to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitived (to complete, prepare, consume)VerbPielInfinitive construct

kâlâh: to finish, consume, make an end Piel infinitive, the intensive: to bring to completion. Cambridge notes that the precise construction here occurs elsewhere only at 2 Kings 13:17 and 19. Ezra is not asking whether God would punish, but whether He would finish.

לְאֵ֥יןlə·’ênleaving noH369

√ ʼayin — a non-entityPreposition-lAdverb

שְׁאֵרִ֖יתšə·’ê·rîṯremnantH7611

√ shᵉʼêrîyth — a remainder or residual (surviving, final) portionNounfeminine singular

shᵉʼêrîyth: a remainder, residual portion Paired with pᵉlêyṭâh in the next word. Cambridge distinguishes them: "The former word denotes simply the remainder; the latter has the idea of survival from flight," and notes the LXX separates them as ἐγκατάλειμμα καὶ διασωζόμενον. English struggles to keep two words for one idea.

וּפְלֵיטָֽה׃פū·p̄ə·lê·ṭāhor survivorH6413

√ pᵉlêyṭâh — deliveranceConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

pᵉlêyṭâh: deliverance, escaped remnant The word that at 9:8 named the mercy now names what stands to be annihilated. Ellicott draws the conclusion for the whole prayer: "All the present tokens of mercy are said at the conclusion of the prayer to be conditional in their continuance."

Literal — word-for-word from the original

shall-we-return to-annul Thy-commandments and-to-make-marriage-alliance with-the-peoples-of the-abominations these? Wouldst-Thou-not be-angry with-us unto finishing, to-there-being-no remainder and-escaped-one?

Where the English smooths the original

הֲנָשׁוּב֙ הֲנָשׁוּב֙ (hă·nā·šūḇ, H7725 shûwb) is the verb "to turn back," here used adverbially, as K&D notes, to mean "again." BSB's "shall we again break" is correct English and loses the picture: the Hebrew asks whether we shall turn back in order to break. The same root is the standard verb for repentance; Ezra uses it for the opposite motion.
לְהָפֵ֣ר לְהָפֵ֣ר (lə·hā·p̄êr, H6565 pârar, Hifil) is stronger than "break." Cambridge documents that the verb "is especially frequently found with covenant," citing Genesis 17:14, Deuteronomy 31:16, Isaiah 24:5, Jeremiah 31:32, "in the sense of annul, violate." The object here is mitsvôt, commandments, but the verb is the covenant-annulling one. To break these commands is treated as voiding the covenant itself.
וּ֨לְהִתְחַתֵּ֔ן וּ֨לְהִתְחַתֵּ֔ן (ū·lə·hiṯ·ḥat·tên, H2859 châthan, Hitpael) is reflexive: to make oneself a son-in-law, to contract affinity. Cambridge notes the word "occurs once only in the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy 7:3," the very verse Ezra has just paraphrased. BSB's "intermarry" is accurate and flat; the Hebrew form makes Israel the agent of her own entanglement.
עַד־כַּלֵּ֔ה עַד־כַּלֵּ֔ה (‘aḏ-kal·lêh, H3615 kâlâh, Piel infinitive) is literally "unto finishing," and Cambridge is exact about the idiom: "It means up to the point of extinction," comparing 2 Kings 13:17 and 19. BSB's "as to wipe us out" supplies an object the Hebrew leaves as pure terminus.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

This must not be softened down as if it were ‘thou art gracious’. The words are an acknowledgement of the perfect justice

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Ezra appeals to the righteousness of God, not to supplicate pardon, as Nehemiah 9:33 , for the righteousness of God would impel Him to extirpate the sinful nation, but to rouse the conscience of the community, to point out to them what, after this relapse into their old abominations, they had to expect from the justice of God.

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

We are here in thy presence, and so are all our sins; we are arraigning ourselves before thy tribunal, acknowledging thee to be just if thou destroy us.

source ↗

Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

But though the true penitent has nothing to plead in his own behalf, the heavenly Advocate pleads most powerfully for him.

Henry's entry in this brief is one block repeated across all eleven verses rather than a comment on 9:15; it is quoted once, here, because this is where its closing sentence answers the text.

source ↗

O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê yiś·rā·’êl ’at·tāh ṣad·dîq kî- niš·’ar·nū haz·zeh kə·hay·yō·wm p̄ə·lê·ṭāh hin·nū lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā bə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nū kî ‘al- zōṯ ’ên la·‘ă·mō·wḏ lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā

Word by word19 · parsed

יְהוָ֞הYah·wehO LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

The covenant name, now without the possessive that opened the prayer at 9:5. Cambridge tracks the movement: "The prayer had begun O my God. It ends, O Lord the God of Israel. The thought of his nation overmastered the supplicant."

אֱלֹהֵ֤י’ĕ·lō·hêGodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct

יִשְׂרָאֵל֙yiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounproperfeminine singular

אַ֔תָּה’at·tāhYouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine singular

צַדִּ֣יקṣad·dîqare righteousH6662

√ tsaddîyq — justAdjectivemasculine singular

tsaddîyq: just, righteous Cambridge glosses the term as God's conformity to "the fixed and unalterable rule of truth and goodness," and points to the parallel at Nehemiah 9:33. K&D explains the rhetorical strategy: Ezra appeals to justice rather than mercy "to rouse the conscience of the community, to point out to them what, after this relapse into their old abominations, they had to expect from the justice of God." The minority reading, that the word can bear the sense "merciful," is recorded by Poole, Benson, Barnes and Pulpit and is not dismissed here.

כִּֽי־kî-ForH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

נִשְׁאַ֥רְנוּniš·’ar·nūwe remainH7604

√ shâʼar — properly, to swell up, iVerbNifalPerfectfirst person common plural

shâʼar: to remain, be left over Niphal perfect, first plural. The same root that at 9:8 was Hifil, God's act of leaving a remnant. Here it is what has happened to them, not what they have done. Geneva's marginal note holds both sides at once: God is "just in punishing his people, and yet merciful in preserving a residue in whom he shows favour."

הַזֶּ֑הhaz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

כְּהַיּ֣וֹםkə·hay·yō·wmdayH3117

פְלֵיטָ֖הp̄ə·lê·ṭāhas a remnantH6413

√ pᵉlêyṭâh — deliveranceNounfeminine singular

pᵉlêyṭâh: deliverance, escaped remnant The fourth and last occurrence. Gill states what the word does not prove: that they remained escaped "was not owing to any deserts of theirs, but to the grace and mercy of God, who had not stirred up all his wrath, as their sins deserved."

הִנְנ֤וּhin·nūHere we [are]H2005

√ hên — lo!Interjectionfirst person common plural

לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵābefore YouH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בְּאַשְׁמָתֵ֔ינוּbə·’aš·mā·ṯê·nūin our guiltH819

√ ʼashmâh — guiltiness, a fault, the presentation of asin-offeringPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

ʼashmâh: guiltiness The fifth occurrence in eleven verses, and the last word Ezra applies to his people. Cambridge: "Fresh guilt has been added to the old. There is nothing to plead in extenuation." The prayer began with guilt reaching to heaven and ends with guilt worn into God's presence.

כִּ֣יkîthoughH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

עַל־‘al-becauseH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

זֹֽאת׃פzōṯof itH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

אֵ֥ין’ênno oneH369

√ ʼayin — a non-entityAdverb

לַעֲמ֛וֹדla·‘ă·mō·wḏcan standH5975

√ ʻâmad — to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

ʻâmad: to stand Qal infinitive with the preposition l, under the particle of non-existence. Cambridge assembles the canonical company of the thought: Psalm 76:7, Psalm 130:3, Nahum 1:6, and adds that "The Spirit alone gives the power to stand before God and to hear His word," citing Ezekiel 2:1. Poole reaches for Psalm 130:3 at the same point. Note that this is the same root whose Hifil at 9:9 describes God causing the ruins of His house to stand: God raises what cannot raise itself, which is the unanswered question the prayer closes on.

לְפָנֶ֖יךָlə·p̄ā·ne·ḵābefore YouH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural constructsecond person masculine singular

pânîym: the face The third and final appearance of the face in this prayer: Ezra could not lift his face (9:6), the nation bore shame of face (9:7), and now no one can stand before the face of God. The Hebrew noun ties all three together where the English does not.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

YHWH God-of-Israel, righteous [art] Thou; for we-remain an-escaped-remnant as-the-day the-this. Behold-us before-Thee in-our-guilt, for there-is-no standing before-Thee because-of this.

Where the English smooths the original

צַדִּ֣יק צַדִּ֣יק (ṣad·dîq, H6662) is "just, righteous," and the sources divide over whether it may here mean "merciful." Poole and Benson both record the softer sense as well attested; Barnes and Pulpit note both. Cambridge refuses it: "This must not be softened down as if it were thou art gracious. The words are an acknowledgement of the perfect justice of God's dealings with Israel in the past." The Hebrew adjective alone does not settle it; the argument of the verse does.
נִשְׁאַ֥רְנוּ נִשְׁאַ֥רְנוּ (niš·’ar·nū, H7604 shâʼar, Niphal) is "we are left over," passive. Cambridge reads the clause against the grain of the obvious: it "is not uttered in gratitude for the mercy which spared a remnant, but is added to express the greatness of the catastrophe, which had carried off the whole nation except a remnant." On that reading the sentence is evidence for God's justice, not for His kindness.
הִנְנ֤וּ לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ הִנְנ֤וּ (hin·nū, H2005) is the presentative interjection with a first plural suffix: "behold us." With לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ the posture is judicial, and Cambridge names it: "arraigned as it were before thy judgement seat." BSB's "Here we are before You" is literal and loses the formality; there is no verb in the clause at all, only a presentation.
אֵ֥ין לַעֲמ֛וֹד אֵ֥ין לַעֲמ֛וֹד is impersonal: "there is no standing," not "we cannot stand." Cambridge insists on the Revised Version's "for none can stand before thee because of this," and gives the reason: "None, for all Israelites, innocent as well as guilty, are bound up together in that responsibility for the nation's guilt." BSB's "no one can stand" preserves this; the older "we cannot stand" narrows it wrongly.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The hour chosen, the knee bent, the palm opened — 9:5

Ezra does not pray when the news reaches him. Ellicott records the interval: "Until the afternoon Ezra had sat silent and in grief before the Temple, and in presence of the people. Then, amidst the solemnities of the sacrifice, he uttered the prayer which he had been meditating." Benson gives the reason he waited for that hour: the courts filled at the evening offering, so that the people would hear, and beyond that "he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type." The Hebrew of the verse is a sequence of downward and open motions built on three roots. קַ֚מְתִּי (qûwm) lifts him from מִתַּֽעֲנִיתִ֔י, a noun Cambridge notes "occurs only here in the O.T.", so that the posture he rises from cannot be defined from any other verse. וָֽאֶכְרְעָה֙ (kâraʻ, H3766) is not a collapse but the specific bending of the knee, and the knee itself follows as the next word. כַפַּ֖י (kaph) names the hollow of the palm, and Cambridge reads the gesture exactly: it "expressed the desire to receive and to embrace the Divine gift, the hands open and the palms turned upwards as if to accept." K&D and Cambridge disagree, and the brief lets them, over whether the garments are rent a second time here or displayed already rent; K&D says Ezra "rent his clothing, and therefore again manifested his sorrow in this manner," while Cambridge insists "There is no need to render as the A.V. and most commentators, as if Ezra for a second time rent his clothes." ⚙ What neither disputes is the effect Cambridge names: standing torn before the assembly, Ezra "by a mute appeal united them with him in his act of prayer."

ii. Guilt above the head, guilt up to heaven — 9:6 to 9:7

The confession opens with two verbs, not one. בֹּ֣שְׁתִּי (bûwsh, H954, a root meaning properly to pale) and וְנִכְלַ֔מְתִּי (kâlam, H3637, a root meaning properly to wound), and K&D states the relation between them: to be covered with shame "is stronger than bôsh." Cambridge shows that the pair is itself a quotation of prophetic idiom, standing together at Jeremiah 31:19 and behind Ezekiel 36:32, and that Ezra is thereby the exact inverse of the generation who "were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush" (Jeremiah 6:15). Henry supplies the pastoral verdict: "Holy shame is as necessary in true repentance as holy sorrow." Then the metaphors stack. רָבוּ֙ (râbâh) is a counting verb, and לְמַ֣עְלָה turns the count into a flood line; Cambridge traces the image to the waters of Genesis 7 and to Psalm 38:4, and Benson makes it personal: "like deep waters, in which we are, as it were, drowned, and ready to perish." The second image goes the other way, upward: אַשְׁמָה grows to the heavens, which Cambridge reads either as hyperbole of magnitude, like Babel's tower, or as guilt forcing itself on God's notice like the cry of Sodom. Verse 7 then translates the metaphors into history. Ellicott notes that the doubled "this day" frames the verse deliberately, "in the former place in reference to the sin; in the latter in reference to the punishment," and Cambridge itemises the four penalties as "Life, freedom, property, honour." ⚙ The verb at the centre of that list, נִתַּ֡נּוּ (nâthan, Niphal), is worth dwelling on: it is the passive of the ordinary verb to give, the same root that in the next two verses gives Israel a peg, a hedge and a life. The nation was given away before it was given anything.

iii. A peg, a hedge, a little life — 9:8 to 9:9

The mercy section is built on rare and disputed words. תְחִנָּ֜ה is the first: Cambridge documents that this noun is "practically always elsewhere in the O.T. rendered supplication," so that Ezra names God's favour with the word normally reserved for the cry that asks for it. פְּלֵיטָ֔ה is the second, and Barnes corrects the English: "Rather, a remnant that has escaped." K&D attaches the prophetic hope to it, "a remnant which, according to the predictions of the prophets, was again to grow into a large nation." The third, יָתֵ֖ד, divides the sources, and the division is instructive rather than embarrassing. Ellicott: "The Temple was itself the sure nail on which all their hopes hung." K&D agrees. Cambridge flatly refuses both common identifications: "The nail here is neither the Temple, as some have supposed, nor the princes and priests, but the community returned from Babylon established at Jerusalem." Barnes and Benson take the image from tent life rather than from Isaiah 22:23 at all. ⚙ What survives every reading is Cambridge's qualification, which is the theological point: "Its power to do so, however strong the nail may be itself, depends upon the firmness of that into which it is driven." Verse 9 then says who drove it. Israel is still, in a verbless Hebrew clause that Barnes and Cambridge both insist be read as present, עֲבָדִ֣ים, slaves. The mercy came through the Persian chancery: Cambridge notes that "God, by the kings of Persia, gave the reviving," and K&D that Cyrus and Darius "had also furnished them with considerable assistance." Poole, Gill and Pulpit all hear Ezekiel 37 in מִֽחְיָ֥ה: Poole, "to recover us from the grave of dreadful calamities, in which we lay like dead men and dry bones." And the protection is a גָדֵ֔ר, which Cambridge identifies as the vineyard fence of Isaiah 5:5 and Psalm 80:12, the very hedge God once broke down.

iv. The hinge: He did not forsake, we forsook — 9:9 to 9:10

⚙ The seam between the two halves of the prayer is one Hebrew verb used twice. At 9:9, עֲזָבָ֖נוּ under a negative: our God has not ʻâzab us. At 9:10, עָזַ֖בְנוּ without one: we have ʻâzab Thy commandments. Same root H5800, whose lexical sense is to loosen a grip. This is not an English coincidence but a lexical identity, and it is the architecture of the confession: the covenant is held from two sides, and one side let go. The question that stands between them, מַה־נֹּאמַ֥ר, is genuinely interrogative; K&D notes that the answer begins with kî and that the verb "we can say" must be supplied, so the sense is that the only available speech is the confession itself: "we can only say that we have forsaken Thy commandments, requited Thy kindness with sins." Benson turns it into a courtroom plea entered against oneself: "What apology can we make for ourselves, after thou hast conferred such great and high favours upon us, and we have so grossly abused them?" Cambridge alone dissents about what "after this" points back to, arguing that Ezra "breaks abruptly off" and means after this fresh violation, not after this mercy. Both readings leave the verb doing the same work.

v. A command quoted from nowhere in particular — 9:11 to 9:12

The most textually honest passage in the unit is the one where the commentators admit they cannot find the quotation. Barnes: the words "are not quoted from any previous book of Scripture, but merely give the general sense of numerous passages." Cambridge: "There is no passage in the prophets resembling the words here given." Pulpit: "These exact words do not occur elsewhere." K&D concurs that they are "not, therefore, to be regarded as a verbal quotation, but only as a declaration that the prohibition of intermarriage with the heathen had been inculcated by the prophets," and argues that Moses in Deuteronomy speaks in a prophetic character so that the general attribution stands. Ellicott generalises the practice: in the later Scriptures the quotation of the earlier "is often of this character, giving the substance of many passages. The same style is observable in the New Testament." The actual sources are traceable in pieces: Deuteronomy 7:3 for the double marriage prohibition, which Ellicott and Pulpit both note is the only place in the Law forbidding both the giving of daughters and the taking of them; Deuteronomy 23:6 for "nor seek their peace," which Cambridge observes Ezra applies clean outside its original reference to Ammon and Moab; Deuteronomy 11:8 for "that ye may be strong"; Isaiah 1:19 for eating the good of the land. ⚙ The vocabulary of defilement in v. 11 is heavier than English carries: נִדָּה֙ twice, the term of menstrual separation, which Cambridge calls "a strong word to denote anything that would convey defilement"; תּוֹעֵבָה, from a root meaning properly something morally disgusting; טֻמְאָה, religious impurity; and the land filled with it מִפֶּ֥ה אֶל־פֶּ֖ה, mouth to mouth, which Cambridge suspects is the image of a vessel filled to the brim.

vi. The question that is not asked for an answer — 9:13 to 9:15

The close is a single long argument in three moves, and K&D maps it: 9:13 is the premiss with a parenthesis, 9:14 the conclusion in the form of a question, 9:15 the surrender. חָשַׂ֤כְתָּֽ (châsak, to restrain) is admitted by Cambridge to be difficult: "The words in the original are difficult. Literally, hast kept back, downward, from our sins." K&D supplies the missing object from context, "Thou hast withheld that, all of which should have come upon us, i.e., the punishment we deserved." Gill puts the same thought in proportion: "they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was temporal punishment that was inflicted." Then v. 14 asks whether Israel will הֲנָשׁוּב֙, return, to לְהָפֵ֣ר, a Hifil that Cambridge notes is the standing verb for annulling a covenant (Genesis 17:14, Isaiah 24:5, Jeremiah 31:32). Cambridge states the grammar of the second question bluntly: "The question expects the answer yes." Poole hears it as self-arraignment: "can we reasonably expect any thing from thee less than utter ruin?" And so 9:15 does not ask for pardon. Cambridge will not let צַדִּ֣יק be softened: "This must not be softened down as if it were thou art gracious. The words are an acknowledgement of the perfect justice of God's dealings with Israel in the past." K&D says why Ezra appeals to justice rather than mercy: "not to supplicate pardon, as Nehemiah 9:33, for the righteousness of God would impel Him to extirpate the sinful nation, but to rouse the conscience of the community." Poole and Benson record the minority reading that tsaddîq can carry the sense "merciful", and Barnes and Pulpit note it as a live option; the brief holds all of it. The prayer ends with no request in it at all, only אֵ֥ין לַעֲמ֛וֹד, there is no standing, which Cambridge renders impersonally, "none can stand before thee."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the text. Read the prayer by its verbs and it turns out to be built on four roots used twice each, in opposite directions. nâthan (H5414): Israel is given away to foreign kings (9:7), then given a peg, a life and a hedge (9:8, 9:9), then forbidden to give her daughters away (9:12). rûwm (H7311): Ezra cannot raise his own face (9:6), while God through him raises the house (9:9). ʻâmad (H5975): God makes the ruins stand (9:9), and no one can stand before God (9:15). And at the hinge, ʻâzab (H5800): He has not forsaken us (9:9), we have forsaken Thy commandments (9:10). Every one of these pairings is verifiable from the parse data in the brief, and together they say something the English cannot: the covenant is not a contract between parties of comparable standing but a grip held from two sides, of which only one has ever loosened. Which is why the prayer ends where it does. Ezra asks for nothing. There is no petition in verse 15, no plea for mercy, not even a request for time, and K&D is right that this is deliberate rather than despairing: he "does not pray for the pardon of their sin, for he desires only to bring the congregation to the knowledge of the greatness of their transgression." ⚙ The tool's own suspicion, and it is a suspicion rather than a claim, is that Ezra stops short because the thing he needs does not yet exist in a form he can name. He has a peg, and Cambridge has already warned that a peg is only as strong as what it is driven into. He has a hedge, and the hedge is a Persian decree. He has a remnant, and by verse 14 the remnant is precisely what is at risk. He has a sacrifice burning behind him at the very hour he prays, and it must be offered again tomorrow evening. What he does not have is a standing. So he says there is none: ʼên laʻămôd lᵉpânêkā. The honest form of a prayer with nothing to plead is a prayer that ends in the accusative and waits.

Not a verse: this line is the tool's own fallible summary, offered to be tested. The prayer ends without a petition because the only thing that could be asked for had not yet been given a name.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same rare word for servitude, in the other great confession of the returned community verbal / quotation: confirmed

Ezra uses עַבְדוּת (ʻabdûwth, H5659) twice in two verses, at 9:8 and 9:9, to name a bondage that has not ended with the return. The noun is close to unique: the Verifier records it in only three verses of the Hebrew Bible, and the third is Nehemiah 9:17, which falls inside the Levites' confession that Cambridge, commenting on this unit, directs the reader to set beside Ezra's prayer. What the Verifier supplies is the shared lexeme, not the content of that verse, and no claim is made here about what Nehemiah 9:17 says. The Verifier's computed basis for the pair also records ʻâzab (H5800), the forsaking verb that hinges Ezra 9:9 to 9:10, and chêçêd (H2617), the covenant kindness God extends through the Persian kings. ⚙ Three shared lexemes, one of them effectively unique, in the two set-piece national confessions of the same restored community. Cambridge independently directs the reader to compare Ezra's prayer with the Levites' prayer of Nehemiah 9. This is a verbal link at the level of lexeme, not a quotation of one text by the other, and it is recorded here as such.

Nehemiah 9:17

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5659 ʻabdûwth (in only 3 vv in the whole Hebrew Bible, a genuinely rare word), H5800 ʻâzab (in 206 vv), H2617 chêçêd (in 241 vv). The rarity of H5659 carries the tier; no claim is made that either passage cites the other.

Preservation of life: the eight verses that share michyâh verbal / quotation: confirmed

The word Ezra uses for what God has given the returned community, מִֽחְיָ֥ה (michyâh, H4241, preservation of life), stands in only eight verses of the Hebrew Bible, and the Verifier surfaces its occurrences as the strongest lexical links out of this unit. Three of them are computed as candidates here: Genesis 45:5, Judges 6:4 and 2 Chronicles 14:13. The last of these is independently corroborated inside the brief, since K&D, glossing this very word as "the means of supporting life, restoration to life," refers the reader to 2 Chronicles 14:13. The Verifier supplies the shared lexeme and not the content of those verses, and nothing is asserted here about what they say. ⚙ What can be said from this unit alone is that Ezra's usage holds two things together: a preservation of life granted, and qualified in the same clause by mᵉʻaṭ, a little. K&D reads it through Ezekiel 37 as a revival from death that has not yet become vigour, adding that "they were, however, still in a state of vassalage, and had not yet regained their independence." The links are verbal at the level of a rare lexeme and are recorded as nothing more than that; a reader who wants the sense of the partner passages should check them, since this unit's brief does not supply their text.

Genesis 45:5 · Judges 6:4 · 2 Chronicles 14:13

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H4241 michyâh (in only 8 vv), computed for Genesis 45:5 (0.25), Judges 6:4 (0.27) and 2 Chronicles 14:13 (0.25). A rare shared lexeme, not a quotation; the typological reading layered on it is synthesis.

ʼashmâh: the state of guilt that requires an offering structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge insists on the precision of the noun Ezra uses five times in this prayer (9:6, 9:7, 9:13, 9:15, and again at Ezra 10:10 and 10:19): אַשְׁמָה (ʼashmâh, H819) is not the maʻal of Ezra 9:1 but "the state of guilt resulting from sin." The Verifier computes the same lexeme shared with Leviticus 4:3, where an anointed priest's sin brings ʼashmâh upon the people; with 2 Chronicles 28:13, which Cambridge quotes as "that which will bring upon us a trespass (marg. guilt, Hebr. ashmah) against the Lord"; with 2 Chronicles 24:18 and 33:23; with Amos 8:14, which Cambridge renders "Swear by the sin (ashmah) of Samaria"; and with Ezra 10:10 and 10:19, the immediate sequel to this prayer in the same book. ⚙ The lexeme is moderately rare, standing in seventeen verses, and the shared vocabulary is real. But nothing here is a quotation, and the passages belong to a single cultic vocabulary rather than to a chain of citation, so the tier is deliberately set below verbal.

Leviticus 4:3 · 2 Chronicles 28:13 · Ezra 10:10 · Amos 8:14

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H819 ʼashmâh (in 17 vv) computed for Leviticus 4:3 (0.24), 2 Chronicles 28:13 (0.24), Ezra 10:10 (0.24), Ezra 10:19 (0.24) and Amos 8:14 (0.24). A real verbal link within one cultic vocabulary; downgraded from verbal because no passage cites another.

A command quoted from no locatable prophet flagged: verify source

Ezra 9:11 to 9:12 introduces a long quotation with "which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying," and the sources in this brief unanimously report that the quotation cannot be found. Barnes: the words "are not quoted from any previous book of Scripture." Cambridge: "There is no passage in the prophets resembling the words here given." Pulpit: "These exact words do not occur elsewhere." K&D: "not, therefore, to be regarded as a verbal quotation." The traceable components are Deuteronomy 7:3 for the marriage prohibition, which Ellicott and Pulpit both note is the sole passage in the Law forbidding both directions of intermarriage, and Deuteronomy 23:6 for "nor seek their peace," which Cambridge observes Ezra applies outside its original reference to Ammon and Moab. ⚙ The provenance is genuinely contested and the commentators offer competing explanations: K&D argues Moses in Deuteronomy speaks in a prophetic character, Cambridge argues that a body of prophetic teaching has simply not come down to us, Ellicott argues that late Scripture habitually cites earlier Scripture by substance. This thread is flagged rather than confirmed precisely because the brief's own sources cannot locate the source.

Deuteronomy 7:3 · Deuteronomy 23:6 · Deuteronomy 11:8 · Isaiah 1:19

basis: Provenance contested in the brief itself: Barnes, Cambridge, Pulpit and K&D all state the quoted words occur nowhere in the prophets or the Pentateuch in this form. Deuteronomy 7:3, 23:6, 11:8 and Isaiah 1:19 are the components the commentators identify; no Verifier lexeme basis was computed for these pairs.

The eyes that will not rise, in a parable of the Second Temple courts structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge, commenting on "to lift up my face to thee" at Ezra 9:6, sends the reader straight to Luke 18:13: "The consciousness of sin will not permit the humble supplicant to lift up so much as his eyes to heaven." The figure in that parable, as Cambridge cites him, will not lift his eyes, which is the same refusal Ezra makes with the same body part in the same temple precincts; and Henry, commenting on this unit, reaches independently for that parable's own petition: "Say, God be merciful to me sinner." ⚙ The link is real and is recorded by a named source, but it cannot be tiered verbal: the Greek of Luke and the Hebrew of Ezra share no Strong's numbers, and nothing in either text claims citation. What they share is a posture and a theology of approach, the refusal to lift the face being in both cases the very thing that makes the prayer acceptable.

Luke 18:13 · Psalm 38:4

basis: Cross-Testament, Greek to Hebrew, so shared Strong's numbers are impossible by construction and no verbal tier is available. Recorded basis: Cambridge cites Luke 18:13 directly on Ezra 9:6, and Henry alludes to the same parable across this unit; Cambridge and Poole both cite Psalm 38:4 for the flood image in the same verse.

Daniel's confession and Ezra's, built to the same plan structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge sets out the correspondence in detail, arguing that Ezra's prayer "should be compared with the prayer of the Levites (Nehemiah 9:6 to 38), and more especially with the prayer of Daniel (Daniel 9:4 to 19)," and then matches them step by step: general confession (Ezra 9:6 with Daniel 9:4 to 6), the sins of former time (Ezra 9:7 with Daniel 9:7 to 8), God's mercy (Ezra 9:7 to 8 with Daniel 9:9), Israel's sin against the warning (Ezra 9:10 to 12 with Daniel 9:10 to 14), the final appeal (Ezra 9:13 to 15 with Daniel 9:15 to 19). K&D and Cambridge both note the shared idiom "confusion of face, as it is this day" at Daniel 9:7. Cambridge draws the further structural point that in both prayers "the personality of the speaker is merged in that of the nation," and sets Moses at Exodus 32:32 and Paul at Romans 9:3 in the same company. ⚙ The Verifier did not compute this pair, so the basis recorded here is a commentator's structural analysis rather than a machine-verified lexeme overlap, and the tier reflects that.

Daniel 9:4-19 · Nehemiah 9:32-33 · Exodus 32:32

basis: No Verifier lexeme basis was computed for this pair; the recorded basis is Cambridge's clause-by-clause structural mapping of Ezra 9:6-15 onto Daniel 9:4-19, with K&D and Cambridge both citing Daniel 9:7 for the shared phrase 'confusion of face, as it is this day'. Claimed as pattern, not as quotation.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The hour of the evening sacrifice ancient/widely-held

Both Benson and Henry, independently and without prompting from the Hebrew, read the timing of this prayer christologically. Benson on 9:5: Ezra prayed at that hour because "he had an eye to that great propitiation, of which that sacrifice was a peculiar type." Henry, across the whole unit: "The sacrifice, especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the blessed Lamb of God, who in the evening of the world, was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself." ⚙ The structural observation that supports them is in the text itself: Ezra's confession contains no petition and no proposed remedy, and yet it is offered from inside a rite of atonement that is burning while he speaks. The prayer's emptiness of plea and the altar's fullness of provision are set in the same hour by the narrator's own first clause. This is an ancient and widely-held reading, recorded here in the words of the two commentators in the brief who state it.

Ezra 9:5 · Hebrews 9:26 · John 1:29

No one can stand: the missing advocate ancient/widely-held

The prayer ends with an impersonal construction that Cambridge renders "none can stand before thee because of this," and K&D explains that Ezra appeals to God's righteousness "not to supplicate pardon, as Nehemiah 9:33, for the righteousness of God would impel Him to extirpate the sinful nation." Poole reaches for Psalm 130:3 at exactly this point, and Cambridge for Psalm 76:7 and Nahum 1:6. There is no answer inside Ezra 9. Henry supplies the one the Christian tradition has always supplied, and states it as the unit's conclusion: "though the true penitent has nothing to plead in his own behalf, the heavenly Advocate pleads most powerfully for him." ⚙ The synthesis point is grammatical as much as theological. The verb Ezra denies to Israel here, ʻâmad (H5975), is the same verb whose Hifil at 9:9 describes God making the ruins of His house stand. God is already demonstrated in this prayer to be the one who causes standing where there was none. Ezra simply does not yet have a name for that action applied to persons.

1 John 2:1 · Psalm 130:3 · Romans 5:2

The peg, and what it is driven into novel

⚙ This reading is marked novel and is offered to be tested rather than relied on. Cambridge's warning about יָתֵ֖ד at 9:8 is the sharpest sentence in the brief: "Its power to do so, however strong the nail may be itself, depends upon the firmness of that into which it is driven." Cambridge, K&D, Geneva and Barnes all connect the image to Isaiah 22:23, where a peg is fastened in a sure place and the whole weight of a father's house is hung on it, and where Isaiah also says the peg will give way and everything hung on it will fall. The commentators in this brief apply the Ezra image variously to the temple (Ellicott, K&D), the returned community (Cambridge), or a prince of their own such as Zerubbabel (Poole, Gill, following Isaiah 22:23), and none of them applies it to Christ at this verse. The extension is the tool's own: that a security which depends entirely on the firmness of what it is driven into is precisely the shape of the problem Ezra's prayer ends on, and that the New Testament's answer is not a stronger peg but a different wall. It is set down here as synthesis, not as the commentators' reading, and not as an established typology.

Isaiah 22:23-25 · Hebrews 3:6

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. Hebrew throughout, eleven verses, Ezra 9:5 to 9:15, with the Berean interlinear parse and Strong's numbering supplying every form cited. Five interlinear entries carry no Strong's number in the brief (the preposition with suffix lānû at 9:8 indices 9 and 12 and at 9:9 indices 14 and 24, and bānû at 9:14 index 9); nothing in these notes depends on them. BSB's English word order at 9:8 and 9:9 rearranges the Hebrew considerably, and the literal renderings above follow the Hebrew sequence given in the interlinear rather than the English.

Disputes preserved, not resolved. Four genuine disagreements among the named sources are recorded rather than adjudicated. (1) At 9:5, whether Ezra rends his garments a second time: K&D yes, Cambridge no. (2) At 9:5, whether taʻănîyth means fasting (Gill, with Michaelis and Jarchi) or general humiliation (Cambridge, with the LXX); the noun is a hapax, so there is no controlling parallel. (3) At 9:8, what the peg is: the temple (Ellicott, K&D), the returned community (Cambridge, explicitly against both alternatives), or a prince such as Zerubbabel (Poole as one option, Gill). (4) At 9:15, whether tsaddîq here means just or merciful: Cambridge insists it "must not be softened down," while Poole and Benson record the merciful sense as well attested, and Barnes and Pulpit note both.

What is uncertain. The provenance of the prophetic quotation at 9:11 to 9:12 is unresolved in the sources themselves and is badged "flagged: verify source" for that reason. Cambridge also admits at 9:13 that "the words in the original are difficult" for châsak lᵉmaṭṭâh mêʻăvônênû, and that the LXX and Vulgate both paraphrase rather than translate it; K&D supplies the missing object of the verb from context, which is a reconstruction, not a reading of the text.

Sources. Voices are anchored excerpts resolved by code from the verbatim public-domain entries in the brief; no quotation above was retyped. Eleven commentators appear in the brief and all eleven are quoted: Ellicott, Benson, Henry, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge, Pulpit, K&D. Henry's and JFB's entries in this brief are single blocks repeated across all eleven verses, so each is quoted once. Four distinct entry texts in the brief are capped, appearing across seven verse slots: Cambridge at 9:8, and K&D's three long entries repeated at 9:8 with 9:9, at 9:11 with 9:12, and at 9:13 with 9:14. No claim above rests on text beyond a cap, and no capped entry was fetched in full because none of them was load-bearing for a reading taken here. K&D's footnote at 9:11, arguing that the loose citation is no evidence against single authorship of the Pentateuch, is apologetic in intent and is flagged in the editorial note attached to that voice rather than used as evidence.

Threads. Two threads are tiered verbal on the strength of genuinely rare shared lexemes computed by the Verifier (H5659 ʻabdûwth, three verses; H4241 michyâh, eight verses); neither is a quotation and both badges say so. The ʼashmâh thread was deliberately downgraded to structural despite a real shared lexeme, because seventeen verses of shared cultic vocabulary do not establish citation. The Luke 18:13 thread is cross-Testament and therefore cannot be tiered verbal under any circumstances. The Daniel 9 thread rests on Cambridge's structural analysis, not on a Verifier computation, and the badge states this.

Synthesis boundaries. Everything marked ⚙ is the tool's own fallible work: the four-root verbal architecture set out in the sola reading, the reading of ʻâzab at 9:9 and 9:10 as the prayer's hinge, the ʻâmad pairing at 9:9 and 9:15, and the peg extension in the third christ entry, which is marked novel because none of the commentators in this brief makes it.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)