Ezra 10 · Verse 3

Ezra 10:3

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
Ezra 10:3, King James Version

Ezra 10:3 in other translations

BSBSo now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.
WEBNow therefore let’s make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and those who are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the law.
ASVNow therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
YLTand now, let us make a covenant with our God, to cause all the women to go out, and that which is born of them, by the counsel of the Lord, and of those trembling at the command of our God, and according to law it is done;
DARBYAnd now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandments of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
BBELet us now make an agreement with our God to put away all the wives and all their children, if it seems right to my lord and to those who go in fear of the words of our God; and let it be done in keeping with the law.
WebsterNow therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

What does Ezra 10:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 10:2-4

2-4. Shechaniah ... answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed--This was one of the leading men, who was not himself a delinquent in the matter, for his name does not occur in the following list. He spoke in the general name of the people, and his conduct evinced a tender conscience, as well as no small fortitude in making such a proposal; for as his father and five paternal uncles (Ezr 10:26) were involved in…

Read the full comment on Ezra 10:2-4 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Let us make a covenant - נכרת ברית nichrath berith, let us cut or divide the covenant sacrifice. See the notes on Gen 15:10.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezra 10:1-5

Shechaniah owned the national guilt. The case is sad, but it is not desperate; the disease threatening, but not incurable. Now that the people begin to lament, a spirit of repentance seems to be poured out; now there is hope that God will forgive, and have mercy. The sin that rightly troubles us, shall not ruin us. In melancholy times we must observe what makes for us, as well as against us. And there may be good…

Read the full comment on Ezra 10:1-5 →

Ezra 10:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעַתָּ֣הve.'a.Tahand thereforeH6258
נִֽכְרָת\־nikh.rot-let us makeH3772
בְּרִ֣יתbe.Rita covenantH1285
לֵ֠אלֹהֵינוּLe.lo.hei.nuto God ourH430
לְהוֹצִ֨יאle.ho.Tzi'to send outH3318
כָל\־khol-allH3605
נָשִׁ֜יםna.ShimwivesH802
וְהַנּוֹלָ֤דve.ha.no.Ladand those bornH3205
מֵהֶם֙me.Hemfrom them
בַּעֲצַ֣תba.'a.Tzatby [the] counsel ofH6098
אֲדֹנָ֔י'a.do.Nai[the] LordH136
וְהַחֲרֵדִ֖יםve.ha.cha.re.Dimand the [people] tremblingH2730
בְּמִצְוַ֣תbe.mitz.Vatat [the] commandment ofH4687
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ'e.lo.Hei.nuGod ourH430
וְכַתּוֹרָ֖הve.kha.to.Rahand according to the lawH8451
יֵעָשֶֽׂה\׃ye.'a.Sehlet it be doneH6213

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezra 10:3

  • Deuteronomy 7:2-3

    And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

  • Ezra 9:4

    Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.

  • Joshua 23:12-13

    Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:12-13

    But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

  • Psalms 119:120

    My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

  • Deuteronomy 29:12

    That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:

  • Nehemiah 9:38

    And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

  • Psalms 119:59

    I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

  • 2 Chronicles 34:21

    Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.

  • Ezra 10:44

    All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

  • Nehemiah 8:14

    And they found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:

  • 2 Chronicles 29:10

    Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
let us make.{Nichrath berith,} "let us cut a covenant:"
De 29:12; Jos 9:6; 2Ki 11:17; 2Ch 29:10; 34:31,32; Ne 9:38
Ne 10:29-39
put away. Heb. bring forth. according to the counsel.
2Ch 30:12
of those that.
9:4; 2Ch 34:21,27; Ps 119:59,120; Isa 66:2; Eze 9:4
at the commandment.
De 7:2,3; Jos 23:12,13
let it.
Ne 8:14; 13:1-3; Isa 8:20Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so clear in, will not hold now: such marriages, it is certain, are contrary to the will of God, and ought not to be made; but they are not null. Our rule under the gospel is {Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet,} "That which ought not to have been done must, when done, abide." See
1Co 7:12,13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezra 10:2

    And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

  • Ezra 10:3

    Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

  • Ezra 10:4

    Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

Read all of Ezra 10

Ezra 10:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Ahora pues hagamos pacto con nuestro Dios, que echaremos todas las mujeres y los nacidos de ellas, según el consejo del Señor, y de los que temen el mandamiento de nuestro Dios: y hágase conforme á la ley.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et maintenant, faisons alliance avec notre Dieu pour renvoyer toutes les femmes et ceux qui sont nés d’elles, selon le conseil de mon seigneur et de ceux qui tremblent aux commandements de notre Dieu, et qu’il soit fait selon la loi.
German
Elberfelder 1871
So laßt uns jetzt einen Bund machen mit unserem Gott, daß wir alle Weiber und die von ihnen geboren sind hinaustun, nach dem Rate meines Herrn und derer, die da zittern vor dem Gebote unseres Gottes; und es soll nach dem Gesetz gehandelt werden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
percutiamus fœdus cum Domino Deo nostro, ut projiciamus universas uxores, et eos qui de his nati sunt, juxta voluntatem Domini, et eorum qui timent præceptum Domini Dei nostri: secundum legem fiat.