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Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, with sackcloth, and dirt on them.
Verse 1. Month; Tizri, the day after they had sent away those women, ( Calmet.) whose company now covered them with confusion. Bible.—They were moved to compunction, by the hearing of the law, read by Esdras. Menochius.
The offspring of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
Verse 2. Stranger; idolatrous women. Bible.—True repentance requires the works of mortification, and particularly the removal of all occasions of sin and disorderly pleasures. Worthington.—The reformation had been commenced under Esdras, but some had relapsed. 1 Ezra 10:3. Calmet.—The true born Israelites would have no society with the sons of infidels. Tirinus.—Fathers, that they might not be punished for them. Exodus 20:5. Calmet.
They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God.
Verse 3. Stand, to hear the law, out of reverence; ( Menochius.) or the Levites ascended the pulpit to read, four times in the day. Tirinus.—After each lecture psalms were sung, ( Calmet.) to praise God, and to declare the sins of the people, and their sincere repentance. Bible.—On days of mourning, the Jews assembled four times to pray, and thrice on other days, by the institution of Esdras. Maimonides. See Acts 3:1.—On their fasts, they refrained from all meat, as well as from work, spending their time in prayer. They began at the first hour, and continued their exercises of devotion till the third, when they recommenced for other three hours. They did the like at the sixth and ninth hours; hearing the law, then prostrating themselves to confess their sins. Afterwards they rose to join with the Levites in praising the Lord. Calmet.
Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani of the Levites stood up on the stairs, and cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God.
Verse 4. Step, erected by Esdras. Calmet. 8:4.—Josue, and so forth These Levites are mentioned again, (verse 5) with some variation. Bani is called Bonni; Sebania, is Hasebnia. Calmet.—Perhaps some of them might be different, as there seems to be no reason for thus changing their names so soon. There are eight persons in both places. Septuagint have, “Jesus and the sons (Bani) of Kadmiel, Sachania, son of Sarabaia, the sons of Chanani, and so forth; (5.) and the Levites, Jesus and Kadmiel said, Arise, and so forth (6.) and Esdras said, Thou,” and so forth Bible.
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting! Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
Verse 5. To eternity. Existing. Sa.—Bless him continually. Menochius.—Let one generation after another praise his holy name. Bible.
You are the LORD, even you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their army, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of heaven worships you.
Verse 6. Of heavens. The highest, ( Calmet.) and most glorious ( Bible.) residence of the Eternal.—Host. Stars ( Calmet.) and angels, ( Menochius.) which are like his guards.—Life, or being. If the Levites had adopted the sentiments of the Persians, that the stars were animated, this does not prove the truth of that opinion, which has nevertheless been maintained by many. Genesis 1:18. Calmet.—The expression is used for preserving, (Psalms 40:3. Menochius.) re-establishing, and so forth Calmet. 4:2. Calmet.
You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham,
Verse 7. The fire of the Chaldees. The city of Ur, in Chaldea, the name of which signifies fire. Or out of the fire of tribulations and temptations, to which he was there exposed. The ancient Rabbins understood this literally, affirming that Abraham was cast into the fire by the idolaters, and brought out by a miracle without any hurt. Challoner.—The Chaldees adored fire, (Saint Jerome q. Hebrew in Gen. xi. 31) and the Persians probably imitated them. Strabo xv.—The emperor Heraclius destroyed their Pyreia. Suidas.—S. Jerom translates Ur of the Chaldees, in all other places. Amama.—Septuagint “the country of,” and so forth Calmet.—It is supposed that he sacred fire preserved in this city, gave name to it, (Ur, “fire,”) as Heliopolis was so called, from the particular worship of “the sun.” Bible.—Abraham, to imply some mystery. Genesis 17. Worthington.—See Isaiah 43:27.
found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his offspring, and have performed your words, for you are righteous.
“You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea,
and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today.
Verse 10. A name, Glorious, ( Menochius.) and to be feared by all. Exodus 14.
You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters.
Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.
“You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a law, by Moses your servant,
Verse 14. Sabbath. Which it seems had not been observed by them before, (Exodus 16:23. Calmet.) at least not with such exactitude. Bible.
and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them.
Verse 15. Hand. Promising with an oath, (Genesis 14:22. Menochius. and 22:16. Calmet.) or displaying thy power. Bible.
“But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments,
and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them.
Verse 17. Their head. Or appointed a leader instead of Moses, (Numbers 14:4. Menochius.) or an idol. Exodus 32:1. Septuagint “they gave a beginning, or a chief to return.” Syr. “their heart returned to their crimes.” Calmet.—Prot. “and tin their rebellion appointed a captain to,” and so forth They turned their back upon the promised land, and set their faces to return into Egypt. Bible.—Sinners are not deprived of free-will. Worthington.
Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies,
Verse 18. Blasphemies. By attributing the perfections of God to a senseless idol. Prot. follow the Septuagint “provocations.” Neatsoth ( Bible.) properly implies words of an insulting nature. Calmet.
yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.
You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.
Verse 20. Spirit. The conducting angel. Menochius.—God enlightened and moved the hearts of the people, by his grace; which he gave in abundance to Moses. Calmet.
“Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.
Verse 21. Worn. So as to be sore, ( Bible.) or without shoes. Menochius. See Deuteronomy 8:4. Calmet.—Prot. “their feet swelled not.”
Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
Verse 22. Lots. Hebrew “them (the Chanaanites, or as it is more commonly understood, the Israelites,) into corners.” Calmet.—Septuagint “by lot they possessed,” and so forth Bible.—Sehon was king of Hesebon. Numbers 21:26. Calmet.
You also multiplied their children as the stars of the sky, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers that they should go in to possess it.
“So the children went in and possessed the land; and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased.
Verse 24. Land. From which most of their fathers were excluded by death.
They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
Verse 25. Goodness. Prosperity was their ruin, ( Bible.) as Moses had foretold. Deuteronomy 32:15. Calmet.—“Empire is easily retained by the same arts by which it was procured: but when idleness takes the place of industry, when lust and pride banish continence and equity, fortune is changed with manners.” Sallust, Grot.
“Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies.
Verse 26. Earnestly. Lit. “called to witness” ( Bible.) themselves, (Joshua 24:21) or heaven and earth. Deuteronomy 4:26 and 30:19. Calmet.—Blasphemies. See verse 18. Menochius.
Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them. In the time of their trouble, when they cried to you, you heard from heaven; and according to your manifold mercies you gave them saviors who saved them out of the hands of their adversaries.
Verse 27. Saviours. Josue, ( Calmet.) and more particularly the judges, ( Menochius.) David, and so forth Calmet.
But after they had rest, they did evil again before you; therefore you left them in the hands of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried to you, you heard from heaven; and many times you delivered them according to your mercies,
Verse 28. Rest from their enemies. Bible.—The interval between their relapses was very short. Calmet.
and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
Verse 29. Shoulder. Slipping from under the burden of the law. Bible.—It seems this and the following verses chiefly regard the ten tribes, which proudly rebelled against Juda, ( Calmet.) and against the Lord. Bible.
Yet many years you put up with them, and testified against them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not listen. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
Verse 30. Years, 254; during which time God had not ceased to recall his people to a sense of their duty, but all in vain.
“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
Verse 32. Labour. Receive it in satisfaction. Calmet.—Hebrew “let not all the trouble seem little before thee;” as if it were not enough to appease thy anger, when borne with proper dispositions and faith. Bible.—Assur. Theglathphalassar, who led some of the tribes into captivity, as Salmanasar did the rest. During this period, the whole nation was involved in misery, ( Calmet.) from which they had not been liberated even when the author wrote, verse 36. Bible. 1 Chronicles 5:26. Menochius.
However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.
Verse 33. Truth, fulfilled thy promises. We have broken the covenant.
Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them.
For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them. They didn’t turn from their wicked works.
“Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in it.
Verse 36. In it. Tributary to Persia. Calmet. 5:4 and 1 Ezra 7:24 and 9:9. Calmet.
It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
Verse 37. Tribulation. As we cannot enjoy the fruits, being so heavily taxed, and obliged to work in person for the king of a foreign country. Calmet.
Yet for all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests, seal it.”
Verse 38. Because. Or “considering all these things,” as chastisements due to our transgressions, we are resolved now to reform our conduct, ( Bible.) and to comply more exactly with the covenant, which we will now solemnly renew. A copy was probably deposited in the temple, signed by the princes, ( Calmet.) in the name of all. Bible.—Malachy (1:4) seems to allude to this covenant. Calmet.