Ezra 6:21

Ezr 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

Ver. 21. And the children of Israel] The whole community, of what tribe soever.

And all such as had separated themselves] Who were the better to like, because not prosperity proselytes, such as came in (not a few) in Solomon’s time; but the Jews were very careful how they received them, as Josephus relateth.

From the filthiness of the heathen] Who had filled the land from one end to the other with their uncleannesses, Ezr 9:11. Great sins do greatly pollute.

To seek the Lord God of Israel] To seek not his omnipresence (for that none need to do, since he is not far from any one of us, Act 17:27), but his gracious presence. And such a seeker is every good soul: Psa 24:6, This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, that is, Jacob.

Did eat] Edebant, id est, credebant, They were eating, it is, they were believing, for even Christ their passover was sacrificed for them, 1Co 5:7.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr_6:21

To seek the Lord God of Israel

Seeking God

Birds are very fond of catching the last evening rays of a winters sun, and are often to be found in the afternoon on banks facing the west, or swinging, if there is no wind, on the topmost branch of trees.

On the mountains, too, all birds, as the sun gets low, take to the slopes to face the west, whilst in the morning they betake themselves to the eastern hanks and slopes to meet his rays. Golden plovers, in the evenings, ascend from elope to slope, as each becomes shaded by the intervening heights, until they are all collected on the very last ridge which the sun shines upon. Gods children resemble birds in seeking light, only the light they seek is the light of goodness, and truth, and righteousness which comes from God. They seek the Source of Light, and turn away from the darkness. (S. S. Chronicle.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 6:21. All such as had separated themselves unto them, &c. — Had left their country, and the superstitions and vices of it; had become proselytes to the Jewish religion, and cast in their lot with the Israel of God, professing an entire subjection to the law of Moses. Such, and only such, might eat of the passover, Exo 12:48-49. From the manner in which the sacred writer expresses himself here, it would seem as if there were many proselytes, who forsook their heathenish customs, and were brought to the knowledge and worship of the true God, influenced, probably, by the encouragement which Cyrus and Darius had given to the Jewish religion. People of all nations, it must be observed, till proselyted, were accounted by the Jews polluted both in body and mind, because of their worshipping false gods, and not abstaining from the things which were accounted unclean by the law of Moses. The description here given of proselytes to Judaism may serve to characterize converts to the true religion in every age: they separate themselves from the filthiness of sin, and fellowship with sinners; join themselves to the Israel of God in conformity and communion, and set themselves to seek the God of Israel: and those that do so in sincerity, though strangers and foreigners, are welcome to eat of the gospel-feast, as fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:21 and by the others in the land who had turned from their immoral customs: The exclusion of foreigners in 4:1-5 was due to their pagan religious practices, not their ethnicity (see also 9:1-2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which were of the heathen, and forsaked their idolatry to worship the true God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

AND OF THE PASSOVER. (Ezr 6:19-22)

all such as had separated themselves . . . from the filthiness of the heathen of the land--that is, who had given satisfactory evidence of being true proselytes by not only renouncing the impure worship of idolatry, but by undergoing the rite of circumcision, a condition indispensable to a participation of the passover.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. And all such as had separated themselves] These were the proselytes who had embraced the Jewish religion by having mingled with the Jews in their captivity. This proves that there the poor captives had so acted according to the principles of their religion, that the heathens saw it, and walked in the light of the Lord with them. A good example is very persuasive; and particularly so when founded on pure principles.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) Separated themselves . . .—Not proselytes from the heathen are intended, but the remnant of the Jews in the land who had consorted with the foreign populations introduced by the conquerors. Their intermarriages and other acts of conformity are constantly referred to throughout Ezra and Nehemiah.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Those who partook of the Passover are described as belonging to two classes; (1) those who had returned from captivity, (2) those who had ‘separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land’.

“The heathen of the land” (goyyê ha-ârec̣) is to be compared with “the peoples of the land” (’amme ha-ârec̣) in chap. Ezr_10:2; Ezr_10:11. “The land” is the land of Palestine: “the heathen” and “the peoples” are apparently the colonists and mixed population that had settled in the territory of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. ‘The filthiness’ (cf. Ezr_9:11) is the ceremonial pollution of idolatry practised by these heathen races.

Who then are those described here as having ‘separated themselves’?

(a) By very many they are considered to be proselytes from the heathen who had attached themselves to the Jewish religion since the return from the Captivity.

(b) But it appears most probable that they are Israelites.

(1) Israelites are described in Ezr_9:1 as not having “separated themselves from the peoples of the lands”. (2) Ezra exhorts the Jews to “separate themselves from the peoples of the lands” (Ezr_10:11). If those who had not ‘separated’ themselves were Israelites, it is probable that these who had separated themselves were also Israelites; and if so, they would be those Israelites who had not been carried into captivity, but had continued to dwell in Palestine or among the adjoining races.

The two classes mentioned therefore are both Israelite; the one, those who had returned from Babylon; the other, those who having remained behind and having mixed with “the heathen of the land” now separated themselves and attached themselves once more to their countrymen.

to seek the Lord God of Israel] R.V. to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. See on chap. Ezr_1:3. To seek, i.e. with a view to worship: cf. on Ezr_4:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To them, becoming proselytes, and receiving circumcision, Exodus xii. 48.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

From the filthiness of the heathen, i.e. such as had forsaken that filthy and idolatrous religion of the heathens, and were proselyted to the Jewish religion; for such were allowed to eat the passover, Exo 12:48; Num 9:14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen — Blackslidden and apostate Israelites who had remained in the land when others went into exile, and had corrupted themselves by idolatry and by intermarriage with the heathen. Also, perhaps, some non-Israelitish dwellers in the land who had adopted the Jewish faith, and had become proselytes of the new community.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Such as had separated themselves unto them. i.e. such proselytes as had been made since the return from the captivity. We have perhaps a mention of some of these proselytes in the "Sherezer" and "Regem-melech" sent by the men of Bethel a short time before this to make inquiries of the priests at Jerusalem in respect of fasting. (Zec_7:2) These names are Assyrian, and not likely to have been given to persons born Jews. From the filthiness of the heathen means "from their moral defilements". (see Ezr_9:11) It is always to be borne in mind that heathen idolatry was full of such impurities.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children of Israel - Probably some out of each of the twelve tribes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

separated themselves from the uncleanness of the people of the land

Separating themselves from uncleanness represents refusing to do things that make people unclean. AT: "They refused to do the things that the people of the land did that made them unclean" (See: Metaphor)

the uncleanness of the people of the land

Here "uncleanness" represents being unacceptable to God. AT: "the things that the people of the land did that made them unacceptable to God" (See: Metaphor)

sought Yahweh

Seeking Yahweh represents choosing to know, worship, and obey him. AT: "chose to obey Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)

turned the heart of Assyria's king

Turning the king's heart represents making him think differently about the work of the temple. AT: "changed the attitude of Assyria's king" or "made Assyria's king willing" (See: Metonymy)

to strengthen their hands in the work of his house

Strengthening their hands in the work represents helping them to work. The Assyrian king did this by telling them to do the work and providing the money for it. AT: "to help them do the work of his house" or "to make it possible for them to do the work of his house" (See: Metaphor)

the work of his house

This refers to building the temple.

translationWords

Israel

Passover

exile

Yahweh

God

festival

unleavened bread

heart

Assyria

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and whoever separated They are the proselytes, who were separated from the defilement of the nations to cleave to Israel.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.