Ezra 9:12

Ezr 9:12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave [it] for an inheritance to your children for ever.

Ver. 12. Now therefore give not your daughters] Unless ye have a mind to pitch them into the mouth of hell. See Ezr 9:2. {See Trapp on "Ezr 9:2"}

Nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever] For they were devoted by God to utter destruction; and therefore Israel might have no intercourse with them. The Jews at this day count and call us Canaanites, Edomites, &c., and hold it an almsdeed to knock us on the head. The best among the Gentiles, say they, is worthy cui caput conteratur tanquam serpenti, to be killed up as a serpent. Tacitus long since observed of them, that as they were very kind to their own, so to all others they bare a deadly hatred. Thrice a day in their prayers they curse us Christians, and in Polony (where they have a toleration) they print base and blasphemous things against Christ and religion (Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. cap. 5).

That ye may be strong] viz. By my presence amongst you and providence over you; for cui adhaereo, praeest, as Queen Elizabeth could write; how much more may God Almighty, he whom I favour is sure to prevail.

And eat the good of the land] The best of the best, the finest wheat, the choicest fruit, and those a pledge and foretaste of the happiness of heaven, where there is nec fames, nec fastidium (as one saith), neither lack nor loathing, neither measure nor mixture, but sweetest varieties, felicities, eternities.

And leave it for an inheritance] Personal goodness is profitable to posterity: the righteous shall leave inheritance to his children’s children, Pro 13:22. God never casteth out his good tenants, nor leaveth his servants unprovided for. See Psa 103:17; Psa 112:1-2.

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.

12. Now therefore give not, &c.] This sentence reproduces the substance of Deu_7:3 ‘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’.

nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever] R.V. … or their prosperity.… This phrase is found in Deu_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. Here its application is destitute of any reference to the context in Deuteronomy 23. The thought reproduces the prohibition of Exo_23:32 ‘Thou shalt make no covenant with them (i.e. the inhabitants of the land) nor with their gods’. Compare Jer_29:7 ‘And seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captive’.

that ye may be strong] The same blessing is promised Deu_11:8 ‘Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment … that ye may be strong’. The power to maintain God’s gift was the measure of their true prosperity.

and eat the good of the land] Isa_1:19 ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land’. The present enjoyment of the gift. The clause, in spite of the reference to ‘the land’, has no verbal parallel in the Pentateuch.

and leave it for an inheritance] The blessing perpetuated. Practically equivalent to ‘That thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee’. Cf. Deu_11:9. The allusion to Pro_13:22; Eze_37:25 can only be of the most shadowy kind.

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.

Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons,.... That is, in marriage, see Deu 7:3, where the prohibition is expressed in the same language:

nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever; that is, as long as they continue in their idolatries and impurities, see Deu 23:6,

that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever; that they might be strengthened and established in the land into which they were brought, and enjoy all the good things it produced, and leave their children in the possession of it, to hold at least until the Messiah came, see Isa 1:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Peace. Alliance, (Menochius) or advantage. See Psalm cxxi. 8. Moses had thus proscribed the Moabites, &c., as he had done the people of Chanaan still more severely. The Israelites were to execute God’s decrees, Deuteronomy xxiii. 6. (Calmet) --- The obstinate idolaters were to be exterminated.

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).

Nor seek their peace; but root them out, as I have commanded you to do; which also they have abundantly deserved, both of mine and of your hands. See Deu 7:2.

That ye may be strong: 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.

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

12. Nor seek their peace or their wealth — Quoted from Deuteronomy xxiii, 6. The sense is, thou shalt not make it an object of care to promote the welfare or prosperity of the heathen.

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

Give not your daughters, etc. Here Deu_7:3 is plainly referred to, though not verbally quoted. This is the sole place in the Law where the double injunction is given, Exo_34:16 referring to the taking of wives only. Nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever. So Moses had enjoined with special reference to the Moabites and Ammonites. (Deu_23:6) With regard to the other idolatrous nations, the exact command was "to make no covenant with them", (Exo_23:32 Exo_34:12) i.e. no terms of peace. Much the same was probably meant by both injunctions. That ye may be strong. See Deu_11:8. And eat the good of the land. These words are taken from Isa_1:19. And leave it for an inheritance, etc. No single passage seems to be referred to here, but the clause embodies the idea found in Deu_11:9; Pro_10:27; Eze_37:25, and elsewhere.

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

Strong - Although you may fancy making leagues and marriages with them, as the only way to establish you, yet I assure you, it will weaken and ruin you, and the contrary course will make you strong.

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

and you shall cause...to inherit You shall give the land to your children as an inheritance to eternity.

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.