Ezra 9:14

Ezr 9:14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed [us], so that [there should be] no remnant nor escaping?

Ver. 14. Should we again break thy commandments] There is so much unthankfulness and disingenuity in such an entertainment of mercy, that holy Ezra here thinks that heaven and earth would be ashamed of it.

And join in affinity with the people of these abominations?] Especially when we may hear God himself screeching out as it were those words of his, Oh, do not this abominable thing! Save yourselves from this untoward generation, &c.

Wouldest thou not be angry with us?] i.e. Chide us, smite us, and so set it on, as no creature should be able to take it off? Sin may move God, when we ask bread and fish to feed us, to answer us with a stone to bruise us or a serpent to bite us. Shun it therefore as a serpent in your way, or as poison in your meats. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way," Psa 2:12.

So that there should be no remnant] So that our late preservation should prove but a reservation to further mischief; as was Sodom’s, Sennacberib’s, Pharaoh’s.

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.

9:14 Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us? The sin of intermarriage with non-believers was so serious that they had no hope of survival if they did not repent.

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

14. should we again, &c.] R.V. shall we again.

break thy commandments] The work rendered ‘break’ is found with ‘commandment’ in Num_15:31, and is especially frequently found with ‘covenant’, e.g. Gen_17:14; Deu_31:16; Jdg_2:1; Isa_24:5; Jer_31:32; Eze_17:16 in the sense of ‘annul’, ‘violate’. Compare its use in Ezr_4:5 ‘frustrate their purpose’.

join in affinity] This word occurs once only in the Pentateuch, Deu_7:3.

with the people of these abominations] R.V. with the peoples that do these abominations. See note on Ezr_9:11.

wouldest thou not be angry, &c.] The question expects the answer ‘yes’. Ezra recalls the declarations of God’s displeasure in such passages as Deu_7:4 ‘For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he will destroy you utterly’, Deu_11:17; Jos_23:16. The tense is missed in the LXX. μὴ παροξυνθῇς and the Vulg. ‘numquid iratus es’.

till thou hadst consumed us] The precise form of this phrase only occurs elsewhere in 2Ki_13:17; 2Ki_13:19 ‘till thou have (hadst) consumed them’; but a very similar form of it appears in 2Ch_24:10 ‘until they had made an end’, 2Ch_31:1 ‘until they had destroyed them all’. It means ‘up to the point of extinction’. Cf. LXX. ἕως συντελείας. Vulg. ‘usque ad consummationem’.

no remnant nor escaping] R.V. no remnant nor any to escape. It is hard to render the two words in English. ‘Any to escape’ is the same word as ‘remnant’ in Ezr_9:8; Ezr_9:13. The two words occur together in 1Ch_4:43 ‘they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped’. The former word denotes simply the ‘remainder’; the latter has the idea of ‘survival from flight’ (cf. Ezr_9:15). The LXX. distinguishes by ἐγκατάλειμμα καὶ διασωζόμενον. The Vulgate renders ‘reliquias ad salutem’.

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.

Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?.... That are guilty of abominable idolatries, and of all uncleanness:

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

so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? any left or suffered to escape the wrath of but all consumed by it.

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

That. Hebrew, "should we again break, &c....Wouldst thou not be angry?" &c.

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).

Should we again break thy commandments? 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?

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

14. Wouldest not thou be angry — The question is the strongest possible confession that they merited the Divine anger.

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

If we revert Heb. הֲנָשּׁוּב, if we return.

will You not be wroth with us a wonder with an affirmative answer.

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.