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1 Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. 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. 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. 4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. 5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware. 6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away. 7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; 8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. 9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. 10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. 12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. 13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. 14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month. 18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. 20 And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah. 21 And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah. 23 Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. 24 Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. 25 Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah. 26 And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah. 27 And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. 28 Of the sons also of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. 29 And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. 30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. 33 Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. 34 Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau, 38 And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, 39 And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. 43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah. 44 All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
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[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:1-5
How much Ezra’s prayer, tears and sorrow accomplished is shown when it relates that a very great crowd of weeping people of both sexes and of all ages immediately gathered around him. They were weeping either because those who had sinned were doing penance for their sin or because those who had remained pure were sorrowing over the transgression and downfall of their brothers. But whether it was the former or the latter or both groups who were weeping, all are shown to have been greatly troubled by the prayers and laments of their pontifex, since even the women and children are said to have been present here as well. The event can also be understood to have happened in this way, namely, that first those who were innocent and righteous flocked to Ezra when he says, “And all who feared the word of God concerning this transgression of those who had come up from captivity gathered around me,” but now those who had sinned also came to do penance, together with their wives and children.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 2.13
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:1
Therefore, as Ezra prayed and implored, etc. The effectiveness of Ezra's prayer, weeping, and lamentation is shown when immediately a very large assembly of both sexes and all ages is reported to have gathered to him. They wept, either those who had sinned, repenting of their guilt, or those who had remained chaste, grieving over the transgression and fall of their brothers. But whether these, or those, or both wept, they are all shown greatly troubled by the prayers and lamentations of their priest, such that even women, along with children, are said to have been present. It can also be understood with this discretion, that first the innocent and upright gathered to him, when he said: And all who feared the word of the God of Israel assembled to me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles (1 Esdras 9); now even those who had sinned with their wives and children gather to act in repentance.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:2
And Sechenias responded, etc. Josephus says that this Sechenias was the first of the Jerusalemites, and he himself, as befits a leader, with the greatest authority, soon helped Ezra's intention, both by confessing that the people had sinned together with him, and by advising that repentance should be made, by casting off foreign wives, along with the children born from them.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:2
And now if there is repentance in Israel concerning this, etc. He says, if the people perfectly repent of this transgression, first let us turn to the Lord and promise correction, and ask for pardon; then turning back to ourselves, let us root out and excise from us all the actions and roots of the crime committed, namely by casting out the wives along with all their unlawful offspring; for this is truly to repent, and to turn wholly inwardly in the heart to the Lord, and outwardly to cut off all matters of sin from their very origin. And what follows:

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:4
Arise, it is your task to decide, etc. He very fittingly teaches how it should be conducted among the elders in council, so that each person may state what seems best according to their understanding, or what they have seemed to have understood; and yet leave the decision to him who has the power, ready to obey all that he has determined to be done according to the will and law of God.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:5
And Ezra rose before the house of God, etc. Eliasib was the high priest of that time, since after Jesus the son of Jozadak, his son Joachim, and after him his son Eliasib, carried out the rank of high priest, as both the subsequent sections of this sacred history and the Jewish history of Josephus prove.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:6
He did not eat bread, etc. Here they will have an excellent example not only of weeping and praying, but also of fasting for those who have sinned; and since blessed are those who mourn, who weep for their own sins, because after receiving remission, they are comforted, how much more are they to be believed blessed, who also mourn for the errors of their brothers; and this to such an extent that they do not even want to touch bread and water, which is the nourishment of those who abstain, nor enter their house, or ascend to their bed, but rather prefer to pray throughout the night in the courtyards of the house of the Lord. For there was the house of the priest, which, as evening came, Ezra is reported to have entered. Finally, another Edition instead of Johanan's bedchamber, has Johanan's vestry, by which name Scripture often refers to the porticoes surrounding the temple on all sides, in which the ministers and guards of the same temple used to reside. They also mourn now for the transgression of those who came from captivity, who grieve for those who, having been recently rescued from sins through repentance, have again fallen into sin, by which they might be once more captured by the devil. Regarding whose seducers, as about parents of impure wives, the apostle Peter speaks: For, speaking arrogant words of vanity, they entice by lusts of the flesh, those who have barely escaped (II Peter II). And a little later he speaks about those who, as if ascending from captivity, are nonetheless captured by luxury: For if, he says, those who have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first (Ibid.).

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:7-14
The ninth month is the one that is called Casleu [Chislev] by the Hebrews and December by the Romans. Who does not know that this month comes in the middle of winter and is rainy and surprisingly stormy? Hence we should note all the more carefully that when the people assembled in the middle of winter, it is recorded that they trembled “because of their sin and the rain.” For when they noticed that the rains were pouring down more than was usual even for this wet season, they were brought back to their conscience and understood that this had happened because of their sins and that heavenly wrath was imminent. Admonished by this disturbance of the sky, they grew frightened, and for this reason they had not dared to carry on their business in their own homes but sat down in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and put on penitential and humble garb. This was done as a lesson for those who, even when the elements are stirred up and weather deteriorates into violent winds, floods of rain, heavy snowstorms, parching drought or even the death of people and animals, and when the judge himself threatens the force of his anger through open signs, do not at all seek to correct their behavior so as to placate that judge and escape the destruction hanging over them but instead merely busy themselves to find some means to avoid or overcome the adverse conditions raging outside on account of their sins.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 2.13
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:7
And a voice was sent into Judah and Jerusalem, etc. While it is said that the sons of Judah and Benjamin gathered, it is clearly evident that those who were defiled by the marriage of foreign wives were from the first migration, which was from these tribes, and through Jesus and Zerubbabel, they were recalled to the house, as we have previously mentioned.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 220] Tertullian on Ezra 10:9
If these things are so, it is certain that believers contracting marriages with Gentiles are guilty of fornication, and are to be excluded from all communication with the brotherhood, in accordance with the letter of the apostle, who says that “with persons of that kind there is to be no taking of food even.”  [To His Wife 2.3 ANF v.4]

Source: To His Wife Book II
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezra 10:9
I will say what the Apostle has taught me, that they are not on the side of righteousness, but of iniquity: not of light, but of darkness: that they do not belong to Christ, but to Belial: that they are not temples of the living God, but shrines and idols of the dead. And, if you wish to see more clearly how utterly unlawful it is for a Christian woman to marry a Gentile, consider what the same Apostle says, [1 Corinthians 7:39] "A wife is bound for so long time as her husband lives: but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord," that is, to a Christian. He who allows second and third marriages in the Lord, forbids first marriages with a Gentile. Whence Abraham also makes his servant swear upon his thigh, that is, on Christ, Who was to spring from his seed, that he would not bring an alien-born as a wife for his son Isaac. And Ezra checked an offense of this kind against God by making his countrymen put away their wives.

Source: Against Jovinianus (Book I), Section 10
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezra 10:9
If this is the Lord's commandment, in both the Old Testament and the New, and this is what the Lord commands, and this is what the apostle teaches, namely, that only spouses of the same religions and faith may remain joined. [De coniugiis adulterinis, PL 40.25.465]
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:9
He is the new moon, on the twentieth day of the month, etc. The ninth month is the same which the Hebrews call Casleu, and the Romans call December, which comes in the middle of winter and is rainy and stormy, as anyone would know. Therefore, it should be noted more diligently that when the people gathered in mid-winter, they were reminded to tremble from sin and rains. For when they saw that rains were falling even more than usual during the season of rains, they returned to their conscience and understood this to be due to their crimes and feared the celestial wrath that would come, being warned by the disturbance in the atmosphere. Therefore, they did not presume to conduct their affairs in private houses but gathered in the square of the house of the Lord, having assumed the habit of penitence and humility. This is mentioned for those who, although the elements are disturbed, and either by the noise of the winds, the flooding of the rains, the heaps of snow, the heat of drought, or even the ruin of men or animals increasing from above, and with the same Judge by clear signs threatening the force of His wrath, do not inquire at all about the correction of morals, by which they might please the Judge and evade the impending plague, but only diligently consider by what skill they might either avoid or overcome the adversities that rage outside due to sins. But the people sat in the square of the house of God, that is, around the priest’s court, which was surrounded everywhere by the house of God itself, as we taught above; having around it on every side in a square the spacious houses of the courts, in which the people could stand when necessary due to the rains and still see what was happening at the temple gates or around the temple. For the inner walls were made with columns up to the ground, and the outer walls were solid.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 220] Tertullian on Ezra 10:10
Assuredly also, when (the apostle) rules that marriage should be “only in the Lord,” (1 Cor. 7:39) that no Christian should intermarry with a heathen, he maintains a law of the Creator, who everywhere prohibits marriage with strangers.

Source: Against Marcion Book V
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:10
And Ezra the priest arose and said, etc. This passage corresponds to what was previously mentioned: And Ezra arose before the house of God and went to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib, and he went there, he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; for he was mourning. Here the devotion of the high priest is to be noted, who, mourning, praying, and fasting for the transgression of the people, remained for three days in the courtyards of the temple; nor did he wish to enter his own house before he saw the people, having given their consent, wholly repentant and turned to the Lord with all their heart. The other leaders also seem to have shared in his devotion, as they are said to have gone to the houses of their fathers after the assembly was finished. For if the sacred history writer did not wish to signify this with that statement, what was the point of writing that, after the discussion was completed, Ezra and the heads of the families went from the courtyards of the temple to the houses of their fathers, when everyone would know that they would do this even without Scripture saying it? What was the point of adding, And all by their names, when this too would be well-known to all, except that he wanted it to be understood that they were such whose names and deeds should rightfully be kept in memory and handed down to be known by posterity?

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:15-44
First they put away the unlawful wives, and only then do they offer a ram on their behalf so that, cleansed from the crime, they might approach the altar in a state of purity. For it is difficult for a person’s offering to be acceptable to God if he does not first strive to abandon the misdeed for which he offers it, as Isaiah says: “Cease to act perversely; learn to do well.” And because they who were the first to sin were the descendants or brothers of the high priest, it is right that they offer a ram from their flock as a punishment for their crime in order that by such a victim they might indicate that they themselves who were seen to be the teachers and rulers of the people, as it were the leaders of a flock of followers, had arranged to sacrifice themselves with respect to their former way of life and, purged by appropriate penance, to offer themselves to God through a better way of life. Meanwhile, it should be noted with what great art of warfare the devil constantly assails the faithful and how he never leaves them any time secure from battle. For consider how those who could not be overcome by misfortunes were overcome by enticements; they conquered their public enemies when the Lord’s temple was built and dedicated but were conquered by a desire for Gentile women, so that they did not keep the temples of their own hearts and bodies worthy for God to inhabit. Very clearly there is a complete allegorical interpretation of this for our own times. For we see that the minds of the faithful are tempted inwardly with much greater danger now when they are seduced and enticed by their own lust than when they were previously tempted outwardly when their brutal opponent was raging against their constancy by sword and fire. But the mercy of the Lord will be present, so that just as it then endowed those people with the virtue of patience against open battles of those who raged against them, in the same way it may also give us the protection of caution against the snares of enticements that catch us unawares. Accordingly, when the pontifex6 and all those who feared the Lord acted zealously, those who had sinned “were pricked in the heart,” and they cast out their foreign wives. Once they expelled the baseness of self-indulgence, the beauty of chasteness returned; once they cast out the debris of the vices, the flowers and spices of the virtues were strewn in the Lord’s city.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 2.14
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:15-44
Now Ezra himself was clearly a type of the Lord Savior too, inasmuch as he restored sacred Scripture, recalled the people out from captivity to Jerusalem, enriched the Lord’s house with greater gifts, appointed leaders and guardians beyond the river Euphrates who were familiar with God’s law and purified the descendants of the exiles from their foreign wives. For the Lord restored sacred Scripture, because when the scribes and the Pharisees either had defiled it by their traditions or taught that it should be understood according to the letter alone, he showed it was full of spiritual meaning, according as to whether it was written by Moses or by the prophets; and by sending the Holy Spirit on them he also caused the New Testament to be written down by apostles and apostolic men. He led the people out from captivity in Babylonia and brought them now liberated to Jerusalem and the promised land, not only because by suffering on that one occasion on the cross he redeemed the world through his own blood, and descending into hell he rescued all true Israelites [i.e., the elect] he found there and, leading them to the walls of the heavenly city, granted them the joys of inheritance they had once been promised; but also because daily gathering the faithful from the turmoil of this world, he calls them together to the fellowship of the holy church and the eternal kingdom. He increased the riches of the temple with gold and silver and precious vessels that either the people of Israel or rulers of the Persians had sent there through him, because by bringing those who believe in him from both peoples [i.e., Jews and Gentiles] into the church, he does not cease to adorn and glorify her always through the splendor of their faith and good works. He appointed leaders and guardians for all the people beyond the river who knew and taught God’s law because in the holy church, which not only has been cleansed in the river of sacred baptism but also by the sincerity of its faith has transcended the Babylonian river (that is, the turmoil of this changing world), he placed apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He purified the descendants of the exiles from their foreign wives because he forbade that those who by professing the faith had renounced the world should be enslaved any more to the enticements of the world. He also cast out the children of these mothers from the assembly of the returned exiles in case by chance when they grew up they might follow the faithlessness of their mothers rather than the faith of their fathers, because he taught that even those of our works that seem good to people are spurious if they are mixed with carnal pleasure or originate from the contagion of human favor, and so are not worthy of the fellowship of those who, completely renouncing the world with their whole mind, move on to the things of heaven and who rejoice not to be weakened by temporal enticements but on the contrary to be made stronger through adversities and to be prepared by them for their heavenly rest.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah 2.14
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:16
And they sat on the first day of the tenth month, etc. Note that the number three is very commonly used in mystical figures. It was previously said that in three days all the sons of the diaspora should come to Jerusalem; and now in three months, namely the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, they are punished by foreign wives. For there are three virtues without which we cannot attain life: faith, hope, and charity. Coming into the world at the third time of the age, the Lord bestowed upon us the grace of the Gospel. For the first time was before the law with the patriarchs, the second with the prophets under the law, in the third He Himself came with grace; because redeeming us by His passion, He rose from the dead on the third day; through whose grace, both by being joined in fellowship with the holy Church and by being cleansed from the allurements of vices, aptly the sons of the diaspora, having to be corrected from their errors in three days, convened in Jerusalem, and in three months completed their task of correction. But also literally, the leaders of the families and the Levites worked opportunely and salutarily so that before the beginning of the first month all those who were stained by profane marriage were completed; that is, they were cleansed from such a crime, so that they could enter the first month, in which the Passover was to be held, pure, and could celebrate the Paschal feast pure, and could begin and continue the year pure. This is also suitable for us to imitate every year in Lent in preparation for Easter, so that as the solemnities of the Lord's Resurrection approach, we cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, so that we may also be able to be partakers of the Resurrection.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:18
And there were found among the sons of the priests those who had taken, etc. The Hebrews apply to this place the prophecy of Zechariah: And the Lord showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him (Zech. III). And a little later: And Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, See, I have taken away your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. And put a clean turban on his head (Ibid.). They say rightly, Satan stood at his right hand to oppose him because the accusation was true, as he too, along with the others, had taken a foreign wife. But what is said, that Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, is interpreted in three ways: either because of the unlawful marriage, or because of the sins of the people, or because of the squalor of captivity. The angel, before whom Joshua stood, commanded the other angels in the person of the Lord to remove from him the filthy garments, which we mentioned. When they had completed the command, the same angel again speaks to Joshua: See, I have taken away your iniquity from you; these are the filthy garments; and I will clothe you with rich robes, that is, I have united to you an Israelite wife. And what follows: Put a clean turban on his head; which many call a mitre; in this they understand the dignity of the priesthood, that with the stains of sins cleansed, he has a pure priesthood. But we should note that Ezra does not write that Jesus himself had taken a foreign wife, but says that some of his sons and brothers were defiled with this crime. Although the guilt of the sons reflects on the father, he cannot be perfectly righteous who neglected to correct his delinquent sons while he could. Whence some say that the aforesaid prophecy about Joshua is not to be referred to the son of Jozadak but to the Lord the Savior. Who, though He is the brightness of glory and the express image of God’s substance, accepted filthy garments for a time out of compassion for our frailty, as Isaiah says: But He was wounded for our iniquities and bruised for our sins (Isa. LIII); to whom Satan stood at the right hand to oppose Him, always seeking to oppose His right hand and His virtues, as the sacred history of the Gospel reports. And the apostle says: He was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. IV). From whom the filthy garments are removed, and He is clothed with rich robes, when He cleansed us from our sins in His own blood, so that what the apostle says may be fulfilled: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Or He who had filthy garments in His passion, received rich robes in His resurrection, so that we may truly say of Him: Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer (II Cor. V). He also received the turban on His head, for He was proven to have an eternal priesthood, according to the Psalmist: You are a priest forever (Ps. CIX). As for what Ezra says, that the brothers of Joshua the son of Jozadak also took foreign wives, we should understand them not as his carnal brothers, but as relatives according to the custom of Holy Scripture; nor could his brethren in the flesh have lived until then and devoted themselves to pleasure, since more than a hundred years had passed since Cyrus began to reign and sent Joshua and Zerubbabel with the captivity of Judah and Benjamin to rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. It follows:

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
[AD 735] Bede on Ezra 10:19
And they gave their hands, to cast out their wives, etc. First, they reject the illicit wives from themselves, and thus they offer a ram for themselves, so that, with the crime removed, they could approach the altar in purity. Indeed, it is difficult for the sacrifice of him to be accepted by God, who has not first endeavored to abandon the fault for which he offers, as Isaiah says: Cease to do evil, learn to do well (Is. 1). And because the sons or brothers of the high priest, who were the first to sin, rightly offer a ram from the flocks for the punishment of the crime, so that by such a sacrifice they might indicate that they were offering themselves, who appeared to be the teachers of the people and leaders like the leaders of following flocks, from their former life, to slaughter and purify themselves and offer worthy penance to God through a better life. It is noteworthy how skillfully the devil always battles against the faithful, never leaving them a secure time without combat. Behold, those who could not be overcome by adversities are overcome by blandishments; they overcame public enemies by building the temple of the Lord and dedicating it, but they were overcome by the love of foreign women, so they might not keep the temples of their hearts or bodies, dignified for the indwelling of God. Of which matter the figure was completely fulfilled in our times, since we see the minds of the faithful much more dangerously tempted inwardly now, drawn and enticed by their own desires, than they were once outwardly, when the fierce adversary raged against their steadfastness with iron and fire. But the piety of the Lord will assist, which, just as it then granted them the virtue of patience against the open battles of the raging ones, so it may also grant us the caution to guard against the snares of creeping flattery. Finally, through the diligent action of the industrious pontiff and all those who feared the Lord, those who had sinned were pricked in their hearts and cast away foreign wives; and thus, with the foulness of lust expelled, the honor of chastity returned, and in the city of the Lord, with the rubbish of vices cast out, the flowers and aromas of virtues were scattered. Up to this point are the words of Ezra, by which he described the deeds of Zorobabel and Jesus, and afterwards his own. And he himself also clearly held the type of the Lord Savior, in that he renewed the holy Scripture, recalled the people from captivity to Jerusalem, elevated the house of the Lord with greater gifts, appointed leaders beyond the river Euphrates, and corrected the sons of the captivity from foreign wives. For the Lord restored the sacred Scripture, which the Scribes and Pharisees had either defiled with their traditions or taught was to be understood only according to the letter, showing it as full of spiritual sense, as it was written by Moses or the prophets. And He also had the New Testament described by the apostles or apostolic men, sending the Holy Spirit from above. He led the people out of Babylonian captivity and brought them to Jerusalem and the promised land liberated, because He, having suffered once on the cross, redeemed the world with His blood, and descending to the underworld, led out those He found there as true Israelites, that is, the elect, bringing them to the walls of the heavenly city, and granted them the joys of the promised inheritance of old. And daily, gathering the faithful from the turmoil of this world, He calls them to the fellowship of the holy Church and the everlasting kingdom. He adorned the temple with gold and silver and precious vessels, which either the people of Israel or the Persian princes had sent there through him, because He never stops adorning and glorifying the Church with the faith and works of those who believe from both peoples, namely, Jew and gentile. He appointed leaders and overseers for all the people beyond the river, who knew and taught the law of God, because in the holy Church, which is also washed with the river of sacred baptism, and transcends the river of Babylon, that is, the turmoil of the fluctuating world by the sincerity of faith, He placed apostles, evangelists, pastors, and leaders. He corrected the sons of the captivity from foreign wives, because He forbade those who had renounced the world by profession of faith to serve again the enticements of the world. He also cast out the sons of such foreign mothers from the congregation of the captivity, lest, when they grew up, they might follow the faithlessness of their mothers rather than the faith of their fathers, because our works, even those that seem good to men, if they are mixed with carnal delights, or have taken their origin from the contagion of human favor, He taught to reject, nor to deem them worthy of the fellowship of those who, perfectly renouncing the world, with full mind progress to heavenly things; who do not allow themselves to be enfeebled by temporal blandishments, but rather are exercised by adversities, and prepared for eternal rest with joy. But if anyone wishes to object, saying that it is not written that the sons of the adulteresses were cast out, but only the women themselves, it is though Shecaniah, suggesting and saying: Let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and those born of them, was followed by the prompt, And Ezra rose and adjured the chiefs of the priests, Levites, and all Israel, to do according to this word, and they swore, he should understand that if they did not cast out those children born to them by foreign women, it was because they taught them to renounce maternal infidelity, and consecrated to the Lord through circumcision and a saving sacrifice, making them companions of their faith and chastity. It is clear indeed that the mystery of this matter is evident, because good works, which we do for the sake of temporal advantage, or favor, or delight, either are to be counted as among evil works, or must be distinguished by the lowest intention and done solely for heavenly recompense. For he who, for example, fasts, prays, gives alms with the intention that he may be seen and praised by men, such a one indeed, the offspring of a good deed, is as it were born of an unclean mother of a filthy conscience; hence it cannot have a part with the congregation of those who ascended from Babylon to Jerusalem, because a justice, or rather a simulation of justice, which has received its reward in the present, will lack future recompense in heaven. But if such a worker of a deed, converting his mind to better things, begins to do for heavenly reward what he did for the desire for empty praise, consecrating his offspring, even if unworthily born, to the Lord, he makes it a citizen of Jerusalem, because he corrects a work badly begun from the time, making it worthy of eternal reward in heaven.

Source: Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah