Ezra 10 explained: The Exiles Send Away Their Wives

A crowd joins Ezra's grief (vv. 1-4)

Ezra's public weeping over marriages to women from the surrounding peoples draws a large crowd who weep with him. A man named Shekaniah proposes a solemn agreement before God to send away these wives and their children, saying it should be done according to the Law of Moses.

An oath and a summons (vv. 5-8)

Ezra has the leading priests, the Levites (temple assistants) and the people swear to carry out the plan, then goes on fasting in a room belonging to a man named Jehohanan. Every returned exile is ordered to Jerusalem within three days, and anyone who stays away will lose his property and be cut off from the community.

The assembly in the rain (vv. 9-15)

In the ninth month, around December in the rainy season, the men sit in the open square before the temple, distressed by both the matter and the heavy rain, as Ezra tells them to separate from their foreign wives. They agree but ask for a slower process town by town; four men oppose this, though the text does not say whether they objected to the divorces themselves or only to the method.

Three months of hearings (vv. 16-17)

Ezra chooses family leaders, each named, who examine the cases one by one. The work runs from the first day of the tenth month to the first day of the first month, about three months.

The names of those involved (vv. 18-44)

Priests are listed first, then temple workers, then other Israelites, and men from the family of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest at the return, pledge to send their wives away and offer a ram as a guilt offering, a sacrifice to make amends. The book ends by noting that some of these wives had children, and it says nothing about what became of the women and children.

Key verse: Ezra 10:3

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether Ezra's mass divorce is meant as a model of faithful obedience or a harsh measure the book simply records, especially since the book of Ruth honors a foreign wife and Paul later told believers not to leave an unbelieving spouse.

Something to think about

When a community believes its identity or survival is under threat, how should it weigh that against the people who would be hurt by the steps taken to protect it?