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LXX Ezra

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 10

1 So when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and praying before the house of God, a very great assembly of Israel came together to him, men and women and youths; for the people wept, and wept aloud. 2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have broken covenant with our God, and have taken strange wives of the nations of the land: yet now there is patience of hope to Israel concerning this thing. 3 Now then let us make a covenant with our God, to put away all the wives, and their offspring, as you shall advise: arise, and alarm them with the commands of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Rise up, for the matter is upon you; and we are with you: be strong and do. 5 Then Ezra arose, and caused the rulers, the priests, and Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word: and they swore. 6 And Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went to the treasury of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; he even went there: he ate no bread, and drank no water; for he mourned over the unfaithfulness of them of the captivity. 7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, saying, 8 Every one who shall not arrive within three days, as is the counsel of the rulers and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and he shall be separated from the congregation of the captivity. 9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. This was the ninth month: on the twentieth day of the month all the people sat down in the street of the house of God, because of their alarm concerning the word, and because of the storm. 10 And Ezra the priest arose, and said to them, You have broken covenant, and have taken strange wives, to add to the trespass of Israel. 11 Now therefore give praise to the Lord God of your fathers, and do that which is pleasing in his sight: and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the strange wives. 12 Then all the congregation answered and said, This your word is powerful upon us to do it. 13 But the people is numerous, and the season is stormy, and there is no power to stand outside, and the work is more than enough for one day or for two; for we have greatly sinned in this matter. 14 Let now our rulers stand for all the congregation, and for all those in our cities who have taken strange wives, let them come at appointed times, and with them elders from every city, and judges, to turn away the fierce anger of our God from us concerning this matter. 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah the son of Tekoa were with me concerning this;⁠ and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 16 And the children of the captivity did thus: and Ezra the priest, and heads of families according to their house were separated, and all by their names, for they returned in the first day of the tenth month to search out the matter. 17 And they made an end with all the men who had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month. 18 And there were found some of the sons of the priests who had taken strange wives: of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 And they pledged themselves to put away their wives, and offered a ram of the flock for a trespass-offering because of their trespass. 20 And of the sons of Immer; Anani, and Zebadiah. 21 And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. 22 And of the sons of Pashhur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, and Ishmael, and Nethanel, and Jozabad, and Elasah. 23 And of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (he is Kelita,) and Pethahiah, and Jodom, and Eliezer. 24 And of the singers; Eliasaph: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Odue. 25 Also of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Hashabiah, and Benaiah. 26 And of the sons of Helam; Mattaniah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Obadiah, and Jeremoth, and Elijah. 27 And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. 28 And of the sons of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, and Zabbai, Athlai. 29 And of the sons of Binnui; Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Jeremoth. 30 And of the sons of Pahath Moab; Adna, and Chelal, and Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. 31 And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, Samaria. 33 And of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei. 34 And of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36 Uiechoa, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai: and so did 38 the children of Binnui, and the children of Shimei, 39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, and Shelemiah, and Samaria, 42 and Shallum, Amariah, Joseph. 43 Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Sedem, Zebina, Jaddai, and Joel, and Benaiah. 44 All these had taken strange wives, and had fathered sons by them.

Texts in conversation

Compare Ezra 10:15 and LXX Ezra 10:15

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

In original version of Ezra, Jonathan and Jahzeiah alone reject the plan to divorce foreign wives. The Greek Septuagint changes this so they agree with Ezra instead, and the only dissent in the narrative disappears.

Passages

Ezra 10:15

Hebrew Bible
14 Let our leaders take steps on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah were against this, assisted by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite. 16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out by name men who were leaders in their family groups. They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,
400–301 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezra

LXX Ezra 10:15

Septuagint
14 Let now our rulers stand for all the congregation, and for all those in our cities who have taken strange wives, let them come at appointed times, and with them elders from every city, and judges, to turn away the fierce anger of our God from us concerning this matter. 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahzeiah the son of Tekoa were with me concerning this; and Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 16 And the children of the captivity did thus: and Ezra the priest, and heads of families according to their house were separated, and all by their names, for they returned in the first day of the tenth month to search out the matter.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Ezra

References

... This verse is separated from the foregoing by a petuḥā. For the sake of completeness, the narrator reports a small opposition to the proposal just described. An alternative solution is not mentioned. Jonathan, the son of Asael, is unknown outside this passage. The name Jonathan is very common in ancient Israel. In II Samuel 2-3 a cousin of David bears the name Asael. The name yaḥzeyāh, ‘Jahzeja’, occurs only in Ezra 10:15. The collocation āmad ‘al has the specific meaning ‘rise against’ (Williamson, see also Leviticus 19:16; Judges 6:13; I Chronicles 21:1; II Chronicles 20:23; 26:18; Daniel 8:25). ...
Bob Becking, Ezra-Nehemiah (Historical Commentary on the Old Testament) (Leuven: Peeters, 2018), 161.
... There are some small differences, most of these in the lists in 9:18–35 (parallel to Ezra 10:18–43), 9:43–44 (parallel to Nehemiah 8:4), 9:48 (parallel to Nehemiah 8:7). 1 Esdras 8:66 has “Edomites” where Ezra 9:1 has “Ammonites.” 1 Esdras 8:89 has Jechoniah son of Jehiel speak to Ezra; the man is called Shecaniah son Jehiel in Ezra 10:2. Those who assist in sorting out the mixed marriages are Mosollam, Levis, and Sabbatai according to 1 Esdras 9:14, but Ezra 10:15 has “Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levites.” An individual named Attharates declares a holy day in 1 Esdras 9:49, whereas Nehemiah 8:9 says it is Nehemiah the Tirshata (governor—see next section). ...
Lester L. Grabbe, “1 Esdras (Greek Ezra),” in 1 Esdras (Greek Ezra), in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, ed. Gerbern S. Oegema (Oxford University Press, 2021), 112.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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