Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
The verse comes from the period of Ezra and Nehemiah, whose narrative may be studied alongside archaeological discoveries and records of Babylonian life. It names Levites — Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah also called Kelita, Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer — among those who had taken forbidden wives in alliance with the surrounding heathen nations. It records part of the practical separation made in response to those forbidden alliances, a separation that preceded teaching the law. That separation was Ezra's effort to separate the people from the heathen and thereby prepare them spiritually for rebuilding Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to God's clear counsel in love and mercy about marriage, which is to be carefully and prayerfully consulted and cheerfully obeyed. With the rest of Ezra 10 it gives timely warning and instruction that marriage is to be only in the Lord. Studying and obeying this duty of marriage before entering that honorable estate spares bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, and frequent disappointment. Neglect of it brings a repentance that is at once too soon and too late.
The verse comes from the period of Ezra and Nehemiah, whose narrative may be studied alongside archaeological discoveries and records of Babylonian life. It names Levites — Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah also called Kelita, Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer — among those who had taken forbidden wives in alliance with the surrounding heathen nations. It records part of the practical separation made in response to those forbidden alliances, a separation that preceded teaching the law. That separation was Ezra's effort to separate the people from the heathen and thereby prepare them spiritually for rebuilding Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to God's clear counsel in love and mercy about marriage, which is to be carefully and prayerfully consulted and cheerfully obeyed. With the rest of Ezra 10 it gives timely warning and instruction that marriage is to be only in the Lord. Studying and obeying this duty of marriage before entering that honorable estate spares bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, and frequent disappointment. Neglect of it brings a repentance that is at once too soon and too late.