And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
Ezra 10:27 is one entry in the register of Israelites who had taken foreign wives, naming six men of the family of Zattu — Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza — without detailing the individual actions of these six men beyond their inclusion in that list. The list belongs to Ezra's restoration-period reform in Ezra 9–10 to separate the people from the heathen and from forbidden alliances and heathen practices, in which foreign wives and their children were cast out. That separation was to prepare the people spiritually for rebuilding Jerusalem.
The people confessed their condition and undertook practical separation from those practices before being taught the law. That order shows that preparation of heart, separation from the world, and willingness to obey God's commandments are necessary for understanding the law. The verse also illustrates that some Bible verses are lists of people rather than promises.
The verse stands within God's clear counsel about marriage given in love and mercy, which must be carefully consulted, prayerfully considered, and cheerfully obeyed. It gives important instruction and timely warning to enter marriage only in the Lord and to study the duties of marriage before entering it. Heeding that counsel escapes bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, frequent disappointments in that honorable estate, and repentance that is at once too soon and too late.
Ezra 10:27 is one entry in the register of Israelites who had taken foreign wives, naming six men of the family of Zattu — Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza — without detailing the individual actions of these six men beyond their inclusion in that list. The list belongs to Ezra's restoration-period reform in Ezra 9–10 to separate the people from the heathen and from forbidden alliances and heathen practices, in which foreign wives and their children were cast out. That separation was to prepare the people spiritually for rebuilding Jerusalem.
The people confessed their condition and undertook practical separation from those practices before being taught the law. That order shows that preparation of heart, separation from the world, and willingness to obey God's commandments are necessary for understanding the law. The verse also illustrates that some Bible verses are lists of people rather than promises.
The verse stands within God's clear counsel about marriage given in love and mercy, which must be carefully consulted, prayerfully considered, and cheerfully obeyed. It gives important instruction and timely warning to enter marriage only in the Lord and to study the duties of marriage before entering it. Heeding that counsel escapes bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, frequent disappointments in that honorable estate, and repentance that is at once too soon and too late.