Ezra 10:19

WEB

They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.

KJV

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.

Commentary

And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives,.... They proposed to do it, and actually did it: and being guilty; of which they were fully convinced: they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass; to make atonement for it, and thereby set an example to others to do the like. Aben Ezra observes, that we do not find that the trespass offering was a mulct to such who married strange wives, and conjectures, that it was the advice of the chief men to do it. From hence, to the end of Ezr 10:43 , is a list of the men that had married strange wives, and put them away; those in Ezr 10:20 , were priests; in Ezr 10:23 , Levites, and those of them who were singers or porters; the rest were Israelites: and it is a very common distinction, in rabbinical writers, to distinguish the Jews into priests, Levites, and Israelites; of these we know no more than their names; some of the heads of the families may be observed in Ezr 2:1 .