Bible Strands
Ezra 10:2
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite descendant, addresses Ezra while a large assembly gathers around the house of God in response to Ezra’s weeping confession. The moment captures the immediate public reaction to the nation’s recorded covenant violation.
The words — וַ/יַּעַן (va/i.ya.'An) means "and he answered," and מִ/בְּנֵי (mi./be.Nei) translates to "one of the descendants of." These terms establish Shecaniah’s formal response and his genealogical identity as an Elamite.
The thread — The same pattern of covenant unfaithfulness through intermarriage appears in Ezra 9:2 and Nehemiah 13:27, while the warning against binding treaties with local inhabitants is recorded in Exodus 34:12. These passages trace a consistent scriptural thread regarding separation from foreign religious influences.
Why it lands — The text demands a concrete acknowledgment of corporate sin and a decisive break from compromised alliances. It asks the reader to recognize that covenant fidelity requires active, law-aligned separation rather than passive acceptance of cultural assimilation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 13:27 Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”
- Ezra 9:2 Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”
- Exodus 34:12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.
- Jeremiah 3:12 Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, O faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will no longer look on you with anger, for I am merciful,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will not be angry forever.
- Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Ezra 10:26 From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
- Nehemiah 3:29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house, and next to him, Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the guard of the East Gate, made repairs.
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- James 2:9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.