Ezra 10:3

So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Shecaniah addresses Ezra immediately after the community’s confession of intermarriage with foreign women. He proposes a formal community response at a moment when the exiled leadership must enforce separation.

The words — נִכְרָת (nikh.rot) means “let us cut/make,” and בְּרִית (be.Rit) means “covenant,” together forming the proposal to legally bind the people to a specific action.

The thread — The directive to sever foreign alliances mirrors Deuteronomy 7:2’s command to devote conquered peoples to destruction, while Ezra 9:4 notes the same group “trembling at the words of the God of Israel” in response to the identical breach.

Why it lands — The text demands concrete separation from compromising relationships rather than mere verbal repentance. It requires readers to treat covenant fidelity as a structural boundary that must be actively enforced.

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

וְעַתָּ֣הve./'a.Tahand/ therefore נִֽכְרָת־nikh.rot-let us make בְּרִ֣יתbe.Rita covenant לֵ֠אלֹהֵינוּLe./lo.hei./nuto/ God/ our לְהוֹצִ֨יאle./ho.Tzi'to/ send out כָל־khol-all נָשִׁ֜יםna.Shimwives וְהַנּוֹלָ֤דve./ha./no.Ladand/ those/ bornמֵהֶם֙me./Hemfrom/ themבַּעֲצַ֣תba./'a.Tzatby/ [the] counsel of אֲדֹנָ֔י'a.do.Nai[the] Lord וְהַחֲרֵדִ֖יםve./ha./cha.re.Dimand/ the/ [people] trembling בְּמִצְוַ֣תbe./mitz.Vatat/ [the] commandment of אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ'e.lo.Hei./nuGod/ our וְכַתּוֹרָ֖הve./kha./to.Rahand/ according to the/ law יֵעָשֶֽׂה׃ye.'a.Sehlet it be done

King James Version

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 7:2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
Ezra 9:4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.
Joshua 23:12 For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,
Psalms 119:120 My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
1 Corinthians 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,
2 Chronicles 34:21 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book.”
Nehemiah 9:38 In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
Psalms 119:59 I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.
Joshua 9:6 They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.”