Ezra 10:39

Study note

Setting — Ezra records a continuation of the covenant renewal list, adding three names from the descendants of Binnui among those who had married foreign women. The passage functions as an administrative register during the post-exilic community's purification process.

The words — וְ/שֶֽלֶמְיָ֥ה (ve./she.lem.Yah) = and/ Shelemiah; וְ/נָתָ֖ן (ve./na.Tan) = and/ Nathan. The text supplies only these proper names without descriptive titles or verbs.

The thread — These personal names recur in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 10 as part of the returned exiles' genealogical and covenantal registers. The structural pattern of listing clan members appears throughout Ezra 10:36–44.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that covenant fidelity required naming and accountability for every individual in the community. A reader must note that personal identity is recorded not for fame but as part of a collective commitment to separate from foreign alliances.

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.