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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Ezra narrates to the returned exiles immediately after hearing reports of their intermarriage with foreign peoples, occurring at the time of the evening sacrifice.

The words — חָרֵד (chaRed) translates literally as "trembling," and יֵאָסְפוּ (ye'asefu) means "they gathered," describing how those reverent toward God clustered around Ezra in response to his distress.

The thread — The motif of trembling at divine speech appears in Isaiah 66:2, while the timing at the evening offering connects to the daily sacrifice pattern in Exodus 29:39 and the subsequent covenant action in Ezra 10:3.

Why it lands — The text demands that readers treat covenant violations with sober recognition rather than indifference, aligning personal grief with corporate repentance before God.

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

וְאֵלַ֣יve./'e.La/iand/ to/ me יֵאָסְפ֗וּye.'a.se.Futhey gathered כֹּ֤לkolevery חָרֵד֙cha.Red[person] trembling בְּדִבְרֵ֣יbe./div.Reiat/ [the] words of אֱלֹהֵֽי־'e.lo.hei-[the] God of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael עַ֖ל'alon מַ֣עַלMa.'al[the] unfaithfulness of הַגּוֹלָ֑הha./go.Lahthe/ exile[s]וַאֲנִי֙va./'a.Niand/ I יֹשֵׁ֣בyo.Shev[was] sitting מְשׁוֹמֵ֔םme.sho.Memappalled עַ֖ד'aduntil לְמִנְחַ֥תle./min.Chat<to>/ [the] offering of הָעָֽרֶב׃ha./'A.revthe/ evening

King James Version

Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.

Cross-references

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.
Isaiah 66:2 Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
Exodus 29:39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight.
2 Chronicles 34:27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
Psalms 119:136 My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
Ezekiel 9:4 “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
Daniel 9:21 while I was still praying, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
Acts 3:1 One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.