Ezra Tears Out His Hair and Beard and Sits in Stunned Silence for Hours
Ezra has just arrived from Babylon carrying a royal commission to teach the law of God in Israel. Within hours of his arrival, the community's leaders find him to tell him the news: the people of Israel — including the priests and Levites — have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples and their abominations. They have intermarried. The leaders and officials have led the way. When Ezra hears this, he tears his tunic and cloak, pulls hair from his head and beard, and sits appalled until the evening sacrifice. Then he falls on his knees, spreads his hands toward God, and begins to confess — weeping and throwing himself down. A large crowd gathers around him and weeps with him.
Ezra Tears Out His Hair and Beard and Sits in Stunned Silence for Hours
Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.