91 Now when these things had been completed , the princes approached me, saying , "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands , according to their abominations , those of the Canaanites , the Hittites , the Perizzites , the Jebusites , the Ammonites , the Moabites , the Egyptians and the Amorites . 2 "For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons , so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands ; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness ." 3 When I heard about this matter , I tore my garment and my robe , and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard , and sat down appalled . 4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezra 9:1-4
Commentary on Ezra 9:1-4
(Read Ezra 9:1-4)
Many corruptions lurk out of the view of the most careful rulers. Some of the people disobeyed the express command of God, which forbade all marriages with the heathen, Deuteronomy 7. Disbelief of God's all-sufficiency, is at the bottom of the sorry shifts we make to help ourselves. They exposed themselves and their children to the peril of idolatry, that had ruined their church and nation. Carnal professors may make light of such connexions, and try to explain away the exhortations to be separate; but those who are best acquainted with the word of God, will treat the subject in another manner. They must forebode the worst from such unions. The evils excused, and even pleaded for; by many professors, astonish and cause regret in the true believer. All who profess to be God's people, ought to strengthen those that appear and act against vice and profaneness.