0 Ezra Introduction

For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands. 9:2

Trivia: Why did Ezra pull out the hairs on his head and beard?

Ezra for Skeptics

There's not much in this little book to interest skeptics (or anyone else as far as I can tell). But here are a few things worth noting.

  • Check out the contradictions between the boring lists given in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7.
  • The Israelites offend God by "taking" foreign wives and thereby corrupting the "holy seed." 9:2
  • When Ezra hears of the intermarriages he tears his clothes, plucks out his hair and beard, and sits down astonished. 9:3
  • Ezra tells the men that they must abandon their "strange" wives and children if they want to avoid God's wrath. 10:2-3, 10-12

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