Ezra’s Prayer, a Critique
Ezra’s Prayer is another example for us to study and emulate, especially for forgiveness against the Law of Moses (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28); Ezra was not merely praying for his comfort and protection in the darkness. His concern was to pray for God’s people, the acknowledgement of their sins and asking for forgiveness and great mercies.
What Ezra admitted is unlike what Rabbi Tovia Singer and other rabbinic interpretation have in their teachings by shifting blames by assigning the “suffering servant” of Isaiah 53 to the nation of Israel “who silently endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of its gentile oppressors.” That is, to Rabbi Singer, Israel’s suffering is attributable to their wicked neighbours and not to themselves!
Or, from another shifting of blames from Jews for Judiasm: “when the nations, astonished and in terror, will feel ashamed for their oppression of the Jewish people.” Again, they have no faults of their own but shift their suffering to their wicked neighbours and not attribute to themselves!
Making no excuses, Ezra confessed his people’s sin, (especially concerning marrying with the heatherns, thus corrupting themselves “with the filthiness of the people of the lands”) and acknowledged the justice of God’s judgement, severe though it had been. Ezra honestly admitted, “for we have forsaken Thy commandments.” Ezra admitted Israel suffers because of her own sins, rather than blaming them on the Gentiles; Period!
Ezra is known as the second Moses, his example of a Prayer should be emulated and studied today. Now for the details:
Ezra 9:
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, — here is where to get from the Orthodoxy the meaning of evening, from Exodus 29:41 (ben ha’arbayim): “And the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord,” Exodus 29:41
— in Exodus 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening (ben ha’arbayim).
— Rashi comments concerning even/evening in most English Bibles but is “afternoon”
— here is his (by Rashi) explanation quoted besides the Chabad Bible Exodus 12:6 And you shall keep it for inspection until the fourteenth day of this month, and the entire congregation of the community of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon:
in the afternoon: Heb. בֵּין הָעַרְבָּיִם From six hours [after sunrise] and onward is called בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם, literally, between the two evenings, for the sun is inclined toward the place where it sets to become darkened. It seems to me that the expression בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם denotes those hours between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night. The darkening of the day is at the beginning of the seventh hour, when the shadows of evening decline, and the darkening of the night at the beginning of the night. עֶרֶב is an expression of evening and darkness. — [from Mechilta]
6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. — and said, O my God; here begins the prayer of Ezra, and that with faith in God as covenant God, even when he was about to make confession of sin, and repentance for it; that prayer is right which is put up in faith, and that repentance genuine which is accompanied with faith, and flows from it:
— Ezra’s prayer, as a confession of national sin, should be compared with the prayer of the Levites (Nehemiah 9:6-38), but more especially with the prayer of Daniel (Daniel 9:4-19). As in the confession of Daniel, the personality of the speaker is merged in that of the nation, The sin of the race no less than its shame and its punishment is acknowledged in the ‘we’, ‘our’, and ‘us’. The self-abnegation and love of Ezra as of Moses (Exodus 32:32), accept the obligations of nationality as the source of guilt as well as on privilege to the individual.
— the general plan of the confession resembles that of Daniel. It consists of (1) general confession, Ezra 9:6 (cf. Daniel 9:4-6), (2) the sins of former time, Ezra 9:7 (Daniel 9:7-8); (3) God’s mercy and goodness, Ezra 9:7-8 (Daniel 9:9); (4) Israel’s sin in the face of the Divine warning, Ezra 9:10-12 (Daniel 9:10-14); (5) the fresh guilt and final appeal, Ezra 9:13-15 (Daniel 9:15-19).
7 Since the days of our fathers we have been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. — since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; the sins they were guilty of had been long continued in, which was an aggravation of them:
— and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands; the ten tribes and their king into the hand of the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, into the hands of the king of Babylon, with the priests and people:
— to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil; some were slain with the sword, others carried captive, and the houses of them all plundered and spoiled:
— and to confusion of face, as it is this day; being filled with shame when they reflected on their sins, the cause of those evils; and besides, the captivity of the ten tribes continued, and of many others, which exposed them to shame among their neighbours.
8 And now for a little space grace hath been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a constant and sure abode in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. — the “little space” was above 60 years, counting from the second year of Darius Ezra 4:24, or about 80 years, counting from the first year of Cyrus Ezra 1:1. This does not seem to Ezra much in the “lifetime” of a nation;
— a remnant to escape; rather “a remnant that has escaped.” The “remnant” is the new community that has returned from the captivity.
9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving to set up the house of our God and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. — for we were bondmen; for we are bondmen. Ezra explains his words ‘in our bondage’. The bondage hadn’t gone past. The Jews were still bondmen then, in servitude to the king of Persia.
10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Thy commandments, — for we have forsaken thy commandments: particularly those which related to marriages with people of other nations. Q. Were the Jewish males to be circumcised too?
11 which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. — the land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land; these unclean and corrupt character of the surrounding nations were not given the Law of God, and those given, like the Samaritans, had perverted the Law with different interpretations; hence they were designate with special character of their “filthiness” and “abominations.”
12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever, that ye may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.’ — now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons; that is, in marriage, see Deuteronomy 7:3, where the prohibition is expressed in the same language;
— that ye may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever; that they might be strengthened and established in the land into which they were brought and enjoy all the good things it produced and leave their children in the possession of it.
13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great trespass, seeing that Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this, — and after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass; as famine, sword, pestilence and captivity, for their idolatries and other heinous sins:
— seeing that our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve; for they deserved eternal punishment, whereas it was temporal punishment that was inflicted, and this moderate, and now stopped; or thou hast refrained thyself from exacting of us all our sins, and hast exacted of us beneath our sins (or less than they deserve), and hast not taken vengeance on us according to all our sins.
— by not admitting but trying to divert sin is a great sin. King Saul justified himself by saying “for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God.” King Saul blamed his disobedience on “the people.” It wasn’t a small matter and for this, Saul lost his mind, consulted a witch and finally his kingdom was removed.
14 should we again break Thy commandments and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? Wouldest not Thou be angry with us until Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? — should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? – that are guilty of abominable idolatries and all uncleanness:
— wouldest thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us; it might be justly expected: so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? any left or suffered to escape the wrath of but all consumed by it.
15 O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous, for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before Thee in our trespasses, for we cannot stand before Thee because of this.” — O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous; and would appear to be so, should Israel be entirely cut off, and utterly consumed for their iniquities:
— for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day; that they remained yet escaped out of captivity and escaped the wrath and vengeance of God, was not owing to any deserts of theirs but to the grace and mercy of God, who had not stirred up all his wrath, as their sins deserved:
— behold, we are before thee in our trespasses; to do with us as seems good in thy sight; we have nothing to plead on our behalf, but cast ourselves at thy feet, if so be unmerited favour may be shown us:
— for we cannot stand before thee because of this; this evil of contracting affinity with the nations; we cannot defend ourselves; we cannot plead ignorance of the divine commands; we have nothing to say for ourselves why judgement should not be passed upon us; we leave ourselves in thine hands, and at thy mercy.
Joel Huan
The Mystery of Ephraim 