Ezra 9:3 (ASV)

Passage

And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

Nearby Context

Ezra 9:1 Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Ezra 9:2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Ezra 9:3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

Ezra 9:4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening oblation.

Ezra 9:5 And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heard", "rent", "garment", "robe", "plucked", "hair", "head", and "beard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heard" and "rent", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "For they have taken of their daughters..." into verse 4's "Then were assembled unto me every one...", so "heard" and "rent" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "heard" and "rent" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.