Ezra 10:2 (LSB)

Passage

And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

Nearby Context

Ezra 10:1 Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women, and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly.

Ezra 10:2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.

Ezra 10:3 So now let us cut a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 10:4 Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be strong and act.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "shecaniah", "jehiel", "sons", "elam", "answered", "said", and "ezra". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "shecaniah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Now while Ezra was praying and making..." into verse 3's "So now let us cut a covenant...", so "faith" and "shecaniah" 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 "faith" and "shecaniah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.