Nehemiah 10:1 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Now those that sealed Both in their own names, and in the name of all the rest. It may seem strange that Ezra doth not appear among them. But that might be because he was prevented by some sickness, or other extraordinary impediment. It is true we meet with Ezra after this, at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, (Nehemiah 12:36,) and therefore he was then freed from this impediment, whatsoever it was. It appears from hence, that the government of the Jews was an aristocracy, or a government in which the nobles were the rulers. This mode of administration continued till the time of the Asmodæan princes, and from thence, by a natural translation, passed into an absolute monarchy, or rather tyranny.