This they had done, either,
1. In the land of their captivity, into which these people were carried as well as others, as appears from Jeremiah 25:9, &c. Or rather,
2. Since their return, as may be gathered from Ezra 9:8,9,10,14. The princes and rulers; who should have restrained the people from this sin by their authority and example; and, by doing otherwise, made the sin more general, and involved themselves and the nation in the guilt of it.