Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people 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.
Now when these things were done. The first days after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem were occupied in executing the different trusts committed to him. The nature and design of the office, with which the royal authority had invested him, was publicly made known to his own people by the formal delivery of the contribution, and the sacred vessels brought from Babylon to the priests to be deposited in the temple. Then his credentials were privately presented to the provincial governors; and, by this prudent orderly proceeding, he put himself in the best position to avail himself of all the advantages guaranteed him by the king. On a superficial view, everything contributed to gratify his patriotic feelings in the apparently flourishing state of the church and country. But a further acquaintance discovered the existence of great corruptions, which demanded immediate correction; and one was particularly brought under his notice as being the source and origin of all others-namely, a serious abuse that was practiced respecting the law of marriage.
The princes came to me, saying. The information they lodged with him was to the effect that numbers of the people, in violation of the divine law (Deuteronomy 7:2-3), had contacted marriages with Gentile women, and that the guilt of the disorderly practice, far from being confined to the lower classes, was shared in by several of the priests and Levites, as well as of the leading men in the country. This great irregularity would inevitably bring many evils in its train; it would encourage and increase idolatry, as well as break down the barriers of distinction which, for important purposes, God had raised between the Israelites and all other people. Ezra foresaw these dangerous consequences; but was overwhelmed with a sense of the difficulty of correcting the evil, when matrimonial alliances had been formed, families had been reared, affections engaged, and important interests established.