After the things with the house of the Lord were complete, the officials approached Ezra and discussed how the people of Israel had not separated themselves from the peoples of lands with their abominations: the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
They have taken wives for themselves and their sons from those lands. In the unfaithfulness, the officials and chief men had been foremost. As soon as Ezra heard this, he tore his garment and cloak, and pulled his hair from his head and beard, and sat appalled.
He sat there until the evening sacrifice, and arose from his fasting with his garment and cloak torn. He fell upon his knees and spread out his hands to the Lord and said,
He knew that their sins and unfaithfulness were the reason they had been given into the hands of kings of other lands. Still he knew that for that brief moment, the Lord had shown favor to them, by giving them a remnant of hold on their holy land.
The Lord had not forsaken them into slavery, but had extended his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant them revival and to set up and repair the house of the Lord.
Ezra knew the commandments the Lord had set and knew they were not to give themselves and their children in marriage to those in foreign lands to make their land impure. God had punished them less than their iniquities required, said Ezra.
While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of the Lord, a great assembly of people gathered to him and wept bitterly.
They asked what they could do, for they knew that they had sinned against the Lord and his commandments, for they had married foreign women. They wanted to make a covenant with God according to the Law. They said to Ezra,
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to a chamber, he did not eat or drink while he mourned over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to assemble within three days time. Everyone met at Jerusalem and sat in the open square before the house of God.
Ezra stood before them and said how they had broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. They were to all make confession to the Lord, and they agreed they would.
But it was raining heavy and there were a lot of them, so it would take some time. All the cities who had taken foreign women were to go at a certain time, until the wrath of God over the matter was turned away from them. All the men who had married foreign women did as they were supposed to.
It ended with listing out all the people who had sinned in this matter. The sons of priests pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt. All the rest of the sons’ names were listed.
So, what does this actually mean? What did they do with their wives when it says “put away?” What about the children born to these women, what happened to them?