Ezra 9:8

9:8 “But now briefly ¹  we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position ²  in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes ³  and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude.

Ezra 9:15

9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt ⁴  no one can really stand before you.”

Ezra 10:16

10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ⁵  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ⁶  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

[9:8]  ¹ tn Heb “according to a little moment.”

[9:8]  ² tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.

[9:8]  ³ tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.

[9:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ⁵ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

[10:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”