GOD selected a representative group that were suppose to be the beacon of GOD (HIS representatives/missionaries) to the other nations. And in fact Joseph would be GOD's emissary the the nation of EGYPT, Solomon would influence the surrounding kingdoms, as Daniel would be the the emissary to BABYLON, and Ezekiel the PERSIANS, etc... This group would be the linage of the MESSIAH --- who would make salvation possible for the entire world.
It's a very strange kind of missionary group whose bedrock tenet is segregation, remaining outside the rest of humanity, making it very difficult to convert, discouraging it, even, and keeping God's Word hidden from the Gentiles. The only reason we even have the Old Testament is because some Jews in Egypt translated it into Greek prior to, I think it was Ezekial--someone like that--reimposing the Torah's separateness. They forcibly broke up mixed marriages, and so on.
They did demand that Jewish men abandon foreign wives and the children from those unions after the Babylonian exile which probably cause the early diaspora.---
EZRA refused to accept marriage to non-jewish women in the diaspora------but conversion was ok.
"foreign" meant that they do the "foreign" stuff with the foreign religion.
They didn't specify.. Solomon had many foreign wives so why not consider that the foreign wives may have been from Babylon or Syria or from some tribe like Edomites or Mohabites or Midianites?
who is "THEY" ? The issue of controversy was centered on the diaspora and
that which EZRA said. Ezra is not a "THEY" ------but he was a very important
and powerful leader
any follow-up on who you imagine were "THEY" surada? and what "foreign wives" connotes
in jewish scriptural writings?
The writers.
After the Jews’ return to Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian Captivity, Ezra, one of the leaders of the people, was given some bad news: “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness” (Ezra 9:1–2).
These marriages with people of other nations that worshiped false gods were forbidden in the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). Ezra’s heart was grieved. He tore his tunic and cloak, pulled hair from his head and beard, “and sat down appalled” (Ezra 9:3). Idolatry was one of the sins that had resulted in Judah’s being conquered by Babylon. Now, upon their return to the Promised Land, Judah was again toying with the same sin.
In Ezra 10:2–3, as Ezra was praying, a large group of Israelites came to him in repentance. They made a proposal to rectify the situation: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.” The purpose of this covenant would be to once again set apart the Jewish people as fully devoted to the Lord and remove all connections with those who worshiped other gods. The agreement required the men of Judah to divorce their pagan wives.
Ezra agreed that this covenant was the proper course of action. He commanded, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now honor the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives” (Ezra 10:10–11).
A full list of the families involved is found in Ezra 10. The entire process took about three months at the end of the year.
continued
Why did the Israelites have to abandon their foreign wives and children? Why were foreign wives and children such a big problem during the time of Ezra?
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