Ezra 9:8

And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:5-15 The sacrifice, especially the evening sacrifice, was a type of the blessed Lamb of God, who in the evening of the world, was to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Ezra's address is a penitent confession of sin, the sin of his people. But let this be the comfort of true penitents, that though their sins reach to the heavens, God's mercy is in the heavens. Ezra, speaking of sin, speaks as one much ashamed. Holy shame is as necessary in true repentance as holy sorrow. Ezra speaks as much amazed. The discoveries of guilt cause amazement; the more we think of sin, the worse it looks. Say, God be merciful to me sinner. Ezra speaks as one much afraid. There is not a surer or saddler presage of ruin, than turning to sin, after great judgments, and great deliverances. Every one in the church of God, has to wonder that he has not wearied out the Lord's patience, and brought destruction upon himself. What then must be the case of the ungodly? But though the true penitent has nothing to plead in his own behalf, the heavenly Advocate pleads most powerfully for him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The "little space" was above 60 years, counting from the second year of Darius Ezra 4:24, or about 80 years, counting from the first year of Cyrus Ezra 1:1. This does not seem to Ezra much in the "lifetime" of a nation.

A remnant to escape - Rather, "a remnant that has escaped." The "remnant" is the new community that has returned from the captivity.

A nail - Compare the marginal note and reference. The metaphor is probably drawn from a tent-pin, which is driven into the earth to make the tent firm and secure.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Ezr 9:5-15. Prays to God.

5-15. I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God—The burden of his prayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was that he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begun to show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. But this only aggravated their sin, that, so soon after their re-establishment in their native land, they openly violated the express and repeated precepts which commanded them to extirpate the Canaanites. Such conduct, he exclaimed, could issue only in drawing down some great punishment from offended Heaven and ensuring the destruction of the small remnant of us that is left, unless, by the help of divine grace, we repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance in an immediate and thorough reformation.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Now for a little space: it is but a little while since God hath delivered and restored us, and yet we are already returned to our former sin and folly. Or thus, We have enjoyed this favour but a little while, and now we are sinning it away, and shortening our own happiness.

To leave us a remnant to escape; that by his favour many of us should escape out of captivity; whom he calls but a remnant, because the far greatest part of the Israelitish nation were yet in captivity.

To give us a nail, i.e. either,

1. A just and merciful prince of our own nation and religion; such being compared to nails or pins, as Isaiah 22:23. Or rather,

2. Some kind of settlement; whereas before we were tossed and removed from place to place as our masters pleased. It is a metaphor from tents, which are fastened by cords and nails, or pins. In his holy place, i.e. in this holy land, as the land of Judah is called, Zechariah 2:12. Or, in Jerusalem, which is called the holy city, Nehemiah 11:1,18 Da 9:24; which is peculiarly mentioned, because of the temple, which was the nail which fastened their tents, and gave them some ground of hopes to continue in their land.

That our God may lighten our eyes, i.e. that he might revive and comfort our hearts. For as darkness is oft put for a state of sorrow and affliction, so light is put for joy and comfort.

Give us a little reviving in our bondage; for we are not quite delivered, but still wear our fetters upon us, being even here in subjection to our former lords.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And now, for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God,.... It was but a small time since the Lord first began to show favour to them, so that they soon after began to revolt from him; which argued the strange propensity of their minds to that which is evil, and from which they could not be restrained by the recent goodness of God unto them:

to leave us a remnant to escape; out of captivity, from whence a small number were graciously and safely returned to their own land:

and to give us a nail in his holy place; a fixed settlement in the land of Judea, the holy land the Lord had chosen, and in the temple, the holy place sacred to his worship; or a prince of their own, Zerubbabel, to be the governor of them, under whom they might enjoy settled happiness and prosperity, see Isaiah 22:23,

that our God may lighten our eyes; refresh our spirits, cheer our souls, and give us light and gladness, see 1 Samuel 14:27

and give us a little reviving in our bondage; for they were still in some degree of bondage, being in subjection, and tributaries to the kings of Persia; but yet being returned to their own land, it was as life from the dead unto them, at least it was giving them a little life, liberty, and joy.

Geneva Study Bible

And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a {f} nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

(f) In giving us a resting place it is a comparison taken from them that still remain in a place who strike nails to hang things on, Isa 22:23.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. The period since the decree of Cyrus a divinely appointed respite of probation.

And now for a little space] R.V. And now for a little moment. ‘For a little moment’, as in Isaiah 26:20 ‘Hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast’. Ezra means that as compared with the long periods of Israel’s disobedience (Ezra 9:7), and Israel’s punishment, the interval of eighty years since Zerubbabel’s return was but a short chapter in the people’s history.

grace] The word in the Hebrew is practically always elsewhere in the O.T. rendered ‘supplication’ (e.g. 1 Kings 8:30; 1 Kings 8:38; 1 Kings 8:52; 1 Kings 9:3; Psalm 6:9; Psalm 55:1; Psalm 119:170; Jeremiah 36:7; Jeremiah 37:20; Jeremiah 38:26; Jeremiah 42:9; Daniel 9:20; 2 Chronicles 6:19; 2 Chronicles 6:29; 2 Chronicles 6:35; 2 Chronicles 6:39; 2 Chronicles 33:13). The only possible exception is Joshua 11:20 ‘That they might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favour’ (marg. Or, might not sue for favour). Here the word clearly means the favour or grace, for which the supplication is made.

to leave us a remnant to escape] A remnant to escape (p‘lêtah) (1) from the destruction of Jerusalem, as in Ezekiel 14:22 ‘Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be carried forth’, (2) from the evils and degenerating influences of the captivity, as in Nehemiah 1:3 ‘I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem’.

and to give us a nail in his holy place] R.V. marg. ‘See Isaiah 22:23’, ‘And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place’, referring to Eliakim. The writer makes use of a metaphor, which to us is a little obscure. The passage from Isaiah gives us the image of a nail or peg firmly fastened into a wall so that vessels could be hung from it securely. Others have derived the metaphor from camp life: upon the peg being driven into a firm soil depended the security of the tent. Cf. Isaiah 54:2 ‘lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes’ (or nails). In either case the nail is that which holds up or supports. Its power to do so, however strong the nail may be itself, depends upon the firmness of that into which it is driven.—‘The nail’ here is neither the Temple, as some have supposed, nor the princes and priests, but the community returned from Babylon established at Jerusalem. Upon this community depended the whole hopes of Israel. Ezra acknowledges the mercy which has permitted ‘the nail’ of the new Israel to be fixed once more in the place which God had chosen.

in his holy place] i.e. in Jerusalem, and at his Temple. The phrase occurs again in Psalm 24:3 ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in his holy place’? cf. Isaiah 60:13. That ‘holy place’ was the centre of the nation’s life, the witness to the Divine Presence. ‘The nail’ fixed there should bear any weight and resist all pressure; it was ‘the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion’ (Isaiah 18:7), ‘the place which the Lord shall choose’ (Deuteronomy 12:14 passim), cf. ‘the holy mountain of my God’ Daniel 9:20 (16, 24), ‘the holy city’ Matthew 4:5; Matthew 27:53.

that our God may lighten our eyes] The period of punishment had been one of night and gloom. The new gracious period of respite had brought daylight and brightness, cf. Psalm 13:3 ‘Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death’.

and give us a little reviving in our bondage] The restoration of the Jews had been a renewal of life (cf. Ezekiel 32:1-14) out of death. Ezra says ‘a little’; for (1) the period had been short, (2) they were still subject to foreign rulers. But it was a rekindling of the vital spark—a reviving. The Hebrew word is not very common, comp. Genesis 45:5 ‘God did send me before you to preserve life’ (lit. for reviving or the maintenance of life).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - And now for a little space grace hath been showed. The "little space" must be understood relatively to the long enjoyment of Divine favour from Abraham to Zedekiah. It was a space of more than eighty years. A remnant to escape. The Hebrew has simply p'leythah, "a remnant," the "remnant" being that which had escaped the two dangers of destruction and absorption, and had returned from Babylon to Palestine. To give us a nail. "A nail" seems to mean here "a firm and sure abode," as our translators note in the margin. Ezra 9:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And now for a little moment there has been mercy from the Lord our God, to leave us a rescued remnant, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage." He calls the short interval between their release from captivity by Cyrus, and the time when he is speaking, רגע כּמעט, a little moment (comp. Isaiah 26:20), in comparison with the long period of suffering from the times of the Assyrians (comp. Nehemiah 9:32) till the reign of Cyrus. פּליטה, a rescued remnant, is the new community delivered from Babylon, and returned to the land of their fathers. In proportion to the numerous population of former days, it was but a remnant that escaped destruction; but a remnant which, according to the predictions of the prophets, was again to grow into a large nation. A foundation for this hope was given by the fact that God had given them "a nail in the place of His sanctuary." The expression is figurative. יתד is a nail or peg struck into the wall, to hang any kind of domestic utensils upon; comp. Isaiah 22:23, etc. Such a nail was the place of God's sanctuary, the temple, to the rescued community. This was to them a firm nail, by which they were borne and upheld; and this nail God had given them as a support to which they might cling, and gain new life and vigour. The infinitive clauses following, להאיר and לתתּנוּ, are dependent upon the preceding infinitives להשׁאיר and ולתת, and state the purpose for which God has given a nail in His house to this remnant. That our God may enlighten our eyes, i.e., may bestow upon us new vitality; comp. Psalm 13:4. Suffering and misfortune make the eyes dim, and their light is quenched in death: the enlightened or beaming eye is an image of vital power; comp. 1 Samuel 14:27, 1 Samuel 14:29. מחיה לתתּנוּ is not to be translated, ut daret nobis vivificationem, the suffix to לתתּנוּ being not dative, but accusative. The literal rendering is: that He may make us a slight reviving. מחיה, the means of supporting life, restoration to life; see on 2 Chronicles 14:13. Ezra adds מעט; for the life to which the community had attained was but feeble, in comparison with a vigorous social life. Their deliverance from Babylon and return to the land of their fathers was, so to speak, a revival from death; compare the embodiment of this figure in Ezekiel's vision, Ezekiel 37:1-14 : they were, however, still in a state of vassalage, and had not yet regained their independence. This thought is further carried out in Ezra 9:9 : "For we are bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy to us before the kings of Persia; so that they have given us a reviving to build up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and have given us a wall about us in Judah and Jerusalem." They who have returned to Jerusalem and Judah are still bondmen, for they are yet under the Persian yoke; but God has disposed the kings of Persia so to favour them as to give them a reviving, to enable them to rebuild the house of God. Cyrus and Darius had not merely permitted and commanded the building of the temple, but had also furnished them with considerable assistance towards the carrying out of this work; comp. Ezra 1:3, etc. Ezra 6:7-9. The suffix in חרבתיו alludes to אלהים בּית. The words of the last sentence are figurative. גּדר means the wall of a vineyard, the wall or fence built for its protection (Isaiah 5:2, Isaiah 5:5). Hence the wall, or enclosure, is an image of protection from the incursions and attacks of enemies. Such a wall has been given them in Judah and Jerusalem by the kings of Persia. "The meaning is not that they possess a place defended by walls (perhaps, therefore, the temple) in Jerusalem and Judah, but that the Persian kings have given to the new community a safe dwelling-place (or the means of existence), because the power of the Persian empire secures to the returned Israelites continued and undisturbed possession of the city and the land." (Bertheau.)

After this statement concerning the divine favour, Ezra next sets himself to describe the conduct of his countrymen with respect to the mercy extended to them.