Why did the assembly request scheduled examinations of the marriages?

While Esdras was weeping, praying, and lying prostrate before the house of God in Jerusalem, a very large assembly of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him, weeping bitterly over the national crisis. Sechenias son of Jehiel, of the descendants of Elam, addressed Esdras and acknowledged their corporate transgression, confessing that they had taken foreign wives from the peoples of the surrounding lands. Sechenias declared that there remained hope for repentance in Israel, proposing that the community enter into a formal covenant before the Lord to dismiss all foreign wives together with the children born of them, in accordance with the Law of God and the counsel of those who revered His commandments. Sechenias urged Esdras to take courage and provide leadership, promising the full support of the people. Esdras then arose and required the chief priests, Levites, and all Israel to take a binding oath to carry out this covenant, and they swore to do so.

Esdras departed from the open space before the temple and withdrew into the chamber of Johanan son of Eliasib. He ate no bread and drank no water, grieving deeply over the unfaithfulness of the returned exiles. The leaders issued a formal proclamation throughout Juda and Jerusalem commanding all returned captives to assemble in Jerusalem within three days. Under a decree established by the princes and elders, anyone failing to appear within this deadline faced the complete confiscation of his property and expulsion from the community of the returned exiles.

Within three days, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the men of Juda and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem. The entire crowd sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling both from grief over their transgression and because of the rain. Esdras the priest stood before the gathering and declared that they had increased Israel's guilt by marrying foreign women. He commanded them to confess their sin before the Lord God of their ancestors, do His will, and separate themselves from the surrounding peoples and their foreign wives. The entire assembly responded loudly, agreeing to comply with his instructions. However, because the crowd was vast and the rain made standing outdoors unbearable, the people explained that resolving the matter would take more than one or two days. They proposed that rulers be appointed and that men who had married foreign women come at appointed times with the elders and judges of their cities, ensuring an orderly process with the aim that divine anger would be turned away. Jonathan son of Azahel and Jaasia son of Thecua were appointed to oversee the investigation, assisted by the Levites Mesollam and Sebethai.

The returned exiles followed this agreed procedure. On the first day of the tenth month, Esdras the priest and the heads of the ancestral families sat down to begin the formal investigation of every case by name. They conducted systematic hearings over the course of three months, successfully concluding the examination of all men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

The investigation identified several priestly families who had contracted foreign marriages, including the sons and brothers of Josue son of Josedec—specifically Maasia, Eliezer, Jarib, and Godolia. These men gave their hands in a binding pledge to dismiss their foreign wives and pledged to offer a ram from the flock as a guilt offering for their offense. Foreign wives were also found among the sons of Emmer (Hanani and Zebedia), the sons of Harim (Maasia, Elia, Semeia, Jehiel, and Ozias), and the sons of Pheshur (Elioenai, Maasia, Ismael, Nathanael, Jozabed, and Elasa). Among the Levites, the offenders included Jozabed, Semei, Celaia (also known as Calita), Phataia, Juda, and Eliezer. Additionally, the temple singer Elisiab and three gatekeepers—Sellum, Telem, and Uri—were listed among those who had taken foreign wives.

Numerous lay families across Israel were likewise recorded among the transgressors. The list documented offenders from the sons of Pharos (seven men), Elam (six men), Zethua (six men), Babai (four men), Bani (six men), Phahath Moab (eight men), Herem (eight men across verses 31–32), and Hasom (seven men). An additional detailed roster identified twenty-seven men from other branches of the family of Bani, as well as seven men from the family of Nebo. In total, all these listed men had taken foreign wives, and among them were women who had already borne children.