ESV Reformation Study Bible – Ezra 9:11
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Ezra 9:11

9:11 you commanded . . . saying. Moses was the prophet who gave the command initially (Deut. 7:1–3). The words are not a quotation of a single text, but a summary of the theology of separation taken from numerous texts, such as Lev. 18:25; Deut. 4:5; 7:3; 18:9; 27:3; 2 Kin. 21:16. The separation was not ethnic or racial but religious. Intermarriage with people outside the covenant introduced a relentless temptation to corrupt or abandon worship of the true and living God (cf. Deut. 7:3, 4; Judg. 14:1–4; 1 Kin. 11:1–4; 2 Cor. 6:14).