Then arose Ezra, and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore.
Read Chapter 10
Bede
AD 735
How much Ezra’s prayer, tears and sorrow accomplished is shown when it relates that a very great crowd of weeping people of both sexes and of all ages immediately gathered around him. They were weeping either because those who had sinned were doing penance for their sin or because those who had remained pure were sorrowing over the transgression and downfall of their brothers. But whether it was the former or the latter or both groups who were weeping, all are shown to have been greatly troubled by the prayers and laments of their pontifex, since even the women and children are said to have been present here as well. The event can also be understood to have happened in this way, namely, that first those who were innocent and righteous flocked to Ezra when he says, “And all who feared the word of God concerning this transgression of those who had come up from captivity gathered around me,” but now those who had sinned also came to do penance, together with their wives and children.
