Intermarriage

Ezra 9-10

            Early in his tenure in Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that intermarriage with the surrounding peoples was a common occurrence. Intermarriage is not a large topic in the law of Moses. (In Ezra 9:11-12, Ezra doesn’t seem to be quoting any direct passage.) The danger was learned more from the example of Solomon, who was famously lead astray by his many foreign wives, than from a law of Moses. Ezra highlights the danger by naming the peoples who had been such a temptation to Israel for so long: Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, etc. His fear is that Israel will again engage in the disastrous idolatry that led to their exile.

            Ezra’s response is rather draconian: those so married must send their foreign wives away. The book of Ezra generally sees this as a positive move, but it does note the objection of four men, who may object because they are implicated, although only Meshullam is mentioned in the list of priests who had so married. It’s possible the others were guilty and just not priests. It’s also possible that they objected on moral grounds, that sending these women away would put them at a disadvantage in the world. We don’t know.

            We do know that from a modern point of view, the measure seems harsh. The struggle seems to be how to live a distinctive life as one of God’s holy people. On the one hand, you have the path of stringent separation. “They can’t infect us if they’re not near us.” On the other hand, how will you evangelize the unbeliever if you don’t know any unbelievers? There’s no easy answer for the contemporary Christian; we must always work to maintain the balance between being in the world, but not of the world.