Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.
So all the men from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin came together in Jerusalem within three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month, and all the people sat in the open area in front of God's house, shaking with fear because of this serious situation, and also because of the heavy rain.
The writer is describing how all the men gathered in Jerusalem were trembling - both from fear about the grave spiritual crisis they faced and from sitting in a cold, heavy rainstorm.
📚 Historical Context
This gathering occurred after Ezra discovered that many Jewish men had married foreign wives, violating God's commands about maintaining religious purity after returning from Babylonian exile. Ezra had called for this emergency assembly to address the crisis of intermarriage that threatened the spiritual identity of the restored Jewish community.
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