The Making of the Biblical Prohibition of Intermarriage

The book of Ezra-Nehemiah^[1] narrates the return of Judeans from the Babylonian exile to the Persian province of Yehud (=Judea),^[2] and how they built first the altar, then the temple, and finally the city wall. It also describes the challenges faced by the returnees in the ensuing decades under its various leaders, Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. A recurrent theme is what the relationship between the community of returnees^[3] and other inhabitants of Yehud and its vicinity should be.

Ezra Is Asked about Intermarriage

In the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (465–424 B.C.E.), the king commissions Ezra, described as a סֹפֵר מָהִיר בְּתוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה “scribe expert in the teaching of Moses”^[4] (Ezra 7:6), to govern the Persian province of Yehud in accordance with דָת אֱלָהָךְ “the law of your God” (Ezra 7:14). After he arrives in Jerusalem, a group of communal leaders approaches him:

^{עזרא ט:א} וּכְכַלּוֹת אֵלֶּה נִגְּשׁוּ אֵלַי הַשָּׂרִים לֵאמֹר לֹא נִבְדְּלוּ הָעָם יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם מֵעַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת כְּתוֹעֲבֹתֵיהֶם לַכְּנַעֲנִי הַחִתִּי הַפְּרִזִּי הַיְבוּסִי הָעַמֹּנִי הַמֹּאָבִי הַמִּצְרִי וְהָאֱמֹרִי׃

^{Ezra 9:1} When these things were done, the leaders approached me, saying: “The people of Israel and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abhorrent practices like those of (or: “from”) the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.”^[5]

The meaning of the Hebrew preposition ל (l-) in this context is unclear. Is it claiming that the natives are themselves these Canaanites, etc., or that their practices are so sinful, they are reminiscent of the Canaanites? Either way, the speech is hyperbolic. If understood the first way, the hyperbole is that half of these ethnic groups—Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Amorites—no longer existed by the Second Temple period. If the latter, such a criticism is standard biblical rhetoric about locals and not likely aimed at describing any specific practice of their contemporaries.^[6]

In the continuation of the passage, the people are again referred to as “peoples of the lands,” and contrasted with the “holy seed”:

^{עזרא ט:ב} כִּי נָשְׂאוּ מִבְּנֹתֵיהֶם לָהֶם וְלִבְנֵיהֶם וְהִתְעָרְבוּ זֶרַע הַקֹּדֶשׁ בְּעַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת וְיַד הַשָּׂרִים וְהַסְּגָנִים הָיְתָה בַּמַּעַל הַזֶּה רִאשׁוֹנָה׃

^{Ezra 9:2} “For they have taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons in marriage, mixing the holy seed among the peoples of the lands. And the leaders and rulers were involved in this trespass first.”

Who are the “peoples of the lands,” i.e., who is living in Israel, Judea, and its vicinities at the time, with whom the Judean people are intermarrying? A look at different biblical passages helps us to identify several options:

A. Exiles from the Assyrian Empire

The Book of Kings narrates how, when the King of Assyria destroyed Samaria (720 B.C.E.),^[7] they sent the Israelites to faraway cities in the empire and replaced them with others:

^{מלכים יז:ו}... וַיֶּגֶל אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אַשּׁוּרָה וַיֹּשֶׁב אוֹתָם בַּחְלַח וּבְחָבוֹר נְהַר גּוֹזָן וְעָרֵי מָדָי.

^{2 Kgs 17:6} …He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, at the [River] Habor, at the River Gozan, and in the towns of Media.

^{מלכים ב יז:כד} וַיָּבֵא מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר מִבָּבֶל וּמִכּוּתָה וּמֵעַוָּא וּמֵחֲמָת וּסְפַרְוַיִם וַיֹּשֶׁב בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן תַּחַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּרְשׁוּ אֶת שֹׁמְרוֹן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בְּעָרֶיהָ.

^{2 Kgs 17:24} The king of Assyria brought [people] from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and he settled them in the towns of Samaria in place of the Israelites; they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its towns.

This is the Judean version of the origin of the Samaritans.^[8] Later, in the Second Temple period, this group of people approaches Zerubbabel, the Persian-appointed governor of Yehud. They ask to join the effort to rebuild the Jerusalem temple, explaining that they are descended from groups brought to the region by the Assyrian King Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 B.C.E.) and have been worshipping the God of Israel ever since. Even so, the text refers to them as Judah’s adversaries:

^{עזרא ד:א} וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן כִּי בְנֵי הַגּוֹלָה בּוֹנִים הֵיכָל לַי־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. ^ד:ב וַיִּגְּשׁוּ אֶל זְרֻבָּבֶל וְאֶל רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהֶם נִבְנֶה עִמָּכֶם כִּי כָכֶם נִדְרוֹשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם ולא וְלוֹ אֲנַחְנוּ זֹבְחִים מִימֵי אֵסַר חַדֹּן מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר הַמַּעֲלֶה אֹתָנוּ פֹּה.

^{Ezra 4:1} When the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to YHWH, God of Israel, ^4:2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the clans and said to them, “Let us build with you, since we too worship your God; we have been offering sacrifices since the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

Zerubbabel rebuffs them, saying that Cyrus has assigned the rebuilding of the temple to the returnees alone. This leads to a lengthy rivalry between the groups, in which the so-called “people of the land” (am ha-aretz) impede the construction project and eventually complain about the returnees to the Persian king, Darius (r. 522–486 B.C.E.):

^{עזרא ד:ד} וַיְהִי עַם הָאָרֶץ מְרַפִּים יְדֵי עַם יְהוּדָה (ומבלהים) וּמְבַהֲלִים אוֹתָם לִבְנוֹת.

^{Ezra 4:4} Thereupon the people of the land undermined the resolve of the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build.^[9]

Thus, the Samaritans may be the group that the Judeans are marrying. While the leadership is clearly antagonistic to them, others may have seen them as allies and even distant kin.

B. Judeans Who Were Never Exiled

Archaeological evidence indicates that the depiction of Judea as an empty land to which the Judean exiles returned is mythic;^[10] rural life, agriculture, and some governance continued among the remaining inhabitants. Many—if not most—of the people of Israel and Judah were not exiled,^[11] and they, too, may have been among the elements that the leaders of the golah considered foreign.^[12] Ezekiel, for instance, responds to the claim of those who remained in Jerusalem that the land was given exclusively to them, and not the exiles^[13] (the inverse position as to what we find in Ezra-Nehemiah):

^{יחזקאל יא:טו}‏ בֶּן אָדָם אַחֶיךָ אַחֶיךָ אַנְשֵׁי גְאֻלָּתֶךָ וְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כֻּלֹּה אֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ לָהֶם יֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם רַחֲקוּ מֵעַל יְ־הוָה לָנוּ הִיא נִתְּנָה הָאָרֶץ לְמוֹרָשָׁה׃ ס ^יא:טז לָכֵן אֱמֹר כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְ־הוִה כִּי הִרְחַקְתִּים בַּגּוֹיִם וְכִי הֲפִיצוֹתִים בָּאֲרָצוֹת וָאֱהִי לָהֶם לְמִקְדָּשׁ מְעַט בָּאֲרָצוֹת אֲשֶׁר־בָּאוּ שָׁם׃

^{Ezek 11:15} Son of Man: Your brothers, your kin, and the whole house of Israel to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Keep away from YHWH; the land has been given to us as an inheritance”— ^11:16 say, then: “So says the Lord YHWH: though I have sent them away among the nations and have scattered them among the lands, I will be a small sanctuary for them in the lands to which they came.”

Ezekiel’s counters that although YHWH has scattered the exiles, he has remained in their midst and will return them to the land and give it to them. It is likely that the returning Judeans are marrying those that remained, even if the leadership of each group is suspicious of the other’s authenticity and would have opposed such unions.^[14]

C. Non-Israelite Neighbors

Nehemiah asks King Artaxerxes I to send him to Yehud with the purpose of building Jerusalem’s wall. After arriving, he reports on efforts to disrupt the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall by Sanballat, the governor of the province of Samaria (north of Yehud)—the first group discussed)—along with one Tobiah the Ammonite and three non-Israelite peoples, “the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites”:

^{נחמיה ד:א} וַיְהִי כַאֲשֶׁר שָׁמַע סַנְבַלַּט וְטוֹבִיָּה וְהָעַרְבִים וְהָעַמֹּנִים וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִים כִּי עָלְתָה אֲרוּכָה לְחֹמוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם כִּי הֵחֵלּוּ הַפְּרֻצִים לְהִסָּתֵם וַיִּחַר לָהֶם מְאֹד. ^ד:ב וַיִּקְשְׁרוּ כֻלָּם יַחְדָּו לָבוֹא לְהִלָּחֵם בִּירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם וְלַעֲשׂוֹת לוֹ תּוֹעָה.

^{Neh 4:1} When Sanballat and Tobiah, and the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that healing had come to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breached parts had begun to be filled, it angered them very much, ^4:2 and they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to throw it into confusion.^[15]

Nehemiah mentions two of these same non-Israelite peoples, when he complains about intermarriage:

^{נחמיה יג:כג}‏ גַּם בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם רָאִיתִי אֶת הַיְּהוּדִים הֹשִׁיבוּ נָשִׁים אַשְׁדּוֹדִיּוֹת [אַשְׁדֳּדִיּוֹת] עַמּוֹנִיּוֹת [עַמֳּנִיּוֹת] מוֹאֲבִיּוֹת׃ ^יג:כד וּבְנֵיהֶם חֲצִי מְדַבֵּר אַשְׁדּוֹדִית וְאֵינָם מַכִּירִים לְדַבֵּר יְהוּדִית וְכִלְשׁוֹן עַם וָעָם׃

^{Neh 13:23} In those days, too, I saw that the Judahites brought back Ashdodite, Ammonite, and Moabite women, ^13:24 and half of them spoke Ashdodite and did not know how to speak Judahite, but spoke the language of various peoples.

This accusation parallels that of Ezra (9:1–2, quoted above), though without the biblical-sounding hyperbole about Canaanites and Perizzites. In fact, the people complaining to Ezra mention three groups that did still exist in this period, Ammonites, the Moabites, and Egyptians, two of which appear here as well.

All Outsiders

While it is possible that each text is envisioning a different group as comprising “the people of the land,” it is more likely that Ezra-Nehemiah envisions an amalgam of peoples—anyone that the golah community considered to be outside its boundaries.^[16]

Nehemiah’s Biblical Response to Intermarriage

Both Ezra and Nehemiah, leaders of the returnees in the same period, respond to intermarriage by repurposing biblical passages and applying them to the current people and circumstances. Nehemiah begins his response to the intermarriage problem by cursing, attacking, and then forcing the people to swear not to marry their children to locals:

^{נחמיהיג:כה} וָאָרִיב עִמָם וָאֲקַלְלֵם וָאַכֶּה מֵהֶם אֲנָשִׁים וָאֶמְרְטֵם וָאַשְׁבִּיעֵם בֵּאלֹהִים אִם־תִּתְּנוּ בְנֹתֵיכֶם לִבְנֵיהֶם וְאִם־תִּשְׂאוּ מִבְּנֹתֵיהֶם לִבְנֵיכֶם וְלָכֶם׃

^{Neh 13:25} I struggled with them, cursed them, and smote some of them and pulled out their hair, and I made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters to their sons, and you shall not marry their daughters to your sons or to yourselves.

Although Nehemiah is clear that the Judeans married Ashdodites, Ammonites, and Moabites, he is relying on the Torah’s prohibition to intermarry:

^{שמות לד:טו} פֶּן תִּכְרֹת בְּרִית לְיוֹשֵׁב הָאָרֶץ וְזָנוּ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וְזָבְחוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם וְקָרָא לְךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ מִזִּבְחוֹ. ^לד:טז וְלָקַחְתָּ מִבְּנֹתָיו לְבָנֶיךָ וְזָנוּ בְנֹתָיו אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶן וְהִזְנוּ אֶת בָּנֶיךָ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶן.

^{Exod 34:15} You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices. ^34:16 And when you take wives from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.

Deuteronomy repeats this prohibition, mentioning the forbidden nations by name:

^{דברים ז:א}כִּי יְבִיאֲךָ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ וְנָשַׁל גּוֹיִם רַבִּים מִפָּנֶיךָ הַחִתִּי וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁי וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי שִׁבְעָה גוֹיִם רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים מִמֶּךָּ.... ^ז:ג וְלֹא תִתְחַתֵּן בָּם בִּתְּךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לִבְנוֹ וּבִתּוֹ לֹא תִקַּח לִבְנֶךָ.

^{Deut 7:1} When YHWH your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and dislodges many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you… ^7:3You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.^[17]

Nehemiah moves on to remind the reader of what happened with Solomon and his foreign wives:

^{נחמיה יג:כו}‏ הֲלוֹא עַל אֵלֶּה חָטָא שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבַגּוֹיִם הָרַבִּים לֹא הָיָה מֶלֶךְ כָּמֹהוּ וְאָהוּב לֵאלֹהָיו הָיָה וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ אֱלֹהִים מֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל גַּם אוֹתוֹ הֶחֱטִיאוּ הַנָּשִׁים הַנָּכְרִיּוֹת׃

^{Neh 13:26} Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin in this matter? There was no king like him in Israel and all the many nations, and God made him king over all Israel, yet the foreign women caused even him to sin.

Here Nehemiah is referring to the depiction of Solomon marrying many foreign women^[18]—including Ammonites and Moabites—and they do indeed tempt him toward idolatry:

^{מלכים א יא:ד} וַיְהִי לְעֵת זִקְנַת שְׁלֹמֹה נָשָׁיו הִטּוּ אֶת לְבָבוֹ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְלֹא הָיָה לְבָבוֹ שָׁלֵם עִם יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהָיו כִּלְבַב דָּוִיד אָבִיו.

^{1 Kgs 11:4} In his old age, his wives turned away Solomon’s heart after other gods, and he was not as wholeheartedly devoted to YHWH his God as his father David had been.

Nehemiah ends his rebuke with shock that, despite these precedents, the people still chose to intermarry:

^{נחמיה יג:כז} וְלָכֶם הֲנִשְׁמַע לַעֲשֹׂת אֵת כָּל־הָרָעָה הַגְּדוֹלָה הַזֹּאת לִמְעֹל בֵּאלֹהֵינוּ לְהֹשִׁיב נָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת׃

^{Neh 13:27} How can we listen to you, doing this great evil, trespassing against our God in bringing in foreign women?

Ezra’s Inner-Biblical Response to Intermarriage

Unlike Nehemiah, a powerful royal official who smote the offenders, Ezra responds to the complaint of the leaders by tearing his clothes, fasting, and uttering a lengthy penitential prayer, which makes alludes to several verses in the Torah.^[19] He begins by noting that this is a violation of YHWH’s laws as set out by the prophets:

^{עזראט:י} וְעַתָּה מַה נֹּאמַר אֱלֹהֵינוּ אַחֲרֵי זֹאת כִּי עָזַבְנוּ מִצְוֹתֶיךָ׃ ^ט:יאאֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָ בְּיַד עֲבָדֶיךָ הַנְּבִיאִים לֵאמֹר...

^{Ezra 9:10} Now, what can we say in the face of this, O our God, for we have forsaken Your commandments, ^9:11 which You gave us through Your servants the prophets, saying...

Ezra does not refer to any specific book, but ostensibly quotes what it is YHWH commanded through the prophets:

^{עזרא ט:יא} ...הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּאִים לְרִשְׁתָּהּ אֶרֶץ נִדָּה הִיא בְּנִדַּת עַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת בְּתוֹעֲבֹתֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר מִלְאוּהָ מִפֶּה אֶל פֶּה בְּטֻמְאָתָם׃ ^ט:יב וְעַתָּה בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם אַל תִּתְּנוּ לִבְנֵיהֶם וּבְנֹתֵיהֶם אַל תִּשְׂאוּ לִבְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִדְרְשׁוּ שְׁלֹמָם וְטוֹבָתָם עַד עוֹלָם לְמַעַן תֶּחֶזְקוּ וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אֶת טוּב הָאָרֶץ וְהוֹרַשְׁתֶּם לִבְנֵיכֶם עַד־עוֹלָם׃

^{Ezra 9:11} … the land that you are coming to inherit is a defiled (niddah)^[20] land, through the defilement of the peoples of the lands and their abominations, which they filled with their impurity from one end to the other. ^9:12 Now, do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not marry their daughters to your sons, and do not seek their peace and goodness ever, in order that you be strong and eat the goodness of the land and pass it on to your children as an inheritance forever.

As this is not a direct quote from any biblical book, we need to look at the individual parts of the verses.

Deuteronomy uses a version of the phrase— הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּאִים לְרִשְׁתָּהּ “the land you are coming to inherit­”­—to introduce the requirement to destroy the seven nations and the accompanying prohibition to marry into their families:

^{דברים ז:א}כִּי יְבִיאֲךָ יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ וְנָשַׁל גּוֹיִם רַבִּים מִפָּנֶיךָ הַחִתִּי וְהַגִּרְגָּשִׁי וְהָאֱמֹרִי וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי וְהַפְּרִזִּי וְהַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי שִׁבְעָה גוֹיִם רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים מִמֶּךָּ. ^ז:ב נְתָנָם יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְפָנֶיךָ וְהִכִּיתָם הַחֲרֵם תַּחֲרִים אֹתָם לֹא תִכְרֹת לָהֶם בְּרִית וְלֹא תְחׇנֵּם. ^ז:ג וְלֹא תִתְחַתֵּן בָּם בִּתְּךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לִבְנוֹ וּבִתּוֹ לֹא תִקַּח לִבְנֶךָ.

^{Deut 7:1} When YHWH your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and dislodges many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you. ^7:2 and YHWH your God delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter ^7:3 You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.

While Nehemiah was also alluding to this passage, Ezra’s allusion is even tighter since the leaders’ accusation makes mention of five of these no-longer-existing peoples, claiming that the current ones have the same abominable practices.

Ezra here also prohibits seeking their peace, which may echo Deuteronomy’s prohibition to make peace (שָׁלוֹם) with the local nations,^[21] what is known as the ḥerem law.^[22] Deuteronomy mentions six of these Canaanite nations and notes that by getting rid of them, the people will avoid practicing their same “abhorrent” things, a term Ezra also uses:

^{דברים כ:יח} לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְלַמְּדוּ אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכֹל תּוֹעֲבֹתָם אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם וַחֲטָאתֶם לַי־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.

^{Deut 20:18} lest they lead you into doing all the abhorrent things that they have done for their gods and you stand guilty before YHWH your God

And yet, Ezra’s phrasing is even more closely connected to the law barring Moabites and Ammonites from joining the Israelites: its final verse is quoted here almost verbatim:

^{דברים כג:ד} לֹא יָבֹא עַמּוֹנִי וּמוֹאָבִי בִּקְהַל יְ־הֹוָה גַּם דּוֹר עֲשִׂירִי לֹא יָבֹא לָהֶם בִּקְהַל יְ־הֹוָה עַד עוֹלָם.... ^כג:ז לֹא תִדְרֹשׁ שְׁלֹמָם וְטֹבָתָם כׇּל יָמֶיךָ לְעוֹלָם.

^{Deut 23:4} No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the congregation of YHWH—even the tenth generation may not enter the congregation of YHWH, ever.… ^23:7 Do not seek their peace and goodness in all your days, ever.

Notably, Ezra does specifically mention Moabites and Ammonites among those with whom the Judeans have intermarried. In its original context, Deuteronomy’s prohibition of Ammonites and Moabites entering the congregation of the Lord does not seem to refer to intermarriage but to full participation in the Israelite community.^[23] But by invoking it in this context, Ezra uses the passage to supplement the prohibition of marrying locals Deuteronomy 7, and this time with peoples who still existed when the Judeans were returning from Babylon.

Ezra refers repeatedly to the impurity of the native peoples, in contrast to the זֶרַע הַקֹּדֶשׁ “holy seed” (9:2)—Ezra’s term for the Judeans. This echoes a later verse in Deuteronomy’s prohibition against intermarriage with locals:

^{דברים ז:ו} וכִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַי־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּךָ בָּחַר יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה.

^{Deut 7:6} For you are a people consecrated to YHWH your God: of all the peoples on earth, YHWH your God chose you to be the treasured one.^[24]

Allusion to Leviticus

The claim that the native peoples have abominable practices echoes not only Deuteronomy’s ḥerem law, but Leviticus’ explanation for why the land spit the Canaanites out:

^{ויקרא יח:כז} כִּי אֶת כׇּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ. ^יח:כח וְלֹא תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם.... ^יח:ל וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּי לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת מֵחֻקּוֹת הַתּוֹעֵבֹת אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשׂוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם אֲנִי יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.

^{Lev 18:27} For the people of the land who came before you did all these abominations, and the land was polluted. ^18:28 And the land shall not vomit you out when you pollute it, as it vomited out the nation that came before you.… ^18:30 But you shall keep my observance and not do any of these abominable practices that were done before you, and you shall not be polluted by them; I am YHWH your God.^[25]

Ezra incorporates new terminology, specifically, the use of niddah “defiled” in place of Leviticus’s tum’ah “impure.”^[26] Even so, the conceptual connection is unmistakable: the abominations of the native peoples defile the land by making it impure.

In a parallel chapter,^[27] Leviticus grounds these prohibitions not in the mandate to avoid impurity, but in the holiness of Israel:

^{ויקרא כ:כב} וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת כָּל חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת כָּל מִשְׁפָּטַי וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְלֹא תָקִיא אֶתְכֶם הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מֵבִיא אֶתְכֶם שָׁםָּה לָשֶׁבֶת בָּהּ׃ ^כ:כג וְלֹא תֵלְכוּ בְּחֻקֹּת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ מִפְּנֵיכֶם כִּי אֶת כָּל אֵלֶּה עָשׂוּ וָאָקֻץ בָּם׃ …

^{Lev 20:22} And you shall keep all my laws and all my statutes and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to settle in will not vomit you out. ^20:23 And you shall not walk in the ways of the nation that I am driving out from before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them …

^כ:כו וִהְיִיתֶם לִי קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְ־הוָה וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים לִהְיוֹת לִי׃

^20:26 And you shall be holy for me, for I, YHWH your God, am holy, and I have separated you from the peoples to be mine.

The passage here ends with Israel’s holiness as expressed by YHWH separating them (ב.ד.ל) from other peoples. Ezra uses this same root, ב.ד.ל, but in a different grammatical form, which expresses the need for the Judeans to separate themselves from other peoples.^[28]

Prohibiting Intermarriage: A New Interpretation of Older Laws

Ezra continues his prayer to YHWH, adamantly confessing to how the people have violated YHWH’s rules:

^{עזרא ט:יג} וְאַחֲרֵי כָּל־הַבָּא עָלֵינוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂינוּ הָרָעִים וּבְאַשְׁמָתֵנוּ הַגְּדֹלָה כִּי אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵינוּ חָשַׂכְתָּ לְמַטָּה מֵעֲוֹנֵנוּ וְנָתַתָּה לָּנוּ פְּלֵיטָה כָּזֹאת׃ ^ט:יד הֲנָשׁוּב לְהָפֵר מִצְוֹתֶיךָ וּלְהִתְחַתֵּן בְּעַמֵּי הַתֹּעֵבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה הֲלוֹא תֶאֱנַף־בָּנוּ עַד־כַּלֵּה לְאֵין שְׁאֵרִית וּפְלֵיטָה׃

^{Ezra 9:13} And after everything that has happened to us as a result of our bad deeds and our great guilt—though you, our God, have refrained from punishing us as much as our transgressions warranted and have left us survivors like this—^9:14 shall we return to breaking your commandments and intermarrying with these abominable nations? Will you not be angry with us until we have no remnant and survival?

As noted, the text Ezra is quoting as “from YHWH’s prophets” are actually rephrasings and reinterpretations of Torah verses. While Nehemiah quotes only Deuteronomistic texts, Ezra refers to both Deuteronomy (D) and Leviticus (H), something made possible by the compilation of the documentary sources into the Pentateuch.^[29]

The prohibition of intermarriage from Deuteronomy 7 is now grounded in a conception of pollution, and the pollution that results from behavior in Leviticus 18 is now attributed to people themselves (albeit as a result of unspecified “abominations”). And the prohibition to incorporate Moabites and Ammonites is now understood as part of the intermarriage prohibition, since this group, like the other natives, contaminate the land with their practices.

Ezra integrates all of these passages to support the broadening of the prohibition of intermarriage to foreigners in general. Ultimately, this combination of sources yields a new conception of distinctiveness: that part of the nature of Israel as a holy seed is its obligation to avoid contamination by inherently impure outsiders.^[30]