· Translation: KJV

Ezra 10:41Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,

The setting

Jerusalem, ~458 BC. Public square. Men stand before the community as their names are read - those who must divorce foreign wives. Modern-day Jerusalem, Israel.

The emotion here: heavy-hearted duty recording painful necessities

The original word

nashim (נָשִׁים) — wives, but also 'women taken' implying the marriages violated covenant law

Why it matters

These divorces likely left foreign women and their children without legal protection in ancient society

Read with care

What most readers miss in Ezra 10:41

Each name represents a family destroyed for the sake of religious purity

Common misconceptionPeople see this as just a boring list, but it's actually the record of hundreds of families torn apart in the name of religious reform - each name represents real heartbreak.

Bible Genome reading

Ezra 10:41 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerNarrator
EraPost-Exile
Primary emotionresting
Literary typegenealogy

Emotional genome

Comfort power10%
Quotability10%
Memorability10%
Crisis relevance10%
Standalone10%
Themes:foreign wivesgenealogyreform

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Ezra 10

Ezra 10:41 comes from the book of Ezra, written during the Post-Exile period. These words are attributed to Narrator. The dominant emotion in this verse is resting, with a comfort power of 10% and a tone that is reflective. It belongs to the genealogy genre of biblical literature. Key themes include foreign wives, genealogy, reform. Notable phrases: Azarel; Shelemiah; Shemariah.

Your reflection

What does Ezra 10:41 mean to you, today?

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