Before delving into the present passage, it is vital to discuss the heritage of the Hebrews and then clarify the essence of Scripture. In the record that is attributed to Ezra, he recounts how the leaders approached him: "The people of Israel, along with the priests and Levites, have not distanced themselves from the foreign nations and their detestable practices, including those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. They have intermarried with the daughters of these peoples, mingling the holy lineage with those of foreign nations. The hands of both rulers and common people have led this transgression." Upon hearing these words, I tore my garments, pulled out my hair, and sat in great distress (1 Ezra 9:1-3).
Additionally, it was discovered among the priests’ descendants that some had taken foreign wives, specifically from the lineage of Jehoshua son of Josedech and his brothers, Maaziah, Eleazar, Jarib, and Gedaliah. They agreed to send away their wives and offered a ram as a guilt offering for their sin (1 Ezra 10:18, 19). At the conclusion of this chapter, following the list of those who had married foreign women, Scripture states: "All these took wives from foreign tribes, and there were some among them who bore children" (1 Ezra 10:43, 44). Therefore, those who returned from Babylonian captivity—the princes, priests, Levites, and the rest of the people—divorced their Israelite wives, who, due to poverty, the rigors of their journey, and their frailty, were left diminished, while they took wives from foreign nations, drawn to their youth, beauty, or nobility.
Ezra sought to correct this situation, calling upon these men to end their new unions and return to their discarded wives. The prophet reminds us that Abraham is the father of us all. As Isaiah wrote: "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him" (Isaiah 51:2). Did not God alone shape our lineage from Abraham? Why, then, do we treat our former wives with contempt, rejecting the daughters of our brothers, thereby disregarding the covenant of our fathers and marrying outside the law? Judah broke the covenant, as this tribe returned from Babylon alongside the priests and Levites. An abominable deed was committed not merely by the ten tribes who had been taken captive by the Assyrians, but among those who returned from Babylon during Cyrus's reign, led by Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Judah turned away from the holy sanctuary of the Lord, which they once cherished, and took wives from foreign gods, intermingling the seed of Israel with pagan women and marrying from those tribes who venerated idols.
This is why the prophet addresses them and exhorts them to repent with warnings. The Lord will eradicate the one who commits such acts. In His marvelous mercy, He does not outright dismiss the possibility of forgiveness nor does He condemn them immediately, instead deferring such a curse to call sinners to repentance. It is stated that both teacher and student alike shall face destruction in Judah; be they priest or layperson, none is exempt from punishment when united in sin. It is said: "He who brings a gift" refers to a man who attempts to offer a sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts; the Lord will not accept such an offering from the one who commits these sins.
Some, misunderstanding this text and the history behind it, interpret the phrase about having one Father in relation to Abraham, claiming he is the father even of Gentiles, as noted: "God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones" (Matthew 3:9). Alternatively, they argue that the Father refers to God, as indicated: "Is not He your Father, who has bought you, made you, and created you?" (Deuteronomy 32:6). Furthermore, "The God who created you has forsaken you" (Isaiah 1:18). The Psalms declare, "The sons of strangers have lied before Me; they have become feeble and turned away from their paths" (Psalm 17:46). Those who sin against their one Father have multiplied the fathers of their transgressions, as "whoever practices sin is of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
The subsequent question, "Why does each of us despise his brother, breaking the covenant of our fathers?" suggests that, as children of one Father, we should share a unified voice in professing our faith. Yet pride caused a division among nations at the construction of Babel (Genesis 11:8). This passage may also be related to almsgiving, inferring that we show contempt for our brethren when we fail to provide for them from the blessings we have received from God. They even go so far as to consider our brother to be the Lord Himself, who instructed Mary Magdalene to inform His brethren that He had risen (John 20:17) and said in the Psalms, "I will declare Your name to my brethren; in the congregation, I will sing Your praise" (Psalm 21:23).
Thus, the Jews turned their backs on their brethren, disregarding the covenant made by God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through which it was promised that in their seed, understood to be Christ, all nations would be blessed. They propose various interpretations because they struggle to grasp its true meaning. Moreover, the later words of the LXX state: "Judah was forsaken, and an abomination was committed in Israel and Jerusalem," which they expound as follows: "The Jews were deluded for having blasphemed the Lord Savior, suffering as recorded: 'Cast them out according to the multitude of their wickedness; for they have provoked You, O Lord!’” (Psalms 5:2). Consequently, they were scattered abroad, wandering as fugitives. They desecrated the Lord's sanctuary, turning their affections from the Son of God to the creation of foreign deities for themselves, for whoever rejects the Son also rejects the Father who sent Him (John 15:23).
Given their actions, they must grapple with the consequences of their decisions, either through the hardships of captivity or the awareness of their sins, until they are expelled from the tents of Judah, leaving no sacrifices or offerings to be made at the ruined temple and altar. Those discontent with this interpretation—since Judah signifies a confession to the Lord rather than repentance—express the mindset of one who sins yet professes the Lord as having committed an abomination in Israel and Jerusalem, standing in relation to the things of God and the world. Indeed, they have profaned the sacrament of Christ by unworthily partaking of His body and blood (1 Corinthians 11:27), loving their vices and creating false gods corresponding to their sins. As the Apostle Paul admonishes, "their belly becomes their god" (Philippians 3:19), and according to the teaching of Apostle Peter or James, "Whoever is defeated by someone is enslaved to them" (2 Peter 2:19). Whoever behaves thus shall find themselves excluded from the Church and the tents of James, forever accountable for their vices and sins—until they humble themselves for their own benefit, leading to a sincere offering for forgiveness before the Lord Almighty.
THEOSIS