Ezra 8:22

I was ashamed same word as in Ezra 9:6 -I am ashamed", Jeremiah 31:19 -I was ashamed".

to require R.V. to ask. The simplest rendering for the commonest word.

a bandof soldiers and horsemen Such an escort as Nehemiah had, Nehemiah 2:9, -Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen".

a bandof soldiers] This word is rendered δύναμιν by the LXX. and -auxilium" by the Vulgate. It is the word rendered -army" in the passage just quoted (Nehemiah 2:9) and in Nehemiah 4:2; it is a word of frequent occurrence, e.g. 2 Kings 6:14, -horses, and chariots, and a great host". Here it simply means -armed men".

against the enemy in the way against -the enemy" generally. No enemy in particular, Samaritan (Ezra 4:1) or Syrian, is contemplated. Rather the reference is to the robbers and Bedouins of the desert, who night easily inflict damage upon a large caravan by robbing stragglers and harassing the line of march.

The hand of God cf. on Ezra 7:6.

upon all them for good that seek him R.V. upon all them that seek him, for good. The word rendered -seek" here (biqqêsh) differs from hat rendered by the same English word in Ezra 4:2; Ezra 6:21; Ezra 7:10 (dârash). Both words occur in the same verse in Deuteronomy 4:29, -But if from thence he shall seek (biqqêsh) the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him if thou search after (dârash) him with all thy heart and all thy soul". This word (biqqêsh) is the commonest, denoting -to look for", e.g. Ezra 2:62; Genesis 37:16; Psalms 24:6.

for good cf. Ezra 7:9; Nehemiah 2:18.

his power and his wrath cf. the same two words in Psalms 90:11, -who knoweth the power of thine anger", i.e. His might revealed in displeasure.

against all them that forsake him as if Ezra and his companions, if they had relied on the protection of an armed escort rather than of their God, would have -forsaken" Him. A common expression (cf. 1 Samuel 12:10; Isaiah 65:11; 2Ch 7:22; 2 Chronicles 12:5; 2 Chronicles 13:11; 2Ch 21:10; 2 Chronicles 24:20; 2 Chronicles 24:24) for religious faithlessness.