Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

EZRA 9:11KJV
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Ezra 9:11 (KJV)

What does Ezra 9:11 mean?

Ezra 9:11 presents the land’s uncleanness as the result of the peoples’ practices, which Ezra calls detestable. Ezra recalls a warning that God had given through his prophets to the people who were going to take possession of the land.

Ezra speaks these words in a prayer to God. The picture of the land being filled “from one end to another” stresses how widespread the uncleanness had become.

The Hebrew behind Ezra 9:11

  • “unclean” and “filthiness” — נִדָּה (niddah): This word can describe a state of impurity. Its use for both English words links the condition of the land with the conduct of its inhabitants.
  • “abominations” — תּוֹעֵבָה (toʿevah): The word refers to something considered detestable. Here it describes the practices Ezra associates with the land’s uncleanness.
  • “end” and “another” — פֶּה (peh): The word often means “mouth,” but it can also refer to an opening or edge. The repeated word helps picture the land as filled from one edge to the other.

Why Ezra 9:11 matters

  • Ezra presents the warning as something God had already made known. “By thy servants the prophets” connects his prayer to earlier messages given to Israel.
  • Ezra’s concern is connected to the behavior of the surrounding peoples. In Ezra 9:1–2, the report about their “abominations” and marriages with them prompts his distress.
  • Ezra’s prayer leads into a specific instruction. In verse 12, he recalls a command concerning marriage with those peoples, giving context to the problem that brought him to prayer.

Where else these words appear

“unclean” Hebrew H5079 · used in 24 verses

  • Leviticus 12:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.
  • Leviticus 15:33 And of her that is sick of her flowers, and of him that hath an issue, of the man, and of the woman, and of him that lieth with her that is unclean.
  • 2 Chronicles 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

“uncleanness” Hebrew H2932 · used in 31 verses

  • Leviticus 5:3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
  • Leviticus 16:19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
  • Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

“abominations” Hebrew H8441 · used in 112 verses

  • Genesis 43:32 And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
  • Psalms 88:8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
  • Ezekiel 7:4 And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.