Ezra 10:26 — Six Men of Elam Who Married Foreign Wives

Ezra 10:26 is part of a running roster of men who had married foreign women (v. 44). The verse itself only names six individuals from the clan of Elam — Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah — without describing their personal circumstances or outcomes individually.

The placement of the list matters. The names are introduced with the formula 'and of the sons of Elam,' mirroring the structure of verses 18–44, where priests (vv. 18–22), Levites (v. 23), singers and gatekeepers (v. 24), and lay Israelites (vv. 25–43) are enumerated by their ancestral houses. This formatting places the Elam clan within the lay section, distinguishing them from the priestly and Levitical lines already named.

The verse gives no indication that these six men responded differently from the group at large. Chapter 10 as a whole frames the matter as a communal trespass requiring confession (vv. 1–2, 10–11), and the closing summary in v. 44 states that all those listed had taken foreign wives, some of whom had borne them children. Verse 26 contributes one family line to that collective record.

Ezra 10 opens with Ezra's prayer and confession over the people's intermarriage (vv. 1–2). Shecaniah proposes a covenant to put away the foreign wives and their children (v. 3), and Ezra secures an oath from the leaders to act (v. 5). A three-day gathering at the house of God follows (vv. 7–9), where the people acknowledge the trespass (vv. 10–13) and appoint officials to investigate case by case (vv. 14–17).

Verses 18–44 then carry out that investigation. Priests are named first (vv. 18–22), then Levites, singers, and gatekeepers (vv. 23–24), and finally lay Israelites grouped by ancestral house (vv. 25–43). The investigation concludes by the first day of the first month (v. 17), and v. 44 summarizes that all those listed had foreign wives. Verse 26 sits in the middle of the lay section, between the sons of Parosh (v. 25) and the sons of Zattu (v. 27).