1. Ezra 10:16 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What was the driving motive behind the Israelites actions?

Ezra 10:16 (ESV)

16 Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter;

The motivation for the actions of putting away the foreign women was a desire to honour the Lord and remove the wrath of God caused by the people’s unfaithfulness (Ezra 10:14).1