Who was Jeremai in the Bible?

Jeremai was a descendant of Hashum who lived during the time of Ezra. He is specifically noted as one of the men who had married a foreign wife and later agreed to divorce her to obey God's law (Ezra 10:33).

Why is Jeremai mentioned in the book of Ezra?

Jeremai is listed as an example of the Israelites' disobedience in marrying foreign women, which was forbidden. His agreement to send his wife away signifies the community's collective repentance and commitment to restoring their covenant with God (Ezra 10:10-11, 44).

What is the significance of Jeremai's actions?

Jeremai's decision, while difficult, represents the broader theme of holiness and separation in Ezra. It highlights the drastic measures the returning exiles took to maintain their religious identity and purity as God's chosen people after the Babylonian captivity.

Jeremai

Old TestamentExile & ReturnMaleWife

Jeremai, a descendant of Hashum, was among those who married foreign women during the time of Ezra and agreed to send them away.

Jeremai

Biography

Jeremai was a man of the family of Hashum who lived during the period of Israel's return from Babylonian exile in the fifth century BC. He is mentioned in Ezra 10:33 among a specific group of Israelite men who had taken foreign wives in violation of the covenant community's boundaries, a practice that Ezra the priest identified as a serious breach of the Law of Moses. When the matter was formally addressed before the assembly in Jerusalem, Jeremai was among those who confessed their transgression and pledged to send away their foreign wives and the children born of those unions. This moment of public confession and covenant recommitment was part of a broader communal renewal under Ezra's leadership following the return from exile.

Significance

Jeremai's story is part of one of Scripture's most sobering corporate moments of covenant reformation. Ezra 9-10 depicts a community grappling with the ongoing tension between God's call to holiness and the cultural pressures of post-exilic life. While the dissolution of mixed marriages raises complex ethical questions, the narrative emphasizes the seriousness of covenant fidelity and communal accountability before God. Jeremai's willingness to confess and comply reflects the kind of responsive obedience that Ezra's reform demanded. His case illustrates that the restoration of God's people required not only physical return from exile but also the moral and covenantal re-centering of every household within the community.

Verse Appearances (1)

Ezra

Ezra 10:33

References

Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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