And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.

And they gave their hands to put away their wives, and to offer for their offence a ram of the flock.

And they gave their hand to send away their wives; and they offered a ram of the flock, as trespass-offering for their guilt.

and they give their hand to send out their wives, and, being guilty, a ram of the flock, for their guilt.

And they gave their word that they would put away their wives; and for their sin, they gave an offering of a male sheep of the flock.

And they swore with their hands that they would cast aside their wives, and that they would offer for their offense a ram from among the sheep.

They gave their hands - i. e., "solemnly pledged themselves" (compare the marginal references).

They gave their hands - They bound themselves in the most solemn manner to do as the rest of the delinquents had done; and they made all acknowledgment of their iniquity to God by offering each a ram for a trespass-offering.

And they gave (l) their hands that they would put away their wives; and [being] guilty, [they offered] a ram of the flock for their trespass.
(l) As a token that they would keep their promise and do it.

And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives,.... They proposed to do it, and actually did it:
and being guilty; of which they were fully convinced:
they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass; to make atonement for it, and thereby set an example to others to do the like. Aben Ezra observes, that we do not find that the trespass offering was a mulct to such who married strange wives, and conjectures, that it was the advice of the chief men to do it. From hence, to the end of Ezra 10:43, is a list of the men that had married strange wives, and put them away; those in Ezra 10:20, were priests; in Ezra 10:23, Levites, and those of them who were singers or porters; the rest were Israelites: and it is a very common distinction, in rabbinical writers, to distinguish the Jews into priests, Levites, and Israelites; of these we know no more than their names; some of the heads of the families may be observed in Ezra 2:1.

they gave their hands--that is, came under a solemn engagement, which was usually ratified by pledging the right hand (Proverbs 6:1; Ezekiel 17:18). The delinquents of the priestly order bound themselves to do like the common Israelites (Ezra 10:25), and sought to expiate their sin by sacrificing a ram as a trespass offering.