In this second movement of the book (Ezra 7–10), the crisis or conflict is the problem of mixed marriages with pagan neighbors. It is an outright disobedience of God’s commands and threatens the future of the covenant community. This episode takes place four months after the events of chapter 8 (see Ezra 10:9). Ezra has been teaching God’s written word. He does not try to do everything himself; his policy is to prepare leaders through teaching the law of God. Throughout this chapter there are many allusions to and echoes of passages in the Law and the Prophets. Ezra’s teaching is bearing fruit; the leaders become conscious of the critical situation in regard to mixed marriages.

Ezra’s dismay and humility are seen in 9:1–5. There is a conscious allusion to passages in the Pentateuch that …