Ezra 9:9 - Exposition

For we were bondsmen. Rather, "we are. " The Jews had not recovered their independence. They continued to be the subjects of a despotic monarch, and were therefore 'abddim , "slaves." All the favour shown them by the kings of Persia had not changed this fact. To give us a wall. That is to say, "a shelter." The city wall still lay in ruins (see Nehemiah 1:3 ; Nehemiah 2:13 , etc.).