Ezra 6:21

Separated themselves. Having mentioned the returned exiles, Ezra here refers to a second group of Israelites as taking part in the celebration of the Passover. These must have been some of “the poor of the land,” left behind by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. “to be vinedressers and husbandmen” (2 Kings 25:12). During the long years of exile, when the priests and religious leaders were in Babylon, these ignorant, poor people seem to have accepted many pagan practices. The exiles had gained a new religious experience in the school of tribulation under the wholesome influence of men like Daniel and Ezekiel. Accordingly they required those who had not been to Babylon to reform their lives in order to belong to the new state. Some of those here referred to may have been foreigners who wholeheartedly accepted the religion of the Jews, and were received into the congregation of the Jews as equals. As at the time of the Exodus, provision was made for all of those who desired to join God’s people, to do so.