Bedeiah בֵּֽדְיָה

Bedeiah is mentioned in Ezr.10.35 as one of the Israelites who had married foreign women during the Babylonian exile. The context of the passage is Ezra's reform, where he addressed the issue of intermarriage between the returned exiles and the neighboring peoples. This practice was seen as a violation of God's law and a threat to the spiritual purity of the community. Ezra called for the people to confess their sin and to separate themselves from their foreign wives and children. Bedeiah is listed among those who agreed to send away their foreign wives, demonstrating his compliance with Ezra's directive.