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Ezra 8

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Heads of Families Returning with Ezra 1–14

1
These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. ​
2
Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush. ​
3
Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.
4
Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
5
Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
6
Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
7
And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
8
And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.
9
Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10
And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.
11
And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.
12
And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.
13
And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.
14
Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males. ​

Recruitment of Levites and Temple Servants 15–20

15
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. ​
16
Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.
17
And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. ​
18
And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen; ​
19
And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
20
Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name. ​

The Fast for Divine Protection 21–23

21
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. ​
22
For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. ​
23
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us. ​

Entrusting the Temple Treasures 24–30

24
Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, ​
25
And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:
26
I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents; ​
27
Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.
28
And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers. ​
29
Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.
30
So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

The Journey Completed and Offerings Made 31–36

31
Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. ​
32
And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33
Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites; ​
34
By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.
35
Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD. ​
36
And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezra 8

Verse 1

this is the genealogy of them that went up with me — Yachas is to enrol by pedigree. ‘With me’ is Ezra’s own voice, which begins at 7:27 and tells how he ‘gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me’ (7:28). The date is the seventh year of Artaxerxes (7:7). It is a second roll of those who went up from Babylon, after the first in chapter 2.

Verse 2

Of the sons of Phinehas… of the sons of Ithamar… of the sons of David — The two priestly houses are Aaron’s: Phinehas came from Eleazar (Ex 6:25), and Ithamar was Eleazar’s brother (Ex 6:23). Hattush is of David’s line, named among Shemaiah’s sons in 1 Chr 3:22. The roll begins with the priests and the house of David before the heads of the families.

Verse 14

the sons also of Bigvai — Bigvai’s house had also gone up in the first company: ‘The children of Bigvai, two thousand fifty and six’ (Ezra 2:14). Here Uthai and Zabbud lead ‘seventy males’. This is the last of twelve families in vv.3–14, whose males, added up, come to 1,496: 150, 200, 300, 50, 70, 80, 218, 160, 28, 110, 60 and 70.

Verse 15

found there none of the sons of Levi — Ezra ‘viewed’ (bin, to discern) the company at the river of Ahava, where they camped three days, and found no Levites in it. Levi’s tribe was set apart to ‘minister’ to the priests (Num 3:6), and the first company had brought only ‘seventy and four’ Levites (Ezra 2:40). The house needed them (v.17).

Verse 17

the place Casiphia — Casiphia is named only here. Iddo is its chief, and his brethren the Nethinims are asked for ‘ministers’ (sharat, to serve) for the house of God. Ezra ‘told them what they should say’, literally put words in their mouth (sum, peh), as the LORD told Moses to do for Aaron: ‘put words in his mouth’ (Ex 4:15).

Verse 18

a man of understanding — Sekel is insight or prudence. Sherebiah, of the sons of Mahli, who was a son of Merari (Num 3:20), is later among those who ‘caused the people to understand the law’ (Neh 8:7). ‘The good hand of our God upon us’ is Ezra’s refrain, heard at 7:6, 9 and 28 and again at 8:22 and 31, and in Nehemiah (Neh 2:8).

Verse 20

the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed — Nethinim means ‘the given ones’, from nathan, the verb ‘had appointed’ here. The same verb is used of the Levites themselves: ‘I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron’ (Num 8:19). The 220 ‘were expressed by name’, the phrase for the men listed by name in Num 1:17 and 1 Chr 16:41.

Verse 21

a right way for us, and for our little ones — ‘Right’ is yashar, straight or level, the word of Ps 107:7, ‘he led them forth by the right way’. To ‘afflict’ is anah, the verb for the day of atonement, ‘ye shall afflict your souls’ (Lev 16:29). Ezra prays for the children and for ‘all our substance’ (rekush, property), what they carried with them.

Verse 22

ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers — Ezra had told the king that God’s hand is on all who seek him ‘for good’, ‘but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him’, the principle of 2 Chr 15:2. Nehemiah, on the same road under the same king, was sent with ‘captains of the army and horsemen’ (Neh 2:9).

Verse 23

he was intreated of us — ‘Besought’ is baqash, to seek, the verb of vv.21–22, so the seeking Ezra spoke of to the king is now done. ‘Intreated’ is athar, as in Gen 25:21, ‘the LORD was intreated of him’, and 2 Chr 33:13, said of Manasseh. The answer is reported in v.31.

Verse 24

I separated twelve — Badal, to set apart, is the verb of Num 8:14, ‘Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel’. The twelve are Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brethren. Sherebiah is the one brought from Casiphia (v.18), and Neh 12:24 names Hashabiah and Sherebiah together among ‘the chief of the Levites’.

Verse 26

I even weighed unto their hand — Shaqal, to weigh, is the verb of vv.25, 29 and 33: what is weighed out at Babylon is weighed again at Jerusalem. The silver and gold were ‘the offering of the house of our God’, given by ‘the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present’ (v.25; cf. 7:15–16).

Verse 28

Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also — The carriers are set beside the vessels in holiness (qodesh), the charge of Isa 52:11: ‘be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD’. The metals are a ‘freewill offering’ (nedabah), the word of 1:4 and of the offering for the tabernacle in Ex 35:29.

Verse 31

the twelfth day of the first month — Ezra 7:9 gives the whole journey: they began ‘on the first day of the first month’ and arrived ‘on the first day of the fifth month’. The camp at Ahava therefore lasted until the twelfth. ‘The hand of our God was upon us’ answers the prayer of vv.21–23, and ‘lay in wait’ is arab, to lurk in ambush.

Verse 33

on the fourth day was the silver and the gold… weighed — The fourth day follows the three days at Jerusalem (v.32). Two priests and two Levites receive the weighed treasure, the same pairing under which it was weighed out at Babylon (vv.29–30). Meremoth the son of Urijah later repairs two sections of the wall (Neh 3:4, 21).

Verse 35

twelve bullocks for all Israel — The returned company offers for ‘all Israel’ and counts twelve again, as at the dedication (6:17): twelve bullocks and twelve he goats, with ninety and six rams and seventy and seven lambs. The goats are ‘for a sin offering’, and the whole is summed up: ‘all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD’.

Verse 36

they furthered the people, and the house of God — ‘Furthered’ is nasa, to lift or bear, the verb of 1:4, ‘let the men of his place help him’. The king’s commissions go to the lieutenants and governors ‘on this side the river’, the province whose officials had once halted the work (4:10–23). Artaxerxes had ordered all the treasurers there to act ‘speedily’ (7:21).