Ezra 8

These are the family leaders, along with the record of family lines, of those who went up with me from Babylon while Artaxerxes was king.

1These 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.

Note"Family leaders" are the heads of ancestral houses, the extended-family units Israel was organized by. Artaxerxes is Artaxerxes I of Persia, and this journey is usually dated to about 458 BC; Judah's exiles had been living in Babylon for generations, by now under Persian rather than Babylonian rule. "Went up" is the standard phrase for traveling to Jerusalem, which stands high in the hill country. The genealogical record is not decoration: a returning family had to be able to document its descent, and those who could not were excluded from certain rights and from the priesthood (see Ezra 2:59-62).

2From the descendants of Phinehas: Gershom. From the descendants of Ithamar: Daniel. From the descendants of David: Hattush,

2Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.

NoteAaron, Israel's first priest, had two surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, and Phinehas was Eleazar's son. So the first two entries name the two branches of the priesthood, listed before everyone else. Hattush belongs to the family of King David, the old royal house of Judah, now simply one family among the exiles under a Persian king.

3of the descendants of Shechaniah. From the descendants of Parosh: Zechariah, and 150 men were listed with him in the family record.

3Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.

NoteThe counts throughout this list are of adult males only, so the group actually on the road, with women and children, was several times larger than the numbers suggest.

4From the descendants of Pahath-moab: Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and 200 men with him.

4Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

5From the descendants of Shechaniah: the son of Jahaziel, and 300 men with him.

5Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

NoteThe Hebrew text here says only "of the descendants of Shechaniah, the son of Jahaziel", the man's own name appears to have dropped out in copying, and the family name is missing too. The ancient Greek translation reads "of the descendants of Zattu, Shechaniah son of Jahaziel," which is why some modern versions print Zattu here.

6From the descendants of Adin: Ebed son of Jonathan, and 50 men with him.

6Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

7From the descendants of Elam: Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and 70 men with him.

7And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

8From the descendants of Shephatiah: Zebadiah son of Michael, and 80 men with him.

8And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.

9From the descendants of Joab: Obadiah son of Jehiel, and 218 men with him.

9Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.

10From the descendants of Shelomith: the son of Josiphiah, and 160 men with him.

10And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.

NoteAs in verse 5, the Hebrew has lost a name: it reads "of the descendants of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah." The ancient Greek supplies the family name Bani, giving "of the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah."

11From the descendants of Bebai: Zechariah son of Bebai, and 28 men with him.

11And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.

12From the descendants of Azgad: Johanan son of Hakkatan, and 110 men with him.

12And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.

13From the later descendants of Adonikam, whose names are these: Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and 60 men with them.

13And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.

Note"Later descendants" distinguishes them from members of Adonikam's family who had already gone back to Jerusalem in the earlier return under Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:13). These are the ones who came afterwards.

14From the descendants of Bigvai: Uthai and Zabbud, and 70 men with them.

14Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

15I gathered them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there in tents for three days. When I looked over the people and the priests, I found no Levites among them.

15And 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.

NoteThe canal was one of the irrigation channels that ran off the Euphrates through Babylonia; Ahava itself cannot now be located. The problem Ezra finds is a staffing one: priests were the descendants of Aaron who handled the altar and the sacrifices, while Levites were the rest of the tribe of Levi, who did the supporting work of the temple, carrying, guarding, singing, maintenance. A returning party with priests but no Levites could not run the temple service.

16So I sent for the leaders Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam. I also sent for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight.

16Then 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.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "men of insight" describes men with trained understanding who could instruct others, in effect teachers of the law, as distinct from the family leaders named just before them.

17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, with orders about what to say to him and to his relatives, the temple servants there: that they should bring us men to serve in the house of our God.

17And 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.

NoteThe temple servants (Hebrew *nethinim*, "the given ones") were a hereditary class attached to the temple who did its manual labor, ranked below the Levites. Casiphia's location is unknown, but it was evidently a place in Babylonia where Levites and temple servants had settled together.

18Because the kind hand of our God was on us, they brought us a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. They brought Sherebiah, with his sons and his relatives, eighteen men.

18And 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;

Note"The hand of our God was on us" is a set phrase running through this book, meaning his favor and protection were with them; it does not describe a physical touch. Levi's three sons founded the three Levite clans, and Merari was one of them; Mahli was Merari's son, so this man belongs to the Merarite clan, as do the men in the next verse.

19They also brought Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, from the descendants of Merari, along with his relatives and their sons, twenty men.

19And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;

20They also brought 220 temple servants, the group that David and his officials had assigned to help the Levites. Every one of them was listed by name.

20Also 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.

21There at the Ahava canal I announced a fast, so that we would humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us, for our children, and for all our goods.

21Then 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.

NoteA fast meant going without food, usually publicly and for a set time, as a way of showing grief or of putting oneself low before God. The King James phrase is "afflict ourselves," the standard Hebrew expression for it.

22I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the road. We had told the king, "The hand of our God is good to everyone who seeks him, but his power and his anger are against everyone who abandons him."

22For 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.

NoteThe party was carrying a fortune in silver and gold roughly nine hundred miles across open country where armed robbery was a real risk. An armed escort was the normal arrangement for such a caravan, and Ezra had the standing to request one; his embarrassment is about having already told the king that his God would protect them.

23So we fasted and begged our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.

24Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their relatives with them.

24Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

NoteThere is a difficulty here that the Hebrew leaves unresolved: Sherebiah and Hashabiah were named in verses 18-19 as Levites, not priests. The sentence can be read as "twelve of the leading priests, namely Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives," or as "twelve of the leading priests, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their relatives": that is, twelve priests plus twelve Levites, twenty-four men in all.

25I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the objects that had been given for the house of our God. The king, his advisers, his officials, and all the Israelites there had given them.

25And 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:

NoteSilver and gold were handled by weight rather than counted as coins. Weighing the consignment out before witnesses at the start, and weighing it in again at the far end (verses 33-34), was a formal audit: it made the carriers accountable for an exact amount and protected them from any later charge of theft.

26I weighed out into their hands 650 talents of silver, silver objects weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,

26I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;

NoteA talent weighed roughly 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms). So 650 talents of silver is on the order of 22 tons, and 100 talents of gold about 3.4 tons. These totals are enormous by ancient standards, and it is debated whether the figures are exact, rounded, or reckoned in a smaller unit than the usual talent.

27twenty gold bowls worth a thousand darics, and two objects of fine polished bronze, as valuable as gold.

27Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.

NoteA daric was a Persian gold coin of about a third of an ounce (8.4 grams), named after Darius I; the King James "drams" is an older word for the same coin. The metal of the two remaining objects is described by a rare Hebrew word of uncertain meaning, some kind of polished or burnished bronze, valued here as highly as gold.

28I said to them, "You are holy to the LORD, and these objects are holy too. The silver and the gold are a freely given gift to the LORD, the God of your ancestors.

28And 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.

Note"Holy" here means set apart for God's exclusive use and barred from ordinary use: it is a statement about status, not about character. A freewill offering was a voluntary gift, given over and above anything the law required.

29Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in Jerusalem, in the rooms of the house of the LORD, in front of the leading priests, the Levites, and the family leaders of Israel."

29Watch 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.

NoteThe "rooms" are the storerooms built along the sides of the temple, which served as its treasury and depot.

30So the priests and the Levites took charge of the silver, the gold, and the objects that had been weighed out, to carry them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

30So 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.

31On the twelfth day of the first month we left the Ahava canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he kept us safe from enemies and from those waiting in ambush along the road.

31Then 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.

NoteThe first month is Nisan, falling in March-April. Ezra 7:9 says they set out from Babylon on the first day of that month and reached Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, so the journey of roughly nine hundred miles took about four months.

32We came to Jerusalem and rested there three days.

32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.

33On the fourth day, in the house of our God, the silver, the gold, and the objects were weighed out into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. With him was Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.

33Now 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;

34Everything was checked by count and by weight, and the total weight was written down at that time.

34By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.

35The people who had been carried away and had now come back from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All of this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

35Also 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.

NoteIn a burnt offering the whole animal was burned on the altar and none of it eaten, the most complete form of gift. A sin offering was made to clear ritual impurity or wrongdoing and restore standing. The twelve bulls and twelve goats stand for the twelve tribes of Israel, even though the returning exiles came mainly from Judah, Benjamin and Levi; the number is a claim that these people represent the whole nation.

36They also delivered the king's written orders to the king's provincial officials and to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, and these men supported the people and the house of God.

36And 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.

NoteThe written orders are the royal authorisation quoted in Ezra 7:11-26. "Provincial officials" translates *satraps*, the governors of the large administrative regions of the Persian empire. The region "west of the Euphrates" was the Persian province called Beyond the River, covering Syria and Palestine, so named from the standpoint of the Persian court to the east.