CHAPTER 8

(457 B.C.)

THE LIST OF THOSE WHO RETURNED

¹These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king (this is the second expedition led from Babylon to Judah, with the first being led by Zerubbabel; there may have been other expeditions; however, only these two are mentioned in Ezra).

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁴Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males. (All these individuals named were guaranteed to be Jews, for their genealogy proves such. All of this was very important, because the Messiah would come through these people. Their going back to the land of Israel was extremely significant also, considering that this was the land which God had chosen for these people and, as stated, through whom the Messiah would come.)

EZRA SENDS FOR THE LEVITES

¹⁵And I gathered them together to the river that runs 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 (as to why this slackness concerning the Levites, we arent told; however, there certainly seemed to have been a special disinclination to return to Jerusalem on the part of most of the Levites; in fact, only 74 went up with Zerubbabel the years before, when, in fact, there were 4,289 Priests who did return [2:3640]).

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.

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 (persuade Levites to come, who were needed, as it regards the work for the Temple; if everything else in Israel was successful, but yet the House of God was unattended or not attended properly, then again ruin would come upon Israel).

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 (with that Good Hand, all things can be done and, without that Good Hand, nothing can be done);

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

²⁰Also of the Nethinims (the original Nethinims were the Gibeonites of Josh. 9:23), 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 Holy Spirit wants us to know that each individual person was of great significance, thereby expressed by name).

EZRA PROCLAIMS A FAST

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 (this fast was probably for one day, with the entire group giving themselves to seeking the Lord, as it regarded His Leading and Guidance pertaining to the long journey ahead of them in going from Babylon to Jerusalem).

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 who seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them who forsake Him (Ezra had boasted to Artaxerxes, and rightly so, of the power and goodness of God, and had spoken of himself and his brethren as being assured of the Divine protection, hence him not asking for military help on the long journey; considering that this way was infested by robbers, this was a great step of faith).

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

TWELVE PRIESTS CHOSEN AS TREASURERS OF THE TEMPLE RICHES

²⁴Then I separated twelve of the chief of the Priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with 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 counselors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:

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;

²⁷Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. (All of this was worth, in 2004 currency, approximately $100 million, or even more; so it is easy to understand how this would be a tempting target for robbers.)

²⁸And I said unto them, You are holy unto the LORD (the men appointed of Verse 24); the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.

²⁹Watch you, and keep them, until you 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.

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 (consecrated to God by their Office, the Priests and Levites were the fitting custodians of consecrated things).

EZRAS ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM

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 (robbers!).

³²And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days (this tells us that they all arrived safely; in fact, more than likely most, if not all, of the people with Ezra had never seen Jerusalem, having been born in Babylon).

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 (Ezras businesslike action should be followed by all Christian people in money matters, both secular and spiritual);

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

³⁵Also the children of those who 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 (on reaching Jerusalem, they hasted to offer up Burnt Offerings and Sin Offerings in great number; that is, they proclaimed that despite their faith, their praying, their fasting, and their costly donations to the Temple, yet were they great sinners, needing a great Saviour; the greatness and sufficiency of that Saviour were typified in the multitude of the animals slain).

³⁶And they delivered the kings commissions unto the kings lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river (the west side of Jordan): and they furthered the people, and the House of God.