Chapter Eight

1–14. A list of those who departed from Babylon with Ezra. 15–20. The recruiting of Levites and Nethinim. 21–23. Preparation for the journey. 24–30. Gifts for the temple. 31–32. A brief account of the journey of the settlers. 33–36. Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem.

Ezra 8:1. And these are the heads of the fathers’ houses and the genealogy of those who came up with me from Babylon, in the reign of King Artaxerxes: In enumerating raschte beith-avetham, “heads of fathers’ houses,” the writer not only names them but also indicates the families to which they belonged.

Ezra 8:2. Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush; Gershom and Daniel mentioned in v. 2 were heads of priestly families. Since in Ezra 7 Ezra himself is numbered among the descendants of Phinehas, it is evident that the Gershom mentioned in v. 2 was the head of Ezra’s family. The writer does not indicate the total number of all priests who arrived with Ezra in Jerusalem, although he does specify precisely the number of laymen. However, from the mention in v. 2 of only two priests (Gershom, Daniel) it cannot be concluded that there were only two. According to v. 24 the number of priests was considerable, since Ezra was able to set aside twelve men from among them to supervise the safeguarding of the gifts for the needs of the temple. Hattush of the sons of David is mentioned also in 1 Chr 3:22, where he is called the son of Shechaniah. He is also mentioned in 1 Esd 8:29: Lattus, son of Sekenias (Λαττους ὁ Σεκενίου). In view of this, and also on the basis of comparison with the following, the opening words of v. 3 of the chapter under consideration “of the sons of Shechaniah” should be referred to the end of v. 2 as designating the genealogy of Hattush (“Hattush of the sons of Shechaniah”).

Ezra 8:3. Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:4. Of the sons of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:5. Of the sons of [Zaphoi] Shechaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:6. Of the sons of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:7. Of the sons of Elam, Isaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:8. Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him 80 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:9. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:10. Of the sons of [Bani] Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:11. Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him 28 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:12. Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:13. Of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men of the male gender; Ezra 8:14. Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them 70 men of the male gender. The numbers cited in vv. 3–14 in general agree with those given in 1 Esd 8:30-47. The difference concerns the sons of Adin, whose number in v. 6 is set at 50, and in 1 Esd 8:32 at 250; the sons of Joab, who according to v. 9 were 218, and according to 1 Esd 8:35-212, and finally the sons of Adonikam, who according to v. 13 were 60 men, and according to 1 Esd 8:39-70. It is difficult to say which numbers in the cited cases should be considered exact. As for the names of the persons listed by the writer, they in 1 Esd 8 are often rendered in a different form (compare Ezra 8:8 Zebadiah, 1 Esd 8:34 – Zerahiah; Ezra 8:9 Obadiah, son of Jehiel, 1 Esd 8:35 Avadiah, son of Jezila, etc.). This difference in names can most often be attributed to the error of copyists. But in some cases it can be recognized that in 2 Ezra there are preserved more ancient readings.

Ezra 8:5. Of the sons of [Zaphoi] Shechaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men of the male gender; “Of the sons of Shechaniah, son of Jahaziel.” In 1 Esd 8:32 instead of this is read: “of the sons of Zaphoi – Sekhenia, son of Jezila.” Evidently, the name Zaphoi, the ancestor, is omitted in the Hebrew text in v. 5 and should be inserted.

Ezra 8:9. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men of the male gender; The sons of Joab mentioned in v. 9 are in Ezra 2:6 numbered among the sons of Pahath-Moab. Apparently, the family of Pahath-Moab later divided into two lines – Pahath-Moab and Joab.

Ezra 8:10. Of the sons of [Bani] Shelomith, son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men of the male gender; “Of the sons of Shelomith, son of Josiphiah.” According to the LXX: ἀπο τῶν Βαανί, Σελιμουθ ὑιος Ιωσεφία. In 1 Esd 8:36: “of the sons of Bani – Asalomoth, son of Josaphiah.” Evidently, in the Hebrew text in v. 9, the name Bani is omitted and should be inserted.

Ezra 8:13. Of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men of the male gender; “Of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, and these are their names.” The meaning of the word “last ones” (Hebrew acharonim) in this verse is not entirely clear. Michaels understood it as the writer’s indication that the remaining members of the family of Adonikam returned earlier with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:13). However, with regard to other families, some of whose members also returned earlier, the writer does not use the expression last ones. According to the opinion of other commentators (Rissel), by this expression the writer may have meant to indicate either that the descendants of Adonikam mentioned by him decided to return from captivity later than others, or that they later than other relatives acknowledged their belonging to the family of Adonikam.

Ezra 8:14. Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them 70 men of the male gender. From the list of those who returned, ending in v. 14, it is evident that with Ezra, in addition to the priests Gershom and Daniel and the Davidite Hattush, there arrived in Jerusalem 12 “heads of fathers’ houses” with their families. The total number of all Jews who returned was 1486 (according to 2 Ezra – 1690), not including priests and descendants of David, whose number is not specified.

Ezra 8:15. I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we stayed three days. Then I looked among the people and the priests and found none of the sons of Levi there. The place of gathering of those returning with Ezra were the banks of the river flowing into Ahava. V. 21 and 31 speak directly of the river Ahava as the place of gathering of those returning. According to the LXX the river is called Θερα (καὶ συνήγαγου αὐτόυς ἐπὶ τὸν λεγομενον Θερὰν ποταμόν); in 1 Esd 8:41 Thera (“and I gathered them at the river called Thera”). According to Ewald (Geschichte V. J. IV, 154), the river Ahava may be identified with the river Pallakopas mentioned by Greek writers, which flowed south of Babylon. According to Rawlinson, the river Ahava is the river Is of Herodotus (I, 179), called among the Babylonians, according to the Talmud, Jhi. In any case, v. 15 refers to a locality close to Babylon, and by the river Ahava the writer could only mean some tributary of the Euphrates or canal. According to this, Josephus notes that Ezra gathered those returning εἰς τὸ πέραν του Εὐθράτου (Jewish Antiquities 11:5, 2). “And we stayed there three days.” In the course of three days it became evident that there were no Levites among those returning. Apparently, the independent and secure life in Babylon, on the one hand, and the subordinate and dependent position in Jerusalem, on the other, prevented the Levites from moving to their native country. Measures were taken to invite the Levites (vv. 16 and following), and other preparations were also made, which took 8 days, so that the journey itself began (v. 31) on the 12th day of the month (Keil).

Ezra 8:17. And I commissioned them to go to Iddo, the chief in the place Casiphia, and I put in their mouth the words what to say to Iddo and to his brothers the Nethinim in the place Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of our God. “And I commissioned them to go to Iddo, the chief in the place Casiphia.” According to the LXX instead of the proper name Casiphia a general term τόπος γαζοφολακίον is read. It is most natural to understand by the name Casiphia some locality either in the city of Babylon itself or near it. The position of Iddo and his status in Casiphia are not clearly indicated by the writer. But it is evident that Ezra attributed great influence to him over the Levites and that only through this influence was it possible for a fairly large number of Levites to agree to return to Jerusalem. It is reasonable to suppose that Levites and Nethinim under the leadership of Iddo formed in Casiphia a united community, a kind of school dedicated to studying the past fortunes of the people and its law (Rissel). “To Iddo and his brothers, the Nethinim.” According to v. 20 the Nethinim were servants of the Levites. Hardly could they be called the brothers of Iddo. Therefore the cited expression is unclear and suggests a possible omission. “That they should bring to us ministers for the house of God,” that is, Levites (1 Chr 6:48) and Nethinim.

Ezra 8:18. And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought to us a man of understanding of the sons of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men; “And they brought to us... a man of understanding of the sons of Mahli.” “A man of understanding” (according to LXX Vat. in the plural). The Hebrew isch schechel standing here, by context may be understood as a proper name. Thus understood in some Greek texts and in our Slavonic, where it is read “a man Sahon, of the sons of Moolites.” The Sherebiah mentioned in v. 18 appears again in Neh 8:7.

Ezra 8:19. And Hashabiah and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, 20 men; Hashabiah is mentioned again in v. 24 and Neh 10:11.

Ezra 8:20. And of the Nethinim, whom David and his princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, 220 Nethinim. All of them were mentioned by name. In specifying the total number of Nethinim, the writer makes a remark: “all of them were mentioned by name.” Evidently, the writer had before him a list of Nethinim, to which he directs the readers.

Ezra 8:21. And I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods, “And I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava.” Fasting from ancient times was considered among the Jews a means of appeasing the Lord (cf. Joel 1:14; Jer 36:9; 2 Chr 20:3).

Ezra 8:22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a force of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against enemies on the journey, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is for good upon all who seek Him, and the power of His wrath is against all those who forsake Him! “For protection against enemies on the journey.” The danger facing the caravan, for the prevention of which it was necessary to ask for soldiers, came from Arab and Syrian bandit tribes.

Ezra 8:32. And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days. “And we came to Jerusalem.” The time of Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem, as is evident from Ezra 7:9, was the first day of the fifth month (Av). Thus, the journey lasted four months from the departure from Babylon and 3.5 months after leaving the river Ahava (cf. Ezra 7:9). The distance from Babylon to Jerusalem by direct road equals, according to Rawlinson’s calculations, 750 miles. But armies and large caravans had to make significant detours around Carchemish in the valley of the Orontes River. Due to this, the path lengthened to 1,300 miles. Nevertheless, the time spent by Ezra’s caravan for the journey seems too long. What caused this length is difficult to say with certainty. Here could have been stops for celebrating the festivals of the first and third months, the collection of gifts for the temple and provisions for the journey (prolonged stays in places where there were many Jews, and so forth). “And we stayed there three days.” Nehemiah (Neh 2:11) also began to fulfill his service three days after his arrival.

Ezra 8:33. On the fourth day we weighed out the silver and the gold and the vessels in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth, son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar, son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui, the Levites, Ezra 8:34. Everything by number and weight. And all the weight was recorded at that time. To prevent suspicion, the silver, gold, and vessels were delivered to a special commission of two priests and Levites. The Meremoth, son of Uriah, mentioned in v. 33 also appears in Neh 3:4. Of another priest Eleazar, son of Phinehas, no further information is given in the post-exilic books. The Levite Jozabad can be identified with Jozabad mentioned in Ezra 10:23. Noadiah is not named anywhere else.

Ezra 8:35. The returned exiles offered as a burnt offering 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 as a burnt offering to the Lord. The quantity of sacrifices offered by the returning exiles has symbolic significance. Twelve bulls and twelve goats are offered for all Israel. The idea of the twelve tribes appears also in the offering of 96 rams (96 12 x 8). The writer’s remark all this as a burnt offering to the Lord indicates that no part of the sacrifice went for a meal.

Ezra 8:36. And they delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors beyond the River, and they assisted the people and the house of God. “And they delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors beyond the River.” In a similar way Nehemiah acted (Neh 2:9). The position of satraps and their relationship to the governors beyond the River is difficult to determine precisely. It is probable that the former were principally military officials and the latter civil officials. According to Rawlinson’s opinion, satraps were the highest commanders appointed over entire Persian provinces, and the governors beyond the River – the commanders of small regions.