Ezra 2

— that they should not eat of the most holy things.] That is, that they should not partake of the sacrifices offered for sin, nor of the right shoulder of the peace offerings, nor of the shewbread, which were all most holy, and the portion of the priests alone. This shews that “the Tirahatha” possessed great power and authority over them, being able to impose such a restraint on those who had been reputed priests. Bp. Patrick.

— till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.] Till there might stand up a priest who could pronounce whether these persons were of the line of Aaron or not, from the revelation of the Divine will by Urim and Thummim. Bp. Patrick.

It is evident from this passage, that the Urim and Thummim of the former temple were either burnt with it, or at least lost before this time: whether they were ever afterwards restored, that is, whether God ever raised up a priest after the captivity to whom He declared His will by Urim and Thummim, we are no where informed in holy writ. It is the general tradition of the Jews, that God never did declare His will in this way to any priest after the Babylonish captivity. Dr. Wells.

The whole number of the people, &c. The foundations of the temple are laid. Before CHRIST about 536.

Chap. IV. ver. 1. — the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin] The Samaritans: the people whom Shalmaneser and Esar-haddon, kings of Assyria, had brought from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, and other places, and had settled in parts of the country formerly inhabited by the ten tribes of Israel; see ver. 2 and 10. They were called Samaritans, from having occupied the city of Samaria and its neighbourhood, and were also called Cutheans, from the country which some of them had formerly inhabited. See the history of the captivity of the ten tribes, and of the settlement of these strangers in their inheritance, in 2 Kings xvii. Bp. Patrick, Collyer.

Ezra 2:2

2. — builded the altar —, to offer burnt offerings] Thus the first thing they did was to restore the altar of burnt offerings, (of which see the description at 2 Chron. iv. 1.) By the expression of the next verse, “they set the altar upon his bases,” it seems certain that they rebuilt it on the spot where it formerly stood; and it appears that they daily offered sacrifices upon it, even before any of the rest of the temple was built. Dean Prideaux.

The first care of the Jews on their return is their publick sacrifice. That school of captivity in which they had been trained had taught them to begin with God. A forced discontinuance makes devotion more savoury and more sweet to religious hearts; whereas, in an open freedom, piety does too often languish. Bp. Hall.

We should well observe, that, as soon as the Jews were returned from Babylon, they set about rebuilding their altars and the temple, in order to perform Divine

The altar is set up. CHAP. III. The foundations of the temple are laid. Before CHRIST about 536. b Deut. 12. 8. c Numb. 29. 12. d Exod. 23. 16. the matter of the day in his day. temple of the LORD was not yet founded. workmen. e Acts 9. 30. 538. is b written in the law of Moses the man of God.

2. — we seek your God.] This people had worshipped the true God since the time of Esar-haddon, when lions were sent to infest their country as a chastisement for their idolatry; they had moreover received instruction at that time, by their own desire, from an Israelite priest: but they nevertheless continued to worship images,

said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

Ezra 2:3

3. — for fear was upon them] The Hebrew particle, which we translate for, has also the sense of although; and this seems to be the meaning here; implying that, although they were in great fear of their evil neighbours, still they were unwilling to desist from restoring the worship of God. Bp. Patrick.

4. — ye have nothing to do with us] You have no just claim to join with us in building a house to our God, nor can we by our religion admit you so to do, as being worshippers of other gods as well as of our God. Dr. Wells.

The Jews steadily rejected the proposal made by the Samaritans, to join with them in rebuilding the temple of the God of Israel, and celebrating His worship; and we can discern important reasons, in consequence of which this rejection appears to have been subservient to the purposes of the Divine economy. The interminators of the Samaritans with the Jews might have rendered the accomplishment of the prophecies concerning the family and birth of the Messiah less clear; might have introduced again idolatry among the restored Jews, now completely abhorrent from it, and in various ways defeated the grand objects of Providence in selecting and preserving a peculiar people. In consequence of this rejection, and the alienation it produced, the Jews probably became more vigilant in preserving the strictness, and the Samaritans more zealous in emulating the purity, of the Mosaick ritual. They became hostile and therefore unsuspected guardians and vouchers of the integrity of the sacred text, particularly of the Pentateuch. And while the Jews in general, blinded by their national prejudices, could see in the promised Messiah only a national and temporal deliverer; the Samaritans appear to have judged of His pretensions with more justice and success. And though our Lord visited them only as it were incidentally, yet He was able to declare to them His character and avow His dignity, without that mysterious reserve and jealous caution, which the proneness of the Jewish multitude “to take Him by force and make Him a king” constantly required. And it seems evident that the Samaritans were predisposed and prepared to receive and diffuse the light of the Gospel more than any other description of men, the pious and reflecting part of the Jewish nation only excepted. And thus the circumstance, in the progress of the Jewish dispensation, which at first view might seem to prove it was peculiarly partial or confined, appears in its final result to have materially facilitated the diffusion of true religion in the world, and thus to have been subservient to the general advantage of mankind. Dr. Graves.

Before CHRIST about 678. 334.

Ezra 2:4

4. They kept also the feast of tabernacles,] This seventh month, being a month of many solemnities of worship appointed by the Mosaical law, (Numb. xxix,) they began it by the feast of trumpets; then the great day of expiation on the tenth, and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth, till the whole was concluded; the morning and evening sacrifices ushering in every day’s solemnity, and being constantly offered up from this time forward, and every other festival of the year being punctually observed agreeably to the law. Pyle. VOL. I. and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.

Ezra 2:7

7. — to bring cedar trees from Lebanon &c.] See notes at 1 Kings v. 6. — according to the grant that they had of Cyrus] Cyrus, we may suppose, had specially commanded the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon to afford them their assistance. Bp. Patrick.

Ezra 2:8

8. — of their coming unto the house of God] To the place where the house of God formerly stood. They laid the foundation of the temple, it appears, in the second month of the second year, having of course employed the previous time in preparing the ground and collecting their materials. Bp. Patrick.

Ezra 2:9

9. — Jeshua] Not the high priest, but the Levite mentioned at chap. ii. 40. 12. But many of the priests and Levites — wept with a loud voice;] What different affections do we see produced in men by the same occasion! The younger Jews shouted at this sight, the elder wept. The younger shouted to see a new foundation, the elder wept to remember the old. They who had seen no better, thought this goodly: they who had seen the former, thought this mean and homely, more sorrowing at what they had lost, than rejoicing at so unequal a reparation. Bp. Hall. The old men, who had seen the glory of the first temple, and had no expectation that this, which was now

Ezra 2:55

55. The children of Solomon’s servants.] These are supposed to have been descendants of artificers, who were employed in the building of Solomon’s temple; and who, becoming proselytes, were, with their children and posterity, appointed by Solomon for its perpetual conservation and reparation. Bp. Patrick.

Ezra 2:59

59. And these were they &c.] The persons here mentioned, as coming out from several towns of Chaldea or Mesopotamia, were probably Israelites, descendants of some of the ten tribes, who, having been carried away captive long before the captivity of Judah, had by length of time, or by some other misfortune, lost the genealogy of their families, and so could not claim a settlement and particular possessions in the land, as the other Israelites did; but still were desirous of living amongst them, and of seeing the worship of God restored. Pyle.

Ezra 2:61

61. — and was called after their name.] This person, it appears, thought it so great an honour to be descended from so noble a family as that of Barzillai, that he chose to be called by that name, which he preferred to his own in the family of the priests; by which vain ambition he lost his title to the priesthood, because he could not regularly make out his descent from the line of the priests. Bp. Patrick.

Ezra 2:63

63. — The Tirahatha] Meaning Zerubbabel, whose title in the Persian language was Tirahatha, that is,

Ezra 2:64

64. The whole congregation together was &c.] The numbers before expressly detailed are considerably smaller than the general sum here mentioned. The difference is probably to be explained by the addition of those mentioned at ver. 61, 62, and others of the common people of the twelve tribes, who could not make out their pedigree. Dr. Wells.

It should be observed, how small the sum total here mentioned is, in comparison with the vast multitude which came out from Egypt; yet this number is more than the double of that which was carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar. Bp. Patrick.

It is most certain, that, notwithstanding the decree of Cyrus, and others by subsequent Persian kings, for the return of the Jews into their own land, there were a great many who waved the taking advantage of them, and continued still in Chaldea, Assyria, and other Eastern provinces. It is probable too that those who remained were the most affluent and wealthy, as it is natural to suppose that such would be least willing to remove into a desolate country. If we may guess by the example of the family of Aaron, we must conclude that those who staid were much more numerous than those who removed to Judea; for, of the twenty-four courses of the sons of Aaron, it is related at ver. 36, that four only returned. Dean Prideaux.

Ezra 2:69

69. — threescore and one thousand drams of gold.] The richness of these donations, and of those mentioned at chap. viii. 25, shews that the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was not a state of slavery, and that worldly prosperity continued within their reach. The same appears also from the history of Daniel, Nehemiah, and other Jews, who were promoted to great honour in the Assyrian and Persian courts. Bp. Patrick.

— drams of gold, — pound of silver.] The “drams of gold” being mentioned together with “pounds of silver,” seem to convey the idea of weight: whereas in fact these daraconim, drams, were a Median coin, struck by one of the elder Darius’s, and named after him Daricks. The Scholast on Aristophanes says, “The stateras of gold are the Daricks; so called, not from Darius father of Xerxes, but from a more ancient king.”

This agrees with the older account, 1 Chron. xxix. 6, 7, “the princes of Israel gave—ten thousand drams of gold.” These then were golden Daricks, obtained from Persia by commerce. The word, rendered “pound” of silver, is mina, worth sixty shekels, Ezek. xlv. 12; about £7. Script. illust. Expos. Ind.

— and one hundred priests’ garments.] Such presents of garments would appear singular to us; but, in the East, where to give is to honour, such a present of garments, or of any other usable commodities, is in perfect compliance with established customs. Fragments to Calmet.

Chap. III. ver. 1. And when the seventh month was come.] We are no where informed in what month they began their journey from Babylon; but, from chap. vii. 9, we understand it was a journey of four months from thence to Jerusalem; so that we may conclude they began their journey in the first or second month; and, after they had spent some time in settling themselves in their several cities, the seventh month approached or drew nigh, (so the expression here may be rendered,) in which was the season of the first great feast, that occurred after they came to Judea: accordingly they assembled themselves to celebrate it at Jerusalem. Bp. Patrick.