Ezra 8

These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes: Ezra 8:1

Jewish society was organized around the men and their extended families. [1] Ezra was wise enough to understand that fact, so he worked with the heads of families and the leaders to gather his group. The original assembly that began the return was made up of 1,496 people. Immediately after the journey began, a number of Levites and temple servants were added making a total of 1,754. [2] To this group, the women and children had to be included making the grand total of an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people. [3] While this was a sizeable company it certainly did not compare to the earlier settlers brought by Zerubbabel. That group numbered almost 50,000 people.

Many factors had probably thinned down the size of this group. Undoubtedly, numerous reports of the difficult time settlers were having in the Holy Land had been received. Also, the Prophet Jeremiah had told them to settle down in Babylon and live normal lives there (Jer. 29:1-7). In general, the Jewish people are industrious and soon succeed in their work. We can imagine that most of them were becoming quite comfortable in Babylon. Little did they know that they were being asked to make one of the most important moves in the history of the world.

When we look at this listing we begin to realize that many of the same family names appear as were in the Zerubbabel group almost 80 years before. That should not shock us when we realize that they were simply members of the same family units who returned earlier. [4] These other listings are found in Ezra 2:3ff. and Nehemiah 7:6ff. However, the order here is different.

“of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; of the descendants of David, Hattush” (8:2). Here the priests are mentioned first and then a descendant of David by the name of Hattush. This man was a great-great-grandson of Zerubbabel, in the line of David (cf. 1 Chron. 3:22). [5] It was probably important to have the Davidic Kingdom represented in their midst. This is a listing of the remainder of the families:

[3] of the descendants of Shekaniah; of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

[4] of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men; “of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;

[5] of the descendants of Zattu, Shekaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;

[6] of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;

[7] of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;

[8] of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

[9] of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;

[10] of the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;

[11] of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;

[12] of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;

[13] of the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;

[14] of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zakkur, and with them 70 men. (8:3-14).

The Return To Jerusalem

The first return to the land after the Babylonian captivity was one of the most important events in Bible history or perhaps in all of history. Without that return, the nation of Israel would have simply disappeared. The return under Ezra was very important to stabilize the settlement and turn the people back to the word of God. Without these efforts, Israel would have been totally absorbed into the pagan world.

What few Christians understand, is that there is another return to the land being made by the Jewish people today. That return began in the 1880s and continues with great force. It was a return as a result of the Roman victories in 70 and 135 AD which caused a vast worldwide dispersion of Israel. In Isaiah 11:11, the Lord promises that he will gather Israel a “second time,” but this gathering will be from all over the world. Much of this gathering of Israel has been accomplished and the nation is now largely restored. Despite great opposition, Israel became a nation once more in 1948. If the first return was important, the return that is going on today after two thousand years of dispersion must surely be one of the most important events of all time.

In Isaiah 56:8, God says that he will gather others along with his people. In Isaiah 60:3, the Lord says that the Gentiles will come to the rising light of Israel. The Lord declares that the Gentiles will come and even work as Israel’s vinedressers and plowmen (Isa. 61:5; cf. 14:1-2). He proclaims: “And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isa. 51:11 ESV). Today thousands of evangelical Gentile Christians live and work in Israel. Many work there as volunteers to assist with Israel’s varied and growing needs.

I remember how God began to call me to Israel way back in 1967. I was a young pastor at the time and eventually I had to uproot my family and move them to Israel. Our family would happily agree that the stay there, outside of salvation itself, was the most blessed thing that ever happened to us. My wife and I worked as volunteers in Israel for a total of 16 years. We worked a lot with new immigrants returning to the land from the former USSR and Ethiopia. We also founded and operated a study center in the Galilee. Somehow God paid all the bills and when we retired back in the US, the Lord wonderfully supplied us. Our oldest son with his wife and four children continue to live and work in Israel. Our youngest grandson there proudly serves as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. Our two granddaughters will soon do the same.

Regarding this listing, Breneman comments: “The emphasis on the ‘family heads’ reminds us of the great responsibility of being head of a family. The family is the basis of society, and the father is the head of the family. As such he has a tremendous responsibility under God to direct and teach his family.” [6] Anders remarks: “Approximately fifteen hundred men uprooted their families to return to Jerusalem…Pulling up stakes and traveling across the desert to a broken-down city probably held little appeal for most of the Jewish exiles in Persia.” [7] It was quite a feat of faith for those who came.

“I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there” (8:15). We realize here that Ezra is speaking in the first person to us. This section actually runs from 7:27 to 9:15 and is sometimes referred to as the “Ezra memoir.” [8] Anders says of this man: “Ezra’s personal accounts reveal a man of order. He carefully assembled the caravan, assigned tasks to responsible men, and accounted for every person and article under his protection, yet he avoided the rigidity of legalism because his heart was humble before God.” [9]

Regarding the canal flowing toward Ahavah, archaeologists and historians have not yet been able to identify it. Along the great rivers around Babylon, there were many canals. No doubt this was a well-known meeting place where the exiles could stop and get better organized for the long trip ahead.

As Ezra surveyed his group, he realized that they were missing representation from the Levites. We know from the first return under Zerubbabel that Levites were poorly represented even then. At that time there were 4,289 priests as compared to only 341 Levites (Ezr. 2:36-42). Levites were important, especially in this case, since they were required to carry the many temple treasures.

Obviously, there was a problem recruiting Levites. McConville comments: “Babylon will have offered the Levites, among other things, the opportunity to become people of substance for the first time, since they had been barred, under Israel’s original charter of the occupation of the land, from possessing territory of their own (see. e. g. Num. 18:24).” [10] The Levites may also have been discouraged regarding the many abuses of the priesthood as seen later in Malachi 2:1-2. [11]

“So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, and I ordered them to go to Iddo, the leader in Kasiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his fellow Levites, the temple servants in Kasiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God” (8:16-17). Once again, we notice Ezra’s remarkable gift of leadership. He was careful to send leaders and men respected for their learning on this mission. He certainly knew how to delegate people to do the important tasks.

Ezra focused attention on Iddo, who was probably the chief of the Levites and Nethinim located there. [12] Ezra certainly sent words that pricked the hearts of the Levites and servants. They decided to uproot their lives over a mere three-day period because of these words. Can we even imagine what they went through in selling houses, businesses, packing up precious belongings and bidding what was probably a permanent goodbye to those near and dear? Whatever message Ezra sent was likely a very urgent one. People may have been moved by Ezra’s great priestly character or else by his royal commission. [13]

The location of Kasiphia or Casiphia is unknown to us today. Guthrie says of it: “The concentration of cultic personnel may indicate that there was Jewish temple there as at Elephantine in Egypt. The word for ‘place’ is used of the Temple itself in 9:8.” [14]

“Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 in all; and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 in all” (8:18-19). Ezra seemed especially happy to get Sherebiah on board. He was not only a capable man but he had outstanding Levitical credentials all the way back through Mahli to Levi himself. Ezra was surely not disappointed with this man for we see him later teaching the law (Neh. 8:7). He also later helped seal Nehemiah’s covenant and participated in prayer and worship. (Neh. 10:12). [15] We note that 38 Levites joined with Ezra.

“They also brought 220 of the temple servants – a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name” (8:20). The temple servants (Heb. ne-ta-nim ) were conquered people who were made servants or slaves in the temple. The very first netanim were probably the people of Gibeon (Josh. 9:23).

“There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions” (8:21). We simply cannot imagine the grave concern Ezra and his people had as they faced months of travel along a dangerous trail. Without a doubt, the word had gotten out through the Babylonian “grapevine” that Ezra was carrying a vast amount of treasure. It was a sure temptation to robbers all along the way. This was especially a concern since the group was not armed. This scenario would have been much like the “wild west” movies where the money stagecoach gets ambushed and robbed.

Ezra the man of God solved this problem by declaring a fast and casting the matter of their safety and success upon the Almighty God. “Ezra understood the spiritual power of fasting, as a demonstration of our single-minded devotion to God and his cause” [16]

“I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him’” (8:22). Ezra had made his boast in the Lord before the king and now he could not renege. McGee adds: “The normal thing would be to ask the king for a little help – for a few guards to ride along with them. Then the king would say, ‘I thought you were trusting the Lord.’” [17] “Often we do not give God a chance to show his power. As he said to Paul, ‘My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).’” [18]

“So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer” (8:23). McConville says: “Ezra was thus not merely the man of dogged faith and discipline but also a man of worship, who recognized the hand of God in events, and gave him his due in praise.” [19]

“Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, namely, Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God” (8:24-25). This was a vast treasure worth millions of dollars and Ezra was doing the right thing to delegate this financial responsibility among the priests. Much later the Apostle Paul would do a similar thing with the large offering taken for Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:18-24). We can imagine that the priests clung to this treasure never letting it out of their sight. Breneman remarks: “…Many present-day scandals could be avoided if Christian leaders would learn from Ezra.” [20]

“I weighed out to them 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics, and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold” (8:26-27). Anders estimates the 650 talents of silver at approximately twenty-five tons and the 100 talents of gold at just under four tons. He does note that the 100 is thought to refer to the number of articles rather than their combined weight. [21] In our minds, we can multiply out the enormous value of this treasure trove, with current silver prices around $25 (US) per ounce and gold at a little under $1800 per ounce. Regarding the two fine polished articles, Jamieson says they were highly esteemed by the Jews and composed of gold and other metals that took on a high shine and were not subject to tarnish. [22]

“I said to them, ‘You as well as these articles are consecrated to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your ancestors. Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel’” (8:28-29). Since these were temple treasures the priests would probably guard them with their lives. The amounts of treasure were so great that each person would have to transport their portion on donkeys or in carts. No doubt the Levites had to assist in this conveyance as we shall see.

“Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem” (8:30).

Arrival In Jerusalem

On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days. Ezra 8:31-32

Pfeiffer and Harrison remark that it was a nine-hundred-mile trip made in four months and that is about seven miles a day. [23] Jamieson says, “to accomplish a journey so long and so arduous in perfect safety, is one of the most astonishing events recorded in history.” [24] It is really amazing that on such a long journey Ezra makes no comment whatsoever. His eyes and heart were focused only on Jerusalem.

After the very long trip, the people rested for three days upon arrival. Wiersbe says of this, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is to do nothing…As Vance Havner used to say, ‘If you don’t come apart, you will come apart – you will go to pieces.’” [25]

“On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui. Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time” (8:33-34). We can almost feel the relief of priests and Levites as they turned over their treasure to the temple officials. Breneman notes: “In Babylonian practice most transactions, such as sales and marriages, had to be recorded: and the Persians continued Babylonian legal tradition. So, Ezra probably had to send to King Artaxerxes signed certification that these treasures had been received in the temple.” [26]

“Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering, twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD” (8:35). For sure, these weary people were thankful to God that they had arrived safely. We have seen the number twelve and its multiples before, and it probably indicates that Ezra felt the exiles made up the whole of Israel. Clarke says, “There can be little doubt that there were individuals there from all the twelve tribes, possibly some families of each.” [27]

“They also delivered the king’s orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God” (8:36). Unlike others before him, Ezra came with special power to govern from the king himself (7:25). We can imagine that other government officials in the area were quick to comply and cooperate with him.

Footnotes

1. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 92.

2. Jamieson, et. at. Commentary on Ezra, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 8:1.

3. Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, vs. 8:1-14.

4. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, Ezra, vs. 8:1-14.

5. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 138.

6. Ibid.

7. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 93.

8. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, p. 53.

9. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 92.

10. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, p. 54.

11. Coffman, Commentary on Ezra, Coffman Commentaries on the Bible, v. 8:15.

12. Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 43.

13. Jamieson, et. at. Commentary on Ezra, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 8:16.

14. Guthrie, ed., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 403.

15. Pett, Commentary on Ezra, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, v. 8:18.

16. Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, vs. 8:21-23.

17. McGee, History of Israel, Ezra Nehemiah, Esther, p. 46.

18. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p.142.

19. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, p. 52.

20. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 143.

21. Anders, g. ed. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Holman Old Testament Commentary, p. 95.

22. Jamieson, et. at. Commentary on Ezra, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 8:27.

23. Pfeiffer & Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 430.

24. Jamieson, et. at. Commentary on Ezra, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 8:31.

25. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 745.

26. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 146.

27. Clarke, Commentary on Ezra, The Adam Clarke Commentary, v. 8:35.