Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Jews who returned with Ezra from Babylon to Judea are listed by families. Likewise the vessels, gifts, and sacrifices which they offered to God.
Vulgate Text: 1 Esdrae 8:1-36
1. These are the heads of families and their genealogy, who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes. 2. Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. 3. Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah: and with him were counted one hundred and fifty men. 4. Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred men. 5. Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred men. 6. Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men. 7. Of the sons of Elam, Isaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy men. 8. Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty men. 9. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men. 10. Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty men. 11. Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight men. 12. Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten men. 13. Of the sons of Adonikam, who were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty men. 14. Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them seventy men. 15. And I gathered them together at the river that runs to Ahava, and we camped there three days, and I searched among the people and among the priests for sons of Levi, and I found none there. 16. So I sent for Eliezer, and Ariel, and Shemaiah, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders: and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were wise men. 17. And I sent them to Iddo, who is chief in the place of Casiphia, and I put words in their mouths to speak to Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim, in the place of Casiphia, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God. 18. And they brought us, by the good hand of our God upon us, a very learned man of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah and his sons and his brethren, eighteen; 19. and Hashabiah, and with him Isaiah of the sons of Merari, and his brethren and their sons, twenty. 20. And of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all these were called by their names. 21. And I proclaimed a fast there, by the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before the Lord our God, and ask of Him a safe journey for us and for our children, and for all our substance. 22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to defend us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all who seek Him for their good: and His power, and His strength, and His wrath are upon all who forsake Him. 23. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and it turned out well for us. 24. And I separated twelve of the chief priests, Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brethren. 25. And I weighed out to them the silver, and the gold, and the consecrated vessels of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel that were present had offered: 26. and I weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred silver vessels, and a hundred talents of gold: 27. and twenty golden bowls weighing a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, as beautiful as gold. 28. And I said to them: You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of our fathers; 29. watch and guard them, until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites, and the heads of families of Israel in Jerusalem, in the treasury of the house of the Lord. 30. So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. 31. Then we set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and of the ambusher on the way. 32. And we came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days. 33. And on the fourth day the silver, and the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God, by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites, 34. according to the number and weight of everything: and the whole weight was recorded at that time. 35. And those who had come from captivity, the children of the exile, offered holocausts to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin offering: all as a holocaust to the Lord. 36. And they delivered the king's edicts to the satraps who were in the king's presence, and to the governors beyond the River, and they supported the people and the house of God.
Verse 1: Who Went Up with Me
1. Who went up with me. — From this it is clear that Ezra wrote this catalog, and that he is the author of this book.
Verse 13: Who Were the Last
13. Who were the last — that is, those who last of all joined themselves to Ezra, to return with him to Jerusalem.
Verse 17: Iddo, Chief in the Place of Casiphia
17. And I sent them to Iddo, who is chief (the leader) in the place of Casiphia. — "Casiphia" was a village or district in Babylon, in which Jews lived separated from the Chaldeans, and of which village or district Iddo was the chief.
Verse 21: I Proclaimed a Fast
21. And I proclaimed (that is, I appointed and publicly announced a general) fast, etc., that we might ask of Him a safe journey — that is, that God might lead us safe and sound by a direct road through so many enemies, dangers, and winding paths to Jerusalem, and prosper all our affairs.
Verse 23: We Besought Our God
23. We besought our God for this (the Hebrew and Septuagint: For this, or on account of this, that is, that on account of this fast He might direct and prosper our journey; which He did: for) it turned out well for us. — See here how powerful before God is prayer armed with fasting, so that it seems to do violence to God to grant what is asked.
Verse 27: Twenty Golden Bowls
27. And twenty golden bowls which had (a weight, that is, weighed) a thousand solidi. — The Hebrew and Septuagint read: a thousand drachmas.
Verse 35: They Offered Holocausts
35. They offered holocausts. — A holocaust was properly a sacrifice in which the entire victim was burned in honor of God; but here it is taken more broadly for any offering, even one offered for sin, as follows. See what was said on Leviticus 1 and following.
Verse 36: They Supported the People
36. And they supported the people — that is, the satraps and governors of the Persians exalted the Jews with their patronage, favor, help, and resources, by promoting the building of the temple, encouraging, assisting, providing provisions, and offering gifts, as Artaxerxes had commanded them in the preceding chapter.