Ezra 2:68-69

Contributions Towards The Building Of The Temple (Ezra 2:68).

The description of these differs considerably from that in Nehemiah 7:70, which does not mention the Temple, but gives greater detail concerning the gifts, especially distinguishing those made by the Tirshatha. The reference to the Temple may well have been because the writer here deliberately altered the text of the original list in order to prepare for what is to follow in the next four Chapter s, the attempts to erect, and the final success in erecting, the Temple of YHWH. The non-mention of the specific contribution of the Tirshatha may well have been true of the original list, and may have been deliberate on the part of the Tirshatha so that mention of his contribution did not take away honour from YHWH. As a humble and godly man he may well not have wanted his contribution to be magnified. Later when he was dead, those who followed him would feel that they should honour his name as the one who had brought them out of the captivity to the land of their fathers. Alternately the writer behind Ezra 2 may have abbreviated (without altering the substance) in order to make the description tally more closely with the parallel descriptions of the giving at the Exodus, and the giving towards the building of the Temple in the time of David.

Ezra 2:68

‘And some of the heads of fathers' (houses), when they came to the house of YHWH which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in its place,'

Note the dual emphasis on ‘the house of YHWH', ‘the house of God'. This is what the next four chapter will be all about, the erection of the house of YHWH. ‘They came to the house of YHWH.' By this time the Temple mount was seen as so sacred that it could be described as ‘the house of YHWH', even though His house, as the ‘house of God' had not yet been erected. Sacrifices and offerings had continued to be made here by dedicated priests even during the Exile. Compare how Jacob could speak of the place where he had his vision and made his offering to God as ‘the house of God' (Genesis 28:17) even though there was no building there.

‘Some of the heads of the fathers' (houses) -- offered willingly' for the purpose of erecting the Temple. The writer possibly amended what was originally written in order to make a deliberate comparison with the freewill giving of the people the Exodus, and the freewill giving to the Temple in the time of David. Thus we can compare how the people of Israel had offered willingly towards the making of the Tabernacle and its furniture (Exodus 25:2; Exodus 35:21). This may well have been in mind in this description, for we have already seen in Ezra 1:4 how the writer seeks to portray this arrival of the exiles as a second Exodus. Furthermore also in mind might be the source behind 1 Chronicles 29:6; 1 Chronicles 29:29, where gifts were offered willingly for the building of the first Temple. Thus he saw history as repeating itself in the parallel with both the Exodus and the reign of David

Ezra 2:69

‘They gave in accordance with their ability into the treasury of the work, sixty one thousand darics (or drachmas - Hebrew: darkemonim) of gold, and five thousand minas (maneh) of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.'

What was given ‘into the treasury of the work' (the Temple building fund) was ‘in accordance with their ability'. This is a reminder that God never requires of us more than we are able to give. And the sum total of the giving, in round numbers, was ‘sixty one thousand darics (darkemonim) of gold, and five thousand minas (maneh) of silver, and one hundred priests' garments'. (Darkemonim is found only here and in the parallel in Nehemiah 7. It may not represent darics. Darics were not introduced until the time of Darius I (521-486 BC). Alternately the writer may have updated the weights). The giving of the priests' garments was apposite as they would in fact be required immediately at the coming ‘seventh month celebrations, from the first day of the month to the Feast of Tabernacles (Ezra 3:1).

Nehemiah 7 details this giving in more depth, providing more precise information. The abbreviation here from what was possibly in the original record (if it was so) may well have been with a view to not spoiling the parallels with Exodus 25:2; Exodus 3:21 and the sources behind 1 Chronicles 29:6. On the other hand the original record might have given the figures here, with the figures becoming more detailed in the records compiled once the Tirshatha was dead. The figures in Nehemiah amount to forty one thousand drachmas of gold; four thousand seven hundred minas of silver, and ninety seven priests' garments. Thus the figures in Ezra 2:69 are clearly round numbers. There is, however, a discrepancy with regard to the amount of gold. It is possible, however, that the figure here in Ezra 2 includes the gold contributed by those who had remained in Babylonia (Ezra 1:4). (Alternately it may include the grant made by Cyrus - Ezra 3:7).

Ezra 2:70

‘So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.'

This confirms what was said in Ezra 2:1 that all returned to their own cities. The people are listed in terms of previous designations, the priests, the Levites, some of the people (this my have in mind that the remainder were still in exile, or simply that some did not choose to dwell in cities, or that some could not dwell in their cities because they were already fully occupied (e.g. by the Edomites in the south) or more likely that some could not identify which were their own cities e.g. those who were unsure of their ancestry), the singers and the gatekeepers and the Nethinim (with the son of Solomon's servants included with the Nethinim, as they were in the totals). All these, apart from those who chose not to do so, or could not identify them, dwelt in their cities. Thus ‘all Israel', as summed up in the previous descriptions, were in their cities. The return was complete. Israel was once more in place in accordance with God's allocation after the conquest. The summary is a cry of triumph. Israel has been restored!

Whether this verse was in the original list is impossible to state categorically. It may simply be a summary added by the original writer who utilised the list. With Ezra 2:1 it forms an inclusio. But it also appears, with slight differences, in Nehemiah 7, which might suggest otherwise. However as what follows in the next verse (Ezra 3:1) indicates that the writer of Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 were either using a common source, or one was copying the other, and it is doubtful if that verse would have been part of the list, the fact that the contents of Ezra 2:70 is cited in both is not conclusive. If Ezra 1-6 had once been a unit on its own, available to both writers, this would serve to explain the parallels, with Nehemiah preferring to use in the main the list that he himself had discovered in the archives.

The emendation made by some English translations of ‘in Jerusalem' after ‘some of the people' (in accordance with 1 Esdras) is unnecessary. It goes without saying that some would take up residence in Jerusalem if they ‘returned to their own cities', but the emendation was made simply because of a failure to understand the phrase ‘some of the people', so that it was felt that it needed to be explained.