Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Ezra 8:15-20
Ezra Discovers That No Levites Have Joined The Returnees And Makes Arrangements For Some To Join The Party (Ezra 8:15).
Gathering his party together at the Canal which runs to Ahava, which was probably an important caravan junction (possibly Strabo's ‘Scenae'), Ezra reviewed those who were present, both of priests and of people, and discovered no Levites among them. Possibly in view of the already small number of Levites who had previously returned (Ezra 2:40), possibly in order to make the caravan a mirror image of the Exodus (although he could hardly have used this as an argument in order to persuade the Levites to go with him from their comfortable lives in Babylonia), and probably because they would be needed to carry the Temple vessels, he then proceeded to take measures in order to add some to his party.
‘And I gathered them together to the river or canal) which runs to Ahava, and there we encamped three days, and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.'
Babylon itself was surrounded by rivers and canals, and this was probably a recognised assembly spot for caravans. Some identify it with Strabo's ‘Scenae', an important caravan junction near Babylon. Whilst they were encamped there ‘for three days' (i.e. a few days) Ezra, as caravan leader, reviewed the people and the priests who were with him. Note the usual distinction between ‘people' and ‘priests'. ‘Levites' are notably missing as soon became obvious to Ezra.
‘Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, (these were) chief men. And for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were ‘men of discretion.'
Noting the absence of Levites Ezra chose out some important men whom he could send to remedy the need, for Levites would be required in order to carry the sacred Temple vessels. It was to Levites that God had given that privilege in the Law of Moses. Nine of these were ‘chief men', and therefore men of influence, and two were ‘men of discretion'. This last phrase may have been used to describe men who had a special gift of friendly persuasion. If the idea was to see them as priests why did he not follow his usual method of distinguishing people and priests? (In Ezra 8:18 a, a Levite is a ‘man of discretion'). The importance of those in the delegation would be in order to impress those to whom they were going. The necessity for ‘persuaders' indicated the sensitivity of the task in hand. It is possible that the ‘men of discretion' were in fact the Jarib (Joiarib is an alternative rendering of Jarib) and Elnathan already mentioned but now defined. Note that there are two (or three) Elnathans and one Nathan. Nathan means ‘given', Elnathan ‘given by God'. It was probably a popular name among the Exiles as indicating that even in their Exile God had not forgotten them but had ‘given' them heirs.
Of the nine men here designated as ‘chief men', the names of Eliezer, Shemaiah, Jarib, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam occur again in Ezra 10:15; Ezra 10:18, where they are connected with the taking of ‘foreign wives', although we cannot necessarily assume that they are the same men.
‘And I sent them forth to Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo, his brothers, the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us servants for the house of our God.'
These chief men were sent to ‘Iddo, the chief man at the place (maqowm) Casiphia'. Casiphia was clearly a place where Ezra knew that many Levites would be found. The word maqowm is regularly connected with sacred sanctuaries (see our commentary on Deuteronomy 12), and here it is clear that it is a place where the Levites were to be found in numbers, but seemingly not priests (otherwise they would surely have been approached). It may suggest, not so much that Casiphia contained a specific sanctuary (otherwise priests would have been there), but that the Levites had made it a Levitical city so that it was seen as a place for gathering for worship and religious guidance (note how the Levites participate in teaching and prayer in Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 9:4 ff.; etc.), especially now that so few priests remained (note the number who had gone with Zerubbabel in chapter 2). Some relate the name to ‘ceseph' = silver, money, and 1Es 8:45 has ‘the place of the treasury'. LXX has literally ‘the rulers of the money of the place' which indicates the same idea. Thus it may also have been a place where tithes and/or freewill offerings were gathered by the Levites in order to assist the poor and needy among the exiles (see Deuteronomy 14:28).
‘To Iddo, his brothers, the Nethinim'. In other words to Iddo, to his brothers the Levites, and to the Temple servants, over all of whom Iddo was head. ‘Brother' is singular but must clearly be seen as a compound singular indicating his family of brothers, or be repointed as a plural using the same consonantal text.
‘That they should bring unto us servants for the house of our God.' That it says ‘they' and not ‘he' demonstrates that it was calling for voluntary response from the Levites. It was an honoured service to which they were being called. They were to be YHWH's servants, His inheritance. And they would be needed in order to bear the sacred Temple vessels. But we can understand why men who were free to live life as they liked, balked at the idea of becoming restricted to lowly service in the Temple. Exile would have given them a new perspective. This was no doubt why not one of them had responded to Ezra's original call.
‘Our God.' The continual repetition of these words (see Ezra 8:18; Ezra 8:21; Ezra 8:25; Ezra 8:30; Ezra 8:33) may suggest that Ezra was writing a report for the eyes of king Artaxerxes, or his underlings, ‘our God' being used in order to make clear that it was the God of Israel to Whom they had been responsible, and on behalf of Whom they had acted.
‘And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, from the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel,'
‘They brought us a man of discretion.' Presumably the Levites and Nethinim came together in order to discuss who should respond to the call of God, for it was ‘they' who, as a result of ‘the good hand of our God upon us', brought to his representatives a number of Levites and Nethinim who were willing to respond to his call. These were headed by a worthy man of ‘the sons of Mahli, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Israel'. The ‘son of Israel' may simply signify ‘a true Israelite'. Alternatively it might be seen as stressing his descent from the man who was transformed as a result of meeting God at the Brook Jabbok as he journeyed to the land of promise, (in the same way as they were proposing to do) when Jacob became Israel (Genesis 32:28). Mahli was in fact a son of Merari, and grandson to Levi (Exodus 6:19; Numbers 3:20).
‘Namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen,'
‘The man of discretion was unnamed, and as that is unlikely it presumably referred to Sherebiah, the first named, who came with his sons and his kinsmen, numbering eighteen in all. The name Sherebiah occurs regularly in Ezra/ Nehemiah. See Ezra 8:24 where it refers to him as one of those to whom the treasures were entrusted for the journey. Furthermore in Nehemiah 8:7 a Sherebiah is one of the Levites who taught the Law; in Nehemiah 9:4 he participated in prayer and worship; and in Nehemiah 10:12 he was one of those who sealed Nehemiah's covenant, indicating his important status. These references probably refer to this man. In Nehemiah 12:8 there is a Sherebiah who was a chief of the Levites, who accompanied Zerubbabel, possibly his grandfather.
‘And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty,'
Along with Sherebiah came Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, a Merarite, along with his kinsmen and their sons. Hashabiah, like Sherebiah, was also the name of one of those to whom gold was entrusted for the journey (Ezra 8:24). In Nehemiah 3:17 a Hashabiah, who was a Levite, and was ruler over half of Keilah, worked on the wall being built by Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 12:24 Hashabiah, a chief of the Levites, along with Sherebiah and Jeshua, was of those who offered praise and thanksgiving. These may all have been the same Heshabiah. But that Hashabiah was a popular name comes out in its mention in 1 Chronicles 6:45; 1Ch 9:14; 1 Chronicles 25:3; 1 Chronicles 27:17; 2 Chronicles 35:9; Nehemiah 11:15; Nehemiah 11:22; Nehemiah 12:21.
This Jeshaiah and his kinsmen were ‘sons of Merari' who was a son of Levi. The name Jeshaiah is also found as the ‘son' of Hananiah, who was the son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:21; as a "son" of Jeduthun, and like him a temple musician (1 Chronicles 25:3; 1 Chronicles 25:15); as a Levite, ancestor of Shelemoth, one of David's treasurers (1 Chronicles 26:25); as a descendant of Elam; who went with Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:7); and as a Benjamite who was the ancestor of Sallu in Nehemiah 11:7.
So thirty eight Levites demonstrated their willingness to accompany Ezra which, considering the short time being allowed, would have been very encouraging. (There were apparently only nine days, that is from the first of the month to the twelfth of the month, after taking into account the three days of review - Ezra 7:9; Ezra 8:15; Ezra 8:21). They would be later be joining the Levites who had come up with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:40).
‘And of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim.'
Of the Nethinim, who had been gifts of the Davidic house (‘David' often indicates the Davidic house) for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty volunteered to go with Ezra. The large number may suggest that they felt that they had little to lose, and they would be required to watch over the bearing of the treasures as assistants to the Levites.
‘All of them were mentioned by name.'
This probably indicates that the names of the volunteering Levites and Nethinim were listed, although it might have been by a public roll-call. To be mentioned by name regularly indicated praise and approval. This mentioning by name explains how we know their numbers, for as the priests had not been numbered we would expect the same of the Levites. But that numbering was of those who, among other factors, were available to guard the caravan. The naming and numbering here had nothing to do with that. It was in respect of who was volunteering to go with Ezra to Jerusalem. It will be noted that in Numbers 1-4, whilst the Levites were excluded from the numbering of the adult males for the purpose of being available to fight, they are later numbered with regard to their service. So the same thing happens here.