Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Ezra 8:24-30
Ezra Entrusts The Gifts For The House Of YHWH Into The Hands Of Twelve Chief Priests For Them To Guard On The Journey (Ezra 8:24).
It is never right to use faith as an excuse for foolishness. So having committed everything to God, and having obtained assurance of His protection, he now took wise steps to safeguard the treasure. He divided the treasure up among a number of trustworthy men, so that each could protect what was entrusted to him. They would have to watch against both internal thieves, and any attempts made by brigands on the caravan.
‘Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, for Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,'
As became the responsibility of Levites, to Sherebiah and Hashabiah (compare Ezra 8:19) and ten of their brothers was granted the privilege of overseeing the bearing of the treasures. These were of course the chiefs among the Levites. They would oversee the actual bearing of the treasures by their brothers. But in order to safeguard them from any charges of failure in their duties, and in order to keep overall watch over the treasures, twelve chiefs of priest were set over them to take overall responsibility for the treasure. As the treasures were mainly intended for the Temple it would have been an insult to the priests if they had not had such overall responsibility. The number twelve indicated that they were acting on behalf of all Israel.
‘And weighed to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered.'
The silver, gold and vessels were weighed and technically handed over to the chiefs of the priests, who would be called upon to sign for them, but they would immediately have called on the Levites to bear them. They would not bend their backs to such matters. These were the offerings for the house of God which had been received from the king, his chief counsellors, his princes and all of Israel in the locality who had willingly offered. Here we learn that additionally to the counsellors, the aristocracy had been called on by the king to contribute.
‘I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred silver vessels in talents (or by repointing ‘of two talents each'), and a hundred talents of gold, and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics, and two vessels of beautifully glittering bronze, precious as gold.'
The riches that had been gathered were now put into the hands of those appointed. Six hundred talents of silver was a huge amount. But it was tiny as compared with the riches of the Persian empire. The hundred silver vessels were apparently one talent each, although it could be repointed as dual, and therefore as two talents. A hundred talents of gold was again a very large amount. But the richest men throughout Babylonia had contributed, and wanted the king to see how much they cared about his life and the life of his sons. Twenty bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics each were for the Temple of the God of Heaven (whom they may well have associated with their own god, Ahura-mazda). The two vessels of beautifully glittering bronze were clearly seen as very special. They were ‘precious as gold'. That may have been because some metal-worker had had his own secret formula which had achieved unique and spectacular results (he may even have discovered how to produce true brass, but if so his secret died with him), or it may be because the material used came from a distant country and was rare (orichale has been suggested).
What had to be carried if these figures are correct was considerable, in weight as well as in value. There were at least 850 talents and 1,000 darics. If we take a talent as representing approximately 30 kilograms (66 pounds), the talents would come to over 25,000 kilograms (56,000 pounds). Divided among 258 Levites and their assistants that would mean each carried about 100 kilograms (or 225 pounds), although of course they would be able to call on asses and camels for the most part. (The holy vessels may have had to be carried by hand). It is not therefore impossible.
Remembering that Solomon would not even deign to use silver, ‘silver was not accounted of in the day of Solomon' (1 Kings 10:21), and that the Persian kings were richer far, we should not be surprised at the huge amount of silver involved (compare on Ezra 1:9; Ezra 7:22). When we consider that the king and his wealthy counsellors would be vying with each other to be accounted generous, and that on top of these were the further contributions required from the wealthy aristocracy, these figures are not inconceivable. In the king's eyes, nothing would have been too good for the God of Heaven, and he had probably heard how fabulously richly inlaid the Temple had once been. He would not want to suffer by comparison in the eyes of the God of Heaven. We see these figures as enormous. American multi-billionaires, like Persian kings, would see them as reasonable.
‘And I said to them, “You are holy unto YHWH, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering to YHWH, the God of your fathers.”
Ezra then reminded the priests and Levites that they were ‘holy unto YHWH', as were the sacred vessels, which he may well have consecrated. It is probable that these vessels would have to be carried by the Levites themselves because of their holiness, which would be why the presence of Levites would be so necessary. But while the silver and gold were a freewill offering to YHWH, and therefore to be seen as sacred in a secondary way, they would eventually be melted down and used for the benefit of the Temple. Thus they were not ‘most holy', and could no doubt be borne by asses and camels. Notice the reference to ‘YHWH the God of your fathers', only found here and in Ezra 8:28. It is also found in Exodus 3:13 when Moses is called to deliver Israel; in Deuteronomy 1:11; Deuteronomy 4:1 where they are to go in and possess the land and multiply; and in Joshua 18:3 where the taking of the land which God had given them is spoken of. It was therefore very apt. It is also used three times in 2 Chronicles. It may well be that Ezra wanted us to see them as ‘going forward in order to take the land' for the Law of God.
“Watch you, and keep them, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' (houses) of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of YHWH.”
The priests and Levites in question were to keep watch over the sacred vessels and the treasure, and guard them until they were able to weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' (houses), as they handed them over in the side rooms of the house of YHWH.
‘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.'
And thus did the priests and Levites receive the weight of the silver and gold and the vessels in order to bring them to the house of God in Jerusalem.
Ezra And The Returnees Are Kept Safe On The Journey, Hand Over The Treasures To The House Of God, Offer Offering And Sacrifices To YHWH, And Deliver The King's Commission To The Authorities (Ezra 8:31).
The journey had begun on the first day of the month (Ezra 7:9), but due to the delay caused by the necessity of obtaining Levites to bear the sacred vessels, the caravan could not set off from the river Ahava until the twelfth day of the month. However, once they had started off the journey went well, and as soon as they reached Jerusalem they rested for three days and then handed over the treasures to the priests and Levites in the Temple, after which offerings, and sacrifices for sin, were made to YHWH. Finally the king's commissions were handed over to the kings satraps, and the governors of Beyond the River, who, along with the Israelite leadership, faithfully carried out their requirements.