Ezra 1:8

by the hand of So A.V. and R.V. This phrase in the original is a little difficult. It occurs Ezra 8:26, -I even weighed into their hand&c.", 33, -was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed into the handof, &c. (marg. -by"), Esther 6:9, -let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the handof one of the king's most noble princes". It seems better here to render - intothe hand of". The vessels were brought out and given into the charge of Mithredath, who was to superintend their numbering.

Mithredath the treasurer This is the Hebrew form of the old Persian name -Mithradata", familiar to us as Mithridates. On coins we find the more correct transliteration -Mithradates". It was a very common name among the Medo-Persians, cf. Ezra 4:7. It is derived from -Mithras", the name of the Persian sun-god, and the root -da" = to give, and has been differently understood to mean either -given byMithras", or -given, i.e. dedicated, toMithras". Of these the former is the preferable Cf. Hormisdas = -given by Ormuzd", Theodotus = -given by God".

the treasurer The word in the original is a Persian, not a Hebrew word, and occurs again Ezra 7:21; Daniel 3:2-3. The -gizbar", Old Persian -gazabara", mentioned here seems to have been the king's Privy Purse, the bearer or dispenser of the royal treasure. The Persian word will remind the student of the Hellenistic -gaza" (γάζα) = -treasure" adopted from the Persian. The Ethiopian Eunuch, chamberlain to queen Candace, was -over all her treasure", ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς γάζης αὐτῆς (Acts 8:27). The word for -the treasury", used in the gospels, means "the place for keeping the -gaza"," γαζοφυλάκιον (cf. Mark 12:41; Luke 21:1; John 8:20).

and numbered them so A.V. R.V. Better, and he numbered them. The king made the gift; his officer had the charge of its disposition and valuation.

unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah There seems to be no good reason to doubt that the Sheshbazzar mentioned here and in Ezra 5:14; Ezra 5:16 is the same as Zerubbabel. For although Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 4:3; Ezra 5:2) is not designated by any official title in our book, still (1) the manner in which he is regarded as the representative of the Jewish returned exiles in Ezra 4:2, (2) the fact that his name, as that of the chief layman and of the head of the Davidic line, is associated with that of the High-priest Jeshua in the general administration, Ezra 3:2; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 4:3; Ezra 5:2; Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 3:4, (3) the title of -governor (pekhah) of Judah" given him by the prophet Haggai (Ezra 1:1; Ezra 2:2; Ezra 2:21), and given also to Sheshbazzar (Ezra 5:14) make it reasonable to suppose that Sheshbazzar was another name of Zerubbabel, just as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were the names given in the Captivity to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Daniel 1:6-7). To this view the objection has fairly been raised that in Daniel we find a Babylonish by the side of a Hebrew name, but that in this case both Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel are considered to be Babylonish names, and that it is very strange to find the same man called in a Jewish book by two foreign names. This objection may possibly be met by regarding Zerubbabel as the name, though of foreign origin, which he took as prince among his own people, Sheshbazzar as the name by which he was known at the court of the Persian king. At any rate Sheshbazzar is here called -the prince of Judah" and in Ezra 5:14 he is mentioned as conveying the sacred vessels and laying the foundation of the Temple. See also the Introduction, § 6.

the prince of Judah The -nasi" of Judah. In two passages he is given the title of -Tirshatha", the Persian equivalent of the Assyrian -pekhah" (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65; Nehemiah 7:70). He is called -pekhah" or -Tirshatha" in relation to the Persian government. In relation to his own people, he is called -nasi" or prince either as head of the great tribe of Judah (cf. the title -nasi" of the -princes" of the tribes in Numbers 7; Numbers 34:22-28), or as the representative of the royal house of David (cf. especially the frequent use of this term in Ezekiel, chaps. 45, 46, 48). In later days this title was taken by Simon, the brother of Judas the Maccabee, whose coins contain the legend -Simon the prince (nasi) of Israel". Sheshbazzar is mentioned here alone. The prominence of the High-priest seems to date from the arrival at Jerusalem.