Ezra 2:63

the Tirshatha This title is here and in Nehemiah 7:65; Nehemiah 7:70 apparently applied to Zerubbabel: Haggai his contemporary calls him -Pekhah" (Governor), see Haggai 1:1; Haggai 1:14; Haggai 2:2; Haggai 2:21. In the same way Nehemiah, who is called the Tirshatha, Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 10:1, is also spoken of as -Pekhah" in Nehemiah 12:26. -Pekhah" was the Babylonian, -Tirshatha" the Persian title for a local or provincial governor. The governors were subject to the satraps, the satraps were responsible to the king.

The word -Tirshatha" is said to be the same as the Persian -tarsâta", from -tars" to fear, and to denote complimentarily the awe which the office inspired.

That the -Tirshatha" here mentioned was Zerubbabel is rendered probable by the nature of the prohibition contained in this verse, which none but a nativeGovernor or the High-priest himself would have issued.

that they should not eat of the most holythings] The priests were especially required to eat of the -meal-offering" (Leviticus 2:3; Leviticus 2:10; Leviticus 6:18), the sin offering (Leviticus 6:26), the guilt offering (Leviticus 7:6), and of the peace offering (Leviticus 7:31-34). Certain portions were set aside for the sons of Aaron. The prohibition therefore refers to the ceremonial rules already in force. -The most holy things" is a phrase which can best be illustrated from Numbers 18:9-11.

The consecration of a priest was accompanied by the sacrifice of a ram which Aaron and his sons should eat. Exodus 29:33-37.

A priest excluded from eating of -the most holy things" was therefore only a priest by title and lineage. He could not be consecrated (see Exodus 29), he could not offer sacrifices, he could not enter the holy place.

He was excluded apparently more rigidly than the priest -that hath a blemish", who was forbidden to -come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar" (Leviticus 21:21-23).

The distinction here made between the -most holy" and the -holy" is important. -The most holy" included the shewbread, the incense, the sin and guilt offering, the drink offering. -The holy" comprised the thank-offering, the firstlings of herd and flock, the first-fruits, the tithe. Of -the holy" things members of the priests" families might partake. But ceremonial cleanness was in all cases needed.

The declaration of -defilement" excluded those who were defiled from a source of priestly income as well as from the dignity of priestly occupation.

till there stoodup a priest with Urim and with Thummim In former times the High-priest had enquired of the Lord by Urim and Thummim. After the Captivity, the High-priest had no Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim, along with the Ark, the Shechinah, the Holy Fire, the Spirit of Prophecy, the Oil of Anointing constituted the chief points, for the absence of which the Jews of later times deplored the deficiency of Zerubbabel's Temple as compared with that of Solomon.

The passages in which enquiry by Urim and Thummim is mentioned are Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 28:6. In none of these do we find any explanation of what the Urim and Thummim were. They have been identified with (a) stones in the High-priest's breastplate, (b) sacred dice, (c) little images of -truth" and -justice" such as are found hung round the neck of an Egyptian priest's mummy.

The writers of the Scriptures have abstained from explanation either because they shrank from making generally known what was regarded with mystery and awe, or because they presupposed their readers" familiarity with the thing referred to.

The want of Urim and Thummim is not, as Ewald supposed, due to any technical defect in Jeshua's claim to High-priestly dignity (such as that he was not his father's eldest son). And this passage tacitly contradicts the assertion of Josephus, that the Urim and Thummim only first failed in the Maccabean era.

The Tirshatha indefinitely postponed the decision. Where documentary proofs were wanting, none but one favoured with Divine perception could pronounce sentence. The words are of importance because they testify to the feeling that the people felt the need of revelation from God, and that they looked forward to the coming of some great High-priest to whom God should make Himself known. They point forward to the coming of theHigh-Priest -full of grace and truth".

Compare 1Ma 4:46 -Until there should come a prophet to show what should be done with them", 1Ma 14:41 -Until there should arise a faithful prophet."

The words -Urim" and -Thummim" mean -Light" and -Perfection." The LXX renders them in this passage by τοῖς φωτίζουσιν καὶ τοῖς τελείοις; more generally by δήλωσις or δῆλοι and ἀλήθεια.