Ezra 8:1-14

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT

B. Lists are given of returnees, and treasures which they carried back; the treasures are delivered.
1. The list of returnees is given.

TEXT, Ezra 8:1-14

1

Now these are the heads of their fathers-' households and the genealogical enrollment of those who went up with me from Babylon in the reign of King Artaxerxes:

2

of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

3

of the sons of Shecaniah who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah and with him 150 males who were in the genealogical list;

4

of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah and 200 males with him;

5

of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel and 300 males with him;

6

and of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan and 50 males with him;

7

and of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah and 70 males with him;

8

and of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael and 80 males with him;

9

of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel and 218 males with him;

10

and of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah and 160 males with him;

11

and of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai and 28 males with him;

12

and of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan and 110 males with him;

13

and of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these being their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah and 60 males with them;

14

and of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud and 70 males with them.

COMMENT

Ezra 8:1 states the intention of listing only the names of heads of households, and identifying the families, or clans, from which they were descended.

Ezra 8:2 begins the list with three persons in a special category: priests and royalty. Note the contrast with the list in chapter two, which ended rather than began with priests.

Two lines of priests were descended from Aaron: one through his third son, Eleazar, and his grandson, Phinehas: Ezra was included in this line (Ezra 7:1-5). The other was through Eleazar's younger brother, Ithamar. Both lines had a representative here.

Royalty was represented by a descendant of David.

Although no numbers are given, there were obviously other members in these three families in this first group. Twelve other priests are alluded to, two by name, in Ezra 8:24.

Ezra 8:3-14 apparently name the leading men from Israel mentioned in Ezra 7:28. Twelve groups are included, possibly as reminders of the twelve tribes, though not necessarily descended from them; no effort is made to link each with a separate specific tribe. While the names of individuals are new, all but one of the clans (i.e., Shelomith) are among those mentioned in Ezra 2:1-15. The total of all the families is 1496, plus Ezra and the three names of verse two.

WORD STUDIES

AHAVA (Ezra 8:15; Ezra 8:21): possibly means water; it may be akin to the Latin, aqua.

BABYLON (Ezra 8:1): gate, i.e., court, of Bel (the god of the Babylonians).

CASIPHIA (Ezra 8:17): this comes from a word meaning pale, silver, white, or shining. Perhaps it was a city known for its brightness, or for its money.

HOLY (Kodesh: Ezra 8:28): pure, consecrated, separated. Because a thing was entirely or purely separated to one purpose, it was sacred for that use. With little change the word is used of men devoted to pagan temples and practicing the lowest vices and perversions. It makes a great deal of difference to what purpose, or God, a person devotes his life.