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Ezra Chapter 8

Old Testament Historical 36 Verses

What is Ezra 8 about?

The return from Babylonian exile and the restoration of Temple worship and Torah observance in Jerusalem. The complete chapter text below provides the immediate literary context for study.

Text — American Standard Version (1901)

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. For original Hebrew/Greek interlinear text, open in BibleWord.ai.
1Now these are the heads of their fathers` [houses], and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:
2Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
3Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.
4Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
5Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
6And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
7And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
8And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males.
9Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.
11And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males.
12And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.
13And of the sons of Adonikam, [that were] the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males.
14And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.
15And I gathered them together to the river that runneth 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.
16Then 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, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers.
17And I sent them forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, [and] his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
18And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
19and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
20and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.
21Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
22For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
23So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
24Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
25and weighed unto 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:
26I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents;
27and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.
28And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers.
29Watch ye, and keep them, until ye 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 Jehovah.
30So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
31Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth [day] of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.
32And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite;
34the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time.
35The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.
36And they delivered the king`s commissions unto the king`s satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and the house of God.
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What do historical commentaries say about this chapter?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on verse 1
“These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them, etc.] Which follows from hence to the end of (<150814>Ezra 8:14), that went up with me from Babylon; with Ezra the priest and scribe, the writer of this book: in the reign of Artaxerxes the king; that is, Darius Hystaspis, in the seventh year of his reign, (see <150701>Ezra 7:1,7), though many think Artaxerxes Longimanus is meant.”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on verse 1
“EZRA'S COMPANIONS FROM BABYLON. (Ezr 8:1-14) this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon--The number given here amounts to 1754. But this is the register of adult males only, and as there were women and children also (Ezr 8:21), the whole caravan may be considered as comprising between six thousand and seven thousand.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · on verse 2
“Punctuate as follows: Ezra 8:2. ... of the sons of David, Hattush of the sons of Shechaniah. Ezra 8:3. Of the sons of Pharosh, Zechariah .... Hattush, the descendant of David, was the grandson of Shechaniah (see marginal reference). Most of these names Ezra 8:2-14 occur also as those of heads of families in the list of the Jews who returned with Zerubbabel Ezra 2:3-15. The Septuagint and Syriac versions supply omissions in Ezra 8:5, Ezra 8:10. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · on verse 3
“Males - Though the males only be expressed yet doubtless they carried the women along with them, as they did the little ones. Ezra 8:13”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · on verse 1
“8:1-14 This list of the family leaders designates those who stepped out in faith and traveled with Ezra back to Jerusalem to join the Jewish community there. It lists fifteen families represented by 1,515 men. Including women and children, the total could have been around 5,000 people.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · on verse 1
“the chief: Ezr 1:5; Ch1 9:34, Ch1 24:31, Ch1 26:32; Ch2 26:12; Neh 7:70, Neh 7:71 genealogy: Ezr 2:62; Ch1 4:33, Ch1 9:1 them that went up: Ezr 7:7, Ezr 7:13 Ezra 8:2”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · on verse 1
“A list of those heads of houses who returned with Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem. Compare the parallel list, 1 Esdr. 8:28-40. - Ezr 8:1 The tithe: "These are the heads of the houses, and (this is) their genealogy, who went up with me." אבתיהם ראשׁי for בּית־אבתיהם ראשׁי, as frequently. והתיחשׂם, "and their genealogy," is added, because in the list following the heads of the different houses are not merely enumerated according to their own names, but the names of the races to which they belonged are also stated. Ezr 8:2 Priests and descendants of David. Of priests, Gershom of the sons of Phinehas, and Daniel of…”
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