Ezra 1:11

_ALL THE VESSELS OF GOLD AND OF SILVER WERE FIVE THOUSAND AND FOUR HUNDRED. ALL THESE DID SHESHBAZZAR BRING UP WITH THEM OF THE CAPTIVITY THAT WERE BROUGHT UP FROM BABYLON UNTO JERUSALEM._ All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. The vessels here specified amount only to the number of 2,489. Hence, it is probable that the larger vases only are mentioned, while the inventory of the whole, including great and small, came to the gross sum stated in the text. Sheshbazzar - i:e., Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel (cf. Ezra 3:8; Ezra 5:16: cf. 1 Chronicles 3:17). He was born in Babylon, and called by his family Zerubbabel - i.e., sown in Babylon. Sheshbazzar, signifying 'fire-worship

5-11 The same God that raised up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim liberty to the Jews, raised up their spirits to take the benefit. The temptation was to some to stay in Babylon; but some feared not to return, and they were those whose spirits God raised, by his Spirit and grace. Whatever good we do, is owing to the grace of God. Our spirits naturally bow down to this earth and the things of it; if they move upward in any good affections or good actions, it is God who raises them. The calls and offers of the gospel are like the proclamation of Cyrus. Those bound under the power of sin, may be made free by Jesus Christ. Whosoever will, by repentance and faith, return to God, Jesus Christ has opened the way for him, and raises him out of the slavery of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Many that hear this joyful sound, choose to sit still in Babylon, are in love with th...

Verse 11. _ALL THE VESSELS _- WERE _FIVE THOUSAND AND FOUR HUNDRED._] This place is without doubt corrupted; here it is said the sum of all the vessels, of every quality and kind, was _five thousand four_ _hundred_; but the enumeration of the articles, as given in Ezra 1:9; Ezra 1:10, gives the sum of _two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine_ only. But we can correct this account from _1Esdras 2:13, 14_. I shall set both accounts down, that they may be compared together....

The sum of the numbers as they stand in the present Hebrew text is 2,499, instead of 5,400. In the Apocryphal Book of Esdras the sum given is 5,469, and with this sum the items in that place exactly agree (1 Esdras 2:13, 14). Most commentators propose to correct Ezra by the passage of Esdras; but the items of Esdras are improbable. Probably the sum total in the present passage has suffered corruption....

EXPOSITION THE RESPONSE TO THE DECREE (Ezra 1:5). The response made to the decree fell short of what might have been expected. The "patriarchal chiefs" who responded belonged solely, or mainly, to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; the "ten tribes" were for the most part deaf to the invitation addressed to them. Some, however, of Ephraim and Manasseh (1 Chronicles 9:3), and perhaps some of other tribes, were more zealous, and took part in the migration. Many, on the other hand, even of Judah and Benjamin, preferred remaining in Babylonia to undertaking the long and perilous (Ezra 7:22) journey to Palestine, and taking the chance

ALL THE VESSELS OF GOLD, AND OF SILVER, WERE FIVE THOUSAND AND FOUR HUNDRED,.... Those that are mentioned make no more than 2499, which Aben Ezra thinks were the larger vessels; but this general sum takes in great and small, as in 2 Chronicles 36:18 in the letter of Cyrus, before mentioned, these vessels are more particularly described, and their several numbers given, which together amount to the exact number in the text, 5400; the apocryphal Ezra makes them 5469: ALL THESE DID SHESHBAZZAR BRING UP WITH THEM OF THE CAPTIVITY, THAT WERE BROUGHT UP FROM BABYLON UNTO JERUSALEM: of whom there is a large and particular account in the following chapter....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE RETURN UNDER ZERUBBABEL AND THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The proclamation of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1)_ 2. The response of the chiefs of Judah and Benjamin (Ezra 1:5) 3. The vessels of the house of the LORD restored (Ezra 1:7) Ezra 1:1. Cyrus (meaning “the Sun”) the King of Persia was, according to ancient historians, the son of Cambyses, Prince of Persia, and Mandam, daughter of Astyages, King of the Median Empire. The theory that he was the offspring of Ahasuerus and Esther, and was trained by Mordecai and Nehemiah, lacks all historical foundation. The heart of Cyrus in the beginning of

THE RETURN OF THE JEWS UNDER SHESHBAZZAR WITH THE HOLY VESSELS. The carrying out of the decree. Ezra 1:5. even all. Jerusalem: implying that many did not avail themselves of the opportunity of returning. The lot of many of the exiles was far from unhappy, while the prospect for those who might decide to return was not bright. Ezra 1:6. all they that were round about them: _i.e._ those of their own race. BESIDE ALL THAT WAS WILLINGLY OFFERED: the free-will offerings for the Temple; the other gifts were personal. Ezra 1:7. the vessels. his gods: see 2 Kings 24:13;...

_All the vessels_, &c., _five thousand and four hundred_ It is natural to expect that the words -all the vessels" would give us the sum total of the different figures mentioned in Ezra 1:9-10. The sum total however mentioned here is 5400. The vessels enumerated under the six classes (in Ezra 1:9-10), when added together, make only 2499. Unless we concede that the text is incorrect, the only solution of the variation is to suppose that Ezra 1:9-10 omit a large number of less important vessels. This is unsatisfactory, since the words -and other vessels a thousand" are obviously intended to cover the remainder. It is probable therefore that the discrepancy arises from some ancient corruption in the text, which has

_VER._ 11. _THE VESSELS—WERE FIVE THOUSAND AND FOUR HUNDRED_— The sum total of these vessels amounts only to two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine. Houbigant supposes the number to be this sum total, as all the versions pretty nearly agree in the separate sums. Kennicott, however, thinks that the error lies in the _four hundred and ten silver basons._ That thousands, says he, were expressed anciently by single letters with a dot over them, may be presumed from this verse, where the silver basons are said to be (of a _second sort,_ without mentioning any first) _four hundred and ten;_ but in the parallel account, Genesis 2:13 we find the same _silver basons_ to have been _two thousand four hundred and ten._ Now if ב _beth,_ which stands for the number _two,_ with a dot over it, stood for two thousand, the letter might very easily be copied with