Ezra 2:66

_BESIDE THEIR SERVANTS AND THEIR MAIDS, OF WHOM THERE WERE SEVEN THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTY AND SEVEN: AND THERE WERE AMONG THEM TWO HUNDRED SINGING MEN AND SINGING WOMEN._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

64-70 Let none complain of the needful expenses of their religion. Seek first the kingdom of God, his favour and his glory, then will all other things be added unto them. Their offerings were nothing, compared with the offerings of the princes in David's time; yet, being according to their ability, were as acceptable to God. The Lord will carry us through all undertakings entered on according to his will, with an aim to his glory, and dependence on his assistance. Those who, at the call of the gospel, renounce sin and return to the Lord, shall be guarded and guided through all perils of the way, and arrive safely at the mansions provided in the holy city of God....

Verse Ezra 2:66. _THEIR HORSES - SEVEN HUNDRED, C._] They went into captivity, stripped of every thing they now return from it, abounding in the most substantial riches, viz., horses 736, or, according to Esdras, 7036; mules, 245; camels, 435; asses, 6720; besides gold, and silver, and rich stuffs. See below....

EXPOSITION THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO RETURNED FROM CAPTIVITY WITH ZERUBBABEL, AND THE NAMES OF THE CHIEFS (Ezra 2:1). It has been argued that the whole of this chapter is out of place here, and has been transferred hither from Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:6), where it occupies its rightful position (Bishop A. Hervey). According to this view, the list is one embodying the results of the census made by Nehemiah, not a list of those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel But it seems strange that such a theory should ever h

Ver. 66,67 THEIR HORSES WERE SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY AND SIX, THEIR MULES TWO HUNDRED FORTY AND FIVE, THEIR CAMELS FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY AND FIVE, [THEIR] ASSES SIX THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY. So that the far greatest part of them must walk on foot, since these can be thought to be little more than sufficient to carry their goods or baggage; some copies of the Vulgate Latin read six hundred and thirty six horses c. c Ed. of Sixtus V. and the Lovain in James's Contrariety of Popish Bibles, p. 295....

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The leaders (Ezra 2:1)_ 2. The names of the returning exiles (Ezra 2:3) 3. The priests (Ezra 2:36) 4. The Levites and singers (Ezra 2:40) 5. The porters and Nethinim (Ezra 2:42) 6. Solomon's servants (Ezra 2:55) 7. Those of doubtful descent (Ezra 2:59) 8. The number of the whole company ...

A LIST OF THE EXILES WHO RETURNED UNDER ZERUBBABEL. See the Greek Ezra (1 Esdras) Esther 5:7 and Nehemiah 7:6_ a_, where this list also occurs, though with some variations. Ezra 2:1 a. province: Heb. _medinah,_ equivalent to the Persian satrapy. It refers here to the tract of country, with Jerusalem as its centre (_cf._ Ezra 5:8; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 11:3), over which Zerubbabel was governor, the province of Judah. ZERUBBABEL: seed of Babel; according to

_horses_ The number mentioned here (736) appears in 1Es 5:43 as 7036, a fair sample of the way in which figures could easily undergo alteration by accident or intention. Before this time we do not find mention of the use of the horse among the Israelites for peaceful purposes. Hitherto the horse had been used for war and for pomp. The considerable number here mentioned is another proof of the presence of considerable wealth. The horse was the possession of the rich and well armed. _mules_ About one-third the number of the horses. During the monarchy the mule is the royal animal (1 Kings 1:33; 1 Kings 1:38; 1 Kings 1:44). The mule was scarce and precious like the horse ...

7. Next is a listing of their livestock. TEXT, EZRA 2:66-67 66 Their horses were 736; their mules, 245; 67 their camels, 435; their donkeys, 6,720. COMMENT This is not a very large number of animals for the amount of people. All of the animals are beasts of burden, and at best there is but one for every six persons. WORD STUDIES ZERUBBABEL: a seed of Babylon: a reminder that God preserved a seed of His people through the Babylonian Captivity, from which His nation would once again spring to life, TEMPLE SERVANTS (Ezra 2:43): literally, the Nethinim: those given. The word is a plural form; it comes from the word Nathan. These were the persons given to the priests to assist with the menial tasks of preparing for sacrifice and worship....

THE NAMES AND NUMBER OF THOSE WHO RETURNED 1. The province] i.e. the Persian province of Judæa (Ezra 5:8). HAD CARRIED AWAY] in 597 b.c. and 586 b.c. EVERY ONE UNTO HIS CITY] i.e. to the provincial towns. This process can only have taken place very gradually....