Ezra 8:20

_AND BY THE GOOD HAND OF OUR GOD UPON US THEY BROUGHT US A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING, OF THE SONS OF MAHLI, THE SON OF LEVI, THE SON OF ISRAEL; AND SHEREBIAH, WITH HIS SONS AND HIS BRETHREN, EIGHTEEN;_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

1-20 Ezra assembles the outcasts of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah. God raised up the spirits of a small remnant to accompany him. What a pity that good men should omit a good work, for want of being spoken to!...

EXPOSITION THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO WENT UP TO JERUSALEM WITH EZRA, AND THE NAMES OF THE CHIEF MEN (Ezra 8:1). This list is parallel with that of Ezra 2:3, and repeats for the most part the same family names, though not quite in the same order. The numbers are in each case very much smaller, never amounting to one-third, and sometimes falling below one-twelfth. At the utmost, three new families are mentioned as furnishing colonists those of Shechaniah ...

ALSO OF THE NETHINIMS, WHOM DAVID AND THE PRINCES HAD APPOINTED FOR THE SERVICE OF THE LEVITES,.... To wait upon them, and minister to them, as they did to the priests; some think those were the same with the Gibeonites, whom Joshua gave to the service of the sanctuary, and David confirmed; but others are of opinion these were different from them, and an addition to them: TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY NETHINIMS: ALL OF THEM WERE EXPRESSED BY NAME; in the history that Iddo sent of them to Ezra; and so the names of the Levites, though not here expressed, only the names of those they came with....

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. Those who returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:1)_ 2. The gathering at Ahava (Ezra 8:15) 3. The fast proclaimed (Ezra 8:21) 4. The appointment of guardians (Ezra 8:24) 5. The departure and arrival in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:31) Ezra 8:1. The names of those who gathered around Ezra and went up with him are here recorded. In view of the magnificent decree and liberality of Artaxerxes, the company was very small. The majority preferred Babylon, and remained t

THE GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE EXILES AT AHAVA. The narrative is told here in the first person. Ezra 8:15. Ahava: _cf._ Ezra 8:21; Ezra 8:31; this seems to have been a place which gave its name to one of the many canals constructed in Babylonia for irrigation purposes. NONE OF THE SONS OF LEVI: as the main object of the return was the resuscitation of the Temple worship the Levites were, of course, indispensable. Ezra 8:17. Casiphia: the exact locality is unknown; there appears to have been a colony of Levites and Nethinim here. Ezra 8:25

_also of the Nethinims_ R.V. AND OF THE NETHINIM. _whom David and the princes had appointed_ R.V. WHOM DAVID AND THE PRINCES HAD GIVEN. -Given", not -appointed", more literal rendering and corresponds with meaning of Nethinim (=given). See on Ezra 2:55. The sentence illustrates the prevailing tradition as to the origin of the Nethinim. _for the service of_ here as usually = "for ministration or service to"; cf. Exodus 30:16: frequent in Chron. in the phrase "the service of the house of God". Sometimes = "service rendered by", e.g. Exodus 38:21. For its primary meaning cf. Nehemiah 5:18 (bondage). all … e

2. Levites are added to the company. TEXT, EZRA 8:15-20 15 Now I assembled them at the river that runs to Ahava, where we camped for three days; and when I observed the people and the priests, I did not find any Levites there. 16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, teachers. 17 And I sent them to Iddo the leading man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what to say to Iddo and his brothers, the temple servants at the place Casiphia, that is, to bring ministers to us for the house of our God. 18 And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of insight of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, and his sons and brothers, 18 men; 19 and Hashabiah and Jeshaiah of

PARTICULARS OF EZRA'S COMPANY 1. Them that went up] The sum of the numbers given is 1,496. Only males are mentioned, and if no women accompanied them, the absence of such doubtless increased the tendency that the people manifested to intermarry with heathen families....

THE *JEWS RETURN TO JERUSALEM EZRA _ROBERT BRYCE_ CHAPTER 8 V1 This is the list of the families and the chief men in the families. They came with me from Babylonia during the rule of King Artaxerxes. V2 Gershom from the *descendants of Phinehas, Daniel from the *descendants of Ithamar, From the *descendants of David, Hattush, V3 from the *descendants of Shecaniah....