Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ezra 2:65

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

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1:1-2:70 ZERUBBABEL’S RETURN

Cyrus had been ruler of Persia for some time before he conquered Babylon in 539 BC. His policy was, when he conquered a nation, to allow any people held captive by that nation to return to their homeland. Therefore, soon after he conquered Babylon (i.e. in his first year as the Jews’ new ruler) he gave permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem (1:1-4). Jeremiah’s prophecy made seventy years earlier had come true: the Jews were released from Babylon’s power to return to Palestine and rebuild their nation (Jeremiah 25:1,Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 29:10).

Although all had permission to return, many chose to remain in Babylon. They were reasonably well settled and secure in Babylon, and did not want to face the risks and hardships of a new life in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, they assisted those who returned by giving them money and goods. Cyrus also gave some assistance, giving back the temple treasures and handing over a gift of money from the royal treasury to help finance the reconstruction of Jerusalem (5-11; see also 3:7; 6:4).

At first the leader of the returning exiles was Sheshbazzar (see 1:8, 5:14), but for some reason not recorded he was soon replaced by the joint leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua (see 3:2; 5:2; Haggai 1:1; Haggai 2:2). Alternatively, Sheshbazzar may have been another name for Zerubbabel.

The record of those who returned to Jerusalem begins by listing the chief men who were to assist Zerubbabel and Joshua (2:1-2). (The person named Nehemiah in this list is not the person we meet later in the book of Nehemiah.) The total number who returned was about 50,000. Some were classified according to their families (3-19), others according to the towns their families originally came from (20-35). The priests, Levites and temple servants were all listed separately (36-58). Others could not be fitted into any category (59-63). On arrival in Jerusalem, some made offerings of money towards the building of the temple. All the people were then settled in and around Jerusalem (64-70).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A SUMMARY OF ALL THOSE WHO RETURNED

“The whole assembly together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore, besides their men-servants and their maid-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and they had two hundred singing men and singing women. 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.”

“The numbers given earlier in the chapter add up to twelve thousand less than the total of 42,380 given in this verse. Reckoning up the smaller numbers we have 29,818 as given here and 31,089 as given in the parallel in Nehemiah. Ezra mentions 491 not mentioned by Nehemiah; and Nehemiah mentions 1765 not given in Ezra. If we add Ezra’s 491 to Nehemiah’s total and Nehemiah’s 1765 to Ezra’s total, they both equal 31,583, which is a deficiency of exactly 10,777.”Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown’s Commentary, p. 289.

They may have been left out, either because they were not members of Abraham’s posterity, and from the Jewish viewpoint therefore did not count. There is also the possibility that these were women, the wives of the returnees.Wycliffe Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 38.

“Two hundred singing men and singing women” “These were not singers appointed for use in the worship but musicians retained by the wealthy for their entertainment.”Ibid. Significantly, they were not listed as part of the assembly but along with other properties, the horses, mules and camels. Whitcomb thought that these singers were, “Hired by the Israelites for festivities and lamentations.”Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 425. However, Hamrick, and others, insist that, “They were slaves maintained for the entertainment of the rich.”Broadman Bible Commentary, op. cit., p. 440.

“This catalogue of the property that Israel brought back to Palestine indicates the general poverty and low estate of the returnees. They had but one slave and one ass for every six of their number, one horse to every sixty, one camel to every hundred, and one mule to every one hundred and seventy and five.”The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 19.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

So here they are returning to Jerusalem, as I said, some fifty thousand. And in chapter two it gives you the names of the people and the families that came and the numbers that came with them. Beginning in, or in verse thirty-six to thirty-nine, you have the priests that returned. Then beginning with verse forty, the Levites that returned. Then Solomon's servants that returned.

Now in verse sixty-one, there were some of the Levites that were returning who could not find their names in the register. Among those that were reckoned by genealogy, they just could not find their names there. That is, they could not accurately trace their family history. They could not trace themselves back to the tribe of Levi.

Therefore they were as polluted, and they were put out of the priesthood ( Ezra 2:62 ).

They were not allowed to minister or to function as a priest or to receive the offerings, the tithes, or the dues that were given to the priests in those days, because they could not prove their pedigree. They could not trace their names in the records. And they were kept out of the priesthood until such a time as they could find a priest with the Urim and the Thummim in order that they might inquire of the Lord and determine if these men really belonged to the priesthood or not.

Now the Urim and the Thummim are the thing that the high priest wore upon his chest, and the words mean light and perfections. Just what they were, we really don't know. But they would use the Urim and the Thummim to inquire of the will of God. Now the common theory is that it was a little pouch with a black stone and a white stone. And they would ask a question and the priest would say, "Lord, give us a perfect lot." You know, and he would reach in to the little bag and pull out a stone. If it was the black stone, then the answer was no. If it was the white stone, the answer was yes. And they used this method to ascertain the will of God in certain things. Keep asking questions, keep pulling out the stones, and if you pulled out the white stone, that answer yes. If you pulled out the black stone, the answer no. And so this is what some have theorized the Urim and the Thummim to be. Just what it was, we don't know. It was a method by which the high priest received God's answer for the people and God's directions for the people. It was some type of device by which divine guidance was given to the people.

Now, though we don't know exactly what it was, I do know exactly what it wasn't. It wasn't a pair of glasses that Joseph Smith found with the twelve golden tablets that when he put them on, he could magically decipher the hieroglyphics by putting on these glasses, which he said were the Urim and the Thummim. That is not so. During the time of Moses they didn't even know how to make glass. And it wasn't a magic pair of spectacles to read the hieroglyphics on the golden tablets. But as I say, what it was, I don't know. But I do know what it wasn't.

So there were about fifty thousand who returned at this first repatriation under Cyrus. And going back to build the temple, plus they had seven hundred and thirty-six horses, and two hundred and forty-five mules, and four hundred and thirty-five camels and all.

And some of the chief fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, they offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place: and they gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams [or sixty-one thousand drams] of gold, five thousand pounds of silver, and one hundred priests' garments. So the priests, the Levites, and some of the people, and all the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities ( Ezra 2:68-70 ).

So they returned and they took up an offering. Some of the wealthier families and all gave as was their ability for the rebuilding of the temple there in Jerusalem. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The totals 2:64-67

There is a discrepancy between the total number of exiles the writer gave here (49,897) and the sum of the various groups he just mentioned (29,818). Perhaps the women and children made up the difference, though if this was the case there were many more men than women and children. This may have been the case in view of the rigors that the people would have had to experience moving from Babylon to Jerusalem.

"More likely is the suggestion that since this is a composite list, some families simply were omitted; but the overall total remains correct." [Note: Breneman, p. 85.]

Another explanation follows.

"There is general agreement that the divergences are copying errors, arising from the special difficulty of understanding or reproducing numerical lists." [Note: Kidner, p. 43.]

Some of the Jews took their servants back to Judah with them (Ezra 2:65). The ratio was about one servant to every six Jews, which confirms the wealth of the Jews then (cf. Ezra 2:69). Twenty years later most of them were poor (cf. Haggai 1:6; Haggai 1:9; Haggai 2:17). These singers (Ezra 2:65) may have been entertainers, since they are distinct from the temple singers (Ezra 2:41). If they were, their presence would illustrate further the returning exiles’ prosperity.

"The [one-humped Arabian] camel [Ezra 2:67] can carry its rider and about four hundred pounds and can travel three or four days without drinking." [Note: Yamauchi, "Ezra-Nehemiah," p. 619.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven,.... This shows that the greater part of those that returned were of the poorer sort, since there were so few servants that belonged unto them; these came not into the above account:

and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women; among the servants, who were kept by persons of figure for their pleasure and recreation, see Ecclesiastes 2:8, for that these were such as were employed in sacred service is not so clear, especially the latter, though some conclude it from 1 Chronicles 25:5, but rather they were such as were employed at marriages, festivals, and funerals; though Jarchi thinks they were employed by the returning captives, to make them cheerful as they travelled along, 1 Chronicles 25:5- :.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      64 The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and threescore,   65 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.   66 Their horses were seven hundred thirty and six; their mules, two hundred forty and five;   67 Their camels, four hundred thirty and five; their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.   68 And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place:   69 They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests' garments.   70 So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

      Here is, I. The sum total of the company that returned out of Babylon. The particular sums before mentioned amount not quite to 30,000 (29,818), so that there were above 12,000 that come out into any of those accounts, who, it is probable, were of the rest of the tribes of Israel, besides Judah and Benjamin, that could not tell of what particular family or city they were, but that they were Israelites, and of what tribe. Now, 1. This was more than double the number that were carried captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, so that, as in Egypt, the time of their affliction was the time of their increase. 2. These were but few to begin a nation with, and yet, by virtue of the old promise made to their fathers, they multiplied so as before their last destruction by the Romans, about 500 years after, to be a very numerous people. When God says, "Increase and multiply," a little one shall become a thousand.

      II. Their retinue. They were themselves little better than servants, and therefore no wonder that their servants were comparatively but few (Ezra 2:65; Ezra 2:65) and their beasts of burden about as many, Ezra 2:66; Ezra 2:67. It was not with them now as in days past. But notice is taken of 200 singing-men and women whom they had among them, who, we will suppose, were intended (as those 2 Chronicles 35:25) to excite their mourning, for it was foretold that they should, upon this occasion, go weeping (Jeremiah 50:4), with ditties of lamentation.

      III. Their oblations. It is said (Ezra 2:68; Ezra 2:69), 1. That they came to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem; and yet that house, that holy and beautiful house, was now in ruins, a heap of rubbish. But, like their father Abraham, when the altar was gone they came with devotion to the place of the altar (Genesis 13:4); and it is the character of the genuine sons of Zion that they favour even the dust thereof,Psalms 102:14. 2. That they offered freely towards the setting of it up in its place. That, it seems, was the first house they talked of setting up; and though they came off a journey, and were beginning the world (two chargeable things), yet they offered, and offered freely, towards the building of the temple. Let none complain of the necessary expenses of their religion, but believe that when they come to balance the account they will find that it clears the cost. Their offering was nothing in comparison with the offerings of the princes in David's time; then they offered by talents (1 Chronicles 29:7), now by drams, yet these drams, being after their ability, were as acceptable to God as those talents, like the widow's two mites. The 61,000 drams of gold amount, by Cumberland's calculation, to so many pounds of our money and so many groats. Every maneh, or pound of silver, he reckons to be sixty shekels (that is, thirty ounces), which we may reckon 7l. 10s. of our money, so that this 5000 pounds of silver will be above 37,000l. of our money. It seems, God had blessed them with an increase of their wealth, as well as of their numbers, in Babylon; and, as God had prospered them, they gave cheerfully to the service of his house. 3. That they dwelt in their cities,Ezra 2:70; Ezra 2:70. Though their cities were out of repair, yet, because they were their cities, such as God had assigned them, they were content to dwell in them, and were thankful for liberty and property, though they had little of pomp, plenty, or power. Their poverty was a bad cause, but their unity and unanimity were a good effect of it. Here was room enough for them all and all their substance, so that there was no strife among them, but perfect harmony, a blessed presage of their settlement, as their discords in the latter times of that state were of their ruin.