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 PHiLIPS' SERIES OF SCRIPTURE MANUALS. 
 
 THE BOOK OF EZRA: 
 
 WITH NOTES. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. DAVIES, 
 
 r N I V IS R S 1 T Y OF LONDON, 
 
 Author of "Manuals" of Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, I. Samuel, 
 
 II. Samuel, I. Kings, Matthew, Mark, Luke, St. John, Church 
 
 Catechism, The Book of Common Prayer, and The History and 
 
 Literature, of the Tudor, Stuart, and other Periods. 
 
 LONDON : 
 GEORGE PHILIP & SON, 32, FLEET STREET. 
 
 LIVERPOOL: CAXTON BUILDINGS, SOOTH JOHN STREET, AM) 
 id & 01, SOUTH CASTLE STREET.
 
 Rev. S. Rudnitzky 
 57 St. Clements A 
 
 Oxford England
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Unices otherwise indicated, all dates in these pages must be 
 regarded as B.C. 
 
 The title of this Book is the name of it3 author, Ezra, 
 (au epitome of whose life will be found at the eud of these 
 " Notes "). 
 
 The date of the composition of the work cannot be 
 exactly assigned, but is generally allowed to have been 
 posterior to the retirement of Ezra from public duty, 
 in 445. 
 
 The period comprised within Ezra extends from 536 to 
 456, about 80 years. 
 
 The Book may be divided into two parts : — 
 
 1. Chaps, i.-vi., inclusive, — narrating the return, in con- 
 sequence of an edict of Cyrus, of the First Caravan of 
 Jews ; and the rebuilding of the Temple. This portion 
 of the work relates to events which occurred previously 
 to Ezra's going up to Jerusalem, and is supposed to have 
 been derived from authentic annals which he found there 
 on his arrival. 
 
 It has been supposed by many that these first six 
 chapters were not written by Ezra, because the employ- 
 ment of the 1st. person plural, ; ' we," in c. v. 4, implies 
 that the narrator was present at the incident there re- 
 corded. But the word relates to Tatnai and his com- 
 panions, not to the Jews ! The occurrence of "we" in this 
 instance and others in cs. i.-vi. is owing to Ezra's having 
 in these cases copied verbatim from the documents which 
 he employed in Ins compilation. 
 
 2. Chaps, vii.-x., inclusive, — narrating the pei-sonal 
 history of Ezra's conveyance to Jerusalem of the Second 
 Caravan of Jews, in consequence of a decree from 
 
 2107389
 
 4 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Artaxerxes, — and of his reforms and regulations, after 
 Lis arrival. 
 
 From c. vii. 27, to c. ix. 15, the writer speaks in the 1st. 
 person singular, as having been an eye-witness of, and 
 actor in, the incidents which he relates. 
 
 The book is arranged chronologically, but its parts are 
 not intimately connected, it being a collection of detached 
 records of remarkable events connected with the return 
 from the Captivity, and not a complete history of the 
 author's times. 
 
 The language of Ezra is Hebrew, with the exception of 
 c. iv. 8 to vi. 18, inclusive ; and vii. 22-26, which portions 
 are in that elder form of Aramaic which is termed Chaldee. 
 
 SKETCH OF EVENTS LEADING TO, AND CONNECTED 
 WITH, THE CAPTIVITIES.— Jehovah had declared again 
 and again, from the days of Moses downwards, that, should 
 His chosen people disobey him, and turn to serve othei 
 gods, He would bring desolation upon their land, and cause 
 them to be carried away capiive. 
 
 This punishment came upon Israel before Judah, owing 
 to the fact that, while in the latter several pious kings, for 
 whose sake God restrained His avenging hand, intervened 
 between the idolatrous monarchs, the throne of the former 
 w;is occupied by an unbroken succession of wicked rulers 
 
 The Assyrian Captivity of Israel commenced in 739, 
 when Tiglath-Pileser carried off the tribes E. of Jordan, 
 and a large proportion of the population in the N. of 
 Palestine W. of Jordan, planting them in Upper Mesopo- 
 tamia. 
 
 In 721, Samaria was taken by Sennacherib, and the rest 
 of the population of the kingdom of Israel were carried 
 away, being planted partly in Upper Mesopotamia, and 
 partly in " the cities of the Medes." 
 
 In 674, Esarhaddon sent colonists from Babylon, &c, 
 into Israel. (Of these settlers we shall have more to say 
 Jiereafter). 
 
 (Of the exiles from the kingdom of Israel, a comparatively 
 small number returned with their breLhren of Judah. This 
 is to be accounted for by the facts that, to the bauished 
 people of Israel, Jerusalem had never been " the centre of 
 proud aspirations," and that they, having been so much 
 longer in exile than the people of Judah, " had become
 
 NOTES OX EZRA. 5 
 
 thoroughly naturalized in their Eastern settlements." The 
 majority, who did not return, having become engaged in 
 trade and banking, were, in consequence of their increased 
 numbers and the exigencies of business, gradually spread 
 in all directions, W. and E., so that, in St. Paul's time, 
 Jews, their descendants, abounded in Asia Minor, Greece, 
 and Italy. Thus, instead of the Ten Tribes being lost, as 
 is so frequently stated, the Hebrews scattered over the 
 world belong not solely to Judah and Benjamim, but are 
 the representatives of all the tribes). 
 
 Jehovah's judgments upon Judah, long delayed, were 
 at last inflicted, being hastened more particularly by the 
 atrocities of the reign of Manasseh, who, in prosecution of 
 that feud between the Crown and the Priesthood which 
 had originated under Joash, made a strong systematic 
 effort to utterly root out the true religion, and, in develop- 
 ing this design, slew large numbers of the priests. 
 
 At the same time, various natural causes were, under 
 Jehovah's overruling hand, instrumental in effecting the 
 ruin of Judah, — viz., the just-mentioned feud between 
 king and hierarchy ; the fall of Israel ; the great weaken- 
 ing of Judah's military strength, by Pekah ; the decline 
 of patriotism aud valor, owing to Manasseh's arbiti-ary 
 rule, to luxury, corruption, and oppression of the poor 
 and lowly, on the part of priests, false prophets, and 
 princes, and to civil discord; and the unwise policy of the 
 monarchs, who alternately defied and bought off their 
 powerful tyrant, instead of quietly submitting until a 
 really fair chance of regaining independence should pre- 
 sent itself. 
 
 The Babylonian Captivity of Judah resolves itself 
 into 4 epochs : — 
 
 The first deportation occurred in 606, when Nebuchad- 
 nezzar took Jerusalem, made Jelmiakim tributary, and 
 carried away to Babylon many of the Temple vessels, and 
 a number of Hebrew princes and nobles, amongst whom 
 were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 
 
 From this date is to be reckoned the Seventy Years' 
 Captivity, which Jeremiah had foretold. 
 
 The second deportation occurred in 598, when Nebu- 
 chadnezzar again besieged Jerusalem, and Jehoiachiu 
 having, with his mother, princes, servants, aud officers, 
 surrendered, was, with the greater portion of the re-
 
 G NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 inaiuing treasures of the Temple, and 18,000 nobles, rich 
 men, soldiers, and artizans, carried away to Babylon, 
 amongst the captives being Ezekiel and Mordecai. 
 
 The third deportation occurred in 588, when Jerusalem 
 was, after a long siege, taken, and, with the Temple, de- 
 stroyed, by Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's generalissimo. 
 
 Zedekiah, the king, was carried to Nebuchadnezzar at 
 Riblah, whence, after seeing his sous slain before him, and 
 having his eyes put out, he was conveyed captive to 
 Babylon, where he died. Besides him, all but the poorest 
 of the Ltud were also led away into exile, the remaining 
 vessels of the Temple also being transported. 
 
 The remnant left in Judah, amongst whom was Jere- 
 miah, were placed by Nebuchadnezzar under the satrap- 
 ship of Gedaliah, their quarters being at Mizpah. Gedaliah 
 was treacherously slain by Ishmael, of the seed-royal of 
 Judah, who then attempted to carry away the people into 
 the country of the Ammonites. He was, however, defeated 
 in his design, Johanan and other "captains" pursuing him, 
 and recovering the Jewish remnant, who were then, by 
 their leaders, against Jeremiah's Divinely-ordered opinion, 
 induced to flee into Egypt, lest Nebuchadnezzar should 
 hold them responsible for the murder of Gedaliah and 
 the Chaldee soldiers whom Ishmael had slain at the same 
 time with him. 
 
 There were then left in Judah a very few stragglers. 
 whom Nebuzaradan finally removed to Babylon in 583. 
 this being the fourth deportation. 
 
 Nc colonists were sent to take possession of Judah. Its 
 southern part, as far as Hebron, was, however, during the 
 exile, taken possession of by the Edomites, who were sue- 
 fully attacked by the Maccabees, and finally subdued 
 by John Hyrcanus, who incorporated them, as far as 
 inducing their compliance with Jewish rites could do SO, 
 with the Hebrew nation. 
 
 SKETCH OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITH JUDAH, FROM 
 THE CAPTIVITY TO THE ISSUE OF THE DECREE OF 
 CYRUS. 
 
 Under Nebuchadnezzar. — Daniel ami his three com- 
 panions were, by the king's orders, trained at court, during 
 three yeare, in the Chaldean language and learning, with a
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 7 
 
 view of being employed in the royal service, their names 
 beingchanged,respectively,from Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, 
 and Azariah, to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abednego. These four refused, (either because of its cere- 
 monial uncleanness, or its having been sacrificed to the 
 Assyrian gods), the daily allowance of food and wine sent 
 to them from the king's table, and consumed only pulse and 
 water, upon which diet, however, they flourished remark- 
 ably. When the period of their training was expired, they, 
 with the other youths who had been their fellow-students, 
 were brought before the king, were found to excel all the 
 wise men in the kingdom, and were advanced to high 
 Court posts. 
 
 While they held these offices, Daniel unfolded to Nebu- 
 chadnezzar his dream of the Great Image Destroyed by 
 a Stone, — in consequence of which, the king worship- 
 ped the prophet, made him viceroy of the province of 
 Babylon, and bestowed the highest honors on his three 
 friends. 
 
 Detei-mined to make all the different nations composing 
 his vast empire acknowledge his chief god, Bel, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar set up a huge image of the deity on the plain of 
 Dura, and ordered, on pain of being consumed in "a burn- 
 ing fiery furnace," that, at sound of musical instruments, all 
 the chief men of his kingdom, assembled by edict, should 
 fall down, and worship the image. Shadrach, Meshach. 
 and Abednego, refusing compliance, were thrown, bound , 
 into the furnace, where, instead of being consumed, the y 
 walked, loose, and accompanied by One whom the king 
 discerned to be a " Son of God." Being commanded by 
 the king to come forth, they did so, unscathed, whereupon 
 Nebuchadnezzar issued a decree that all in his dominion? 
 should, on pain of death, revere the God of the Hebrews. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, elated with pride at the extent of his 
 dominions, and the beauty and strength of "great Baby- 
 lon," which he had almost rebuilt, again dreamed a dream, 
 which Daniel interpreted to mean that he should be cast 
 down from his throne, be driven forth from amongst men, 
 and dwell amongst the beasts of the field, after which he 
 should come to himself, and know that all his power was 
 but delegated to him by the mighty King of heaven and 
 earth. Accordingly, a year after, he was, while in the 
 very utterance of boastful words, stricken with lycanthropy ,
 
 8 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 (a species of monomania wherein men imagine that they 
 are beasts, quit the haunts of mankind, and live like the 
 animals which they suppose themselves to be). For four 
 or seven years, he remained thus : then, recovering, he 
 blessed Jehovah, and acknowledged His Omnipotence. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's power and glory now returned, and 
 increased, and he died, at an honored old age, in 561, hav- 
 iug reigned 43 years : he was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Evil-Merodach, — who released Jehoiachin from prison, 
 set his throne above those of the other captive kings in 
 Babylon, and gave him a daily allowance from the royal 
 table. Proving a cruel tyrant, Evil-Merodach was, in 559, 
 assassinated, and succeeded, by his brother-in-law, 
 
 Neriglissar, (559 — 556), — who bequeathed the throne 
 to his son, 
 
 Laborosoarchod, (556), — a cruel despot, who was slain, 
 after reigning 9 months, and was succeeded by 
 
 Nabonadius, (the Greek Labynetus), (555 — 538). — He 
 formed an alliance with Croesus, king of Lydia, against 
 Cyrus, now monarch of the Medo-Persian empire. 
 Croesus was totally defeated, 546, and, after six years. 
 Cyrus marched upon Babylon,— defeated the army of 
 Nabonadius, — drove the Babylonians within their de- 
 fences, — and laid close siege to the city, which, owing to 
 its strong fortifications, broad deep ditches, large maga- 
 zines, and immense tracts of pasture-, and corn-, land 
 within the vast enclosure of the place, successfully with- 
 stood the besiegers for nearly two years. 
 
 Nabonadius had, after his defeat outside Babylon, 
 fled to Borsippa, leaving, to defend the beleaguered city, 
 his son, 
 
 Belshazzar, who had, a few years previously, been 
 taken, by his father, into co-partnership in the throne. 
 
 One night, in 538, Belshazzar held high revel with 
 his nobles, and his wives and concubines. Intoxicated 
 with wine, he commanded the gold and silver vessels of 
 the Temple, which had been carried away by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, to be brought forth, and from them he and his 
 guests drank to their idols. Their carousal was suddenly 
 arrested by the Fingers of a Man's Hand writing on the 
 walls of the palace strange words, which, interpreted by 
 Daniel, told the trembling, horror-stricken, monarch that
 
 NOTES OiV EZRA. 
 
 he had been weighed in the balances, and found wanting, 
 and that God had numbered and finished his kingdom, 
 and given it to the Medes and Persians. That very night, 
 (as the best authorities are agreed), Cyrus, having diverted 
 the course of the Euphrates, which ran through the midst 
 of the city, entered the empty river-bed, at each end, and, 
 the river-gates having been that evening negligently left 
 open, advanced, unopposed, into Babylon, and captured it, 
 slaying Belshazzar. 
 
 Thus he fulfilled Is. xliv. 27, (prefixing, " I am the 
 Lord"); xlv. 1-4: and Jer. 1. 35, 38; li. 28-32, (down to 
 "stopped"), 36, ("I will dry dry"), 39, 40, (learn). 
 
 It will be remarked how minute and exact these prophe- 
 cies are ! In them, Cyrus is mentioned by name as the 
 captor of Babylon, — the channel by which he should enter 
 the city, together with his finding the river-gates open, is 
 pointed out, — and the drunken supineness, and consequent 
 easy slaughter, of the king and his great men, are vividly 
 depicted. 
 
 Cyrus, having taken the city, hurried away to fresh 
 conquests, leaving as viceroy of Babylon, 
 
 Darius the Mede, (538— 536),— who is mentioned in 
 the Biblical narrative only, nowhere in profane history. 
 
 Darius divided Babylon Proper into 120 provinces, 
 governed by as many princes, (one over eacli province), 
 who were subordinate to three presidents, of whom Daniel 
 was chief. 
 
 The other nobles, jealous of the aged prophet, entrapped 
 Darius into ordering that, for 30 days, none, on pain of 
 being thrown into a den of lions, should offer petitions to 
 anyone, either God or man, excepting the viceroy. Daniel, 
 however, continued to pray, thi'ice daily, according to his 
 custom, looking towards Jerusalem through his open lat- 
 tice. Against his will, Darius was compelled to enforce 
 the penalty, and the prophet was thrown amongst the 
 savage beasts, but was marvellously preserved from injury. 
 He was then released, while his accusers, with their wives 
 and children, were cast into the den, and devoured; after 
 which, Darius issued a proclamation, commanding all his 
 subjects to adore Jehovah, "the living God, .... stedfast 
 forever," who . . . "worketh signs and wonders in heaven 
 and in earth."
 
 10 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 " Expatriation" not " Captivity" is the correct word to 
 apply to the removal of Judah into exile. They were 
 colonists, not bondmen, receiving grants of land from 
 Nebuchadnezzai\ They remained almost entirely a dis- 
 tinct people, — retained their institutions, officers of their 
 own natioD being allowed to exercise civil jurisdiction 
 over the members of the various Jewish communities, — 
 acquired property and slaves, — and, in numerous cases, 
 {e.g., those of Daniel and his companions, and Mordecai), 
 rose to high political station and power. 
 
 The influence of the Captivity on the habits of life of 
 the Jews was very marked. Their love of agriculture 
 declined, and they returned with a strong taste for com- 
 merce, retail trade, and banking. 
 
 The religious and moral effect was still more marked. 
 They learned to value their former privileges through 
 having lost them, weeping by the rivers of Babylon, as 
 they remembered Zion. They grew to hate idolatry, and 
 to reverence profoundly the Law, which, as far as was 
 possible in their foreign sojourning-place, they, with few 
 exceptions, strictly adhered to. Thus, when the 70 years 
 were accomplished, the repentance and reformation, upon 
 which Jehovah had declared their return to be dependent, 
 had been effected. The change was shewn to be radical 
 and genuine by their conduct after their restoration to 
 their country, where, however, unfortunately, owing to 
 various untoward influences, their new zeal developed, and 
 degenerated, into mere slavish obedience to the letter of the 
 Law, while its spirit was altogether ignored. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Cyras issues a Proclamation, giving permission 
 to the Jews to return to their country, and 
 rebuild the Temple : those who wish to avail 
 themselves of the Edict prepare for their 
 departure, receiving presents from those 
 "about them": Cyras restores to Sheshbazzar 
 the Temple vessels, 536. 
 
 ' Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the 
 lord of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 11 
 
 fulfVled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of 
 Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his 
 kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying : — 
 
 ' Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord Cod of 
 heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and 
 he hath charged me to build him an House at Jerusalem, 
 which is in Judah. Who is there arhong you of all his 
 people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jeru- 
 salem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord 
 God of Israel, (he is the God), which is in J erusalem. 
 
 Aud whosoever remaineth in any place where he so- 
 journeth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and 
 with gold, aud with goods, and with beasts, beside the 
 freewill offering for the house of Cod that is in Jerusalem. 
 
 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and 
 Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them 
 whose spirit Go 1 had raised, to go up to build the house 
 of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 
 
 And all they that were about them strengthened their 
 hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and 
 with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was 
 willingly offered. 
 
 Also, Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house 
 of the Lord, lohich Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of 
 Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods ; even 
 those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth, by the hand of 
 Mithredath, the treasurer, aud numbered them unto Shesh- 
 bazzar, the prince of Judah. And this is the number of 
 them : thh'ty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of 
 silver, niue and twenty knives, thirty basons of gold, 
 silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and 
 other vessels a thousand. 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." 
 
 "Cyrus," — (surnamed, "the Elder"), — was son of Cam- 
 byses, a Persian of the royal family of the Achremen 
 idge, by Mandane, daughter of Astyages, the last Median 
 monarch of the Medo-Persian kingdom, who alienated his 
 subjects by his cruel tyranny. The Persians took advan- 
 tage of this state of affairs, and of the degeneracy of the 
 Medes, and, under the command of Cyrus, revolted. 
 Astyages was slain in battle, aud Cyrus thereupon as-
 
 12 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 sunied the government of the Medo-Persian empire, in 
 which the Persian element now became dominant. He 
 then embarked upon a career of successful conquest, dur- 
 ing the course of which, as we have seen, he took Babylon. 
 His story as related in profane history is almost entirely 
 mythical, Xenophon's Ci/ropcedia being merely " an ideal 
 picture of a good and wise ruler, not an actual history of 
 Cyrus." 
 
 " King of Persia." — The so-called Persian empire was at 
 this time greater than that of Assyria had ever been, and 
 included, broadly speaking, Media, Persis, Assyria Proper, 
 Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana, Asia Minor, Syria, 
 Phoenicia, and Palestine. 
 
 " The first year of Cyrus" — 536, when, Darius the Mede 
 dying, Cyrus assumed the sole government of his whole 
 empire. 
 
 "That the word .... fulfilled."— The following are the 
 prophecies of Jeremiah which are here referred to : — 
 
 " This whole land" [i.e., Judah), "shall be a desolation, 
 and an astonishment ; and these nations shall serve the 
 king of Babylon seventy years." (c. xxv. 11). 
 
 "Thus saith the Lord, 'That after seventy years be 
 accomplished at Babylon, / will visit you, and perform my 
 good word toward you, in causing you to return to this 
 place'" (c. xxix. 10). 
 
 The former of these two prophecies was publicly uttered, 
 under Jelioiakim : the second forms part of a letter which 
 Jeremiah sent, in the reign of Zedekiah, to the Jews in 
 captivity, recommending them to settle quietly down in 
 the land of exile, not heeding the false prophets who pre- 
 dicted a speedy return. 
 
 " The Lord stirred up Cyrus." — It is generally sup- 
 posed that Daniel was Divinely-instructed to shew to 
 Cyrus the prophecies concerning him which Isaiah had, 
 more than 150 years previously, uttered, viz. : — 
 
 1. Is. xlv. 1-4, (already quoted), — foretelling Cyrus's 
 conquests generally, and predicting, in a marvellously exact 
 manner, the taking of Babylon, (as a step in the plan of 
 procuring the return of the Jews from exile), by the agency 
 of Cyrus, as Jehovah's chosen instrument. 
 
 2. Is. xliv. 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, — " O Israel ! thou shalt 
 not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick 
 cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins:
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 13 
 
 return unto me ; for I have redeemed thee I am 
 
 the Lord that maketh all things ; . . . . that saith to 
 Jerusalem, ' Thou shalt be inhabited ' ; and to the 
 cities of Judah, 'Ye shall be built, and I will raise 
 
 up the decayed places thereof :' that saith of Cyrus, 
 
 ' He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure : 
 even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the 
 Temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.' " 
 
 3. Is. xlv. 13, (learn, noting that "him," "his," and 
 " he," refer to Cyrus). 
 
 There is another remarkable instance of a person beimj 
 mentioned by name, iu a prophecy, viz., that of Josiah, who 
 destroyed and polluted the altar of Jeroboam, at Bethel, 
 according to a prediction uttered, about 350 years before 
 i he event, by a prophet sent by Jehovah out of Judah to 
 denounce Jeroboam, (read I. Kiugs xiii. 1, 2). 
 
 "Made a proclamation," — margin, " caused a voice to 
 pass :" the meaning is, that he sent heralds throughout his 
 dominions. 
 
 "Throughout all his kinqdom," — i.e., all of his kingdom 
 where any Jews were settled, whether belonging to Israel 
 or Judah. 
 
 " Put .... writing," — i.e., sent written orders to the 
 pashas of the different provinces. 
 
 " The Lord .... earth" — referring to Is. xlv. 1-4. 
 
 "He hath .... Judah," — referring to the other prophe- 
 cies, concerning him, in Isaiah. 
 
 "He is the God" — a conclusion to which the produc- 
 tion of the prophecies of Isaiah could not fail to lead ! 
 
 The facility with which Cyrus was induced to act upon 
 these predictions is greatly attributable to the character of 
 the Persian religion, which, originally monotheistic, was 
 remarkably free from idolatry, and altogether innocent of 
 any cruel and immoral rites. This being so, the monarcli 
 could not but feel sympathy with, and admiration for, the 
 faith of the Jews, so that, when the prophecies concerning 
 himself, as connected with them, were laid before him, no 
 prejudice stood iu the way of his restoring the exiles, and 
 aiding them to reerect their Temple. 
 
 " Whosoever," — i.e., any Jew. 
 
 "The men of his place" — i.e., all the inhabitants, whether 
 Jews who did not wish to return home, or subjects oi 
 Cyrus.
 
 1 1 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 "Silver, .... gold" — for the personal use of the return- 
 ing exiles. 
 
 "Goods" — i.e., provisions for the journey. 
 
 "Beasts," — horses, mules, camels, and asses, (see c. ii. 66, 
 67), for the purpose of carrying women, children, and 
 baggage. 
 
 "The freewill-offering .... God" — i.e., voluntary offer- 
 ings towards rebuilding the Temple. 
 
 " Strengthened their hands," — in margin, " helped them." 
 
 "All ... . offered," — towards the Temple. 
 
 " The vessels .... gods." — Under Nebuchadnezzar, the 
 Temple was thrice plundered, in the respective reigns of 
 Jehoiakim, (606), Jehoiachin, (598), and Zedekiah, (588). 
 
 " ^heshbazzar," — is Chaldaean. His Hebrew name was 
 Z'irubbabel, (= sown in Babylon), (in Matthew, and Luke, 
 Zorobabd). 
 
 " The prince of Judah" — i.e., the royal headoi the house 
 of Judah. He was son of Shealtiel, or Salathiel, who was 
 son of Jehoiachin, — was of the line of David, and an an- 
 cestor of Christ. 
 
 In I. Chron. iii. 19, Zerubbabel is called the son of 
 Pedaiah, (another of Jehoiachin's sons). This is evidently 
 an error, for Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Matthew, Luke, 
 and Josephus, all make him to have been son of Shealtiel, 
 or Salathiel, and the Septuagint of I. Chron., in the pas- 
 sage just named, agrees with them. 
 
 Zerubbabel seems to have held office in the Babylonian 
 Court. As the natural chief of the kingdom of Judah, lie 
 was invested, by Cyrus, with the command of the re- 
 migrants, and appointed governor of Judaea. 
 
 " Chargers," — dishes : John Baptist's head was brought 
 in a " charger " to Herodias. 
 
 " Knives," — for sacrificial purposes. 
 
 " Thirty basons." — Solomon made 100 basons for the 
 Temple. 
 
 " A second sort," — i.e., an inferior sort. 
 
 " Five thousand and four hundred." — Only 2499 vessels, 
 being those of larger size, are enumerated in the preceding 
 verses ; the other 2901 " vessels" (i.e., utensils), would 
 consist of bowls, spoons, censers, flesh-hooks, and cups, which 
 are all mentioned as being made by Solomon.
 
 NOTES OiV EZRA. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The First Caravan of Jews returns to Judaea, 
 under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, 
 and 10 of the principal elders, 536 : a list 
 of the re-migrants : some of them are unable 
 to trace their genealogy: on reaching Jeru- 
 salem, many of the elders make offerings 
 towards rebuilding the Temple: the returned 
 exiles separate to their respective cities. 
 
 " Now these are the children of the province that went 
 up out of the captivity, of those which had been carried 
 away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had 
 carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jeru- 
 salem and Judah, every one unto his city, which came with 
 Zerubbabel : — 
 
 Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan. 
 Alizpar, Bigvai, Re/mm, Baanah. 
 
 The number of the men of the people of Israel : — 
 
 The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred 
 seventy and two. The children of Shephatiah, three hun- 
 dred seventy and two. The children of Arah, seven 
 hundred seventy and five. The children of Pahath-moab. 
 of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight 
 hundred and twelve. The children of Elam, a thousand 
 two hundred fifty and four. The children of Zattu, nine 
 hundred forty and five. The children of Zaccai, seveD 
 hundred and threescore. The children of Bani, six hun- 
 dred forty and two. The children of Bebai, six hundred 
 twenty and three. The children of Azgad, a thousand two 
 hundred twenty and two. The children of Adonikam, 
 six huudred sixty and six. The children of Bigvai, two 
 thousand fifty and six. The children of Adiu, foui 
 hundred fifty and four. The children of Ater of Heze 
 kiah, ninety and eight. The children of Bezai, three 
 hundred twenty and three. The children of Jorah, an 
 hundred and twelve. The children of Hashum, two huu- 
 dred twenty and three. The children of Gihbar, ninety 
 and five. The children of Beth-lehem, an huudred twenty 
 and three. The men of Netophah, fifty and six. The men
 
 1G NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 of Auathoth, au hundred twenty and eight. The children 
 of Azmaveth, forty and two. The children of Kirjath- 
 arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, seven hundred and forty 
 and three. The children of Raman and Gaba, six hun- 
 dred twenty and one. The men of Michmas, an hundred 
 twenty and two. The men of Beth-el and Ai, two 
 hundred twenty and three. The children of JVebo, fifty 
 and two. The children of Magbish, an hundred fifty and 
 six. The children of the other Elarn, a thousand two 
 hundred fifty and four. The children of Harim, three 
 hundred and twenty. The children of Loci, Hadid, and 
 Ono, seven hundred twenty and five. The children of 
 Jericho, three hundred forty and five. The children of 
 Senaah, three thousand and six hundred and thirty. 
 
 The Priests :— 
 
 The children of Jedaiak, of the house of Jeshua, nine 
 hundred seventy and three. The children of Immer, a 
 thousand fifty and two. The children of Pashv.r, a thou- 
 sand two hundred forty and seven. The children of Harim, 
 a thousand and seventeen. 
 
 The Levites: — 
 
 The children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of 
 Jlodaviah, seventy and four. 
 
 The singers: — 
 
 The children of Asaph, an hundred twenty and eight. 
 
 The children of the porters: — 
 
 The children of Shallum, the children of Ater, the 
 children of Talmon, the children of Akkub, the children 
 of Hatita, the children of Shobai, in all an hundred thirty 
 and nine. 
 
 The Nethinirns: — 
 
 The children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the 
 children of Tabbaoth, the children of Keros, the children 
 of Siaha, the children of Padon, the children of Leba- 
 n.ih, the children of Hagabah, the children of Akkub, 
 the children of Hagab, the children of Shalmai, the 
 children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children 
 of Gahar, the children of lieaiah, the children of Rezin, 
 the children of Xekoda, the children of Gazzam, the 
 children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of 
 Besai, the children of Asnah, the children of Mehunim, 
 the children of Nephusim, the children of Bakbuk, the 
 children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur, the children
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 17 
 
 of Bazlutli, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha, 
 the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children 
 of Thamah, the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha, 
 
 The children of Solomon's servants: — 
 
 The children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the 
 children of Peruda, the children of Jaalah, the children of 
 Darkon, the children of Giddel, the children of Shepha- 
 tiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of 
 Zebaini, the children of Ami. 
 
 All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's 
 servants, were three hundred ninety and two. 
 
 And these were they winch went up from Tel-melah, 
 Tel-harsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer : but they could not 
 shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they 
 were of Israel : — 
 
 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the 
 children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two. And of the 
 children of the priests : the children of Habaiah, the child- 
 ren of Koz, the children of Barzillai ; which took a wife 
 of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called 
 after their name : these sought their register among those 
 that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found : 
 therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. 
 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not 
 eat of the most hoh/ things, till there stood up a priest with 
 Urim and with Thummim. 
 
 The whole congregation together was fort') and two 
 thousand three hundred and threescore, 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. Their 
 horses were seven hundred thirty and sis ; their mules, 
 two hundred forty and five ; their camels, four hundred 
 thirty and five ; their asses, six thousand seven hundred 
 and twenty. 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 : 
 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' gar- 
 ments. So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the 
 people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Ne- 
 thinims dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities."
 
 18 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Nehemiah, after he had finished the wall of Jerusa- 
 lem, determined to reckon the people according to their 
 genealogies. In doing this, he employed a register •which 
 he discovered, and which he records. It is substantially 
 the same as the one in the text, prefaced by the same 
 preamble, and having affixed to it a parallel account of 
 offerings made for the Temple-building. There are, how- 
 ever, a number of differences of names and numbers 
 between the two lists :- — 
 
 1. Several names vary b ,r a letter or two. This arises 
 partly from differences in transcription, and partly from 
 neglect of uniformity by our translators. 
 
 2. Several persons bear altogether different names in 
 the two registers. This is owing to the Jewish custom of 
 one person having more than one appellation. 
 
 3. Ezra omits names that Nehemiah supplies, and vice 
 versd: and the two give, in many instances, different 
 numbers of the members of returning families. We can 
 only suppose that the list which Ezra copied was compiled 
 before leaving Babylon, and contains the names and 
 numbers of those who signified their intention to return, 
 while that copied by Nehemiah was drawn up after the 
 arrival in Judaea, and enumerates those who actually 
 came back : then these differences are easily explained by 
 allowing for changes of intention to go or to remain, and 
 for deaths and other accidents on the way. 
 
 We shall, proceed to make what other notes the chapter may 
 call for, and then give a Table shelving the points of difer- 
 ence between Ezra's register and that of Nehemiah.. The 
 student is recommended to learn Ezra's list from our Table 
 instead of from the Bible. 
 
 "Children" '= dwellers in. 
 
 "The province" — of Babylon. 
 
 " Every one unto his city." — All the families of Jews had, 
 from the time that Palestine was divided amongst the 
 tribes, possessed the specified portion of the land then 
 allotted to them respectively. Hence, it was necessary for 
 the genealogies of the re-migrants to be ascertained, so 
 that they might know, and enter into undisputed posses- 
 sion of, their property. 
 
 A more important object still was involved in this step, 
 viz., to preserve the genealogies of the tribe whence Mes-
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 19 
 
 Mali was to come, so that His pedigree might be accurately 
 traced, and the claim of anyone professing to be He might 
 be scrutinized. 
 
 No nation ever was so careful as the Jews in preserving its 
 genealogies, exact tables of which were kept in the Temple. 
 These latter were, probably, lost in the sack of Jerusalem 
 by Nebuchadnezzar ; but it is evident that most of those 
 who went into exile preserved the records of their lineage, 
 copies of which, from the authentic public documents, it 
 was the custom and pride of each family to possess and 
 carefully keep. 
 
 " Jeshua," (or Joshua), — was the high-priest. He was 
 son of Jehozadak, or Jozedech, the sou of Seraiah, the 
 high-priest when Nebuzaradan took Jerusalem. Seraiah 
 was slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and was succeeded 
 by Jehozadak, who held the pontificate during a great 
 poi-tion of the Captivity, and was succeeded by Jeshua, 
 (who, probably, was born in exile). 
 
 Several of Haggai's utterances are addressed to Jeshua 
 and his name appears in two of Zechariah's symbolical 
 prophecies : in the first of these, the high-priest represents 
 the Jews clad, at first like slaves, and afterwards in new 
 and SDlendid raiment of deliverance; in the second, he 
 wears crowns, respectively of gold and silver, to symbolize 
 the union of the kingly and the priestly diadems of Israel 
 on Messiah's head. 
 
 (It is usually supposed that Haggai and Zechariah went 
 up with this first caravan). 
 
 " Nehemiah .... Baanah." — These nine persons were 
 the principal elders, (see c. i. 5), who, with Zerubbabel 
 and Jeshua, commanded the caravan. Nehemiah adds a 
 tenth, " Nahamani." 
 
 It will be noticed that the difi'erent families, or bodies, of 
 Jews mentioned in the succeeding verses are variously 
 denominated,— some by the name of their head, {e.g., " the 
 children" i.e., descendants, "of Shephatiah"), — and others 
 by the town, or district, to which they belonged, {e.g., " the 
 children" i.e., inhabitants, "of Bethlehem"). 
 
 The following is a list of the names of persons and of 
 places, respectively, which occur in the roll of remigrants :— 
 
 1. " Of the men of the people of Israel": — 
 
 Persons. — Parosh, Shephatiah, A rah, Pahath-Moab,
 
 20 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Jeshua, Joab, Elam, Zattu, Zaccai, Baui, Bebai, Azgad, 
 Adonikam, Bigvai, Adin, Ater, Hezekiah, Bezai, Jorab, 
 Hashum, " the other Elam," Harim. 
 
 Places. — Gibbar, Bethlehem, Netophah, Anathoth, 
 Azmaveth, Kirjath-arim, Ohephirah, Beeroth, Ramah, 
 Gaba, Michmas, Bethel, Ai, Nebo, Magbish, Lod, Hadid, 
 Quo, Jericho, Senaah. 
 
 2. "The Levites," — all persons. 
 
 3. " The singers,"— „ ,, . 
 
 4. " The children of Asaph," — „ „ 
 
 5. " The children of the porters,"-.- „ „ 
 
 6. "TheNethiuims":— 
 
 Persons. — Ziha, Hasnpha, Keros, Siaha, Padon, Le- 
 banah, Hagabah, Akkub, Hagab, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, 
 Gahar, Beaiah, Bezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, 
 Besai, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, 
 Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Thamah, ISTeziah, Hatipha. 
 
 Tribes. — Mehuuim, Nephusim. 
 
 Places. — Tabbaoth, Asnah. 
 
 7. "The children of Solomon's servants": — 
 Persons. — Sotai, Sophereth, Peruda, Jaalah, Darkon, 
 
 Giddel, Shephatiah, Hat til, Pochereth, Ami. 
 Place. — Zebaim. 
 
 8. Those whose genealogy could not be traced : — 
 Persons. — Delaiah, Tobiah, Nekoda, Habaiab, Koz, 
 
 Barzillai. 
 
 " Pahath-.Voab" '= governor of Moab: "a name, probably, 
 commemorative of some circumstance now unknown." 
 
 " Of Hezekiah," — i.e., son of Hezekiah. 
 
 " Gibbar,"— Gibeon. 
 
 " The children of Bethlehem .... The men of Netophah." 
 Nehemiah has, " The men of Bethlehem and Netophah ": 
 the latter place was close to the former. 
 
 " Kirjath-arim," — Kirj&th-Jearim. 
 
 " Gaba,"—0'eba. 
 
 " Michmas" — Michmash. 
 
 "Nebo," — a town in Judah, — in Nehemiah, "the other 
 Nebo," so called to distinguish it from another town of 
 the same name situated near Mount Nebo. 
 
 " The other Elam," — so designated to distinguish him 
 from one of the same name previously mentioned. 
 
 " Lod,"— Lydda.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 21 
 
 " TTadid," — " liar id" in many copies of the Scriptures. 
 
 " Jedaiah,"—w&s head of the 2nd. of the 24 courses into 
 which David divided the ordinary priests. 
 
 " Immer," — head of David's 16th. course. 
 
 " Pashur," — was son of Malchijah, who was head of 
 David's 5th. course. 
 
 " Harim" — head of David's 3rd. course. 
 
 Thus, representatives of only four of the original courses 
 of priests returned from the Captivity : these were, how~ 
 ever, subdivided into 24, which assumed, respectively, the 
 names of David's courses, and like them, officiated, in 
 turn, a week at a time, the course being changed every 
 Sabbath. 
 
 " The Levites." — David divided the Levites into four 
 classes : — 
 
 1. The General Assistants, — who are meant in the 
 present verse. Their duties were " to wait on the sons of 
 Aaron in the work of the House of God." 
 
 2. The Officers and Judges, — engaged in administering 
 the written Law. 
 
 3. The Porters, — whose duties were to open and shut 
 the Temple gates ; to keep the peace within its precincts ; 
 to prohibit any unclean, or otherwise ineligible, person 
 from entering ; and to act as night-patrols. 
 
 4. The Musicians, — who conducted the vocal and instru- 
 mental portion of the Temple service. 
 
 "And Eadmiel," — in Nehemiah, " of Kadmiel :" Ezra 
 is right. 
 
 '• Of the children of Hodaviah,'"— in Nehemiah, "and the 
 children of Hodevah", {i.e., Hodaviah) : Nehemiah is right. 
 
 Thus representatives of only two of the 24 courses into 
 which David had divided the general assistant Levites 
 returned. 
 
 " The singers," — i.e., musicians, were divided into 24 
 courses, which were under the direction of three " fathers 
 of the Levites." viz., Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, (for 
 Jeduthun). Probably, each of these three had 8 courses 
 under his control. 
 
 The sons of Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, with their child- 
 ren, formed a select body of highly-trained musicians, to 
 the number of 288, who, with the three heads of song, 
 seem to have been always on duty, and to have lived 
 within the Temple precincts.
 
 22 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 " The children of Asaph." — It is hard to say from this 
 ■whether the eight courses, which we have supposed Asaph 
 to have superintended, were represented amongst the re- 
 migrants, or whether only his immediate descendants 
 returned : probably, the latter. 
 
 " The porters." — It will be observed that representatives 
 of only 6 out of David's 24 courses of porters returned. 
 
 "The Nethinims" (should De, "Nethinim" the Hebrew 
 word meaning " the given" and being applied to the class 
 because they were given to the Levites as helpers), — were 
 servants of the Levites, to perform the more laborious and 
 meaner work of the Temple. The first Nethinim were the 
 Gibeonites, who, for their treachery, were, (though, accord- 
 ing to his promise, Joshua spared their lives), made " hewers 
 of wood and drawers of water " for the Tabernacle, (read 
 Joshua ix. 3-27). David and succeeding monarchs in- 
 creased their number from their war prisoners : it was from 
 this period, when they ceased to be Gibeonites only, that the 
 title Nethinim was used as a proper name for the whole 
 class. They seem gradually to have ceased to be regarded as 
 slaves, and to have been looked upon as merely the lowest 
 order of Temple servants. There is no doubt that, though 
 foreigners, and originally heathens, they were Jewish 
 proselytes, and it speaks well for their attachment to the 
 sanctuary that so many of tliem volunteered to accompany 
 the returning exiles. This conduct on their part consider- 
 ably raised their status, which was ever after regarded as 
 positively honorable : Ezra records that they were " ex- 
 pressed by name," — a mark of distinction amongst the Jews. 
 Their number proving too small for the requirements of 
 the Temple, partial recurrence was had to the practice 
 which pre vailed before the employment of the Gibeonites 
 of the Congregation supplying fuel for the altar: Nehe- 
 miah tells us that lots were cast to fix at what stated times 
 the various households were to furnish the wood. 
 
 " Mehunim." — The Mehunim were an Arab tribe of 
 Arabia Petrsea whom Uzziah conquered : doubtless, he 
 made Nethinim of the captives he took in the war. 
 
 " Solomon's servants," — the remnant of the Canaauitish 
 tribes, whom Solomon reduced to bondservice, (see 
 I. Kings ix. 20, 21). 
 
 " Tel-melah .... Imrner," — all places in Babylonia,— 
 positions unknown.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 23 
 
 " Seed" — should be, (as in margin), "pedigree." 
 
 " Barzillai the Gileadite," — a rich old Gileadite of 
 Rogelim, who handsomely succoured David, when fleeing 
 from Absalom. On the king's return, Barzillai accom- 
 panied him as far as the Jordan, but declined, on the 
 ground of his great age, to proceed to Jerusalem and re- 
 ceive the honors David intended for him. 
 
 " Therefore .... priesthood." — There being no proof 
 that they were of the priestly family, (or even of the 
 Jewish nation at all), they were, properly, regarded as 
 "strangers," whose taking part in the priestly duties was 
 forbidden by Jehovah, under penalty of death, (see 
 Numb. iii. 10: xvi. 39, 40). 
 
 " Were the;/, as polluted put," — rather, (as in margin), 
 " They were polluted." 
 
 " Tirskatha" = " Governor," (as in margin). Zerubbabel 
 is meant. " 1'irshatha" is from the Persic, torsh, ( = severe). 
 
 " The most holy things" — tho>e portions of the sacrifices 
 which were the priests' perquisites, and the shew-bread. 
 
 "Should not eat .... things" — i.e., should not be allowed 
 to exercise the priest's office. 
 
 " Till . . . Thummim." — i.e., till, the Temple being built, 
 the high-priest should stand before, and ask counsel of, the 
 Lord, as to whether those who claimed to be priests, but 
 who had lost their genealogy, were really what they pro- 
 fessed to be, and were to be allowed to exercise sacerdotal 
 functions. 
 
 "With Urim and with Thummim" — " Urim," and 
 " Thummim." are plurales excellentiw, denoting, respec- 
 tively, "light," and "truth." The hioh-priest was in the 
 habit of consulting Jehovah, and Jehovah of answering, 
 "by Urim and Thummim"; but what we are to under- 
 stand by this expression is a most disputed point : — 
 
 Some allege that the words " Urim" and "Thumrnim" 
 denote the precious stones in the high-priest's breastplate, 
 and that these gems indicated to the pontiff the Lord's 
 will, by some supernatural means, — perhaps by the suc- 
 cessive illumination of the letters, (the names of the twelve 
 tribes being cut upon the stones), which composed the 
 response. 
 
 Others imagine that the answer " by Urim and Thum- 
 mim " was given audibly to the high-priest arrayed in full 
 robes, and standing facing the Ark.
 
 24 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 The latest, and apparently correct, idea is that the TJrim 
 and Thummim were two images of the virtues, or powers, 
 of light, and truth, — that they were well known to, and 
 used by, the patriarchs, as Divinely-appointed means of 
 enquiring of Jehovah, — that the use of them was continued 
 in Egypt during the bondage, — and that at the establish- 
 ment of the Mosaic economy they were i-ecognised by God 
 for the purpose of revealing his will to the high-priest. 
 They were placed, most likely, between the two folds of 
 the pontiff's breast-plate. The manner in which the 
 Divine responses were delivered through these images it 
 were idle to speculate upon. 
 
 " Forty and two thousand, three hundred, and three- 
 score." — Yet, a careful addition of all the separate num- 
 bers gives a total of only 29,818,-12,532 less than stated 
 in the text ! The most probable explanation is that the 
 29,818 include only the members of the tribes of Judah, 
 Benjamim, and Levi, and that the 12,532 belonged to the 
 other ten tribes of Israel. 
 
 Nehemiah makes the total the same as Ezra ; but his 
 separate numbers amount to 31,089, — i.e., (on the principle 
 of reconciliation between the two accounts which has been 
 previously stated), 29,818 members of Judah, Benjamim, 
 and Levi, signified their intention to return, but 31,089 
 actually came back. 
 
 " Servants and maids," — seem to have been slaves whom 
 the Jews had acquired in exile. 
 
 Nehemiah gives the same number of servants that 
 Ezra does. 
 
 " Singing men and singing tvomen" — professional mu- 
 sicians, vocal and instrumental, probably foreigners, not 
 Jews. 
 
 " To the house of the Lord"~i.e., to where the House 
 had been. 
 
 "Hit" = its. 
 
 Nehemiah states that Zerubbabel and the people con- 
 tributed, as well as the " chief of the fathers," and gives 
 the following list of the offerings : — 
 
 1. Zerubbabel gave 1000 drams of gold, 50 basons, and 
 530 priests' garments. 
 
 2. The fatlvrs give 20,000 drams of gold, (Ezra has 
 61,000), and 2,200 pounds of silver, (Ezra has 5000 pounds, 
 aud adds 100 priests' garments).
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 25 
 
 3. 7'he people gave 20,000 drams of gold, 2000 pounds 
 of silver, and 67 priests' garments. 
 
 We should feel inclined to accept Nehemiah's account 
 as correct. 
 
 " Drams" — Persian gold darics. The heaviest specimen 
 extant weighs 129 grains Troy, and is, therefore, worth a 
 little over a guinea ; but, allowance being made for loss of 
 substance by wear, it is supposed that the normal weight 
 of the daric was 150 grains Troy, its value, accordingly, 
 being 25s. This coin took its name from either Darius 
 (the Mede), or from the Persic, dara (= a king). The 
 money which the Jews brought up with them would, 
 naturally, be in the Babylonian coinage. The daric, (or 
 dram), was afterwards generally used by them. 
 
 " Pound" — the Hebrew maneh ( = 2 lbs. 6 oz. Troy, = 
 circ. £6 16s. 10 - 5d.) 
 
 It is supposed that the journey to Jerusalem of the 
 re-migrants occupied about 4 months. 
 
 (The Jews who did not return from the Captivity were 
 called "the Dispersion" (see John vii. 35: James i. 1: 
 I. Pet. i. 1). They served a most important purpose in 
 spreading a knowledge of the true God, and so preparing 
 the places of their abode for Christian evangelization 
 thereafter). 
 
 TABLE C0MPAKING EZRA'S AND NEHEMIAH'S 
 RESPECTIVE REGISTERS. 
 
 ( Wherever this line anpears, it shews that Nehe- 
 miah's account agrees with Ezra's). 
 
 Ezra. Nehemiah. 
 
 1. The Tirshatha, Zerubbabel. 
 
 2. The High-priest, Jeshua. 
 
 3. 9 Chief Elders :— 10 Chief Elders:— 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 Seraiah. Azariah. 
 
 Reelaiah. Raamiah. 
 
 Mordecai. 
 
 Bilshan. ■ 
 
 Mizpar. Mispereth. 
 
 Bigvai. 
 
 Helium. Nehum. 
 
 Baanah. 
 
 Nahamani (additional).
 
 26 
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 N 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 4. The Priests:— 
 The Children of 
 
 Jedaiah 973. 
 
 Immer 1052. 
 
 Pashur 1247. 
 
 Harim 1017. 
 
 5. The Levites : — 
 
 1. General Assistants : — 
 The Children of 
 
 Jeshua. . . I 
 
 Kadmiel. [ 74. 
 
 Hodaviah. ) 
 
 2. Musicians : — 
 The Children of 
 
 Asaph 128. 
 
 3. Porters:— 139 in all. 
 The Children of 
 
 Shallum. 
 
 Ater. 
 
 Talmon. 
 
 Akkub. 
 
 Hatita. 
 
 Shobai. 
 
 6. The Nethinim, — num- 
 bering, with the child- 
 ren of Solomon's serv- 
 ants, 392 :— 
 
 The Children of 
 Ziha. 
 Hasupha. 
 Tabbaoth; 
 Iveros. 
 Si aha. 
 Padon. 
 Lebanah. 
 Hagabah. 
 Akkub. 
 Hagab. 
 Sbalmai. 
 Ilanan. 
 GiddeL 
 Gahar. 
 Keaiah. 
 Rezin. 
 Nekoda. 
 Gazzam. 
 Uzza. 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 ) 
 
 Hodevah ) 
 
 148. 
 
 )S in all. 
 
 Hashupha. 
 
 Sia. 
 
 Lebana. 
 Hagaba. 
 Omitted. 
 Om itted.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 27 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 Paseah. 
 
 Besai. 
 
 Asnah. 
 
 Mehunim. 
 
 Nephnsiin. 
 
 Bakbuk. 
 
 Hakupha. 
 
 Harhur. 
 
 Bazluth. 
 
 Mehida. 
 
 Harsha. 
 
 Barkos. 
 
 Sisera. 
 
 Thamah. 
 
 Neziah. 
 
 Hatipha. 
 
 7. Ihe Men of the peopl 
 
 Israel : — 
 
 The children of 
 
 Parosh 
 
 Shephatiah 
 
 Arah 
 
 Pahath-Moab 
 Elam 
 
 Zattu 
 
 Zaccai 
 
 Bani 
 
 Bebai 
 
 Azgad 
 
 Adonikam 
 
 Bigvai 
 
 Adin 
 
 Ater of Hezekiah 
 
 Bezai 
 
 Jorah 
 
 Hashum 
 
 Gibbar 
 
 Bethlehem 
 
 Netophah 
 
 Anathoth 
 
 A zinaveth 
 
 Kirjath-arim, Chephirah, 
 
 and Beeroth 
 Ramah, and Gaba . . 
 
 Michmas 
 
 Bethel, and Ai 
 
 Kebo 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 e of 
 
 2172. 
 
 372. 
 
 775. 
 2S12. 
 1254. 
 
 945. 
 
 760. 
 
 642. 
 
 623. 
 1222. 
 
 C66. 
 2056. 
 
 454. 
 98. 
 
 323. 
 
 112. 
 
 223. 
 95. 
 
 123. 
 56. 
 
 128. 
 42. 
 
 743. 
 621. 
 122 
 223. 
 52. 
 
 Phaseah. 
 
 Omitted. 
 Meunim, 
 
 Kephesheshim. 
 
 Bazlith. 
 
 Tain ah. 
 
 Ei 
 
 Hariph. 
 
 Gibeon. 
 Bethlehem, and 
 Netophah 
 
 Beth-azmaveth 
 Kirjath-jearim, ■ 
 
 The other Nebo. 
 
 652. 
 
 2S18. 
 
 845. 
 
 648. 
 
 628. 
 2322. 
 
 667. 
 2067. 
 
 655. 
 
 324. 
 
 328. 
 
 188. 
 
 123.
 
 23 
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 Magbish 156. 
 
 r J'he other Elam . . . . 1254. 
 
 Harim . . 320. 
 
 Lod, Hadid, and Ono . . 725. 
 
 Jericho 345. 
 
 Senaah .. 3630. 
 
 8. Genealogiesuntraceable: — 
 (1). Priests:— 
 
 The children of 
 Habaiah. 
 Koz. 
 Barzillai. 
 
 (2j. Those that went up from 
 Td-melah, Tel-harsa, Cherub, 
 Adan, and Jmmer, — in all 
 652: — 
 
 The Children of 
 Delaiah. 
 Tobiah. 
 Nekoda. 
 
 9. The Children of Solo- 
 mon's Servants, — num- 
 bering,, with the Ke- 
 thinim. 392 :— 
 
 The children of 
 Sotai. 
 Sophereth. 
 I'eruda. 
 •Jaalah. 
 l)ark"ii. 
 Giddel. 
 Shephatiah. 
 Hattil. 
 
 Pochereth of Zebaim. 
 Ami. 
 
 10. Manservants, and 
 Maids 7337. 
 
 11. Singing Men and 
 Singing Women, . . 200. 
 
 Total of those 
 thus enumer- 
 ated 20,818. 
 
 Total, (includ- 
 ing those not 
 enumerated) . . .42, 3C0. 
 
 Omitted. 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 that wen t up 
 Telharesha, — 
 
 
 
 
 
 721. 
 
 
 
 3930. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Those 
 
 from 
 
 9 
 
 Addon, 
 642:- 
 
 i all 
 
 > ]1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Perida. 
 
 Jaala. 
 
 Anion. 
 
 245. 
 
 31,089.
 
 XOTES ON EZRA. 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Altar of Burnt- offering is reerected: the 
 regular sacrifices are resumed, 536. — The 
 foundation of the Second Temple is laid, 
 amidst mingled rejoicing and weeping, 535. 
 
 " And when the seventh month was come, and the children 
 of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves 
 together as one man to Jerusalem. 
 
 Then stood up Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his 
 brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, 
 aud his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of 
 Israel, to offer burnt-offerings thereon, as it is written in 
 the law of Moses, the man of God. 
 
 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon 
 them because of the people of those countries: aud they 
 offered burnt-offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt- 
 offerings morning and evening. They kept also the feast of 
 tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt- 
 offenngs by number, according to the custom, as the duty 
 of every day required ; and afterward offered the con- 
 tinual burnt-offering, both of the new moons, and of all the 
 set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every 
 one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. 
 
 From the first day of the seventh month began they to 
 offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation 
 of the Temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 
 
 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the car- 
 penters ; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, 
 and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon 
 to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of 
 Cyrus, king of Persia. 
 
 Now, in the second year of their coming unto the house 
 of God at Jerusalem, in the second mouth, began Zerub- 
 babel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, 
 and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the 
 Levites, aud all they that were come out of the captivity 
 unto Jerusalem ; and appointed the Levites, from twenty 
 years old and upicard, to set forward the work of the house 
 of the Lord. 
 
 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren,
 
 30 NOTES OX EZRA. 
 
 Kaolmiel aud his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set 
 forward the workmen in the house of God : the sons of 
 Jlenadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 
 And when the builders laid the foundation of the 
 temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel 
 with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asapli with 
 cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David 
 king of Israel. And they sang together by course in 
 praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is 
 good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And 
 all the people shouted with a great shout, when they 
 praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of 
 the Lord was laid. 
 
 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the 
 fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, 
 when the foundation of this house was laid before their 
 eyes, wept with a loud voice ; and many shouted aloud for 
 joy : so that the people could not discern the noise of the 
 shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people : 
 for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise 
 was heard afar off." 
 
 " The seventh month" — of 536, the year of the issuing 
 of Cyrus's edict, and of the return. 
 
 " The altar."— The Altar of Burnt-Offering,— not, how- 
 ever, the one that had graced Solomon's Temple, but, most 
 likely, a pile of unhewn stones. It was, evidently, set up 
 on its former site, viz., where Araunah's threshing-floor 
 had stood. 
 
 All the furniture of the First Temple seems to have 
 been entirely destroyed in the sack of Jerusalem by Nebu- 
 zaradan, with two exceptions : — 
 
 1. The vessels. 
 
 2. The two pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which stood one 
 on each side of the Porch ; the Brazen Sea ; and the bases. 
 These were taken to pieces, and carried to Babylon, 
 whence they must have been brought back, with the ves- 
 sels, since Jeremiah had predicted that such should be the 
 case, (see Jer. xxvii. 19-22). 
 
 " J I is bases " = its bases. 
 
 " The people of those countries," — refers, probably, to 
 the Samaritans, and to the Edomites who had taken pos- 
 session of the South of the kingdom of Judah. 
 
 " Morning and evening." — This was the Continual
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 31 
 
 Bur id- Offering of a lamb every morning and evening, 
 (read Exod. xxix, 38-42). 
 
 " They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles," — i.e., in as 
 fax as the sacrifices connected with that festival were con- 
 cerned : we shall see hereafter that they did not dwell in 
 booths at the present celebration. 
 
 Tins Feast commenced on the 15th. day of the Seventh 
 month, i.e., the very month in winch they were now as- 
 sembled : hence the keeping of it naturally suggested 
 itself to their minds. 
 
 " The daily burnt-offerings," — i.e., those offered every 
 day during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 " The continual burnt-offering" — not the daily Continual 
 Burnt-Offering already noticed, but the other regularly- 
 appointed sacrifices besides those previously named. 
 
 " The new moons." — The Festival of New Moon, or The 
 Month-Sabbath, was one of the Jewish Festivals connected 
 with the Seventh Day of Rest, and was celebrated in the 
 beginning of the month. It " was ushered in by blowing 
 with the silver trumpets," — in addition to the regular daily 
 sacrifices, ten victims were immolated as burnt-offerings, 
 a ud one as a sin-offering, — sacrificial feasts were held, — ■ 
 and all secular pursuits were suspended. 
 
 "All the set feasts," — i.e., those not already mentioned. 
 
 "A freewill-offering"— was one of the three kinds of 
 Peace-offerings. The victim might be taken from the 
 herd or the flock, might be male or female, and must 
 be accompanied by a meat-offering. The sacrificer slew 
 the animal, — the priest sprinkled the blood, burned the 
 fat and the liver-lobe on the altar, and kept the wave- 
 shoulder and breast for himself, family, and friends to 
 eat, — and the offerer, with his family and friends, feasted 
 upon the rest of the victim. 
 
 " Carpenters," — rather, (as in margin), " workmen." 
 
 " Meat," — i.e., corn. 
 
 " Drink," — i.e., wine. 
 
 Solomon had formerly given Hiram, king of Tyre, 
 wheat, barley, oil, and wine, for timber and the services 
 of workmen to fell and square it. 
 
 In that case, and in the present, each country supplied 
 what the other was most deficient in. 
 
 " The sea of Joppa," — i.e., "the sea at Joppa." Joppa 
 was the port of Jerusalem.
 
 32 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 "According . . . . Persia." — This grant is recorded in 
 c. vi., and will come under notice hereafter. 
 
 "Unto the house of the Lord," — i.e., to the site whereon 
 it had formerly stood. 
 
 "From twenty .... upward." — It had been customary for 
 the Levites to commence their duties at thirty years of age: 
 David, however, altered this regulation, and made them 
 eligible for their office from twenty years old, and upwards. 
 u Jeshua," — the Levite, not the high-priest, (see c. ii. 40). 
 "The sons of Judah," — should be, " the sons of Iloda- 
 viah," (see c. ii. 40). 
 
 " Ilenadad" — the chief of a Levitical family. 
 "Trumpets." — The Hebrew trumpet was a long, straight, 
 instrument, in form resembling its modern representative. 
 David was the first to introduce the trumpet into choir 
 music : before which, it had, (like the " horn"), been used 
 only to make signals, during religious festivals, or on the 
 battle-field. 
 
 "Cymbals." — Under this generic name were included 
 cymbals proper, (such as are still used in bands), — 
 castanets, — the sistrum, (a " frame of sonorous metal " 
 crossed by bars of the same material, which passed loosely 
 through holes in the sides, and were bent at the ends, and 
 which, when the instrument was shaken, produced the 
 sound), — and a kind of " triangle." 
 
 "By course," — i.e., antiphonally, as was the regular order 
 in the Jewish service. 
 
 "Praising .... ever." — It would appear that on this 
 occasion, (as, also, at the dedication of Solomon's Temple), 
 the musicians sang the Psalm which David composed and 
 caused to be performed, when he brought the ark to Jeru- 
 salem, and placed it in the tabernacle which he had pre- 
 pared for it. This song of praise is found in I. Chron. 
 xvi. 8-36, inclusive, and appears to have been compounded, 
 by David, of portions of three already existing Psalms of 
 his, — viz. xcvi., cv., cvi. 
 "A ncient," — old. 
 
 " The first house," — Solomon's Temple. 
 " Wept with a loud voice." — Eastern weepir,g is always 
 accompanied by loud cries of lamentation, which are con- 
 sidered the most proper expression of grief. We may 
 imagine how strong the cries were when we read, in v. ILi. 
 that they almost overpowered the shouts of joy.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 33 
 
 The old men wept for two reasons : — 
 
 1. They were affected by the associations which the 
 scene awoke, and by the ruin and desolation around them. 
 
 2. They were profoundly grieved to tliiuk how mean 
 the new Temple would be in comparison with the first. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Samaritans ask permission to aid in reelect- 
 ing the Temple : being refused, they hinder 
 the work, and, finally, procure a decree from 
 Pseudo-Snierdis prohibiting all further build- 
 ing at Jerusalem, 534 — 520. 
 
 "Now when the adversaries ofJudah and Be?ijami?ihei\rd 
 that the children of the Captivity builded the Temple unto 
 the Lord God of Israel ; then they came to Zerubbabel, 
 and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, 'Let 
 us build with you : for we seek your God, as ye do ; and 
 we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon, 
 ktni) of Assur, which brought us up hither.' 
 
 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief 
 of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, ' Ye have nothing 
 to do with us to build an house unto our God ; but we our- 
 selves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as 
 king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.' 
 
 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the 
 people ofJudah, and troubled them in building, aud hired 
 counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, al 7 - 
 the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of 
 Darius king of Persia. 
 
 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginuing of his 
 reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the in- 
 habitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 
 
 And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, 
 Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes 
 king of Persia ; and the writing of I he letter was written 
 in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. 
 Eehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter 
 against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort : — 
 (Then wrote Rehuni the chancellor, and Shimshai the 
 scribe, and the rest of their couipauious ; the Dinaites, the
 
 34 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Arche- 
 vites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and 
 the Elamites, and iAe res£ o/ the nations whom the great 
 and noble Asnapper brought over, and set in the cities of 
 Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at 
 such a time. This is the copy of the letter that they sent 
 unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king ; thy servants 
 the men on this side the river, and at such a time) ; — 
 
 ' Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came 
 up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the 
 rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereoj, 
 and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the 
 king, that, if this city be budded, and the walls set up 
 again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, 
 and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. 
 Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, 
 and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, 
 therefore have we sent and certified the king; that search 
 may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers : so 
 shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that 
 this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and 
 provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same 
 of old time : for which cause was this city destroyed. We 
 certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the 
 walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no por- 
 tion on this side the river.' 
 
 Then sent the king an answer unto Behum the chancel- 
 lor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of then- 
 companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest he- 
 yond the river : — 
 
 'Beace, and at such a time. The letter which ye sent 
 unto us hath been plainly read before me. And I com- 
 manded, and search hath been made, and it is found that 
 this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, 
 and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. 
 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which 
 have ruled over all countries beyond the river ; and toll, 
 tribute, and custom, was paid unto them. Give ye now 
 commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this 
 city be not builded, until another commandment shall be 
 given from me. Take heed now that ye fail not to do 
 this : why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings'? 
 
 Now, when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 35 
 
 before Kehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their com- 
 panions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the 
 Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. 
 
 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at 
 Jerusalem, So it ceased until the second year of the reign 
 of Darius king of Persia." 
 
 " The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin" — the Cu 
 tha>ans, or Samaritans. They were a mixed race, produced 
 by the intermarriage of the colonists whom the king of 
 Assyria sent into Israel, and the remnant of the inhabit- 
 ants of the latter. 
 
 Ezra calls them "enemies" because of their conduct 
 towards the returned Jews : he does not intend to say 
 that they were enemies previously to their offering oppo- 
 sition to the building of the Temple and of Jerusalem. 
 
 " The children .... captivity," — rather, (as in margin), 
 " the sotis of the transportation." 
 
 " We seek .... ye do." — They certainly did seek God 
 in a confused, corrupt, manner ; but, certainly, not as the 
 Jews did. The motives of the Samaritans in preferring 
 this request were good ; but we cannot see how Zerub- 
 babel could have granted it. 
 
 " Esarhaddon" — succeeded Sennacherib. 
 
 " Assur" — Assyria. 
 
 "Ye ... . God." — The reasons of this refusal were that 
 
 1. The Samaritans were not pure Jews by blood. 
 
 2. They were semi-idolatrous. 
 
 Nehemiah answered Sanballat and the Samaritans in 
 the same way, "Ye have no portion, nor right, nor 
 memorial, in Jerusalem." 
 
 The Assyrian colonists of Israel began by worshipping 
 their respective idols, according to the places whence they 
 came. Lions, however, owing to the desolate state of the 
 country, swarmed destructively upon them. This infliction 
 they considered to be a punishment from God. as the local 
 deity of Palestine, for their neglecting to serve him. On 
 intimating this to the king of Assyria, one of the exiled 
 Jewish priests was sent amongst them to instruct them in 
 the worship o£ Jehovah. Their religion then assumed a 
 mixed form: -^^They merely gave the Lord a position 
 amongst their other deities, — '■'They feared the Lord, and 
 served their own gods." 
 
 They continued to practise this mingled system for a
 
 36 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 considerable period ; but at the time of the return from 
 the Captivity the true religion had gained a considerable 
 ascendancy amongst them, — which accounts for their 
 readiness to join the Jews in rebudding the Temple. 
 
 The feud between the two peoples dates from the time 
 of the request of the Samaritans to be allowed to partici- 
 pate in this work being refused. They did their best to 
 prevent the building of both the Lord's House and the 
 walls of Jerusalem ; but faded in both projects. 
 
 Manasseh, younger son of Johanan, the high-priest, 
 (whose murder of his brother in the Temple will be here- 
 after narrated), married the daughter of Sanballat, Nehe- 
 miah's adversary. The elders deciding that he must either 
 put away his wife, or be thrust out from the priesthood, 
 Manasseh, unwilling for a divorce, repaired to Samaria, 
 to his father-in-law, at whose suggestion a temple, of 
 which Manasseh became the first high-priest, was erected 
 on Mount Gerizim, wdiich the Samaritans held to be the 
 proper place for sacrifice, because Joshua had there built 
 his first altar. 
 
 Thenceforth Samaria became the refuge of large num- 
 bers of malcontent Jews, and the animosity between the 
 two peoples grew keener than ever, being exacerbated by 
 the controversy as to which of them posse -sed the true 
 Temple. 
 
 The fane of the Samaritans was afterwards destroyed 
 by John Hyrcanus. Herod built them a new temple in 
 Samaria, which they refused to use, cleaving to Gerizim 
 as the proper place for worship. 
 
 By the time of Christ, the Samaritans had completely 
 abandoned idolatry and adopted the Mosaic religion with 
 these differences : — 
 
 1. Of the Scriptures, they accepted only the Pentateuch. 
 
 2. They celebrated the Passover on Gerizim. 
 
 3. They believed in Messiah's coming ; not as a great 
 King and Conqueror, however, but as a Peacemaker, a 
 Restorer of the glory of the holy Law on Mount Gerizim, 
 and a great Teacher, who would unite by his doctrine all 
 nations in one common service to Jehovah. 
 
 The feud between the Jews and the Samaritans had, at 
 the period of our Lord, ripened into the bitterest hos- 
 tility :— 
 
 The Jews taunted their foes with being "Cuthites,"
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 37 
 
 "strangers from Assyria," and sneeringly designated them 
 '• proselytes of the lions," — declared that they worshipped 
 the idol-images which Jacob had formerly bm-ied under 
 the " oak " of Shechem, — cursed them openly in their 
 synagogues,— refused to accept their testimony iu law-suits, 
 &c, — believed that to entertain one of them was to lay up 
 certain judgment hereafter for the host, and that to taste 
 their food was equivalent to eating swine's flesh, — would 
 not receive any of them as proselytes, — and denied their 
 having any part in the Resurrection. 
 
 The Samaritans refused to entertain Jews going up to 
 the feasts at Jerusalem, and sometimes lay in wait for, 
 robbed, and murdered, them, — and on one occasion defiled 
 the Temple by scattering human bones on its floor. 
 
 in the New Testament ice find the following allusions to 
 the differences betivecn the two peoples : — 
 
 Luke ix. 51-56, — (shewing the inhospitality of the 
 Samaritans to Jewish pilgrims, and also the bitter hatred 
 of the Jews towards them). 
 
 Luke x. 30-35. — The parable of The Good Samaritan, — 
 (illustrating the practice of the Samaritans to rob and 
 murder Jewish travellers, and the hostility of the two 
 nations, Christ choosing a Samaritan as the helper of the 
 sufferer in order to magnify the charity of the act). 
 
 John iv. 9, — (shewing that the Jews would not taste 
 aught px-ovided by a Samaritan, and kept as far as pos- 
 sible from all "dealings" with them. They carried this 
 practice to such an extreme length that, in travelling 
 from Galilee to Judea, they generally made a round via 
 Perasa). 
 
 John iv. 20, — (shewing the origin of the dispute between 
 the Jews and the Samaritans). 
 
 John iv. 21. — "He will tell us all things," — (showing 
 the Samaritans' belief that Christ's great mission would be 
 to teach). 
 
 John viii. 48, — spoken to Jesus by the Pharisees, when 
 He had told them they were the children of the Evil One, 
 — (showing the fiendish hati'ed and contempt of the Jews 
 towards their neighbours, "Samaritan" being evidently 
 the worst epithet they could command wherewith to brand 
 the Saviour). 
 
 The Samaritans have now dwindled down to a few 
 families, who dwell at Shechem, (Nablous), — possess a
 
 38 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 MS. copy of the Law, — and believe those doctrines, and 
 practise those rules, which have been previously described. 
 
 " Weakened .... building," — how, we are not told; but 
 it is easy to see how a well-established, powerful, people, 
 as the Samaritans now were, could annoy and distress the 
 as yet unsettled, and defenceless, Jews. Amougst other 
 things, they could stop the conveyance to Jerusalem of 
 materials for the building, and thus effectually retard the 
 work. 
 
 " Counsellers," — agents to misrepresent the Jews, at the 
 Persian Court. 
 
 "All the days of Cyrus." — Cyrus, however, as might have 
 been expected, evidently paid no attention to the com- 
 plaints of these counsellers. 
 
 " Darius" — i.e., Darius Hijstaspes. The opposition thus 
 extended from 534 to 520, under Cyrus, Ahasuerus, Arta- 
 xerxes, and Darius. 
 
 "Ahasuerus"— is a title, not a proper name. The Ahas- 
 uerus of the text was Cambyses, who succeeded his father, 
 Cyrus, in 529, in which year the latter was slain by 
 Tomyris, queen of the Massagetse. 
 
 Cambyses evidently paid no attention to the Samaritans' 
 letter. 
 
 "Art-.: verges" (—great king), — is a title, not a proper 
 name. The Artaxerxes of the text was Smerdis Jfagrcs, 
 {i.e., the Magian, he being a member of the Magian priest- 
 hood). 
 
 Cambyses became insane, and slew his own brother, 
 Smerdis, and dying in a distant part of his dominions, in 
 522, a Magian priest personated the dead Smerdis, and 
 obtained the throne. 
 
 " Bishlam .... companions" — were Samaritans. 
 
 " The Syrian tongue," — i.e., Aramaic. 
 
 " Chancellor" — Satrap of the Per.-ian king over the pro- 
 vince including Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. 
 
 " Scribe," — Secretary/ of State. 
 
 "Companions," — rather, (as in margin), "societies," (i.e., 
 (if colon i 
 
 " Dinaitt :<"— position unknown. 
 
 " Apharsathchitcs," — probably, inhabitants of the Median 
 Paratacene. Some, however, consider them to have come 
 from Ears, or Pars, the ancient capital province whence 
 the whole of Persia took its name.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 39 
 
 " Tarpelites," — position unknown. 
 
 " Apharsites," — usually represented as meaning " Per- 
 tians." 
 
 " Archevites," — probably from Aracha, on the borders of 
 Susiana and Babylonia (proper) : some however, think, 
 that the inhabitants of Erech are meant. 
 
 " Susanchites," — from Susa, and its vicinity. 
 
 '• Dehavites," — probably, the same as the classical Dahi, 
 neighbours of the Medians and Hyrcanians. 
 
 " Elamites,"— from Elymats. 
 
 The districts mentioned in II. Kings as those whence 
 the colonists were sent are 
 
 Babylon ; Cuthah, (probably, the Chaldee name for 
 Cush, now Khusistan); Ava, (probably, a town and dis- 
 trict of Susiana : perhaps Ahwaz, on the Karoon, repre- 
 sents the town Ava. Some, however, take Ava to have 
 been the same as Ahava, on the Euphrates) ; Hamath, (not 
 the Hamath N. of Palestine ; but, probably, a town or 
 district of Susiana) ; and Sepharvaim, (probably, the same 
 as Sippara, on the Euphrates). 
 
 " The rest of the nations," — includes those which are 
 named in II. Kings and not in Ezra, and, doubtless, 
 numerous others not mentioned in either book. 
 
 " Asnapper," — either Esarhaddon himself, or some 
 distinguished officer who conducted the colonists into 
 Israel. 
 
 The settlement of these colonists took place in 674. In 
 the previous year, Esarhaddon's captains had invaded 
 Judah, and carried Manasseh away captive. They prob- 
 ably brought home to their king such an account of the 
 desolate and exposed state of Israel that he, in his own 
 interest, lest some other State should seize upon it, deter- 
 mined to re-stock the country. 
 
 " The rest . . . river," — i.e., those inhabitants of Behum's 
 province who were neither Jews nor Samaritans. 
 
 " River," — the Jordan. 
 
 "At sueh a time," — i.e., the date of the writing of the 
 letter was stated at the commencement of it. 
 
 '• Iluilding .... foundations." — This was a falsehood. 
 No steps had been taken towards building aught but the 
 Temple. It was not till Nehemiah's administration that 
 the walls were raised ; until then only the Tenrple and 
 a few dwellings had been erected.
 
 40 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 " We have .... palace" — more graphically put in the 
 margin, " We are salted with the salt of the palace" 
 
 The crafty Eehum, and his associates, adopt a tone of 
 profound loyalty, and say in effect, " We live upon your 
 bounty, and, therefore, feel it incumbent upon us to attend 
 to your interests." 
 
 " Moved," — better, (as in margin), " made." 
 
 " They have .... timer — From the time that Judah 
 first became tributary to Assyria, under Ahaz, (who 
 volunteered vassalage in consideration of Tiglath-Pileser's 
 aiding him against Pekab and Eeziu), the following kings 
 revolted from the Assyrian yoke : — 
 
 1. Hezekiah, who, though submitting temporarily to 
 Sennacherib, maintained his independence. 
 
 (Under Manasseh, Esarhaddon's captains reduced Judah 
 to obedience). 
 
 (Under Josiah, Egypt robbed Assyria of her rule over 
 Judah ; but the latter power regained her supremacy, 
 under Jehoiakim). 
 
 2. Jehoiakim, whose allegiance was not recovered 
 (Judah was again enslaved under Jehoiachin). 
 
 3. Zedekiah, in whose reign the destruction of Jerusalem 
 occurred. 
 
 " For which .... destroyed," — as far as the king of 
 Assyria was concerned, this was the cause. 
 
 " There have been .... them." — This could be asserted 
 of Solomon only : his kingdom extended from the River 
 of Egypt on the S.W., to the £. arm of the Eed Sea, 
 (including portions of that arm, and of the S. desert), — 
 thence E. to the Euphrates, — thence following the Eu- 
 phrates N.W. till opposite Lebanon, — Westward, past 
 Lebanon, to the coast of the Mediterranean, which 
 formed the AY. limit, —and from this point Southward, 
 along the coast to the River of Egypt again. 
 
 Amongst the nations beyond Jordan eastward who 
 paid him "toll, tribute," &c, were the Syrian states, 
 Ammon, Moab, and various Arabian tribes. 
 
 " The river," — Jordan. 
 
 " The second .... Darius" (Hystaspes), — 520. — The 
 fraud of Pseudo-Smerdis being discovered, he wis, in 522, 
 (after reigning less than 18 months), put to death, by 
 7 Persian nobles, one of whom, the Darius of the text, and 
 known as Darius Hystaspes, ascended the throne.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 41 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Encouraged by Haggai and Zechariah, Zerub- 
 babel and the people recommencj the re- 
 building of the Temple : Tatnai, the 
 governor, after questioning the builders, 
 and hearing from them that the work had 
 received the sanction of Cyrus, writes to 
 Darius to ask whether Cyrus's decree can 
 be found, 520. 
 
 " Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah 
 the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in 
 Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel. 
 even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of 
 Shealthiel, and Jeshua the suu of Jozadak, and began to 
 build the house of God which is at Jerusalem : and with 
 them were the prophets of God helping them. 
 
 • At the same time, came to them Tatnai, governor on this 
 side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, 
 and said thus unto them, ' Who hath commanded you to 
 build this house, and to make up this wall'? 
 
 Then said we unto them after this manner, 'What are 
 the names of the men that make this building'? 
 
 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the 
 Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter 
 came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter 
 concerning this matter. 
 
 The copy of the letter that Tatnai, govei'nor on this 
 side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the 
 Apharsachites which were on this side the river, sent unto 
 Darius the king : — 
 
 They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written 
 thus : — 
 
 ' Under Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto 
 the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the 
 house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, 
 and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast 
 on, and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those 
 elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to 
 build this house, and to make up these walls ? We asked
 
 42 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the 
 names of the men that were the chief of them. And 
 thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants 
 of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that 
 was builded these many years ago, which a great king of 
 Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had 
 provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them 
 into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, 
 the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the 
 people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus 
 the kiDg of Babylon, the same king Cyrus made a decree 
 to build this house of God. And the vessels also of gold 
 and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar 
 took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought 
 them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the 
 king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were 
 delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom 
 he had made governor ; and said unto him, Take these 
 vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jeru- 
 salem, and let the house of God be builded in his place 
 Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation 
 of the house of God which is in Jerusalem : and since 
 that time even until now hath it been in building, and 
 yet it is not finished. Now therefore, if it seem good to 
 the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure 
 house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a 
 decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of 
 God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to 
 us concerning this matter.' " 
 
 "Son of Iddo." — He was son of Berechiah, and grandson 
 of Iddo. 
 
 " Prophesied," — spoke for Jehovah. 
 
 Jlaqgai delivered, in all, four prophecies : — 
 
 ]. On the 1st. day of the 6th. month, (of 520),— in 
 which he urges Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people, to 
 resume the building of the Temple, promising them 
 Jehovah's blessing during the work, and afterwards. 
 
 From this prophecy, we gather that 
 
 (1). The Jews themselves objected to recommence the 
 Temple work, on the pretence that the 7o years' captivity 
 had not ended, and that, therefore, the Divinely-appointed 
 time for ree'recting Jehovah's House had not arrived. 
 (They reckoned from 588, the year of the destruction of
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 43 
 
 the First Temple, instead of from the first deportation, in 
 606). 
 
 (2). While neglecting the House of the Lord, the Jews 
 were raising splendid private dwellings for themselves. 
 
 (3). In consequence of this irreligious conduct, Jehovah 
 had sent a blight upon flocks, herds, fields, and vineyards, 
 (which Haggai declared that God would abundantly in- 
 crease and prosper, if the people would arise and build). 
 (Read Hag. i. 1-11). 
 
 2. On the 21st. of the 7th. month, — in which he predicts 
 that the glor>/ of the Second Temple should be greater 
 than that of the First, since, "in a remarkable political 
 revolution, the gifts of the Gentiles would be brought into 
 it," (the fulfilment of which prediction will be found noted 
 in our sketch of the History of Zerubbabel's Temple). 
 (Read Hag. ii. 1-9). 
 
 3. On the 24th. of the 9th. month, — delivered when the 
 materials had been collected, and the work begun, and 
 promising therefore a commencement of the Divine bless- 
 ing. (Read c. ii. 10-19). 
 
 4. Also on the 24th. of the 9th. month, (addressed 
 to Zerubbabel exclusively), — informing him, (in reply, 
 evidently, to anxious query), that the political revolutions 
 formerly foretold would not happen for a considerable 
 time after his death. 
 
 Zechariah's prophecies connected with the building of 
 the Temple were uttered 
 
 1. On the 24th. of the 11th. month, — promising that 
 the Temple should be built, (read c. i. 16). 
 
 2. About the same time, (to Zerubbabel,) — promising 
 that, as he had laid its foundation, so should he finish it, 
 (read c. iv. 6-9, from, " This is the word "). 
 
 3. About the same time, (to Joshua), — promising that 
 he should finish the House, and preside in it as high-priest, 
 (read c. vi. 11-13), — a passage strongly prophetic of The 
 Great High-Priest, Jesus. 
 
 " Began to build the house of God," — without obtaining 
 a revocation of the edict of " Artaxerxes." 
 
 The language of the text leads to the supposition that, 
 \vp till the present time, nothing had been done towards 
 the work but laying the foundation. 
 
 "Governor on this side the river" (Jordan), — i.e., 
 satrap of the province including Syria, Phoenicia, and
 
 44 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Palestine, in which office he succeeded Rehuni. This visit 
 of Tatua'i shews that, though they had native governors 
 with full powers of internal administration, the Jews were 
 still under the control of the provincial governor, who, 
 however, seems not to have interfered as long as peace 
 was preserved and the imposts paid. There is no doubt 
 that the Samaritans had been complaining to Darius in the 
 same tone that they had employed towards " Artaxerxes," 
 ;ind that the latter had sent orders to Tatnai to enquire 
 into the matter. The governor acted wisely, coming to 
 see for himself whether the Jews were bent on mischief, 
 and then sending a very fair and temperate statement of 
 the facts to Darius. 
 
 ' ; We." — Here, Ezra, instead of continuing his narrative 
 in the 3rd person, carries it on by a quotation, (in the 1st 
 person), from Tatna'i's letter. 
 
 " They could not .... Darius" — i.e., the Samaritans, 
 not being supported by Tatnai, were not able to compel 
 the Jews to stop building, until an appeal had been made 
 to Darius. 
 
 " They returned answer .... letter," — i.e., Tatnai and 
 his associates wrote to Darius, the letter subjoined. 
 
 " iShetharboznai .... Apharsachites," (or Apharsath- 
 chites), — were Tatnai's brother-officers. 
 
 "Judea." — Before the Captivity, the term Jud&a deuoted 
 the kingdom of Judah, as distinguished from that of Israel. 
 After the Return, the name was applied, (as in the text), 
 to all Palestine W. of Jordan. Under the Eomans it was 
 employed, also, "as a political and local distinction" of 
 the southernmost of the three divisions of the country. 
 " Jew," too, was, before the Exile, confined to subjects of 
 the kingdom of Judah ; but, after the Return, was 
 extended to all Hebrews, in whatever country dwelling, 
 and, later on, embraced also Jewish proselytes. 
 "A great king of Israel," — Solomon. 
 " The Chaldean,"— i.e., Chaldee-Babylonian. The Chal- 
 deea originally occupied the mountains of Armenia. They 
 thence entered the Babylonian territory in large numbers, 
 grew preeminent there, and, under Xabopolassar, viceroy 
 of Babylon, seized the supreme power, and founded the 
 Idee-Babylonian kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was sou, 
 and successor, of Nabopolassar.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 45 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The decree of Cyrus is discovered, and, by 
 Darius, ordered to be acted upon, 519. The 
 Second Temple is finished, and dedicated, 
 515 : The Priests and Levites are arranged 
 in their proper courses : The Passover is 
 kept. 
 
 " Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was 
 made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were 
 laid up in Babylon. 
 
 And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is 
 in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a 
 record thus written : — 
 
 ' In the first year of Cyrus the king, the same Cyrus the 
 king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jeru- 
 salem, Let the house be builded, the place where they 
 offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly 
 laid ; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth 
 thereof threescore cubits ; with three rows of great stones, 
 and a row of new timber : and let the expences be given 
 out of the king's house : and also let the golden and silver 
 vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took 
 forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought 
 unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the 
 temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and 
 place them in the house of God.' 
 
 ' Now, therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, 
 Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, 
 which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: let the 
 work of this house of God alone ; let the governor of the 
 Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God 
 in his place. 
 
 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the 
 elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God : 
 that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the 
 river, forthwith expences be given unto these men, that 
 they be not hindered. And that which they have need of, 
 both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt 
 offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil,
 
 46 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 according to the appointment of the priests which are at 
 Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail : 
 that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the 
 God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of 
 his sons. Also, I have made a decree, that whosoever shall 
 alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, 
 and, being set up, let him be hanged thereon ; and let 
 his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that 
 hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and 
 people that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy 
 this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have 
 made a decree ; let it be done with speed'! 
 
 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar- 
 boznai, and their companions, according to that which 
 Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily. 
 
 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered, 
 through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechar- 
 iah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, 
 according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and 
 accordiug to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and 
 Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished 
 on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the 
 sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. 
 
 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, 
 and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the 
 dedication of this house of God with joy, and offered at the 
 dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two 
 hundred rams, four hundred lambs ; and for a sin offering 
 for, all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of 
 the tribes of Israel. 
 
 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the 
 Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is 
 at Jerusalem ; as it is written in the book of Moses. 
 
 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon 
 the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests 
 and the Levites were purified together, all of them were 
 pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the 
 captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for 
 themselves. And the children of Israel, which were come 
 again out of captivity, and all such as had separated them- 
 selves unto them from the filthincss of the heathen of the 
 land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, and kept 
 the feast of unleavened bread seven days, with joy : for
 
 NOTES ON EZllA. 47 
 
 the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of 
 the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands 
 in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. 5 ' 
 
 •• A decree" — that search should be made for the Edict 
 of Cyrus. 
 
 " The House of the Rolh," — i.e., the Record-Office. 
 
 " In Babylon," — where, as the next verse shews, the 
 search was ineffectual. 
 
 "Achmetha," — the same as the Ecbatana of profane 
 history. This city was the capital of Media, and was the 
 summer-residence of the Persian kings, from the time of 
 Cyrus downwards, as their winter home was at Susa. 
 
 " Thus written." — The succeeding paragraph contains a 
 verbatim transcript of Cyrus's edict. 
 
 u The height .... and the breadth .... cubits." — These 
 are the dimensions of the Temple Proper. The "height" 
 here mentioned is, according to Josephus, that of the porch 
 only. 
 
 Why Cyrus should have prescribed this particular extent 
 we cannot tell. 
 
 " Cubits," — of nearly 22 inches each. 
 
 " Three roivs of great stones, and a row of new timber" — 
 i.e., the walls were to consist of three thicknesses of stone, 
 wainscotted with cedar-wood, just as the walls of Solo- 
 mon's Temple had been. 
 
 It seems strange that Cyrus should give such meagre 
 directions, referring only to the length, the breadth, and 
 the material of the walls. Perhaps the decree actually 
 contained full particulars as to the building, and only a 
 summary of the edict is given by Ezra ; or, it may be, as 
 seems not unlikely, that, as the Temple was to be erected 
 at the royal expense, it was necessary to fix its dimen- 
 sions and material, (and these alone), so as to be able to 
 t'i >rm the estimate of its cost, and provide funds accordingly. 
 
 With regard to the internal fittings and decorations, the 
 presents received by the Jews, on their return, ami the 
 contributions of the remigrants, for Temple purposes, 
 were, doubtless, amply sufficient. 
 
 "Now therefore." — From here down to "with speed" 
 are comprehended Darius's instructions to Tatnal". 
 
 " Be ye far from thence," — i.e., " Far be it from you to 
 interfere with the building" ! 
 
 u The tribute" — paid by the people of Tatuai's province.
 
 48 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 " Wheat" — formaking shew-bread,and for meat-offerings • 
 
 " Salt," — was employed in the sacrifices. 
 
 " Wine,"- — for drink-offerings. 
 
 " Oil," — for meat-offei-ings, and burning in the Temple 
 lamps. 
 
 '•'•Prospered . . . . Iddo," — i.e., they succeeded in the work, 
 through being encouraged and supported by the Divinely- 
 inspired exhortations and promises of these two prophets. 
 
 " Artaxerxes," — Artaxerxes Longimamxs, under whom 
 Ezra and Nehemiah executed their reforms. The text 
 would lead one to believe that Artaxerxes had a hand in 
 causing the Temple to be built. It was not so ; but as, 
 after the Temple was finished, he issued an edict for its 
 adornment and enrichment, Ezra very justly reckons him 
 amongst those kingly benefactors to whom the Jews owed 
 the restored " House of the Lord". 
 
 " The month Adar," — the twelfth month of the Sacred, 
 and sixth of the Civil, Year. 
 
 " With joy," — apparently, unmingled with weeping; 
 "the ancient men" who had grieved on occasion of the 
 foundation of the structure would now be dead. 
 
 " 100 bullocks, 200 rams, 400 lambs."— At the dedication 
 of Solomon's Temple, and during the ensuing 14 days 
 festival, 7 of which constituted the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 there were offered, in all, 22,000 oxen, and 120,000 sheep. 
 
 " A sin-offering." — Sin-offerings were made for sins of 
 inadvertence. 
 
 They were presented either for the whole Congregation, 
 or for the priests, or for a ruler, or for ordinary individuals. 
 
 " lie-goats." — A he-goat was the proper animal for a 
 rider's sin-offering ; in the present case, a sacrifice was 
 pi-esented for each of the 12 tribal princes as the repre- 
 sentative of his particular tribe. 
 
 In sacrificing thus for a prince, the offerer brought the 
 victim to the Brazen Altar, — laid his hand on its head, 
 confessing his sin, and praying for expiation, — and then 
 slew the animal. The priest then sprinkled, with his 
 finger, some of the blood, 7 times, on the horns of the 
 Altar, on the ground before which he then poured the re- 
 mainder, — sacrificed the fat and the lobe of the liver, — 
 and, with the males of his family, ate the residue. 
 
 " Twelve .... Israel," — proves that members of the Ten 
 Tribes returned with Zerubbabel.
 
 XOTES OX EZRA. 4U 
 
 -Both priests and Levites were 
 divided into "courses," and these are equally "divisions." 
 
 Compare I. Chron. xxiv. 1, ("divisions"), and xiii. 6, 
 (the marginal reading of "courses"). 
 
 "Kept the Passover," — whose season, (Abib 14th), fell 
 shortly after the dedication. 
 
 "Their brethren the priests," — i.e., those who were not 
 officiating at the time. 
 
 "All such .... land," — probably, Samaritan proselytes. 
 
 " The king of Assyria." — Darius is here so called because 
 his empire included the former one of Assyria. 
 
 Description of the Second Temple. 
 
 It was built on the site of Solomon's Temple, (i.e., on 
 Mount Moriah), and was connected with the city by a 
 bridge. It seems to have been on the same plan as, though 
 differing in dimensions from, and not so gorgeously 
 adorned as, the First Temple. 
 
 The Courts, — were two in number, open and quadrangular, 
 — each being enclosed by a wall : — 
 
 1. The Outer Court, or Great Court. 
 
 2. The Inner Court, or Court of the Priests, or 
 Court before the Temple. — On a higher level than the 
 preceding one, and containing 
 
 (1). The Altar of Burnt-Offerixg. 
 
 (2). A Molten Sea, on Bases. 
 
 ?(3). Lavers? 
 
 It has been stated that, in fulfilment of a prophecy of 
 Jeremiah, the Sea, and the Bases, (as also the porch- 
 pillars), must have been brought back. 
 
 With regard to the other articles of Temple-furniture, 
 it is supposed that the Second Temple contained some kind 
 of counterpart of every article but the Ark. 
 
 Enclosed within the Court of the Priests was 
 
 The Temple proper,— consisting of the Porch; "the Holy 
 Place;" and the Holy of Holies, or Oracle. 
 
 The breadth of the Temple was 60 cubs. With regard 
 to its length, we will only hazard the suggestion that, as 
 Cyrus mentions "breadth," but not "length," the build- 
 iug was a square, each side GO cubits long. The height 
 of the Temple, (or, according to Josephus, of the Porch), 
 was 60 cubs. 
 
 D
 
 50 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 [Dimensions of Solomon's Temple. — Length, (including 
 the Porch), 70 cubs., — breadth, 20 cubs., — height, 30 cubs., 
 (excel tting the Holy of Holies, which was only 20 feet 
 high).] 
 
 1. The Porch, — having on either side of it the two 
 hollow pillars of brass, (native copper), Jachin ( = it shall 
 stand), and Boaz (= in strength). 
 
 Each pillar was 18 cubits high, and 12 cubits in circum- 
 ference, — and was surmounted by a capital of " molten 
 brass" 5 cubits high, ornamented with network, wreaths 
 of chainwork, and pomegranates. 
 
 2. The Holy Place, — dimensions unknown. 
 
 Its walls were of hewn stone, wainscotted with cedar. 
 
 It probably contained 
 
 (1). An Altar of Incense. 
 
 (2). A Golden Candlestick. 
 
 (These two articles are mentioned in connection with 
 Pompey's visit to the Temple, as forming part of its 
 furniture). 
 
 (3). Ten Tables of Shewbread. 
 
 (In Solomon's Temple, the Holy Place was 40 cubs, long, 
 20 wide, and 30 high). 
 
 3. The Holy of Holies, or Oracle, — dimensions 
 
 unknown. 
 
 Its walls were of hewn stone, wainscotted with cedar. 
 
 It was, doubtless, separated from the Holy Place by a 
 Vail. 
 
 It contained nothing, as far as we know, — the Ark and 
 the Cherubim having been destroyed when Nebuzaradan 
 sacked Jerusalem. 
 
 (The Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple formed a 
 perfect cube, 20 f "set every way). 
 
 Cloisters, or cells, (Josephus says), existed in the 
 courts of the Second Temple,— for storehouses, and lodg- 
 ings for those on duty in the House. 
 
 The Vessels of the Temple consisted of those returned 
 to the Jews by Cyrus, and, probably, others which they 
 themselves made. 
 
 {Am/one wishing to institute a more thorough comparison 
 between the First, and the Second, Temple, will be easily 
 able to do so b>j aid of the author's " Notes on I. Kings").
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 51 
 
 The Second Temple was inferior to the First in 
 
 1. Beauty and richness. 
 
 2. The absence of 
 
 (1.) The Ark, and nearly all the other original Temple 
 furniture. 
 
 (2.) The Shechinah, or visible manifestation of Jehovah's 
 presence. 
 
 (3.) The Sacred Fire upon the Altar. 
 
 (It has been already stated in what respect it was more 
 glorious than the First). 
 
 Subsequent history of the Second Temple : — 
 
 Not long after the days of Nehemiah, Joshua, the 
 younger son of the then high-priest, having been promised 
 the pontificate by Bagoses, the Persian generalissimo, domi- 
 neered over his elder brother, Jonathan, (or Johanan), in 
 the Temple, whereupon the latter slew him within the 
 sacred precincts. Bagoses then marched upon Jerusalem, 
 —insisted on entering the sanctuary, declaring that he was 
 less unclean than the body of Joshua, — and levied a fine 
 of 50 shekels on each lamb sacrificed during the next 
 seven years. 
 
 Alexander the Great, on occasion of his celebrated visit 
 to Jerusalem, (when he came to punish the Jews for 
 refusing to transfer their allegiance from the king of 
 Persia to himself ; but was disarmed at sight of Jaddua, 
 the high-priest, who went forth to meet him), offered 
 sacrifices to Jehovah in the Temple. 
 
 Simon the Just, the next high-priest but one to Jaddua, 
 repaired and re-beautified portions of the building, and 
 rigidly maintained its services, with much pomp. 
 
 Ptolemy Philopator visited Jerusalem, when Simon II., 
 the fourth high-priest from Simon the Just, was pontiff, 
 — and offered sacrifices in, and presented rich gifts to, 
 the Temple ; but, endeavouring, against the entreaties of 
 the priest, to enter the Holy of Holies, he was, on nearing 
 it, stricken with a horrible dread, and removed from the 
 building more dead than alive. 
 
 Alexander the Great, and Ptolemy Philopator, fulfilled 
 Haggai's prophecy that the Second Temple should be more 
 glorious than the First. 
 
 Under the next high-priest, Onias III., Seleucus, the 
 Syrian king, sent his treasurer, Heliodorus, to plunder 
 the Temple treasury. Heliodorus destroyed the outer
 
 52 NOTES OX EZRA. 
 
 gates, (the pontiff having closed the building against him), 
 and was about to enter the sacred precincts, when a like 
 panic to that which had fallen upon Ptolemy struck him 
 down, and induced him to return without having accom- 
 plished his purpose. 
 
 Onias III. was supplanted by his brother Joshua, whs 
 bribed Antiochus Epiphanes to transfer the ^pontificate to 
 him ; aud was himself ousted by the same means by an- 
 other brother, Onias IV., who took the name of Menelaus. 
 Iu order to obtain means to pay Antiochus the promised 
 bribe he caused a number of the golden vessels of the 
 Temple to be abstracted, and sold at Tyre. 
 
 A disturbance at Jerusalem, caused by the strife between 
 Joshua, (who had adopted the name of Jason), and Ouias 
 IV., having been represented to Antiochus as a general 
 Jewish revolt, that monarch stormed Jerusalem, — gave it 
 up to pillage, and slaughter during three days, — and, en- 
 tering the Temple, seized all its vessels and treasure?, and 
 caused a great sow to be sacrificed on the altar, — part of 
 its flesh to be boiled, — and the liquor poured over every 
 part of the House. 
 
 Subsequently, being disappointed in his designs on 
 Egypt, Antiochus vented his spleen on the Jews, Jerusa- 
 lem being again sacked, and a Syrian garrison lodged in 
 the citadel on Mount Zion. As this fortress commanded 
 the Temple, the Jews were afraid to go up thither to wor- 
 ship, and the daily sacrifices ceased. 
 
 The tyrant having determined on uniformity of worship 
 throughout his territories, now caused the Temple to be 
 consecrated to his favorite deity, Zeus Olynipius. An 
 Altai - , dedicated to that divinity, was placed upon the 
 Brazen Altar, and swine's flesh offered upon it, while the 
 most licentious heathen ritual was introduced. 
 
 Judas Maccabeeus, having recovered the province of 
 Judaea, set to work to restore the Temple worship. He 
 cleared the precincts of the vegetation which covered 
 them, (shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest), — 
 took away the polluted Brazen Altar, and substituted 
 another,— furnished new vessels, — restored the priests, — 
 relit the sacred fire, — and re-dedicated the structure, in 
 B.C. 165, with an eight days' festival. 
 
 Simon Maccabeetis, strengthened the fortifications sur- 
 rounding the Temple.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 53 
 
 Alexander Jannaeus, who succeeded Aristobuhis on the 
 throne of Judsea, separated the Outer Court from the Inner 
 by a woodeo partition. 
 
 Pompey, during the contentious amongst the later Mac- 
 cabees, took Jerusalem. The soldiers entered the Temple 
 and slew the priests, who were, unmoved, conducting their 
 solemn rites. t Pompey, out of curiosity, entered the Holy 
 of Holies ; but left the treasury intact, — caused the build- 
 ing to be cleansed from the pollution of his troops, — and 
 made Hyrcanus high-priest. 
 
 Marcus Crassus, having succeeded Pompey as prefect of 
 Syria, with authority to make war at his own will, deter- 
 mined on hostilities against Parthia. 
 
 To obtain the "sinews of war" he determined to plun- 
 der the Temple, whose treasury is said to have contained 
 at the time an amount equal to about £2,000,000, besides 
 vessels of gold and silver of almost equal value. Eleazar, 
 the guardian of the House, offered Crassus a solid bar of 
 gold weighing about 1000 lbs., and concealed in a beam, 
 if lie would leave the rest of the treasures alone. The 
 mercenary prefect, whose greed is proverbial, accepted the 
 offer, — took the ingot, — and then plundered the Temple 
 of all he could find in the shape of bullion, specie, and 
 vessels. 
 
 Herod the Great, with the aid of Roman troops, stormed 
 the House, B.C. 37, with serious damage to it. Afterwards, 
 in order to win the good-will of the Jews, and to gratify his 
 love for architectural display, he proposed to build a new 
 and magnificent Temple in place of that of Zerubbabel. 
 The consent of the nation was given, but with the wise 
 stipulation that the old building should not be taken 
 down until the materials for the new structure were ready. 
 Herod consented to this proposal, and, when everything 
 was in readiness for commencing, the Second Temple, now 
 in a state of dilapidation, was pulled down IS B.C. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 In the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the 
 Second Caravan of Jews, under Ezra, returns 
 to Jerusalem, with gold, silver, and vessels, 
 contributed by the King, his counsellors, and
 
 54 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 the Jews remaining in exile, 458. — Oopj of 
 the decree of Artaxerxes. 
 
 ; ' Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes 
 king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiuh, the sou of 
 Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son 
 of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the sou of Amariah, the son 
 of Azariah, the sou of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the 
 son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son 
 of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the 
 chief priest : this Ezra went up from Babylon ; and he 
 was a read;/ scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God 
 of Israel had given : and the king granted him all his re- 
 quest, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon 
 him. 
 
 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and 
 of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the 
 porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh 
 year of Artaxerxes the king. 
 
 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth mouth, which 
 was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first 
 day of the first month began lie to go up from Babylon, 
 and on the first day of the fifth month came* he to Jerusa- 
 lem, according to the good hand of. his God upon him. 
 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, 
 and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. 
 
 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Arta- 
 xerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe 
 of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of 
 his statutes to Israel : — 
 
 'Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a 
 scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and 
 at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the 
 people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my 
 realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to 
 Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of 
 the kinL r , and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concern- 
 ing Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of th;/ God 
 which is in thine hand: and to carry the silver and gold, 
 which the king and his counsellors have freely offered 
 unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 
 and all the silver and gold that thou canst rind in all the 
 province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the
 
 NOTES OX EZRA. 55 
 
 people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house 
 of their God which is in Jerusalem : that thou mayest 
 buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with 
 their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer 
 them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in 
 Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and 
 to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the 
 gold, that do after the will of your God. The vessels also 
 that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, 
 those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And 
 whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy 
 God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it 
 out of the king's treasure house. And I, even I Artaxerxes 
 the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are 
 beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the 
 scribe of the law of the God of heaveu, shall require of 
 you, it be doue speedily, unto an hundred talents of silver, 
 and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred 
 baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt 
 without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is com- 
 manded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently doue 
 for the house of the God of heaven : for why should there 
 be wrath against the realm of the king and his sous / 
 Also, we certify you, that touching any of the priests and 
 Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this 
 house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribal >., 
 or custom, upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom 
 of thy God, that is iu thine hand, set magistrates and 
 judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond 
 the river, all such as know the laws of thy God ; and 
 teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will 
 not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let 
 judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be 
 unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, 
 or to imprisonment.' 
 
 (Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put 
 such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house 
 of the Lord which is in Jerusalem: and hath extended 
 mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and 
 before all the king's might// princes/). 
 
 And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my 
 God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel 
 chief men to go up with me.'"
 
 56 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 "Artaxerxes." — Artaxerxes Longimanus. 
 
 Darius Hystaspes died in 486, and was, in the same 
 year, succeeded by Xerxes, Ins son by Atossa, Cyrus's 
 daughter. He is the celebrated invader of Greece, and 
 the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. (The student is 
 recommended to peruse that narrative, and gain an acquaint- 
 ance with the general outline of the incidents it records}. 
 
 Xerxes was slain, in 465, by Artabanus, captain of his 
 guard, who aimed at the crown, but was circumvented by 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus, the third son of Xerxes. 
 
 Under the reign of Darius, the Jews in exile enjoyed 
 unbroken quiet : under Xerxes the} r had a narrow escape 
 from extermination, in consequence of Hainan's plot, but, 
 from the time of the failure of that scheme, the eleva- 
 tion of Mordecai, and the slaughter of their enemies, the 
 Hebrews in the Persian dominions occupied a higher and 
 more honored position than ever before. 
 
 The circumstances leading to Ezra's expedition are not 
 related ; but it is most likely that he, being, (as is recorded), 
 profoundly versed in the Law, and anxious for its strict 
 observance, was not satisfied with the loose manner in 
 which it was kept at Jerusalem, and determined to 
 endeavour to induce Artaxerxes to let him return to his 
 country, with a view to remedying abuses, and effecting 
 needful reform. To accomplish his purpose, he, probably, 
 gave the King a full account of the history of the Jews 
 and of God's dealings with them, with which Artaxerxes 
 must have been deeply impressed, for, (see v. 23), he feared 
 Jehovah's judgments upon himself and family, should he 
 not afford the exiles every facility for that return which 
 He had promised, and aid them in furthering the well- 
 being of His house. There is no doubt, too, that the 
 connection of his father with the Jews interested the king 
 in Ezra's appeals. 
 
 "Son of Seraiah," — i.e., descendant, (perhaps great -great- 
 grandson), of Seraiah. It was this Seraiah who was high- 
 priest at the taking of Jerusalem in 588, and was slain at 
 Riblah. 
 
 His son Jehozadak, or Josedech, was high-priest 
 during the Captivity, and was succeeded by Jeshua, or 
 Joshua, who returned with Zerubabbel, in 536, whence, 
 to the date of Ezra's going up to Judaea, 78 years had 
 elapsed.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 r>7 
 
 It would appear that Ezra was not a descendant of 
 Jehozadak, but of another son of Seraiah. 
 
 The genealogical table given by Ezra in this chapter 
 differs from another register of the high-priesthood in I. 
 Chron. vi. 4-15. The two are appended, with their differ- 
 ences noted : — 
 
 Chronicles. 
 Aaron. 
 
 Eleazar, 
 ^rd son). 
 
 I 
 Phinehas. 
 
 I 
 Abishua. 
 
 I 
 Bukki. 
 
 I. 
 Uzzi. . . 
 
 I 
 Zerahiah. 
 
 I 
 Meraioth. 
 
 Amariah. "| 
 
 I 
 Ahitub. 
 
 I 
 Zadok. 
 
 I 
 Ahimaaz. 
 
 I. 
 Azariah. 
 
 Johanan. J 
 
 I 
 Azariah. 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 omitted by Ezra. 
 
 Amariah. 
 
 Aaron. 
 
 I 
 Eleazar. 
 
 Phinehas. 
 
 I 
 Abishua. 
 
 I 
 
 Bukki. 
 
 I. 
 Uzzi. 
 
 I 
 Zerahiah. 
 
 I 
 Meraioth. 
 
 Azariah, {probably, the 
 same as Zechariah, who 
 was slain by order of 
 Joash) . 
 
 I 
 Amariah, (probably, the 
 
 A zariah who opposed 
 Uzziah's burning in- 
 cense).
 
 58 
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Chronicles. 
 
 Ahitub. 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 I 
 Ahitub. 
 
 Zadok. 
 
 Shallum. 
 
 Hilkiah. 
 
 Zadok. (Between Zadok 
 and Shallum came a 
 high-priest named Uri- 
 jah, who flourished 
 under Ahaz). 
 
 I 
 Shallum. ( Between Shal- 
 lum and Hilkiah came 
 Azariah). 
 
 I 
 Hilkiah. 
 
 Azariah. 
 
 I. 
 Seraiah. 
 
 Azariah. 
 
 Seraiah. 
 
 Jehozadak. 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 " A read'/ scribe .... Moses" — called also, in this Book, 
 
 "A scribe of the words of the commandments of the 
 
 Lord, and of his statutes, to Israel,"' and 
 
 '• A. scribe of the law of the God of heaven." 
 
 The Scribes, (subsequently called, also, "Lawyers"), 
 
 took their rise with the commencement of the Mosaic 
 
 polity, repeated transcripts of the Law being the only 
 
 means of making it sufficiently known. At first merely 
 
 transcribers of the sacred books, the familiarity with 
 
 them thus acquired caused the Scribes to be consulted 
 
 as to the meaniivj of the Law, so that gradually they 
 
 came to be looked upon as teachers of it, and linally 
 
 constituted a learned and sacred caste, whose functions 
 
 were various and responsible, and whose power was great 
 
 and extensive. 
 
 Their office involved the care of the Law, — making 
 copies of it, — and explaining it. They were, thus, keepers 
 of the records, consulting lawyers, authorised expounders 
 of Holy Writ, and schoolmasters. 
 
 The scribes were honored in proportion as was the 
 Law. From the time of the return from the Captivity, 
 the greatest reverence was paid to the books of Moses, 
 and, consequently, its expounders were in high repute.
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 59 
 
 Iu consequence of this, we tind Ezra readily recognized by 
 bis fellow-countrymen as their civil bead. 
 
 " Read 1 /," — means profoundly /earned in, so as to be 
 able to give a ready answer to any question concerning, 
 the Law. 
 
 '• All his request" — i.e., to go up to Jerusalem with all 
 who might like to accompany him, and to be allowed to 
 execute any reforms he might think proper. 
 
 ' : In the seventh year .... king" — i.e., in 458. 
 
 "Ezra. . . .judgments." — Ezra's commission was: — 
 
 1. To adorn the Temple, and establish its worship 
 thoroughly. 
 
 2. To insist upon strict and general obedience to the 
 Law. 
 
 3. To establish judges and magistrates throughout the 
 laud. 
 
 4. To teach the Lav.' to those ignorant of it. 
 
 " To enqv'r- .... hand," — i.e., to see whether the Law 
 was kept throughout the country. 
 
 " The vessels," — may have been some of those taken 
 away by Nebuchadnezzar, and overlooked on occasion of 
 the departure of the first cai'avan, or, as seems more likely, 
 they were a special gift of the king. 
 
 " The king's treasure-house," — at Babylon. 
 
 " Tr ■•," — managers of the royal revenue in the 
 
 province including Phoenicia, Syria, and Palestine. 
 
 "Measures," — " cors," or "homers" each about 31 pks., 
 1 gal., G pts. 
 
 " Baths," (or " ephahs"), — each about 7 gals., 4 pts. 
 
 '• It shall not .... them." — This was putting them on 
 the same footing as the Medes and Persians, who paid no 
 imposts whatever. 
 
 •• Blessed .... princes" — a pious inter-jaculation of 
 Ezra's. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 List of those composing the Second Caravan. — 
 After a fast at the river Ahava, the start is 
 made : the re-migrants reach Jerusalem in 
 safety: — the gold, silver, and vessels, are 
 lodged in the Temple. — Ezra delivers his
 
 60 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 commission to the king's representatives, — 
 all in «^ 
 
 " These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is 
 the genealogy of them that went up with me from Baby- 
 lon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king : — 
 
 Of the sons of Phinehas ; Gershon : of the sons of 
 Ithamar ; Daniel : of the sons of David ; Hattush. Of 
 the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: 
 and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an 
 hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Pahath-moab; Elihoe- 
 nai the son of Zerahiah, and with Mm two hundred males. 
 Of the sons of Shechaniah ; the son of Jahaziel, and with 
 him three hundred males. Of the sons also of Adin ; Ebed 
 the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. And of 
 the sons of Elam ; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah. and with 
 him seventy males. And of the sons of Shephatiah ; 
 Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore 
 males. Of the sons of Joab ; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, 
 and with him two hundred and eighteen males. And of 
 the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with 
 him an hundred and threescore males. And of the sons of 
 Bebai ; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty 
 and eight males. And of the sons of Azgad ; Johanan 
 the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten 
 males. And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names 
 are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them 
 threescore males. Of the sons also of Bigvai ; Uthai, and 
 Zabbud, and with them seventy males. 
 
 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth 
 to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days : and 
 / viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none 
 of the sons of Levi. Then 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, 
 men of understanding. And I sent them with command- 
 ment unto Iddo the chief at the place C'asiphia, and I told 
 them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren 
 the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should 
 bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. And 
 1 >y the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a 
 man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. Gl 
 
 Levi, the son of Israel ; and Sherebiah, with his sons and 
 his brethren, eighteen ; and Hashabiah, and with him 
 Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their 
 sons, twenty ; Also of the Nethinims, whom David and 
 the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, 
 two hundred and twenty Nethinims : all of them were 
 expressed by name. 
 
 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, 
 that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of 
 him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all 
 our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king 
 a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the 
 enem;i * n the way; because we had spoken unto the king, 
 saving, The hand of our God is upon all them for good 
 that seek him ; but his power and his wrath is against all 
 them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our 
 God for this : and he was intreated of us. 
 
 Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, 
 Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with 
 them, and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, 
 and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, 
 which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all 
 Israel there present, had offered : 1 even weighed unto 
 their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and 
 silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred 
 talents ; also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams ; 
 and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. And I 
 said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord ; the vessels 
 are holy also ; and the silver and the gold are a freewill 
 offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. Watch ye, 
 and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of 
 the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of 
 CsraeL at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the 
 Lord. So took the priests and the Levites the weight of 
 the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to 
 Jerusalem unto the house of our God. 
 
 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth 
 day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem : and the 
 band of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from 
 the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the 
 way. 
 
 And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days. 
 Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and
 
 62 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand 
 of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest ; and with him 
 was Eleazer the son of Phinehas ; and with them was 
 Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, 
 Levites ; by number and by weight of every one : and all 
 the weight was written at that time. Also the children 
 of those that bad been carried away, which were come out 
 of the captivity, 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 offer- 
 ing : all thi- was a burnt-offering unto the Lord. 
 
 And they delivered the king's commissions unto the 
 king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the 
 river : and they furthered the people, and the house of 
 God." 
 
 tfe,"—i.e., Ezra. 
 
 " Phinehas," — son of Eleazar, Aaron's 3rd. son. 
 
 " Tthamar" — Aaron's 4th, and youngest sod. 
 
 " Shechaniah .... Shechaniah," — two different persons. 
 
 " The last sons," (i.e., descendants). — A number of Ado- 
 nikam's descendants had gone up with Zerubbabel : the 
 remnant went up with Ezra, leaving none of the family in 
 exile. 
 
 " Zabbud," — or, as some read, " Zaccur." 
 
 The total, including the Levites and Nethinim hereafter 
 mentioned, of those enumerated as accompanying Ezra, 
 amounts to 1754. These, however, are the males only, 
 probably, too, the adult males only. Adding a fair pro- 
 portion of women, youths, and children, we have a sum of 
 about 0,500 as comprising this Second Caravan. 
 
 That so few should have responded to Ezra's invitation 
 is not wonderful. During the interval since the departure 
 ft" the First Caravan, all those who had been carried into 
 exile had died, as well as the greater portion of another 
 generation. The Jews of Ezra's day were completely 
 uralized in the place of their ancestors' exile, — they 
 were prosperous and comfortable there, — and the Judaic 
 legend had little or no romance for them : they cared not 
 to qui! peace, plenty, and security, to go through dangers, 
 to dwell in an impoverished and unsettled land, constantly 
 liable to attack and disaster. 
 
 Moreover, by this time, the Jews in exile had, doubt- 
 less, considerably spread, so that there was not, as in
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 63 
 
 Zerubbabel's time, any very considerable body at any 
 given point, so that the difficulty of assembling a large 
 party was mightily enhanced. 
 
 It will be noticed that nearly all of those who went up 
 with Ezra belonged to families which had supplied a large 
 contingent to Zerubbabel, the only new family names occur- 
 ring in the list in the text being Shechaniah, (two) ; Joab ; 
 Shelomith ; and Mahli. We infer hence that the mate- 
 rials of the second expedition and those of the first must 
 have been drawn mainly from the same quarter, — Baby- 
 lonia. 
 
 " The river . . . Ahava," — probably, only one of the 
 canals with which Babylonia and Mesopotamia then 
 abounded. It appears to have run into the Euphrates, and 
 to have had the town of Ahava on its bank. 
 
 "/ found there none of the sons of Levi," — although, 
 apparently, a number of them had promised to go. 
 
 " Casiphia," — some place in Babylonia of which nothing 
 is known. 
 
 " Israel," — Jacob. 
 
 " The enemy in the way." — The route this caravan per- 
 sued always has been, and is now, infested by Arab rob- 
 bers, who miss no chance of plunder, either by open 
 assault, exaction, or sly theft. 
 
 " Talents" — probably Babylonish talents, worth, each, 
 about £ of the Jewish talent. (A Jewish talent of silver 
 = £375 ; and of gold, £6000). 
 
 "Fine copper" — margin, "yellow brass," or "shining 
 brass": the metal intended is a copper of a peculiar 
 yellow color which the ancients valued equally with gold. 
 The Syriac has, in the text, " Corinthian brass," (so highly 
 celebrated amongst the ancients). 
 
 " The chambers . . . Lord," — shows the correctness of 
 Josephus's assertion that there were cells in the Courts of 
 the Second Temple. 
 
 " Then we departed." — It is always the practice of cara- 
 vans in Western Asia to advance a short distance from 
 their original starting point, and then bivouac for a few days 
 while needful arrangements are being made, — and even 
 when everything is in readiness the custom is still observed. 
 With such a multitude as Ezra had under his command, 
 a stoppage for the pui'pose of ordering the march was 
 absolutely necessary, especially as he had to see that the
 
 64 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 riches he was to convoy were safely bestowed and guarded. 
 He halted longer than is usual, because he had to send for 
 the Levites, and to keep the fast. 
 
 " On the twelfth .... month." — We learn from the pre- 
 ceding chapter that the caravan started from Babylon on 
 the first day of the first month, (of 458). 
 
 " We came to Jerusalem" — on the first day of the fifth 
 month, according to preceding chapter, — 4 months having 
 thus been occupied in the journey. 
 
 "Son of Phinehas" — i.e., descendant of Phineas. 
 
 " Twelve .... Israel," — shews that members of the Ten 
 Tribes were amongst those who returned with Ezra. 
 
 "Lieutenants" — viceroys. 
 
 " Governors," — subordinate rulers. 
 
 Zerubbabel was, doubtless, dead, at this time. Who suc- 
 ceeded him we know not. It is stated by many that 
 Ezra was invested with the governorship of Judaea ; but 
 there is no proof of the fact either in Artaxerxes' decree, 
 or elsewhere in the narrative. We are satisfied that he 
 came merely as a reformer. 
 
 "Furthered " — i.e., gave needful assistance to. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Ezra is informed by the princes that many 
 of the Jews have contracted marriages with 
 foreign wives : he is sore grieved thereat, 
 and deprecates Jehovah's wrath by earnest 
 prayer, 458. 
 
 " Now when these things were done, the princes came to 
 me, saying ; 
 
 ' The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, 
 have not separated themselves from the pjeople of the lands, 
 doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaan 
 ites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammon- 
 ites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For 
 they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for 
 their sons : so that the holy seed have mingled themselves 
 with the people of those lands : yea, the hand of the 
 princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.' 
 
 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and
 
 NOTES CLV EZRA. 65 
 
 my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of 
 my beard, and sat down astonied. 
 
 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled 
 at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trans- 
 gression of those that had been carried away ; and I sat 
 astonied until the evening sacrifice. 
 
 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heavi- 
 ness ; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell 
 upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my 
 God, and said, 
 
 'O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face 
 to thee, my God : for our iniquities are increased over our 
 head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 
 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great tres- 
 pass unto this day ; and for our iniquities have we, our 
 kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the 
 kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a 
 spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And 
 now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the 
 Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give 
 lis a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our 
 eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For 
 we were bondmen ; yet our God hath not forsaken vis 
 in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the 
 sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set 
 up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations 
 thereof, and to give its a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. 
 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this 1 for 
 we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast 
 commauded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The 
 land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land 
 with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with 
 their abominations, which have filled it from one end to 
 another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not 
 your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daugh- 
 ters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth lor 
 ever : that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the laud, 
 and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. 
 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and 
 for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished 
 us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such 
 deliverance as this ; should we again break thy command- 
 ments, and join in affinity with the people of these
 
 66 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 abominations ? wouldest not thou be angry with us till 
 thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no rem- 
 nant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, thou art 
 righteous : for we remain yet escaped, as it is tins day : 
 behold, we are before thee in our tresspasses : for we cannot 
 stand before thee because of this." 
 
 " When these things were done,"— refers to the delivering 
 up of the gold, &c, the offering of sacrifices, the presenta- 
 tion of Ezra's credentials, and the "furthering" of the 
 people and the Temple. 
 
 " The people .... lands" — not the new-comers, but the 
 members of the first caravan and their descendants. 
 " The holy seed" — see Deut. vii. 6. 
 
 " The evening sacrifice" — the lamb of the Continual 
 Burnt-Offering. 
 
 " I fell .... hands" — i.e., he kneeled, and then, stretch- 
 ing forth his hands upon the ground, lowered his face 
 between them, — a posture signifying, in the East, the 
 deepest humiliation. 
 
 "Nail" — rather, (as in margin), " pin." 
 " To give us a nail," — i.e., " to establish," (or fix) " us." 
 The metaphor is taken from the pins, to which, driven 
 into the ground, are attached the cords that support a tent. 
 (The expression is used in Is. xxii. 23, also). 
 
 " To give us a wall," — i.e., " to protect us" (in possession 
 of Jerusalem and Judaea). 
 
 " Thy servants the prophets," — a plural is excellentice, 
 indicating Moses, who it was delivered these warnings. 
 
 The principal passages in which these marriage-con- 
 nections were forbidden are Exod. xxxiv. 11-16: Deut. 
 vii. 1-6, (read, or learn). Notice that the reason for these 
 prohibitions was Jehovah's desire to restrain His people 
 from idolatry ! 
 
 " Nor seek .... ever,"— was spoken by Moses specially 
 of the Ammonites and Moabites, (see Deut. xxiii. 3-6). 
 
 (Nehemiah had afterwards just the same trouble as 
 Ezra on the score of this unhallowed kind of marriage). 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The people assemble before Ezra, in great 
 grief : Shechaniah proposes the putting 
 away of all foreign wives and their children,
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 67 
 
 to which all agree, 458 : the divorces are 
 arranged in gradual order. — A list of names 
 of those who had taken " strange women " 
 for wives. 
 
 " Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had con- 
 fessed, weeping and casting himself down before the 
 house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel 
 a very great congregation of men and women and child- 
 ren : for the people wept very sore. 
 
 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of 
 Elam, answered and said unto Ezra : — 
 
 ' We have trespassed against our God, and have taken 
 strange wives of the people of the land : yet now there is 
 hope in Israel concerning this tiling. Now therefore let 
 us make a covenant with our God to put away all the 
 wives, and such as are born of them, according to the 
 counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the com- 
 mandment of our God ; and let it be done according to 
 the law. Arise ; for this matter belongeth unto thee : we 
 also will be with thee : be of good courage, and do it.' 
 
 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, 
 and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to 
 this word. And they sware. 
 
 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and 
 weut into the chamber of Johanan the sou of Eliashib : 
 and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink 
 water : for he mourned because of the transgression of 
 them that had been caAied away. 
 
 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and 
 Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they 
 should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem ; and 
 that whosoever would not come within three days, accord- 
 ing to the counsel of the princes and the ehlers, all his 
 substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from 
 the congregation of those that had been carried away. 
 
 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered 
 themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. 
 It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the 
 month ; and all the people sat in the street of the house of 
 God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great 
 rain.
 
 68 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them : — 
 
 'Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, 
 to increase the trespass of Israel. Now, therefore, make 
 confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his 
 pleasure : and separate yourselves from the people of the 
 land, and from the strange wives.' 
 
 Then all the congregation answered and said with a 
 loud voice : 'As thou hast said, so must we do. But the 
 people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we 
 are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of 
 one day or two : for we are many that have transgressed 
 in this tiling. Let now our riders of all the congregation 
 stand, and let all them whfch have taken strange wives in 
 our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders 
 of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of 
 our God for this matter be turned from ics.' 
 
 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel, and Jahaziah the son 
 of Tikvah, were employed about this matter; and Meshul- 
 lam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 
 
 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra 
 the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the 
 house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, 
 were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth 
 month to examine the matter. And they made an end 
 with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first 
 day of the first month. 
 
 And among the sons of the priests there were found 
 that had taken strange wives : namely, of the sons of 
 Jeshua the sou of Jozadak, and his brethren ; Maaseiah, 
 and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave 
 their hands that they would put away their wives ; and 
 being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their tres- 
 pass. And of the sons of Immer ; Hanaui, and Zebadiah. 
 And of the sons of Harim ; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and 
 Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. And of the sons of 
 Pashur ; Elioeuai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, 
 and Elasah. 
 
 Also of the Levites ; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, 
 (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. Of 
 the singers also ; Eliashib : and of the porters ; Shallum, 
 and Telem, and Uri. 
 
 Moreover of Israel : of the sons of Parosh ; Ramiah, 
 and Jeziali, and Malchiah, and Miamiu, and Eleazar. and
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 60 
 
 Malchijah, and Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam ; 
 Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jere- 
 moth, and Eliab. And of the sons of Zattu ; Elioenai, 
 Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and 
 Aziza. Of the sons also of Bebai ; Jehohanan, Hananiah, 
 Zabbai, and Atldai. And of the sons of Bani ; Meshul- 
 lam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. 
 And of the sons of Pahath-moab ; Adna, and Chelal, Ben- 
 aiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Biunui, and 
 Manasseh. And of the sons of Harim ; Eliezer, Ishijah, 
 Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and 
 Shemariah. Of the sons of Haslmm ; Mattenai, Matta- 
 thah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and ShimeL 
 Of the sons of Bani ; Maadai, Am ram, and Uel, Benaiah, 
 Bedeiah, Chelluh, Yeniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, 
 Mattenai, and Jaasau, and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, and 
 Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, Machnadebai, Sha- 
 shai, Sharai,Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, 
 Amariah, and Joseph. Of the sons of Nebo ; Jeiel, 
 Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah. 
 All these had taken strange wives : and some of them had 
 wives by whom they had children? 
 
 " The chamber," — was, probably, in the Temple. 
 
 "Princes," — heads of tribes. 
 
 "Elders," — heads of families. 
 
 " The street of the house of God" — i.e., the Outer Court 
 of the Temple : in the Old Testament " street " often 
 means, (as in the text), merely an open space. 
 
 " Without," — i.e., in the open Court. 
 
 " Let .... us." — The proposal of the people was that a 
 commission of Elders should be appointed, and that before 
 them should appear, in turns, the men of each city, (accom- 
 panied by its elders and judges), who should then be 
 examined as to whether they had contracted one of these 
 unhallowed marriages, and, in case of their having done 
 so, should be divorced. 
 
 It speaks well for the devotion to the Law of the 
 returned exiles that they should have been so ready to give 
 up all they held dearest in the world, because their con- 
 tinuing the relationship was hateful to Jehovah, and 
 forbidden by Him. 
 
 " Were employed," — margin, "stood," i.e., "withstood": 
 these four opposed the people's proposition.
 
 70 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 " They made .... month" — so that the settlement of all 
 the cases occupied exactly 3 mouths. 
 
 "Gave their hands." — Bargains, or covenants, are ratified 
 iu the East, as with us, by shaking hands. 
 
 "A ram of the flock" — one of the appointed victims for 
 a trespass-offering, the other allowed being a he-lamb. 
 
 Trespass-offerings were presented for special acts of sin 
 committed unwittingly, or for the purgation of certain 
 bodily impurities. It was under the former head that 
 the present sacrifices were offered, the marriages having 
 been contracted through heedlessness, not with a wilful 
 intent to disobey, as is proved by the readiness with 
 which the connections were sundered by the men. 
 
 " Some of them . . . children." — The children were put 
 away as well as the mothers, (see v. 3). Doubtless, pro- 
 vision was made for them and for the divorced wives. 
 
 Ezra's narrative ends abruptly at this stage. From 
 Nchemiah we learn further particulars concerning his 
 after career, which, with some other necessary details, 
 here follow : — 
 
 The Persian monarchs' policy had prevented their allow- 
 ing the building of the walls of Jerusalem, which, con- 
 sequently, lay completely exposed and open. Only the 
 Temple and about 80 private houses had been erected 
 within the precincts of the old city since the return of 
 Zerubbabel. 
 
 In 445, however, a deputation from Jerusalem came to 
 Shusan with a sad account of the city's condition, which 
 seems to have been rendered more desolate than ever by 
 recent Samaritan attacks, and to have been threatened by 
 Megabyzus, who, having revolted in Syria, had twice de- 
 feated Artaxerxes' armies. 
 
 Nehemiah, a Jew, probably of the tribe of Judah, and 
 then a favoured cup-bearer of the King, deeply moved at 
 the story, obtained permission from Artaxerxes to absent 
 himself for a certain period from Court, in order to go up 
 and rebuild Jerusalem. He was appointed Tirshatha, 
 (which proves that Ezra did not hold that post), and re- 
 ceived from the King, among other credentials, an order 
 on Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, for all the timber he 
 might need. 
 
 Escorted by a troop of cavalry, Nehemiah reached Jeru-
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 71 
 
 salem in safety, and, amidst general joy, the building of 
 the walls was commenced. 
 
 Like Zerubbabel, Nehemiah was opposed by the Sama- 
 i-itans, headed by Sanballat, (who, though a Moabite, was, 
 apparently, governor of Samaria), Tobiah, and Geshem, 
 both Samaritans. But all their machinations failed, — the 
 walls were finished, and the gates set up, all iu 52 days ! 
 
 Nehemiah then applied himself to matters of internal 
 government. He first abolished a grinding system of 
 usury, which had reduced large numbers of the people to 
 deepest poverty and distress, and then proceeded to revise 
 the national genealogical register, — all in 445. 
 
 In the same year, occurred the events narrated in 
 Nehemiah viii., (read), of which the following is an 
 epitome : — 
 
 The people assembled " before the water-gate," (in the 
 east of Jerusalem), on the first day of the seventh month, 
 and Ezra read the Law to them, commencing with early 
 day and ending at noon, the priests and Levites inter- 
 preting it to the congregation, who wept bitterly, (to 
 think how far short they came of fulfilling its precepts), 
 but were comforted by Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites, 
 and told to keep the day as one of feasting and re- 
 joicing, trusting in Jehovah for strength henceforth to do 
 His will. The people acted as advised, the poor having 
 " portions " sent them by the rich. 
 
 The next day the Elders, priests, and Levites, assembled 
 before Ezra, to study the Law minutely, and finding that 
 it commanded the people to dwell in booths during the 
 Feast of Tabernacles, they determined to celebrate the 
 next anniversary of that festival en regie. Accordingly, 
 proclamation was made throughout the country, and, 
 during the time the feast lasted the whole Congregation 
 dwelt under booths, which had not been done since the 
 days of Joshua. 
 
 This Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated with unusual 
 gladness, and, during its progress, Ezra read daily to the 
 people out of the Book of the Law. 
 
 " The first day of the seventh month," (Tisri), — was one 
 of the Month-Sabbaths, and, being the commencement of 
 the Civil Year, was kept with great solemnity. It was 
 one of the 7 days of Holy Convocation. The trumpets 
 were then blown, not only at the time of offering the sac-
 
 72 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 rifices, but throughout the day, whence it was called The 
 Feast of Trumpets. In addition to the daily sacrifices, and 
 those proper to the day as a Moon-Sabbath, nine burnt- 
 offerings, and one sin-offering, were sacrificed. 
 
 The "Feast of Tabernacles," or of Ingathering, — was 
 instituted by Jehovah to 
 
 1. Celebrate the ingathering of the harvest and of 
 the vintage. 
 
 2. Commemorate the Israelites having dwelt in tents 
 during their wanderings. 
 
 It commenced on the 15th. of the seventh month, and 
 lasted seven days, the first of which, and the following- 
 eighth day, were to be days of Holy Convocation. During 
 the continuance of the Feast, the people dwelt in booths 
 constructed with branches of olive, palm, &c. It was the 
 most joyous of the Jewish festivals, and during its cele- 
 bration more sacrifices were offered than at any other 
 sacred season. 
 
 The two grandest celebrations of this Feast were the 
 one narrated in the text, and that connected with the 
 dedication of Solomon's Temple. 
 
 It is generally supposed that after the walls of Jeru- 
 salem were built, an additional number of Jewish families 
 returned from exile. 
 
 The Prophets who flourished during the Period first 
 concluded were 
 
 1. Haggai, — came up with Zerubbabel, — prophesied 
 from 520 to 518. 
 
 2. Zechariah, — came up with Zerubbabel, — prophesied 
 from 520 to 510. 
 
 Epitome of Ezra's Life. 
 
 Ezra = help. The Septuagint styles him Esdras. 
 
 He was a lineal descendant of Eleazar, Aaron's third 
 son, and was an accomplished scribe. 
 
 Josephus states that he was high-priest of the Jews in 
 exile at Babylon, and that he was highly esteemed for his 
 righteousness and virtue. 
 
 (Particulars of his conducting the Second Caravan of re- 
 migrants to Jerusalem, and of his consequent acts, down to
 
 NOTES ON EZRA. 73 
 
 the time of the celebration in booths of the Feast of 
 Tabernacles, must be here supplied by the student). 
 
 Josephus states that Ezra died at Jerusalem, shortly 
 after the celebration of the Feast just mentioned, and was 
 buried there with great splendour. The Talmud makes 
 him die at Zamzumu, a town on the Tigris, where he is 
 said to have beeu staying while on his way to converse 
 with Artaxerxes about the condition of the Jews : a tomb 
 asserted to be his is shewn on the Tigris, about 20 miles 
 above its junction with the Euphrates. A third tradition 
 alleges that he returned to Babylou, and died there 
 ret. 120. 
 
 Ezra's Writings, — were, probably, produced after his 
 retirement from public life, consequent upon Nehemiah's 
 arrival in Judoea. 
 
 In several MSS. of the Vulgate, and in all the printed 
 copies of the Scriptures prior to the decree of the Council 
 of Trent, as well as in many editions since that date, there 
 are found four books following each other, entitled, re- 
 spectively, the I., II., III., and IV., Book of Esdras. Of 
 these, the first two are the canonical Books of Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, and the third and fourth aie the two Apocry- 
 phal Books of Esdras. 
 
 Of these, Ezra wrote only the work that bears his name. 
 
 The Book of Nehemiah was, undoubtedly, written by 
 Nehemiah : I. Esdras is merely an interpolated version of 
 the authentic Bwok of Ezra ; and II. Esdras is a forgery. 
 
 Besides these four works, Esther is by many authorities, 
 (but incorrectly), attributed to Ezra. 
 
 In addition to composing the annals bearing his name, 
 Ezra compiled I. and II. Chronicles. 
 
 He also, there is every reason to believe, revised, and 
 arranged in their present order, the canonical Scriptures up 
 to his own time. There seems little doubt that, in accom- 
 plishing this task, he corrected transcribers' errors, and, 
 under Divine guidance, made such additions and changes, 
 (especially of names of places which had grown obsolete), 
 as appeared necessary. 
 
 Amongst these interpolations are, probably, the last 
 chapter of Deuteronomy, containing an account of Moses' 
 death ; Gen. xxxvi. 31 ; Ex. xvi. 35 ; Pro v. xxv. 1. (refer !) 
 
 Ezra seems to have changed the old Hebrew characters 
 for the square Chaldiean letter which the Jews now use.
 
 74 NOTES ON EZRA. 
 
 Some authorities, very erroneously, affirm that he also in- 
 troduced the vowel-points into the language : they really 
 owe their origin to the seventh century a.d. 
 
 GEOGRAPHY OF EZRA. 
 
 The student must be able to draw from memory a Map 
 that shall include all the following items: — 
 
 In Palestine :— 
 
 The Coast-Line from N. to S. 
 
 Riveh. — Jordan, (with its 3 lakes). 
 
 Mountains. — Lebanon ; Gerizim. 
 
 Districts, and (non-Hebrew) Tribes. — Canaanites(Pro- 
 per) ; Perizzites ; Jebusites ; Hittites ; Amorites ; Gilead. 
 
 The Boundary between Judaea, (i.e., the former kingdom 
 of Judah), and the former kingdom of Israel. 
 
 Towns : — 
 
 In Judcea : — 
 
 Jerusalem ; Azmaveth ; Magbish ; Hadid (probably, the 
 modern El-Haditheh) ; Lod (Lydda) ; Ono ; Zebaini ; 
 Kirjath-jearim ; Chephirah ; Beeroth ; Ai ; Michmash ; 
 Bethel ; Jericho ; Gibeon ; Geba ; Anathoth ; Netophah ; 
 Ramah ; Nebo ; Senaah ; Joppa. 
 
 In Israel : — 
 
 Samaria ; Shechem. 
 
 Foreign Countries, Tribes, &c. — 
 
 Phoenicia, — with Tyre, and Sidon. 
 
 Ammonites. 
 
 Moabites. 
 
 The Mehunim, — in Arabia Petrsea. 
 
 The Euphrates, and the Tigris, (with the N. of Persian 
 Gulf). 
 
 Assyria Proper. 
 
 Mesopotamia, — with the canal, and the town, of Ahava. 
 
 Babylonia, — with (Jhaldsea ; Erech ; and Babylon. 
 
 Susiana, — with Elymais, and Susa. 
 
 Persis. 
 
 Medea, — with Achmetha (Ecbataua) ; and Paratacene. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 ACOUSTICS, LIGHT, AND HEAT, 
 
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