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Texts -- Ezra 8:1-20 (NET)

Context
The Leaders Who Returned with Ezra
8:1 These are the leaders and those enrolled with them by genealogy who were coming up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes : 8:2 from the descendants of Phinehas , Gershom ; from the descendants of Ithamar , Daniel ; from the descendants of David , Hattush 8:3 the son of Shecaniah ; from the descendants of Parosh , Zechariah , and with him were enrolled by genealogy 150 men ; 8:4 from the descendants of Pahath-Moab , Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah , and with him 200 men ; 8:5 from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel , and with him 300 men ; 8:6 from the descendants of Adin , Ebed son of Jonathan , and with him 50 men ; 8:7 from the descendants of Elam , Jeshaiah son of Athaliah , and with him 70 men ; 8:8 from the descendants of Shephatiah , Zebadiah son of Michael , and with him 80 men ; 8:9 from the descendants of Joab , Obadiah son of Jehiel , and with him 218 men ; 8:10 from the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah , and with him 160 men ; 8:11 from the descendants of Bebai , Zechariah son of Bebai , and with him 28 men ; 8:12 from the descendants of Azgad , Johanan son of Hakkatan , and with him 110 men ; 8:13 from the descendants of Adonikam there were the latter ones. Their names were Eliphelet , Jeuel , and Shemaiah , and with them 60 men ; 8:14 from the descendants of Bigvai , Uthai , and Zaccur , and with them 70 men .
The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem
8:15 I had them assemble at the canal that flows toward Ahava , and we camped there for three days . I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there . 8:16 So I sent for Eliezer , Ariel , Shemaiah , Elnathan , Jarib , Elnathan , Nathan , Zechariah , and Meshullam , who were leaders , and Joiarib and Elnathan , who were teachers . 8:17 I sent them to Iddo , who was the leader in the place called Casiphia . I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives , who were the temple servants in Casiphia , so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God . 8:18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man , from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel . This man was Sherebiah , who was accompanied by his sons and brothers , 18 men, 8:19 and Hashabiah , along with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari , with his brothers and their sons , 20 men, 8:20 and some of the temple servants that David and his officials had established for the work of the Levites – 220 of them . They were all designated by name .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The title in the English text comes from the main character in the second part of the book (chapters 7-10). In the Septuagint translation this book also bore the name of Ezra or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of "Ezra.""Ez...
  • Due to the ancient tradition that the same writer composed both parts of the book (chapters 1-6 and 7-10), many scholars believe Ezra produced all of it.5A passage in the Talmud credits Ezra with the authorship of Ezra-Nehemi...
  • The earliest historical reference in Ezra is to the decree of Cyrus that he issued in his first year on the throne (1:1), 538 B.C.12The latest historical reference was just prior to Nehemiah's first trip to Jerusalem (4:21-23...
  • I. The first return under Sheshbazzar chs. 1-6A. The return from Babylon chs. 1-21. The edict of Cyrus and its consequences ch. 12. The exiles who returned ch. 2B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3-61. The beginning of cons...
  • The "temple servants"were an order of Israelites that David had established to assist the Levites (8:20). The biblical writers sometimes called them the Nethinim (lit. those given, i.e., dedicated, to God). They may have been...
  • The Assyrian government encouraged its residents to move to Israel and to settle there after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. This was official government policy during the reigns of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon ...
  • "When he [the writer] discussed the problems of the building of the temple in 4:1-5, it reminded him of later similar troubles with the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and so 4:6-23 has been inserted, almost parenthetica...
  • "These things"(v. 1) refers to the events of the first return that the writer described in chapters 1-6.Ezra's genealogy (vv. 1-5) shows that he was a man of importance whom his fellow Jews would have respected. He was a desc...
  • The descendants of the priestly and royal families in Israel appear first in this list (vv. 2-3). Then the rest of the Jews follow. A comparison of verses 3-14 with 2:3-15 shows that Ezra's companions were mainly the relative...
  • The immigrants assembled on the banks of the Ahava waterway that flowed through the district of Babylon that bore the same name. The site is presently unknown.". . . Babylonia was crisscrossed by a network of irrigation canal...
  • The Book of Nehemiah records the fortification of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews, two essential steps that were necessary to reestablish God's people in His will and in their land.Nehemiah continued the good work t...
  • This section consists of a small collection of messianic prophecies.33:14 Future days would come, the Lord promised, when He would fulfill His promises concerning the restoration of all Israel."The predicted restoration (the ...
  • The emphasis on the holiness of God that has marked this vision continues strong in this pericope and the next. God's holiness will determine who serves as priests and how they serve.44:4 The guide proceeded to take Ezekiel t...
  • 5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
  • Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...
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