Ezra 8: The men who went up, the fast, and the silver weighed out

In plain English: These are the heads (or: chiefs) of their fathers' households, and this is the family record of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

The Hebrew word: "Heads" is rosh, which the dictionary gives as "the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)". The word is in 13 verses of Ezra, and the WEB says "head" or "heads" in 9 of them and "chief" or "chiefs" in the other 4.

What changes: "The heads of their fathers' households" and "the chiefs of their fathers' households" are two English ways of saying the same Hebrew.

In plain English: Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.

In plain English: Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him 150 males were listed in the family record.

Good to know: The verse names two families, Shecaniah and Parosh, and one man, Zechariah, with 150 males listed "with him". The text does not say how "the sons of Shecaniah" joins the rest of the verse. Verse 5 has "the sons of Shecaniah" again, with "the son of Jahaziel" and three hundred males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Pahathmoab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred eighteen males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred sixty males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred ten males.

In plain English: Of the sons of Adonikam, the last ones, these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males.

The Hebrew word: "The last" is acharon, which the dictionary gives as "hinder; generally, late or last; specifically (as facing the east) western". The word is in this verse only in Ezra, and the WEB says "last".

What changes: The text does not say what they were last in: last to come, last of the family, or later sons. The names and the sixty males are the same in every reading.

In plain English: Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

Good to know: The WEB says Zabbud. The Hebrew letters written in this verse spell Zabbud, but the STEPBible word-by-word reading gives Zaccur, a different name. The text does not say which name was meant.

In plain English: I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava, and we camped there three days. Then I looked around at the people and the priests, and I found none of the sons of Levi there.

Good to know: Ahava is in 3 verses of Ezra: here, verse 21 and verse 31. The dictionary gives it as "a river of Babylonia". Here the text says "the river that runs to Ahava"; in verses 21 and 31 it says "the river Ahava".

In plain English: So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, chief men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers (or: men of understanding).

The Hebrew word: "Teachers" is mebin, from bin, which the dictionary gives as "to separate mentally (or distinguish), i.e. (generally) understand". The word is in 2 verses of Ezra, and the WEB says "teachers" in 1 of them. In the other, verse 15, the WEB has "looked around".

What changes: With the dictionary meaning the two men are "men of understanding" rather than "teachers". The text does not say more about what they did.

In plain English: I commanded them to go to Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I put words in their mouth to say to Iddo and his brothers the temple servants at the place Casiphia, so that they would bring us ministers for the house of our God.

Good to know: Casiphia is in this verse only (twice). The dictionary gives it as "a place in Babylon". The text says Iddo was "the chief" at that place and that his brothers were the temple servants.

In plain English: As the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a man of discretion (or: intelligence), of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and his brothers, eighteen;

The Hebrew word: "Discretion" is sekel, which the dictionary gives as "intelligence; by implication, success". The word is in this verse only in Ezra, and the WEB says "discretion".

What changes: A "man of intelligence" is a man who understands. A "man of discretion" is the WEB's word for the same Hebrew. The text says no more about Sherebiah than that.

In plain English: and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;

In plain English: and some of the temple servants, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred twenty temple servants. All of them were mentioned by name.

In plain English: Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river Ahava, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a straight way for us, for our little ones and for all our possessions.

In plain English: For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had said to the king, "The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath are against all those who forsake him."

In plain English: So we fasted and asked our God for this, and he granted our request.

In plain English: Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, and (or: even) Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

Good to know: The Hebrew has a small word "to" or "for" before the name Sherebiah, so the verse can be read two ways. In the WEB, the twelve are Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers. In the other reading, twelve chiefs of the priests are set apart, and Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers are named with them. Verse 18 calls Sherebiah one of the sons of Levi. The text does not say which reading is meant.

In plain English: and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God, which the king, his counselors, his princes and all Israel who were there had offered.

In plain English: I weighed out into their hand six hundred fifty talents of silver, one hundred talents of silver vessels, one hundred talents of gold,

In plain English: twenty bowls of gold of one thousand darics, and two vessels of fine, bright (or: glittering, golden-colored) bronze, as precious as gold.

The Hebrew words: "Darics" is adarkon, which the dictionary gives as "a daric or Persian coin"; it is in this verse only in Ezra. "Fine, bright" is two words: mutzhav, from tsahab, which the dictionary gives as "to glitter, i.e. be golden in color", and tovah, from tov, "good". "Precious" is chamudot, from chamad, which the dictionary gives as "to delight in".

What changes: The bronze is "bright" or "glittering, golden in color", and it is "precious" or "to be delighted in" like gold. The text gives the weight of the bowls only, one thousand darics, and no modern amounts are added here.

In plain English: I said to them, "You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a free will offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers.

The Hebrew word: "Holy" is qodesh, which the dictionary gives as "a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity". The Hebrew uses this one word for both the men and the vessels: "You are holy to Yahweh, and the vessels are holy". The word is in 4 verses of Ezra, and the WEB says "holy" in all 4.

In plain English: Watch and keep them until you weigh them out before the chiefs of the priests, the Levites and the chiefs of the fathers' households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the rooms of Yahweh's house."

In plain English: So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver, the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

In plain English: We set out from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the bandits (or: those lying in wait) on the road.

The Hebrew word: "Bandits" is arab, which the dictionary gives as "to lurk". The word is in this verse only in Ezra, and the WEB says "bandits".

What changes: With the dictionary meaning the verse reads "those who lurk (or: lie in wait) on the road". The text does not say who they were.

In plain English: We came to Jerusalem and stayed there three days.

In plain English: On the fourth day the silver, the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest. With him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites.

In plain English: Everything was counted and weighed, and all the weight was written down at that time.

In plain English: The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to Yahweh.

The Hebrew words: "The children of the captivity" is bene hagolah, and golah is the dictionary's "exile; concretely and collectively exiles". "Out of exile" is shebi, which the dictionary gives as "exiled; captured; as noun, exile (abstractly or concretely and collectively); by extension, booty". In the Hebrew the order is "those who came from the shebi, the children of the golah", so the WEB puts "captivity" with golah and "exile" with shebi. Golah is in 12 verses of Ezra, and the WEB says "captivity" or "captive" in 10 of them. Shebi is in 4 verses of Ezra, and the WEB says "captivity" in all 4 and "exile" in 1 (this verse). "Sin offering" is chattaah, which the dictionary gives as "an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender". It is in this verse only in Ezra, and across the Bible the WEB says "sin offering" in 108 of its 270 verses.

Good to know: The text lists the offerings and then says "All this was a burnt offering to Yahweh": twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. The text does not say why these numbers.

In plain English: They gave the king's commissions to the king's local governors and to the governors beyond the River. So they supported the people and the house of God.