Ezra 1:5

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin,.... Princes of these tribes, and heads of families in them, and of some other tribes too, though chiefly of these, as appears from 1

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

The chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin; and with them some of other tribes, as appears from ; but these only are named, because they were most considerable for number and quality. Whose spirit God had raised to go up; to whom God had given that pious disposition, and that fortitude and resolution, which it required to break through their difficulties, which were great and many, such as their present penury, the length, and hazards, and costliness of the journey, their settlements in comfortable habitations, their dispersion in several and distant places, which hindered the conjunction of their counsels and actions, the multitude of their enemies, the actual possession of their country by others, the great backwardness of many of their own brethren to go with them, and many other discouragements.

Ezra 1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all [them] whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which [is] in Jerusalem.Ver. 5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers] Those, who are therefore crowned and chronicled in the next chapter. Those magnates magnites, that drew on others by their example. Those Viri gregis, he-goats before the flocks, men of public places and authority, active for reformation, who hearkened to that divine call, Jeremiah 50:8, "Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks." These nobles arose, being roused and raised by that noble spirit of God, Psalms 51:12, that kingly spirit, the Chaldee rendereth it; such as was found in Araunah, that famous Jebusite, 2 Samuel 24:23 Zechariah 9:7; and is a quickening spirit in every good soul, causing them to make riddance, as Baruch did, Nehemiah 3:20, and to take long strides toward heaven, as Jacob did toward Padanaram, Genesis 28:5 for, Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia, The spirit of grace knoweth no slow paces, but is quick of despatch (Ambrose). Up get these chieftains when once they hear, Surge, age, Summe Pater, as one said once to the bishop of Rome, exciting him to make war upon the Turk. And the priests, and the Levites] Fit it was that these should be of the first and most forward at temple work; whose proper employment it was to teach Jacob God’ s judgments, and to put incense before him continually, Deuteronomy 33:10, to wait at the altar, and to be partakers with the altar, 1 Corinthians 9:13. With all them whose spirit God had raised up] Not of Judah and Benjamin only (those best of the tribes, and truest to their princes and principles), but also of Ephraim and Manasseh, 1 Chronicles 9:3, with Ezekiel 37:16-17; Ezekiel 37:21-22, even as many of the Israelites as were acted by God’ s spirit of judgment and of burning, Isaiah 4:4, firing them up to a holy contention in so noble and necessary a business, and leading them into the land of uprightness, Psalms 143:10. The fruit of this good spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, Ephesians 5:9; the work of it upon the sons of God who are led by it, Romans 8:14, is not only an external invitation by the word and sacraments, or a mere moral persuasion (Cyrus’ s proclamation here would have availed but little with this people, if God had not moved their hearts), but an effectual drawing of the heart, whereby operating irresistibly, the sinner is converted; and whereby co-operating infallibly, he persevereth in grace unto the very end, John 6:44.

(5-11) Immediate result of the decree. (5) With all them whose spirit God had raised.—Namely, all is the more exact rendering. The same influence that prompted the decree of Cyrus was necessary to overcome the inertness of the captives: many preferred to remain in Babylon.—The people were enumerated as tribes, families, and fathers’ houses; the second and third orders of classification are not here distinguished from each other. (6) Precious things.—The Hebrew equivalent is a rare word, which, when it occurs, is connected only with the precious metals. Willingly offered.—Although it is not so said, the people of Cyrus were “stirred up” like himself: how much he gave, and how much he valued the worship of the Temple, we shall hereafter see. (7) His gods.—Rather, his god. Merodach, to wit, whom he called “his lord” (Daniel 1:2). From 2 Kings 25:13-17 it appears that much had been taken away which Cyrus had not been able to find. (8) Mithredath.—“Dedicated to Mithra,” the sun god of the Persians, whose worship among the Vedic Indians had thus early reached Persia. Sheshbazzar.—The Chaldee name of Zerubbabel, whose title, however, as Prince of Judah is given him from the Hebrew side. He was the legal heir of Jehoiachin, being the son of Pedaiah (1 Chronicles 3:19), who possibly married the widow of Salathiel or Shealtiel. And the title “Prince of Judah,” or “Prince of the captivity,” was specially given to him in common with a very few others. (9) Chargers and knives.—Rare words in the original, perhaps on the whole best rendered as here. (10) Of a second sort.—Of inferior quality. (11) Five thousand and four hundred.—The total of the several sums should be in round numbers, such as are frequently used, two thousand and five hundred. Obviously, therefore, the writer, whom we must needs suppose to have his own previous numbers before him, here includes vessels not before enumerated as chargers and basons. Bring up.—They were not, as sometimes said, the freewill offering of Cyrus. Sheshbazzar brought these rich vessels “with them of the captivity,” and they were sent as already belonging to God, who vindicated by His judgment on Babylon their desecration at the feast of Belshazzar.

5–11. The Return of the Jews under Sheshbazzar: a brief summary of events5. the chief of the fathers] R.V. the heads of fathers’ houses. Literally rendered, the term would be ‘the heads of the fathers’. Cf. the Latin ‘principes patrum’. See Exodus 6:14. For the subdivision into (1) tribe, (2) family, (3) household, compare especially Joshua 7:16-18. with all them] R.V. even all. The construction in the original is peculiar. The preposition ‘to’ or ‘for’ stands before ‘all’, and the relative is omitted. The A.V. takes the clause to briefly summarize ‘the rest’ (i.e. the supplementary list of them) who, not being classed under (a) the heads of fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, (b) priests, (c) Levites, formed a fourth division of the people. By comparison with other passages such as 1 Chronicles 13:1-2, 2 Chronicles 5:12, where the same or a similar construction in the original is found, we see that the R.V. is correct. The preposition does not supplement, it defines. All included under the three groups mentioned in the verse, ‘rose up’. The whole community is summed up under these three heads, cf. Ezra 6:16; Ezra 6:20. whose spirit God had raised] R.V. had stirred up. The same phrase as in Ezra 1:1. Ezra 1:5 follows as the direct result of Ezr 1:1. It is important therefore that the same words should be used to translate the same phrase. ‘God’ here is ‘ha-Elohim’, the God = Jahveh of Ezr 1:1 who also stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. The wonder of the Return is shown to be wholly due to Divine overruling. The will of the sovereign to proclaim the decree and the will of the subject to avail himself of it are alike controlled by Him. to go up to build] Observe the punctuation. In the A.V. these words are by the punctuation connected with the main verb ‘rose up’. The R.V. connects the words with the last clause alone, and thus (a) avoids collocation of ‘rose up’ with to ‘go up’; (b) divides the verse into two balanced sentences, the general statement and its closer definition.

Only a portion of the Israelites took advantage of the permission of Cyrus. Many remained in Babylon, since they were disinclined to relinquish their property.

TO RETURN FROM EXILE, Ezra 1:5-11. 5. Chief of the fathers — The most aged and venerable men, who were heads of families, and some of whom had seen the former temple. Ezra 3:12.