Ezra 1:6

And all they that were about them,.... Their neighbours, the Chaldeans: strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things; which they

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. No JFB commentary on this verse.

Strengthened their hands; either because they had embraced, or at least favoured the Jewish religion, concerning which they were instructed by the Israelites that had now for a long time dwelt among them; or rather, that they might hereby gratify the king’ s humour, and purchase his favour; for they perceived him to be hearty and forward in the work.

Ezra 1:6 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.Ver. 6. And all they that were about them] Both their countrymen the Jews (that thought not good to themselves or not yet, till they should see further: there is none so wise as the sluggard, Proverbs 26:16), and others of the neighbourhood: for the Egyptians may lend jewels to the Israelites, dogs may lick Lazarus’ s ulcers, and the earth may help the woman, by opening her mouth, and swallowing up the flood cast out after her by the dragon to drown her, Revelation 12:16. Strengthened their hands] Which else, for want of such support, would have hung down, and their feeble knees buckled under them, ere they had come to their own country; neither could they without such supplies have so comfortably carried on the work they went about. For, if wisdom be a defence, or a shadow, to those that have seen the sun (as in the former verse) and are scorched with the heat of it, so is money too, saith Solomon, Ecclesiastes 7:12; and though wisdom without wealth is good, yet it is better with inheritance, Ezra 1:11, which is not only an ornament, but an instrument of virtue. When men go on Virtute dace, comite fortuna, then it is well with them as it was with good Josiah, Jeremiah 22:15-16. But Agur would not be poor, lest he should be put upon ill courses, Proverbs 30:9, put to his shifts. Poor Hagar, when the water was spent in the bottle, cast the child under the shrubs, Genesis 21:15. With vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts] See the note on Ezra 1:4. These are things that men do not usually so easily part with to others till they needs must. Euclio in the comedian sits abrood upon his heaps and hoards, and will not be drawn off. Shall Nabal take his bread and his flesh, and give it to those he knows not? 1 Samuel 25:23-31 Misers will as soon part with their blood as their gold; whence the Chaldees call their money dam, that is, blood. Many a man shows himself like the Cornish crow, which will steal a piece of money, and hiding it in some hole, will never help herself or any other with it afterwards. Hermocrates, being loth that any man should enjoy his goods after him, made himself, by his will, heir of his own goods. Athenaeus telleth of one, that at his death devoured many pieces of gold, and sewed the rest in his coat, commanding that they should be all buried with him. But these in the text seem to have been of the race of those Persians spoken of, Isaiah 13:17, which regarded not silver, and as for gold, they cared not much for it.

(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.

Verse 6. Vessels of silver] Articles of silver, gold, &c.

6. And all they that were about them] R.V. round about them. A general expression which would include both the heathen neighbours, alluded to (in Ezra 1:3) by the edict, and the Jewish neighbours, not contemplated in the edict, who preferred to remain in the land of the Captivity. strengthened their hands] The use of this expression differs slightly in the grammar of the original from such passages as Nehemiah 2:18, ‘So they strengthened their hands for the good work’; Jeremiah 23:14, ‘they strengthen the hands of evil doers’. In those passages the idea is simply that of ‘invigorating’ and ‘adding strength’. Here the employment of a preposition introduces a shade of variety into the metaphor. The idea is that of ‘grasping’, ‘laying firm hold on the hand with the view of strengthening or supporting’. The Jews who sought to return were like a convalescent essaying to walk and needing assistance. Cf. Isaiah 51:18, ‘There is none that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up’. vessels of silver, with gold] we should expect ‘with vessels of gold’, cf. Ezra 1:9. with goods] see Ezra 1:4. and with precious things] A rare word in the original, ‘migdβnoth’. It occurs in 2 Chronicles 21:3 = A.V. and R.V. precious things, 2 Chronicles 32:23 = A.V. presents, R.V. precious things. And in a well-known passage, Genesis 24:53 = A.V. and R.V. precious things. The Latin here ‘in supellectili’ is a mere guess. The LXX. rendering ‘ἐνξενίοις’ = with gifts agrees with their rendering δῶρα in Gen., and δόματα in 2 Chronicles 32. In 2 Chronicles 21:3 they render by ὅπλα. beside all that was willingly offered] i.e. these gifts were over and above the free-will offerings. The clause in the original is peculiar, ‘beside over and above all one willingly offered’. The relative is omitted as in Ezra 1:4, but is implied in ‘all’. The verb is active in meaning (cf. Ezra 2:68, Ezra 3:5) and is here used impersonally.

6. All they that were about them — That is, the neighbours and friends of those exiles who rose up to return, especially the wealthier Jews, who, as Patrick says, “being well settled at Babylon, did