Ezra 1:9

And this is the number of them,.... Of the vessels delivered, as follows: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver; these, according to Ben Melech, were vessels in which water was put

And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine

Large knives used in the killing of the sacrifices, which are here mentioned, because the hafts of them were made of or covered with gold or silver.

Ezra 1:9 And this [is] the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,Ver. 9. And this is the number of them] Had they not been things of great price and use, they would not have been numbered: Son 6:8, the queens and concubines are numbered how many; but not the virgins, that bring not forth fruit to God. Men use not to count how many pebbles they have in their yard, or piles of grass in their field, as they do how many pence in their purse, or sheep in their fold. When the Great God shall count his people’ s flittings, bottle up their tears (as sweet water), book up their sighs (as memorable matters), Psalms 56:8, shall we not say of them as the Jews did of Lazarus, when Jesus wept, Behold, how he loves them? When the very hairs of their head are all numbered, Matthew 10:30, so that not one of them falleth to the ground without their heavenly Father’ s knowledge, what store, think we, setteth he by their persons, by their performances? I know thy work, and thy labour, Revelation 2:19. I pity this people, they have been with me now three days, and fasting they are, and far from home, and faint they may, if sent away empty, Matthew 15:32. Lo, is not this a wonderful condescension, that Christ should consider tantos tantillos et tales, and reckon every circumstance of their service so particularly and punctually, that he might give to every man according to his works? Oh, his jewels, his book of remembrance, &c., Malachi 3:16-17; Thirty chargers] Serving to hold such parts of the sacrifices as were to be eaten by the priests and others. Nine and twenty knives] Sacrificing knives, richly hafted.

(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.

9. chargers] The word in the original does not occur elsewhere in the Bible. Its meaning is very uncertain: (1) the old Jewish interpretation quoted by Aben Ezra derived it from two words meaning ‘to collect’ and ‘a lamb’, and understood it to be applied to ‘vessels intended to receive the blood of victims’; (2) the LXX. translates by ‘wine-coolers’ (ψυκτῆρες); (3) Esdras by ‘libation-vessels’ (σπονδεῖα); (4) another rendering, based upon a similar root in Arabic, Syriac and Ethiopic, is ‘baskets’. knives] The word in the original occurs here only in the Bible. Vulg. ‘cultri’. This rendering is very uncertain. Other interpretations are (1) ‘censers’, (θυΐσκαι) in 1 Esdras. (2) (?) ‘changes of raiment’—so apparently the LXX. παρηλλαγμένα—possibly cf. Judges 14:19. (3) ‘vessels adorned with network’—so Ewald comparing a similar word in Judges 16:13; Judges 16:19.

Chargers - The word in the original thus translated occurs only in this passage. Its meaning is doubtful.

9. Chargers — Basins or cups. Sept. ψυκτηρες; Vulg. phialae, drinking vessels. According to Aben Ezra, they were basins used for collecting the blood of lambs. Others take the word in the sense of baskets. Knives — ξημτιν.