Ezra 8:15

And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava,.... From whence also the river bore the same name; or that from the river, see Ezra 8:21, and may be the same with Adiabene, a country

And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.

The river that runneth to Ahava; or, the river of Ahava, as it is called, ,31. By comparing of these places, it seems that Ahava was the name both of the river, and of the town or place by which it ran. Either this was that river which other writers call Adiava, which runs to Assyria, which thence is called Adiabene; or some other river running into Euphrates. None of the sons of Levi, to wit, who were simple Levites, and not priests. And therefore the Levites, mentioned , by anticipation, were not yet come to him.

Ezra 8:15 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.Ver. 15. And I gathered them together to the river] There was their first rendezvous, at the meeting of two rivers; whereof that country was full, Psalms 137:1, and therefore fertile as the garden of the Lord, whereof it was a part, as most geographers are of opinion. And there abode we in tents] Glad we had our faces set toward Zion (going weeping, &c., Jeremiah 50:4-5), and our backs upon Babylon; of which we might well say, as the philosopher afterwards did of Athens, that it was a pleasant place to travel through, but not safe to dwell in. And found there none of the sons of Levi] None but what he afterwards sent for, no volunteers; this was lamentable, that Levites should be so backward to so good a business. Here was nomen inane, crimen immane. missing name, enormous crime.

(15-31) The journey through Ahava to Jerusalem.

Verse 15. The river that runneth to Ahava] Ahava was a river itself, which is supposed to be the same that is called Diava or Adiava, in the province of Adiabene; and perhaps the place whence the people of Ava came who were brought by the king of Assyria to Palestine, 2Kg 17:24. None of the sons of Levi.] None that were simply Levites. He found priests, and they were sons of Levi; but no Levites that were not priests.

(b) 15–20. The Encampment of Ahava; the Absence of Levites15. The Rendezvous15. the river that runneth to Ahava] ‘Ahava’ is here the name of a place, which seems to have also given its name to the river. Ewald conjectured that the river Ahava (or Peleg-Ahava) was to be identified with the Palacopas, which flowed S. of Babylon. Rawlinson identifies with the river Is mentioned by Herodotus (i. 179) flowing from the E. into the Euphrates at a point, where stood a town of the same name (the modern Hit), an eight days’ journey distant from Babylon. He points out that a well-known town upon the line of march would be a likely spot for a halting-place. We do not however gather from the verse that Ezra’s march had actually begun. The rendezvous at Ahava enabled Ezra to make the necessary preliminary review of his large company. It is hardly likely that this first review would be held at a great distance from Babylon, where the great majority of the Jews were settled. On the other hand it is equally unlikely that a gathering of 1500 men and of a caravan which must have comprised 7000 or 8000 souls would have met within the walls of Babylon. The conjecture therefore that the Ahava was one of the many canals or artificial rivers in the vicinity of Babylon, appears to be the most probable. Perhaps there was a specially influential settlement of Jews on the banks of the Ahava, as there had been once on the banks of the Chebar (cf. Ezekiel 1:1 &c.). For purposes of lustration the pious Jews may have met with special frequency by the banks of rivers (cf. the proseuchζ and synagogues of later times), “By the rivers of Babylon,” (Psalms 137:1). See Acts 16:13. 1Es 8:41 renders by ‘a river called Theras’ (ἐπὶτὸνλεγόμενονΘερὰνπόταμον). The LXX. gives πρὸςτὸνΕὐί (Ezra 8:21 Ἀουέ). abode we in tents] R.V. we encamped. The three days’ encampment preceded the final move. The short interval was employed by Ezra in securing the services of Levites. As the camp was struck and the march begun on the 12th day (see Ezra 8:31), the encampment lasted from the 9th to the 12th. Ezra’s preparations were begun on the 1st day (see Ezra 7:9 and note). I viewed] i.e. gave attention to. The same word occurs in Nehemiah 13:7, “I came to Jerusalem and understood of the evil.” Cf. Proverbs 7:7, “I discerned among the youths”. Job 42:3; Daniel 12:8. the people, and the priests] i.e. the laity (cf. Ezra 2:2), and the priests. and found there none of the sons of Levi] On the occasion of Zerubbabel’s journey from Babylon, only seventy-four Levites accompanied him, although over four thousand priests returned (cf. Ezra 2:36, &c.). The backwardness of the Levites to join in the return to the Temple-worship is probably to be explained by their having been especially concerned in (a) the worship at the high places, (b) the idolatrous forms of worship, which the reformation of Josiah had sought to abolish.

Ahava was both a town and a river Ezra 8:21. The modern name of the place is Hit. It is famous for its bitumen springs, and is situated on the Euphrates, at a distance of about 80 miles from Babylon, toward the northwest.

THE AND AT THE RIVER THAT RUNNETH TO AHAVA, Ezra 8:15-20. 15. The river that runneth to Ahava — So that Ahava was not the name of the river, but the place to which or near which the river ran.