Ezra 5:22

Ezra 2:62 ; Genesis 37:16 ; Psalm 24:6 . for good ] cf. Ezra 7:9 ; Nehemiah 2:18 . his power and his wrath ] cf. the same two words in Psalm 90:11 , ‘who knoweth the power of thine anger’, i.e. His might revealed in displeasure. against all them that forsake him ] as if Ezra and his companions, if they had relied on the protection of an armed escort rather than of their God, would have ‘forsaken’ Him. A common expression (cf. 1 Samuel 12:10 ; Isaiah 65:11 ; 2 Chronicles 7:22 ; 2 Chronicles 12:5 ; 2 Chronicles 13:11 ; 2 Chronicles 21:10 ; 2 Chronicles 24:20 ; 2 Chronicles 24:24 ) for religious faithlessness.

5 . Phinehas, the son of Eleazar ] his religious zeal ( Numbers 25:7-11 ) was celebrated in the records and songs of Israel ( Psalm 106:30 ). As High-priest he appears probably on two occasions Joshua 22:13 ; Joshua 22:30 ; Joshua 22:32 ; Jdg 20:28 . Aaron the chief priest ] Literally the ‘head-priest’ (hak-kohen harôsh). By this title the High-priest was sometimes designated in writings of the Captivity and post-Captivity periods, e.g. 2 Chronicles 19:11 ; 2 Chronicles 24:11 ; 2 Chronicles 26:20 ; 2 Chronicles 31:10 . The earliest instances are 2 Kings 25:18 ; Jeremiah 52:24 . Before the period of the Captivity he is generally called “the priest”. The name High-priest (literally ‘the great priest’) only rarely occurs in the Pentateuch, Leviticus 21:10 ; Numbers 35:25 ; Numbers 35:28 , though more frequently in books of late date, e.g. 2 Kings 12:10 . LXX. ‘the first priest’ ( τοῦ ἱέρεως τοῦ πρώτου ). Vulg. ‘sacerdotis ab initio’. Ezra 7:5

He is so called also in the letter of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11), because he is said (Ezra 7:9) to have applied his heart to seek out and to do the law of the Lord, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgment, i.e., because he had made the investigation of the law, for the sake of introducing the practice of the same among the congregation, his life-task; and the king granted him all his desire, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. The peculiar expression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד which is found only here and in Ezra 7:9, Ezra 7:28, Ezra 8:18; Nehemiah 2:8, Nehemiah 2:18, and in a slightly altered guise in Ezra 8:22, Ezra 8:31, "according to the good hand of his God, which was over him," means: according to the divine favour or divine care arranging for him; for the hand of God is הטּובה, the good (Ezra 7:9, and Ezra 8:18), or לטובה, Ezra 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire, request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.

Lastly, the sons of Magbish (Ezra 2:30) are omitted in Nehemiah; and the sons of Bethlehem and the men of Netophah (Ezra 2:21 and Ezra 2:22) are in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:26) reckoned together, and stated to be 188 instead of 123 + 56 equals 179. A glance at the names undoubtedly shows that those numbered 1-17 are names of races or houses: those from 18-27, and from 31-33, are as certainly names of towns; there, therefore, inhabitants of towns are named. This series is, however, interrupted by Nos. 28-30; Harim being undoubtedly, and Magbish very probably, names not of places, but of persons; while the equality of the number of the other, Elam 1254, with that of Elam (No. 6), seems somewhat strange. To this must be added, that Magbish is wanting both in Nehemiah and 2 Esdras, and the other Elam in 1 Esdras; while, in place of the sons of Harim 320, we have in 1 Esdr. 5:16, in a more appropriate position, υἱοὶ Ἀρομ 32. Hence Bertheau infers that Nos. 28 and 29, sons of Magbish and sons of Elam Acher (vv. 30 and 31), are spurious, and that Harim should be written Ἀρώμ, and inserted higher up. The reasons for considering these three statements doubtful have certainly some weight; but considering the great untrustworthiness of the statements in the first book of Esdras, and the other differences in the three lists arising, as they evidently do, merely from clerical errors, we could not venture to call them decisive.

5. children of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five—The number is stated in Ne 7:10 to have been only six hundred fifty-two. It is probable that all mentioned as belonging to this family repaired to the general place of rendezvous, or had enrolled their names at first as intending to go; but in the interval of preparation, some died, others were prevented by sickness or insurmountable obstacles, so that ultimately no more than six hundred fifty-two came to Jerusalem.

Verse 10. - Persia . The name does not meet us in any Old Testament book before the exile, Elam taking its place. It was just about the time that Ezekiel wrote that the Persians were becoming conspicuous through their alliance with the Modes. So we find it again in Ezekiel 38:5 ; Daniel 5:28 ; Daniel 8:20 ; 2 Chronicles 36:20, 22 ; Ezra 1:1 ; Ezra 4:5 ; Esther 1:3 . Here they are named as mercenaries in the Tyrian army. Lud . The LXX. and the Vulgate, led by the similarity of sound, give Lydians . In Genesis 10:13 the Ludim appear as descendants of Mizraim, while Lud in Genesis 10:22 is joined with Elam and Asshur as among the sons of Shem. Its combination with "Phut" ( i.e. Libya) here and in Jeremiah 46:9 is in favor of its referring to an African nation (comp. also Ezekiel 30:5 ; Isaiah 66:19 ). Phut . Both the LXX. and the Vulgate give Libyans . In Genesis 10:6 the name is joined with Cash and Mizraim. The Lubim (Libyans) are named as forming part of Shishak's army in 2 Chronicles 12:3 ; 2 Chronicles 16:8 , and in Nahum 3:9 and Jeremiah 46:9 as closely allied with the Egyptians. Ezekiel names Phut again as sharing in the fall of Tyre ( Ezekiel 30:5 ), and as serving in the army of Gog ( Ezekiel 38:5 ). Mr. R. S. Peele is inclined to identify them with the Nubians. Ezekiel 27:10