Ezra 8:17

And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief, at the place Casiphia,.... Not a place by the Caspian sea, and near the Caspian mountains, as Munster, which was too far off to go and return in the time they must, see Ezra 7:9 , but, as Jarchi, a place in Babylon so called, a village near it, or a parish or street in it, where Ezra knew lived many of the Levites and Nethinims, and where Iddo was the chief of the Levites, and over them both: and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia; but Iddo was not one of the Nethinims; for he was chief of the Levites, and by his authority many of them were sent as well as of the Nethinims; but none of the latter were over the Levites, for they were servants to them, Ezra 8:20, but, according to Jarchi, the Nethinims are not at all intended in this clause, who reads the words: to Iddo and Achim, (the name of a man with him; perhaps it may be better rendered, "to Iddo and his brother",) who were appointed, or settled, in the place Casiphia; and with him De Dieu agrees, and so the Syriac version: who dwelt in Casiphia: that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God; both Levites to be singers and porters there, and the Nethinims to wait on them.

(17) The place Casiphia. —Evidently near Ahavah, and a colony of Jews presided over by Iddo, one of the humble race of the Nethinims, but at present chief under the Persians. Ezra was aware of their existence in these parts. Ministers.—A term obviously including Levites and Nethinims.

Ezra 8:17 . And I sent them unto Iddo the chief — Chief among the Levites, who dwelt at the place here mentioned, and there had the free exercise of their religion, as this and many other passages in this book plainly enough prove. For we find the people resorting to Ezekiel in their captivity, and him preaching to them the word of God, in many places of his book, particularly Ezekiel 33:30-31 , &c. And Ezra, in all likelihood, was an instructer among them, as Joiarib and Elnathan also were, and Iddo, to whom these were sent. By which means many proselytes were made, who left their own country, and came with them to Jerusalem when they returned, Ezra 6:21 . At the place Casiphia — It is not easy to guess what place this was. The text calls it Casiphia the place. Some have taken it for the Caspian mountains, situate between Media and Hyrcania. But certainly these must have been at too great a distance from the road he was taking. Perhaps it was in Parthia, where was a city called Caspi, known to the ancient geographers. The LXX. render it, a place of silver, for כס Š, keseph, signifies silver. That they should bring us ministers for the house of our God — The furnishing of God’s house with good ministers is a good work, and which will redound to the comfort and credit of all that have any hand it.

Verse 17. - Iddo , the chief at the place Casiphia. Not "the Caspian" certainly; nor even "Casvin," which is at least 400 miles from Hit by the nearest route, but some Babylonian village in the vicinity of Ahava, not otherwise known to us. Unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims. The "and" here is rightly supplied. It has fallen out in consequence of the word Iddo ending with the same letter. Iddo, though the head man of the village under the Persians, belonged by descent to the comparatively low grade of the Nethinims. Ezra 8:17

I sent them with commandment; which he might do, partly by virtue of that authority which he had over them by his priesthood; and partly by that authority which he either had received or could easily procure from the king to that purpose. Iddo the chief; the head of the rest, either by ecclesiastical order or government, which the Persian kings allowed to the Jews; or by some grant or commission from the king. At the place Casiphia; not a place near the Caspian Lake, as some guess from the likeness of the names; for that was at too great a distance for his present purpose; but some other place not far from Ahava, where he knew that there was a college or considerable company of Levites together.

And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the {d} chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. (d) He was the chief teacher of the law to the Levites.

16-20. then sent I for Eliezer … with commandment unto Iddo the chief—Ezra sent this deputation, either by virtue of authority which by his priestly character he had over the Levites, or of the royal commission with which he was invested. The deputation was despatched to Iddo, who was a prince or chief of the Nethinims—for the Persian government allowed the Hebrews during their exile to retain their ecclesiastical government by their own chiefs, as well as to enjoy the privilege of free worship. Iddo's influence procured and brought to the camp at Ahava thirty-eight Levites, and two hundred twenty Nethinims, the descendants of the Gibeonites, who performed the servile duties of the temple.

17 . And I sent them with commandment ] R.V. And I sent them forth. Marg. another reading is I gave them commandment . The A.V. combines the two readings. The variety of reading arises from the uncertainty felt as to the true rendering of the previous verse. The rendering ‘then sent I for’ in that verse requires in this verse the reading ‘And I sent them forth’ (C’thib). The rendering ‘then sent I’ could be followed by either ‘I sent them forth’ or ‘I gave them commandment’ (K’ri), the latter being less a repetition of the previous sentence. Supposing that “I gave them commandment” was the original reading, we can see that, when the Hebrew idiom in Ezra 8:16 ‘then sent I’ (the object expressed by a preposition) dropped out of sight and the literal translation seemed to be “then sent I for”, a reason was given for the very slight alteration, by which “I gave them commandment” was altered to “I sent them forth” (LXX. ἐξήνεγκα ). This accounts for the existence of the two readings, and for the prevalence of that accepted in the R.V. text. But the R.V. margin seems preferable. It gives a natural sense and agrees well with what precedes and follows. On the other hand the alternative reading “I sent them forth” represents a word of great frequency in the sense of ‘bring forth or out’ (e.g. Ezra 1:7 , Ezra 10:3 ; Ezra 10:19 ; Nehemiah 9:7 ; Nehemiah 9:15 ): it denotes ‘deliverance’, ‘dismissal’, ‘removal’, ‘utterance’: but is not at all suited to the description of the mission.

It occurs very often in the O.T., but it may be questioned whether it is ever elsewhere rendered “send forth”. unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia ] Lit. ‘Iddo the head’. Iddo clearly exercised some position of authority over the Jews, and particularly over the Levites and Nethinim settled at Casiphia. We may conjecture that Iddo was a Levite presiding over a college of young Levites and Nethinim, and who might be ready to send young men to Ezra’s aid. Casiphia ] which some of the older commentators used to identify with the ‘Caspian’, was probably some village in the neighbourhood of Babylon. The LXX. rendered the word from the similarity of the first part of the word to the Hebrew ‘ceseph’ (silver), ἐν ἀργυρίῳ τοῦ τόπου . and I told them what they should say ] Lit. ‘And I put words in their mouth to speak’. The general charge comprised verbatim instructions. On the phrase “put words … in mouth”, cf. Exodus 4:15 ; Numbers 23:16 ; Deuteronomy 31:19 . unto Iddo , and to his brethren the Nethinims ] R.V. unto Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim. Marg. ‘The text as pointed has, Iddo, his brother .’ The text is here corrupt.