Bible Commentaries
Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible
Ezra 8
Ezra 8:1-14. A List of Heads of Families.—It contains the names of the heads of the families who returned to Palestine with Ezra.
Ezra 8:15-30. The Gathering together of the Exiles at Ahava.—The narrative is told here in the first person.
Ezra 8:15. Ahava: cf. Ezra 8:21; Ezra 8:31; this seems to have been a place which gave its name to one of the many canals constructed in Babylonia for irrigation purposes.—none of the sons of Levi: as the main object of the return was the resuscitation of the Temple worship the Levites were, of course, indispensable.
Ezra 8:17. Casiphia: the exact locality is unknown; there appears to have been a colony of Levites and Nethinim here.
Ezra 8:25 f. The amount of money here mentioned, equivalent to nearly a million pounds sterling, is a characteristic exaggeration on the part of the Chronicler.
Ezra 8:31-36. The Arrival in Jerusalem.
Ezra 8:31. on the twelfth day . . .: cf. Ezra 7:8 f., Ezra 8:15.
Ezra 8:35. Cf. Zerubbabel's offerings at the dedication of the Temple, Ezra 6:17.
Ezra 8:36. the king's commissions: mentioned in Ezra 7:21-24.—satraps . . . governors: the satrap was a higher official, being ruler of a province; the governor (pekhah) administered a smaller district.
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