Synopsis of the Chapter
Catalog of those returning with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem, together with the gifts and donations offered for the building of the temple.
Verse 1: These Are the Children of the Province ¶
1. These are the children of the province — meaning: These are the Jews who, born or raised in the province of Babylon, emigrated back to the ancient seat of their fathers, namely Jerusalem. For they are called "children of the province" because, born from immigrants or raised there, they had long dwelt in it. This phrase signifies birth or residence, says Vatablus. Hence others understand "children" as "inhabitants." Thus we speak of "children of Zion, children of the East, children of Jerusalem," etc. — "children" meaning "inhabitants." The "Province" here refers to Babylonia, then powerful and dominant, just as by "the City" everyone now understands Rome — although Bede takes "province" here to mean Judea, for to it belonged, he says, the Jews returning from Babylon, as children of the Church.
And they returned to Jerusalem — yet in such a way that they remained subject to Cyrus and the Persians as servants to their masters, and as tributaries, as is clear from chapter IV, 13 and II Ezra (Nehemiah) VI, 36. Hence the Persian kings appointed their governors over them, such as Zerubbabel here in verse 2 and chapter V, verse 14, and Ezra and Nehemiah in chapter VII, verse 14 and II Ezra (Nehemiah), chapter V, verse 14.
Verse 2: Who Came with Zerubbabel ¶
2. Who came with Zerubbabel — the leader, and Joshua the High Priest, who by another name was called "Jesus son of Jozadak," as is clear from Zechariah I.
Mordecai. — Many hold that this was Mordecai the uncle of Esther, who returned to Judea to recover his ancestral properties and then went back to Persia, where he had decided to establish his residence.
The number of the men of the people of Israel — that is, of those returning from Babylon to Jerusalem, is the list which I append. "Israel" here stands for Judah and Benjamin, for only the Judahites and Benjaminites who returned are enumerated here. Elsewhere, when Israel is opposed to Judah, it signifies the ten tribes who, separating from Judah and Benjamin in a schism, made Jeroboam their king. For when those tribes had been carried away to Assyria and there utterly scattered and, as it were, destroyed, the name and honor of Israel reverted to and remained in Judah; for this was the noblest of the twelve tribes, indeed the royal tribe. Thus it is said in Psalm CXIII, 2: "Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion." "Israel," that is, "Judah" — for in the Psalms the second hemistich frequently explains and confirms the first, as when it is said: "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me." And in Isaiah XLVIII: "Hear these things, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and who have come forth from the waters of Judah" — that is, who have been propagated from the fountain and stock of Judah.
Verse 6: The Sons of Pahath-Moab ¶
6. The sons of Pahath-Moab (this is a proper name. Vatablus translates it as "sons of the Governor" — for the Chaldean pathat means "governor" — of Moab. He was so surnamed because he won some victory in Moab or accomplished something notable there). Of the sons of Joshua and Joab — that is, the descendants and progeny of Pahath-Moab who traced their lineage through the sons of Joshua and Joab (for these two were men celebrated and most dear in that age) numbered 2,812. Hence Vatablus translates: "of the sons of the Governor of Moab, from the sons of Joshua and Joab, 2,812."
Verse 20: The Sons of Gibbar ¶
20. The sons of Gibbar: ninety-five — so it should be read according to the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and the Roman editions. Therefore those who read "nine hundred" are wrong.
Verse 21: The Sons of Bethlehem ¶
21. The sons of Bethlehem: one hundred twenty-three. — "Sons" means citizens and inhabitants, as I said at verse 1, or those descended from the citizens and inhabitants of Bethlehem. For up to this point he has distinguished the groups by their family heads; but from here to verse 31 he distinguishes them by cities, perhaps because their family fathers were unknown or obscure.
You may object: The Jews had already been in Babylon for 70 years, so most of those who had been carried away from Bethlehem and other cities were now dead, and their children were born in Babylon, etc. I reply that this is so, but they are still called "sons of Bethlehem" because they were descended from Bethlehemites who had come from Bethlehem. Or indeed, the Jews in Babylon, distributed into their own quarters and villages, gave them the names of Bethlehem and other cities of Judea, to console themselves in exile with the memory of their fatherland — just as the Spaniards in Peru and Mexico now give their cities the names of Spanish cities, calling them Granada, Cordoba, Valladolid, etc. In a similar way Helenus, son of Priam, fleeing after the destruction of Troy, founded a new city and named it Troy. Hear Virgil, Book III of the Aeneid:
"I advance, and I recognize a little Troy and its citadel modeled after the great Pergama, and a dry stream called by the name of Xanthus, and I embrace the threshold of the Scaean gate."
So says Sanchez.
Verse 31: The Sons of Elam ¶
31. The sons of Elam. — This Elam is different from the one in verse 7; but it is remarkable that both counted an equal number of sons and descendants, namely 1,254.
Verse 36: The Priests ¶
36. The priests (Up to this point he has listed the laymen of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; now he lists the priests, and at verse 40, the Levites, and at verse 43, the Nethinim, servants of the temple. He says therefore:) Priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Joshua — that is, those who were of the house and family of Joshua, namely the sons and grandsons of Joshua son of Jozadak the High Priest, numbered 973; for Jedaiah was among the descendants of Joshua and Jozadak, as is clear from I Chronicles IX, 10.
Verse 43: The Nethinim ¶
43. The Nethinim — that is, "those given" or "dedicated" to the service of the temple by Joshua; for they were Gibeonites (and therefore Canaanites, not Jews) who because of their deceit had been condemned to this service. See what I said on Joshua IX.
Verse 58: The Nethinim and the Sons of Solomon's Servants ¶
58. All the Nethinim and the sons of Solomon's servants — just as Joshua dedicated the Gibeonites, so Solomon dedicated others captured in war or proselytes to the temple. These are called "Solomon's servants"; hence many of them were assigned by him to the building of the temple, II Chronicles II, 17.
Verse 59: Those Who Went Up from Tel-Melah ¶
59. These are they who went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer. — These are names of cities in Chaldea, from which these people emigrated to Judea. They could not prove that they were descended from the Jews, as follows:
Verse 61: The Sons of Barzillai ¶
61. The sons of Barzillai, who (Barzillai) took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite (a priest), and was called by their name (that is, by the name of the priests). — That is, this Barzillai married the daughter of Barzillai the priest, and through her was called a priest, meaning one descended from the priestly line. But since he could not prove this from the public genealogical records, both he and his sons were excluded from the priesthood until God should be consulted.
Verse 63: The Tirshatha Said ¶
63. And the Tirshatha said — This is Nehemiah, says Lyranus, Cajetan, and Vatablus, and this is clear from Nehemiah VII, 64, where the same thing is narrated as here. Hence this episode seems to have occurred later, under Nehemiah, and Nehemiah VIII, 9, where it is said: "And Nehemiah (he is the Tirshatha) said," that is, the cupbearer of the king. He was so called by the Chaldeans from the Chaldean word tersa, meaning "he drank," and shata, meaning "he drank" — as if to say, one who serves the king with drink, that is, the king's cupbearer. Nehemiah here speaks of himself in the third person, as also in chapter XII, 26; but in the book of Nehemiah, he always speaks of himself in the first person. Hence some have thought that the Nehemiah who was Ezra's companion was different from the Nehemiah who is introduced in II Ezra (Nehemiah) and is its author. I shall speak of Athersatha again at Nehemiah VIII, 9.
That they should not eat of the most holy things — that is, of the food of the most holy offerings, meaning the victims sanctified to God, that is, offered and sacrificed — in other words, that they should not eat of the sacrifices offered for sin, or the right shoulder of the peace offerings. For these fell to the priests alone, and these persons could not prove that they were priests.
Until a priest should stand up, learned and perfect — In Hebrew: a priest with Urim and Thummim, meaning: Until some high priest, vested in the pontifical garments in which were the Urim and Thummim, should consult God and be perfectly instructed by Him whether these men belonged to the priestly line or not. This is therefore a metonymy.
Note: "Urim and Thummim" were inscribed or woven into the breastplate (Rational) of the High Priest. "Urim" in Hebrew means "illuminations"; "Thummim" means "perfections" — because the high priest, vested in pontifical vestments, was perfectly illuminated by God concerning those matters about which he consulted Him, as is clear from Numbers XXVII, 21. Allegorically, Christ the High Priest was signified, through whom light and truth came into being, John I. Tropologically, by these two things both the High Priest and the people were admonished to strive for truth of doctrine and perfection of life; and by these two things, anagogically, to aspire to the light of glory and the perfect enjoyment and love of God.
Verse 64: The Whole Assembly Was 42,360 ¶
64. The whole assembly together was 42,360. — This is the total of those who returned to Judea with Joshua and Zerubbabel, yet you will not arrive at this number if you add up individually the numbers assigned to each family in this list: for you will find only 29,818. Therefore, to reach the total given here, 12,542 must be added — and these are made up of those from the ten tribes who returned to Jerusalem along with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but who are not listed here. Moreover, these same persons are numbered in nearly the same way, with minor variations, in Nehemiah VII, 6 and following.
Verse 65: Male and Female Singers ¶
65. And among them were two hundred male and female singers. — The "male singers" were employed in the temple for singing Psalms; the "female singers" for secular songs, for example, for singing at funerals, weddings, banquets, etc. This signifies that the return of the Hebrews from Babylon was a most joyful one, so that they sang and rejoiced exceedingly, according to the oracle of Isaiah LXVI: "They shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in carriages, to My holy mountain Jerusalem." And Psalm CXXV: "When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion, we were like those who had been consoled" (in Hebrew: "like those dreaming," that is, so exultant that we seemed to be dreaming of the return rather than truly returning to our fatherland). "Then our mouth was filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation."
Verse 66: Their Horses ¶
66. Their horses: 736 — So read the Hebrew and the Roman editions. Therefore those who read "six hundred" are wrong.
Verse 68: When They Came to the House of the Lord ¶
68. When they came to the house of the Lord. — The temple had already been burned by the Chaldeans. The "temple" here therefore means the place where the temple had stood, because that place was sacred and destined by God for sacrifices and divine worship. Hence the Jews soon erected an altar there and offered sacrifice, as is clear from Jeremiah XLI, verse 5; Baruch I, 10.
Verse 69: Sixty-One Thousand Gold Darics ¶
69. Sixty-one thousand gold darics — that is, sixty-one thousand. So read the Hebrew and the Roman editions. Others, instead of "sixty thousand," read "forty thousand" — for that is the number given in Nehemiah VII, 5, about which I shall say more there. This difference seems to have arisen from a transposition of numerals, easy and common: for LX is 60, while XL is 40. See Francisco de Lucas discussing this matter at length in his Notes, number 79.