Synopsis of the Chapter
The leading men of the Jews are listed, who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with the priests, Levites, and Nethinim: also the Benjaminites, and the parents and descendants of Saul.
Verse 1: All Israel Was Enrolled ¶
1. SO ALL ISRAEL WAS ENROLLED — by David, 2 Kings XXIV. AND THEY WERE CARRIED AWAY TO BABYLON. — Up to this point, therefore, Ezra has listed the Hebrews who preceded the Babylonian captivity: henceforth he will list those who returned from it and lived after it; where note that many from Israel, that is from the ten tribes, migrated to Jerusalem after the schism: both because they were horrified by the schism made by Jeroboam and wanted to follow the ancient religion of the Jews and worship God in the temple; and because when the ten tribes were carried off to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, many of them fled to Jerusalem and joined themselves to the Jews. These were later carried off to Babylon together with the Jews, and from there after 70 years returned to Jerusalem with them; and this is what is said here.
Verse 2: Those Who Dwelt First ¶
2. THOSE WHO DWELT FIRST (previously) IN THEIR POSSESSIONS AND CITIES: (namely) ISRAELITES, PRIESTS, LEVITES, AND NETHINIM — dwelling, that is, with the Jews in Judea, and from there carried off to Babylon with them; then when the captivity ended they returned together to Jerusalem and Judea to their former possessions and cities, and dwelt in them, as they had done before.
Verse 4: The Nethinim ¶
4. UTHAI THE SON OF AMMIHUD, etc. — The Nethinim, that is 'given' and offered to the temple, were the Gibeonites, who because of their fraud were assigned to the temple by Joshua, condemned, that is, to carry water and wood to it. See what was said at Joshua IX, 23, and 2 Ezra XI, verse 1 and following, where the same persons are listed.
Verse 5: The Shilonites ¶
5. AND OF THE SHILONITES: — understand, 'sons.' Shiloni was a famous man, descended from the tribe of Judah, but not from Perez or Zerah, as is clear from this passage, but descending from Shelah. For these three alone were the surviving sons of Judah, because Er and Onan were slain by God, Genesis XXXVIII.
Verse 16: The Villages of Netophah ¶
16. IN THE COURTS (in Hebrew, in the villages which were called) OF NETOPHAH.
Verse 18: The King's Gate ¶
18. UNTIL THAT TIME (namely from the first institution of the gatekeepers of the temple, until the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans) THEY KEPT WATCH (in Hebrew, stood guard, these Levites) IN THEIR TURNS: (both at the other gates of the temple, and especially) AT THE KING'S GATE TO THE EAST — that is, at the eastern gate of the temple, which was near the king's palace, through which the king was accustomed to enter the temple, and which was therefore called the 'King's Gate.'
Verse 22: The Gatekeepers ¶
22. ALL THESE CHOSEN AS GATEKEEPERS, etc. ENROLLED IN THEIR OWN VILLAGES — For some Levites dwelt in Jerusalem, while others were distributed through other cities, towns, and villages. But at certain times, when they had to minister in the temple in their turns, they came to Jerusalem. These turns and orders of their ministry DAVID ESTABLISHED (and before him) SAMUEL THE SEER (or Prophet, and that) IN THEIR TRUST — that is, in the power and authority entrusted and committed to them by God and the commonwealth for doing this. For this is what the Hebrew באמונתם beemunatham means, that is 'in trust,' or 'in their steadfastness.'
Verse 33: The Singers in the Chambers ¶
33. WHO DWELT IN THE CHAMBERS (that is, in the rooms and halls annexed to the temple) — so that they might devote themselves continually to singing the praises, hymns, and psalms of God, and so that they might instruct the people in the law of God. Whence synagogues also received their name.
Verse 35: In Gibeon ¶
35. IN GIBEON. — He passes from the Levites to the Benjaminites, so as to descend to Saul the first king of Israel, and then, with Saul removed, to David; for all these things are written on David's account, because his royal family endured until the Babylonian captivity, and indeed until the Maccabees; but then it presided over the people not with royal but with ducal authority.