Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 2:55
The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,
55. Sophereth ] R.V. Hassophereth. The A.V. gives the name as it appears in Neh 7:57.
Peruda ] appears in Neh 7:57 as ‘Perida’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
55 58. Solomon’s servants, a class similar to the Nethinim, with whom they are also found in conjunction Neh 7:60; Neh 11:3. They are apparently included under the more general term Nethinim in such passages as Neh 10:28. They have been traditionally understood to be the descendants of those inhabitants of the land ‘that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites’ of whom Solomon had hired ‘bondservants’ for the work of building his temple (1Ki 5:13).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 55. The children of Solomon’s servants] The Nethinim, and others appointed to do the meaner services of the holy house.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The children of Solomons servants; either of those strangers and proselytes whom Solomon used in the building of the temple, 1Ki 9:21, to the service of which, as some add, he devoted them, as there should be occasion hereafter; or others who had lived in Solomons family, and after his death called themselves and their families by that name, as esteeming it, a great honour to them that they had been servants to so great a prince.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
55. The children of Solomon’sservantseither the strangers that monarch enlisted in thebuilding of the temple, or those who lived in his palace, which wasdeemed a high honor.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[See comments on Ezr 2:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Special Groups, Vs. 55-63
The first special group listed are called Solomon’s servants. These people were non-Israelites, probably descendants of the Canaanites who were never exterminated from the land by Israel. “They were the descendants of the Canaanites who were reduced by Solomon to the helot state, and compelled to labor in the king’s stone-quarries and in building his palaces and cities . …They appear to have formed a distinct order, inheriting probably the same functions and the same skill as their ancestors. (See Smith, William; A Dictionary of the Bible, page 645.) The Scriptural account of this is to be found in 2Ki 9:20-23; 2Ch 8:7-8.
The total number of the Nethinim and Solomon’s servants was three hundred and ninety-two souls.
People from five places in Persia, mentioned next, formed an unique group. They were in a deplorable condition. They counted themselves to be genuine Israelites, some of them even of priestly family, but they could not locate their genealogical record with the others. Some of them even claimed to be of the family of Barzillai, the great friend of David, who succored him in his flight from Absalom (2Sa 17:27-29; 2Sa 19:31-40; 1Ki 2:7). These were descended from a daughter of Barzillai and claimed his lineage. Yet they were unable to prove their ancestry, and so were not accepted as genuine Israelites.
Those claiming to be of priestly descent were barred from that position, for fear they might pollute the office. It was decided they could not participate until such time as the priest was able to inquire by the Urim and Thummim to determine their legitimacy. The Urim and Thummim had been provided in the high priest’s paraphernalia for the purpose of inquiring for the Lord’s will in a matter (Exo 28:30). It is not known what the difficulty in making such an inquiry was at this time. It may be the stones had been lost, and they were waiting for the Lord to provide others, or it may be, since the transgressions of the people before the exile, the Lord had not shown His will through the Urim and Thummim.
The Trshatha was the Persian title for the governor, who at this time seems to have been Zerubbabel. Nehemiah, in later years, was the Tirshatha of Judea.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(55) The children of Solomons servants.These are mentioned in 1 Kings 9 as a servile class, formed of the residue of the Canaanites. They were probably inferior to the Nethinims, but are generally classed with them, as in the general enumeration here. Both these classes retained during their captivity their attachment to the service into which they had been received; and, the Levites being so few, their value in the reconstitution of the Temple gave them the special importance they assume in these books.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
55. Children of Solomon’s servants Descendants of those Canaanitish slaves upon whom “Solomon levied a tribute of bond service unto this day,” (1Ki 9:20-21,) and who probably became incorporated in Israel as proselytes. They were so closely associated with the Nethinim in their nationality and their work that they are here reckoned among them, and classed and numbered with them. Compare Ezr 2:58 and Neh 11:3.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Enrolling Of The Sons Of Solomon’s Servants ( Ezr 2:55-58 ).
The fact that the total of these was combined with the total of the Nethinim (Ezr 2:58) suggests that they had similar duties. We have no specific knowledge of whether they had different duties, although two of the names (the scribes and the gazelle keepers) may suggest that these had a more practical function. The title ‘servants’ is not necessarily derogatory. Those who were the highest in the land could be called ‘servants of the king’. They are not mentioned outside the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, nevertheless it cannot be doubted that they had been in existence in the pre-Exilic period. We have no mean of knowing how, or whether, their duties differed from those of the Nethinim. They are probably included in the exemption from taxes of Ezr 7:24, and may well, when on duty, have resided in Ophel like the Nethinim.
It is, however, clear that once the Temple was built on its comparatively huge scale (as compared with the Tabernacle), more ‘servants would be required, something which Solomon no doubt ensured either by the use of foreign captives, or by forcing the Canaanites into such service, having duly circumcised them. Gradually the positions, possibly invidious at first, would have come to be seen as honoured ones. Service in the Temple would have been seen as the highest form of service
Ezr 2:55
‘The Sons Of Solomon’s Servants.’
The families of the sons of Solomon’s servants are now listed.
Ezr 2:55
‘The sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 2:56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 2:57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Ami.’
There are slight, but immaterial, differences in form between these names and those in Neh 7:57-59. Hassophereth (‘the scribes) become Sophereth (dropping the article). Peruda becomes Perida, Jaalah becomes Jaala, Amon becomes Ami. They are probably simply due to variant spellings. The names Hassophereth meaning ‘the scribes’ and Pochereth-hazzebaim meaning ‘the gazelle-keepers’ may indicate something of their special duties.
Ezr 2:58
‘All the Nethinim, and the sons of Solomon’s servants, were three hundred ninety and two.’
A combined total is now given of the Nethinim and the sons of Solomon’s servants. Their ‘families/clans’ were clearly limited in size.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 55. The children of Solomon’s servants i.e. Of the Nethinims. See 1Ch 9:2 and Calmet on the place.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ezr 2:55 The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,
Ver. 55. The children of Solomon’s servants] These also were strangers, that had been employed by Solomon, and becoming proselytes, were incorporated into the commonwealth of Israel. God is no respecter of persons, Act 10:34 . He takes where he likes; strangers shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when the children of the kingdom shall be cast out, Mat 8:11-12 ; Solomon’s servants may have a name and a nail in God’s house, when his sons may be excluded; Jether, an Ishmaelite, 1Ch 7:38 , may become an Israelite, 2Sa 17:25 , and Araunah the Jebusite an exemplary prosalyte, Zec 9:7 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 2:55-57
55The sons of Solomon’s servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda,
56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,
57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, the sons of Ami.
Ezr 2:55 the sons of Solomon’s servants As David used captured Canaanaites as temple slaves (cf. 2Sa 15:18-22), so too, Solomon used Canaanites as forced labor (cf. 1Ki 9:20-21).
Hassophereth This may be a proper name based on the root, to write (BDB 708) or a guild of scribes (cf. 1Ch 2:55, the family of scribes). The form is FEMININE, but used with MASCULINE words (cf. Pochereth-hazzebaim of Ezr 2:57); therefore, it is like Qoheleth of Ecclesiastes, which is a title or office and not a proper name.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Ezr 2:55-58
Ezr 2:55-58
THE REST OF THE NETHINIM
“The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Hassophereth, the children of Peruda, the children of Jaalah, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel, the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth-hazebaim, the children of Anti. All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon’s servants, were three hundred ninety and two.”
E.M. Zerr:
Ezr 2:55-57. The persons mentioned here were distant descendants of the individual servants of Solomon. The Nethinims were generally required to render service wherever and however needed about the temple. But Solomon had appropriated a number of them for his use as king, and the classification was continued to be recognized.
Ezr 2:58. The special servants for the king were named above, but the number was reserved to be given in this verse.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Solomon’s: 1Ki 9:21
Peruda: Neh 7:57, Perida
Reciprocal: Neh 11:3 – Nethinims
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 2:55. The children of Solomons servants Who had lived in Solomons family, and after his death called themselves and their families by that name, esteeming it a great honour that they had been servants to so great a prince.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:55 The children of Solomon’s {i} servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,
(i) Which came of them that Solomon had appointed for the work of the temple.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The descendants of Solomon’s servants 2:55-58
These people seem to have been those who descended from the servants Solomon had appointed to serve in his temple during his administration. Other views are that they were the descendants of the Canaanites whom Solomon enslaved [Note: Yamauchi, "Ezra-Nehemiah," pp. 614, 615. Cf. Whitcomb, p. 425.] or the descendants of the royal officers who were merchants in Solomon’s service. [Note: B. A. Levine, "The Nethinim," Journal of Biblical Literature 82 (1963):209.] Since the grand total in Ezr 2:58 includes both the temple servants and this group, it appears that they cooperated closely in their work.