Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 2:69
They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.
69. they gave &c.] There is a slight discrepancy between the sums mentioned in this verse and the sums recorded in greater detail in Nehemiah. The figures stand thus
Ezra
darics of gold
5,000
pounds of silver
100
priests’ garments.
Nehemiah
darics of gold
basons
pounds silver
priests’ garments
Tirshatha
1,000
50
500?
30
Heads of fathers’houses
20,000
2,200
Rest of people
20,000
2,000
67
Total
41,000
4,700
97
The contributions as described in Ezra are all placed to the credit of the heads of fathers’ houses; in Nehemiah we find a considerable portion contributed by the Tirshatha and by the rest of the people.
( a) The 61,000 darics of gold appear to consist of the Tirshatha’s 1000+other contributions of which we are able to identify 40,000 (i.e. 20,000 given by heads of fathers’ houses+20,000 given by the rest of the people). Perhaps the value of 50 basons and of the other gifts amounted to a figure which could be described in round numbers as 20,000.
( b) The 5,000 pounds of silver express in round numbers the 2,200 contributed by the heads of fathers’ houses+the 2,000 by the rest of the people+500 pounds silver given by the Tirshatha (the probable reading of Neh 7:70).
( c) The 100 priests’ garments represent the 30 given by the Tirshatha (probable reading of Neh 7:70), and the 67 given by the rest of the people.
after their ability ] literally ‘strength’ or ‘power’ as in Dan 1:4: not elsewhere of ‘wealth’. The word rendered ‘ability’ in Neh 5:8 is different and denotes ‘sufficiency’.
unto the treasure ] R.V. into the treasury.
drams ] R.V. darics. The A.V. translation ‘dram’ seems to suppose that the coin spoken of was the Greek ‘drachma’. It is in reality the well-known Persian gold coin ‘daric’. The name has commonly been derived from the Darius who was said to have first had the piece coined. But this is far from certain. The word ‘daric’ more probably refers to the emblem on the coin, and is to be derived either from a Persian word meaning ‘a bow’, or from ‘dara’ = ‘a king’, cf. our ‘sovereign’. The obverse side of the coin has the figure of a crowned king, kneeling, holding in his right hand a sceptre or spear and in his left a bow; for the sake possibly of securing a good impression, the reverse of the coin was left rough.
The ‘daric’ is transliterated into Hebrew as ‘Adarcon’ in chap. Ezr 8:27; 1Ch 29:7: but in this verse and in Neh 7:70-72 it appears as ‘Darcemon’ with a various reading ‘Adarcemon’.
Its value was as nearly as possible equivalent to our sovereign. The coin is by some identified with the gold stater of Crsus, the last king of Lydia. This is the first mention of coined money in the Old Testament, as the reference to ‘darics’ in David’s reign (1Ch 29:7) is strictly an anachronism.
pound ] Hebr. ‘maneh’. We do not find in the Old Testament any mention of Persian silver coinage. Before the Persian period, Hebrew money had for the most part been calculated by weight upon something akin to the Babylonian system, by ‘talent’, ‘maneh’, ‘shekel’.
A ‘talent’ of Hebrew money consisted of ‘50 manim’, one maneh of 60 shekels.
priests’ garments ] The priests differed from the Levites in having special garments ‘in which they ministered’ and which they put off as being holy, as soon as they had ceased from their ministrations (Lev 6:10; Eze 42:14; Eze 44:19). The priestly garments are briefly enumerated in Exo 28:40; Exo 39:27. They consisted of (1) a long coat or tunic, (2) a mitre or turban, (3) breeches or nether garments, (4) a girdle. The material was fine linen, and the colour white. These garments the priest appears to have laid aside and deposited in one of the chambers at the entrance of the inner court of the Temple, before passing into the people’s court.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The numbers here and in Nehemiah (see the marginal reference) vary.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 69. Threescore and one thousand drams of gold] darkemonim, drakmons or darics; a Persian coin, always of gold, and worth about 1. 5s., not less than 76,250 sterling in gold.
Five thousand pounds of silver] manim, manehs or minas. As a weight, the maneh was 100 shekels; as a coin, 60 shekels in value, or about 9.; 5000 of these manehs therefore will amount to 45,000, making in the whole a sum of about 120,000; and in this are not included the 100 garments for priests.
Thus we find that God, in the midst of judgment, remembered mercy, and gave them favour in the land of their captivity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A dram of gold is supposed to be of the weight of the fourth part of a shekel, and of the value of a French crown.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
69. drams of goldrather,”darics,” a Persian coin (see on 1Ch29:7).
priests’ garments(compareNe 7:70). Thisin thecircumstanceswas a very appropriate gift. In general, it may beremarked that presents of garments, or of any other usablecommodities, however singular it may seem to us, is in harmony withthe established notions and customs of the East.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the world threescore and one thousand drachms of gold,…. These “darcemons or darics” were a Persian coin; one of which, according to Brerewood k, was of the value of fifteen shillings of our money, and so this quantity of them amounted to 45,750 pounds; but according to Bishop Cumberland l they were of the value of twenty shillings and four pence of our money, and so came to upwards of 61,000 pounds; these everyone, according to his ability, put into the common stock or treasury for the work of building the temple; the Vulgate Latin m reads 40,000:
and five thousand pounds of silver; and an Hebrew “mina”, or pound, being of our money seven pounds, ten shillings, according to Brerewood n, amounted to 31,250 pounds: but others o, reckoning a drachm of gold at ten shillings, and a mina or pound of silver at nine pounds, make the whole to amount only to 75,500 pounds of our money:
and one hundred priests’ garments; which, as they were laid up among treasures, so were necessary for the service of the temple.
k De Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num. ch. iii. v. l Scripture Weights & Measures, ch. 4. p. 115. m Sixtus V. Lovain & MSS. in James ut supra. (Contrariety of Popish Bibles, p. 295) n Ut supra, (De Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num.) ch. iv. v. o Universal History, vol. 10. p. 183, marg.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(69) The dram being a daric of a little more than our guinea, and the pound, or maneh, a little more than 4. the whole would be nearly 90,000, and not an exorbitant sum for a community far from poor. But Nehemiah c statement is smaller, and probably more correct.
One hundred priests garments.An almost necessary correction or supply in the defective text of Nehemiah (Neh. 7:70) makes his four hundred and thirty priests garments, as contributed by the Tirshatha, five hundred pounds of silver and thirty priests garments. This being so, the two accounts agree, always allowing that Ezras 61,000 is a corruption of 41,000 in the gold, and his 5,000 pounds of silver and 100 priests garments round numbers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
69. Threescore and one thousand Literally, Six myriads and one thousand.
Drams of gold Rather, gold darics. These were a coin current in the Persian empire from the time of Cyrus onward, probably till the spread of the Macedonian power over the East. Gold darics have been discovered bearing on one side the figure of a king, with a bow in one hand and a lance or javelin in the other, and on the other side a figure of uncertain meaning. The coin weighs 128 grains, and is valued at $5.52. The whole amount of gold, then, contributed by these wealthy fathers was $336,720 a gift worthy of the occasion.
Five thousand pounds of silver The Hebrew word here rendered pounds is , manim, that is, mina. The silver mina or maneh is valued at $32, so that the whole amount of silver here named would be $160,000. Nehemiah’s numbers are different. Neh 7:70-72. He says the Tirshatha gave 1,000 gold darics, 50 basins, 530 priests’ garments. Some of the chief fathers gave 20,000 darics, and 2,200 silver mina; and the rest of the people gave 20,000 darics, 2,000 mina, and 67 priests garments; so that the gross sum in Nehemiah is 41,000 darics, 4,200 mina, 597 priests’ garments, and 50 basins. Bertheau thinks Nehemiah’s text is the more accurate and complete; but here again, as in the lists above, one table may supplement the other, so that neither is in itself complete.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 69. Threescore and one thousand drachms of gold, and five thousand pounds of silver About seventy-five thousand five hundred pounds of our money; for every drachm of gold is worth ten shillings of our money, and every mina, or pound of silver, nine pounds; for it contains sixty shekels, and every shekel of silver is worth three shillings of our money; whence it appears, that the Jews were not made such poor slaves in Babylon as wrought for their lords and masters; but had some of them very considerable offices at court, and all liberty to trade and get riches for themselves; and consequently that there may not be all the truth imaginable in that common saying among them, that they were only the bran, i.e. the dregs of the people, who returned to Jerusalem at the end of the captivity; and that all the fine flour stayed behind at Babylon.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have in this chapter an account of the people who returned from the captivity; a poor remnant, compared with the thousands of Israel in their former better days! yet it was a great mercy that any were left, and suffered to return. They are called children of the province; for to such was the kingdom of Judah now reduced. They are reckoned according to the towns where they formerly resided, and the ancestors from whom they sprung. Their leaders were Zerubbabel, and Jeshua the high-priest. Nehemiah and Mordecai, mentioned ver. 2 were different men from those whose names were afterwards so distinguished; unless we suppose that, after seeing the first colony settled, they returned again to Babylon. Note; (1.) It is a distinguishing mercy to be found among those who go up from the captivity of sin, under our prince and priest Jesus, the captain of our salvation. (2.) They who are eminent in their zeal for God’s cause, deserve that their names should be recorded to their honour.
2nd, The priests, under four chief fathers, were near a tenth part of the whole. Their zeal for the service made them more ready to improve the present opportunity. The Levites, once so numerous, 1Ch 23:3 were now but few. The Nethinims, assistants to the Levites, supposed to be the descendants of the Gibeonites, whom Joshua appointed for the meaner offices of the tabernacle, to hew wood and draw water; and the children of Solomon’s servants, who were the old inhabitants of Canaan, but, being proselyted, were employed by him in building the temple; these, to the number of three hundred and ninety-two, joined the returning colony: besides whom, many went up from some of the cities of Babylon, who, though Jews, had lost their genealogies; and many also who passed for children of the priests, but were rejected from ministering, by the Tirshatha, or governor, Zerubbabel, because they could not prove their lineal descent from Aaron. One of these, by a marriage into the family of the famed Barzillai, ambitious of having his children reckoned of that stock, neglected his priestly genealogy, and therefore was now excluded from the privileges and honour that he had despised. The exclusion, however, was not final; they hoped that some high-priest would arise, with Urim and Thummim, from whose illuminations these defects might be repaired. Note; (1.)
They who count the ministry a disparagement, are unworthy of the office. (2.) The great high-priest with Urim and Thummim hath appeared, not to fix Jewish genealogies, but to consecrate to himself faithful priests among all the nations of the world.
3rdly, Their retinue appears but mean, their servants few, and their, beasts of burden scarcely more than would suffice for their baggage; so that they must have taken their tedious journey on foot. Among their servants two hundred singing men and women are reckoned either kept for the recreation of the richer sort among them, or employed with mournful lamentations to awaken a sense of their desolations. When they were come to Jerusalem, they visited their beautiful house, though in ruins; and, grieving to see it in the dust, generously contributed, according to their abilities, toward its restoration. They were not rich now, as in David’s days; but their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality, and made the gift more acceptable. Part of them settled immediately at Jerusalem; the rest were distributed into the several cities where their forefathers had been seated. Note; (1.) God’s house and service lie nearest the heart of a faithful Israelite. (2.) It is not the greatness of the gift, but the temper of the giver, that stamps a value on the donation. (3.) What is spent in God’s blessed work, though spared out of our poverty, will return again with abundant interest.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ezr 2:69 They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.
Ver. 69. They gave after their ability ] Men must take heed they stretch not beyond the staple, and so mar all. But few are herein faulty; few Macedonians, that, to their power and beyond, are willing of themselves, &c., 2Co 8:8 . Rari quippe boni.
Threescore and one thousand drams of gold
And five thousand pound of silver
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
treasure = treasury.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the treasure: Ezr 8:25-34, 1Ki 7:51, 1Ch 22:14, 1Ch 26:20-28, Neh 7:71, Neh 7:72
Reciprocal: Exo 35:22 – every man Lev 23:38 – and beside Num 6:21 – beside that Num 7:2 – offered Num 7:84 – the dedication 2Ki 12:4 – and all the money 1Ch 29:5 – General 2Ch 35:8 – his princes Mar 12:44 – cast in of Act 11:29 – every
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 2:69. Threescore and one thousand drachms of gold, &c. About seventy-five thousand and five hundred pounds of our money; for every drachm of gold is worth ten shillings of our money, and every mina, or pound of silver, nine pounds; for it contains sixty shekels, and every shekel of silver is worth three shillings of our money. And one hundred priests garments Garments, as well as gold and silver, were wont to be laid up in treasuries, Mat 6:20. We may infer then, from these rich offerings, not only, as has been just intimated, that the Jews were not made such poor slaves in Babylon as wrought for their lords and masters, but that there may not be all the truth imaginable in that common saying among them, that they were only the bran, that is, the dregs of the people, who returned to Jerusalem at the end of the captivity, and that all the fine flour stayed behind at Babylon. See Prideauxs Connect., Ann. 536, and Dodd.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:69 They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand {n} drams of gold, and five thousand {o} pounds of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.
(n) Which in our money amounts to 24,826 pounds, 13 shillings and 4 pence, valuing the french crown at 6 shillings and 4 pence for the dram is the eighth part of an ounce, and the ounce the eighth part of a mark.
(o) Which are called “mina” and contain 2 marks apiece, so 50,000 minas make 55,000 franks which in our money amounts to 69,666 pounds, 13 shillings and 4 pence so that the whole sum was 94,493 pounds, 6 shillings, and 8 pence.