Ezra 1,2

Before we start I want to mention that the books of the Bible are not in chronological order. For instance Esra, Esther, and  Nehemiah come before Psalms yet David wrote the Psalms hundreds of years before those three books were written and took place.

Esra picks up where 2 Chronicles stops.

Commentary for the REV

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia.” Ezra 1:1-3a is almost identical to the last two verses of 2 Chronicles. From a chronological point of view, Ezra takes over where Chronicles stops.

This first year of Cyrus refers to his first year reigning over Babylon, which he conquered in 538 BC, not his first year reigning in Persia (559 BC). Babylon was captured in October, 539 BC (Dan. 5:30-31), but Cyrus did not get there and start to reign over Babylon until March of 538 BC. Quite a lot is known about Cyrus from the Persian records. Also, “Cyrus” is an actual name, not a title, whereas in other parts of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, the “names” Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus are actually titles, not proper names.

“by the mouth of Jeremiah.” Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian Captivity would be 70 years (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10), so Yahweh worked behind the scenes to make sure that prophecy came to pass.

Here are those two verses from 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23

22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia 

to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

23“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”

So let us Get started.

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

²“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

This was written in Hebrew so all the Hebrews could read it. This book has Hebrew and Aramaic running all through the book as dose Daniel. They were in captivity in Babylonia

That info is again from the REV

Whenever you read the word house in these scriptures it means temple. If it says a person's house that doesn’t apply.

Cyrus was the son of Astyages and Esther which proves Esther happened before Esra. Also this may add some light as to why he would let the Jews return to Jerusalem.

3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

This could be translated Persian Jew.

You may remember in Acts 2 Many were visiting Jerusalem because of the feast they were required to be there. These  were the ancestors of those men and women.

In the beginning of verse 3 you have a figure of speech Er'-o-te-sis; or, Interrogating which is The asking of questions, not for information, or for an answer. Such questions may be asked (1) in positive affirmation, (2) in negative affirmation, (3) in afffirmative negation, (4) in demonstration, (5) in wonder and admiration, (6) in rapture, (7) in wishes, (8) in refusals and denials, (9) in doubts, (10) in admonition, (11), in expostulation, (12) in prohibition or dissuasion, (13) in pity and commiseration, (14) in disparagement, (15) in reproaches, (16) in lamentation, (17) in indignation, (18) in absurdities and impossibilities, (19) double questions.

The word build means to rebuild when Nebuchadnezzar came and carried off the two northern tribes they burnt and destroyed the temple. In 2 Chronicles 36

4 And let each one who has survived, in whatever place he may live, be assisted by the men of his place with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with animals, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.’”

Most Of the Jews even though they were told they could go decided to stay. This was true of the Jews all around the Mediterranean when they had the chance to go back they decided to stay instead. These people are called the Hellenistic Jew in the book of Acts. They were also called the diaspora.

5 Then the heads of fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up,

From the REV Commentary

“the heads of fathers’ houses.” The Hebrew text seems cut off only because everyone at the time would have known what “the heads of the fathers’” meant, which was the “heads,” or leaders, of the ancestral houses in Israel. The ancestral house was the most basic organizational unit in ancient Israel. We actually see this on a broader scale in the twelve tribes of Israel. Each tribe, for example, Judah, Benjamin, Dan and Issachar, was descended from and named after one person, one patriarch, who himself was descended from “Israel,” that is, Jacob. As such, the “twelve tribes of Israel” are the twelve tribes descended from Jacob, and that family identity was so strong that people kept it for centuries. For example Paul, who lived over 1,500 years after Benjamin, knew that his personal ancestor was Benjamin (Phil. 3:5).  By the time of the return from Babylon, however, over 1,000 years after Jacob lived, there were more than the original 12 ancestral houses (and besides, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were carried en masse to Babylon; the other ten tribes had been conquered and scattered by Assyria; 2 Kings 17:5). Each “house” was more like a clan or tribe than what we today would think of as a “house” with an elder father-figure with grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. The biblical “house” (household) was a very extended group, and the patriarchs of these “houses” played a very important role in the government of the people, as we see here in Ezra.

6 All those who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, and with valuable things, besides everything that was willingly offered

.“All those who were around them.” We learn from history that more of the Judeans who had been carried captive to Babylon stayed in Babylon than returned to Judah. The Judeans had lived for some two generations in Babylon, and many had made it their home. But they helped the Judeans who did return to Judah by giving them things they needed.

Again from the REV Commentary

9This is the number of them:

30 platters of gold, 1,000 platters of silver,

29 knives, 30 bowls of gold,

410 silver bowls of a second kind, and 1,000 other vessels.

11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought all these up when those who had been in exile were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

This has to be a partial list this would not be enough to reach that value

On to Chapter 2

I am not going to attempt to read all of this if you are watching this we will scroll slowly and you can pause it I will red some of it but not all of it.

1Now these are the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those who had been in exile, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city,

 2who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel:

 3 The sons of Parosh, 2,172.

4 The sons of Shephatiah, 372.

5 The sons of Arah, 775.

 6 The sons of Pahathmoab,

 of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812.

 7 The sons of Elam, 1,254.

 8 The sons of Zattu, 945.

 9 The sons of Zaccai, 760.

 10 The sons of Bani, 642.

 11 The sons of Bebai, 623.

 12 The sons of Azgad, 1,222.

 13 The sons of Adonikam, 666.

 14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056.

 15 The sons of Adin, 454.

 16 The sons of Ater, of Hezekiah, 98.

 17 The sons of Bezai, 323.

 18 The sons of Jorah, 112.

 19 The sons of Hashum, 223.

 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95.

 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123.

 22 The men of Netophah, 56.

 23 The men of Anathoth, 128.

 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42.

 25 The sons of Kiriath Arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.

 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621.

 27 The men of Michmas, 122.

 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223.

 29 The sons of Nebo, 52.

 30 The sons of Magbish, 156.

 31 The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.

 32 The sons of Harim, 320.

 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725.

 34 The sons of Jericho, 345.

 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

 36 The priests:

 the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973.

 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052.

 38 The sons of Pashhur, 1,247.

 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

 40 The Levites the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel,

of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.

41 The singers:

 the sons of Asaph, 128.

42 The sons of the gatekeepers:

 the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater,

 the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub,

 the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai,

 in all 139.

43The Temple servants:

the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha,

the sons of Tabbaoth, 44the sons of Keros,

the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,

45the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah,

the sons of Akkub, 46the sons of Hagab,

the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan,

47the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar,

the sons of Reaiah, 48the sons of Rezin,

the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam,

49the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah,

the sons of Besai, 50the sons of Asnah,

the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim,

51the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha,

the sons of Harhur, 52the sons of Bazluth,

the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,

53the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera,

the sons of Temah, 54the sons of Neziah,

the sons of Hatipha.

55The sons of Solomon’s servants:

the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth,

the sons of Peruda, 56the sons of Jaalah,

the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

57the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil,

the sons of Pochereth Hazzebaim, the sons of Ami.

58All the Temple servants and the sons of Solomon’s servants were 392.

59These were those who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not prove their fathers’ houses or their decent, whether they were of Israel:

60the sons of Delaiah,

the sons of Tobiah,

the sons of Nekoda, 652.

61Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai (who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and he was called by their name). 62These sought their place among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found there so they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. 63The governor said to them that they could not eat of the most holy things until a priest stood up with the Urim and Thummim.

64The whole assembly together was 42,360,

65besides their male slaves and their female slaves, of whom there were 7,337;

and they had 200 singing men and singing women.

66Their horses were 736, their mules, 245,

67their camels, 435, their donkeys, 6,720.

Gifts for the Work

68Some of the heads of fathers’ households, when they came to the house of Yahweh that is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for God’s house to set it up on its site.

69According to their ability they gave into the treasury for the work, 61,000 darics of gold and 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.

70Now the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the Temple servants, lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.