As with chapter 2, verses 2 to 14 below are really a list, but it has been made to conform with the continuous prose form of the Tanach, where there is no punctuation except paragraphing, and pey and samech breaks are used as indicators of sentence endings and other breaks. The verse form that you are probably accustomed to from translations comes from the early Christian versions, as do the chapters. To show how this works I have, on this occasion, retained all the samech breaks inside my transliteration; the pey break at the end of verse 14 tells us that the list is complete.
8:1 VE ELEH RA'SHEY AVOTEYHEM VE HIT'YACHSAM HA OLIM IMI BE MALCHUT ARTACHSHAST' HA MELECH MI BAVEL {ס}
וְאֵלֶּה רָאשֵׁי אֲבֹתֵיהֶם וְהִתְיַחְשָׂם הָעֹלִים עִמִּי בְּמַלְכוּת אַרְתַּחְשַׁסְתְּא הַמֶּלֶךְ מִבָּבֶ
KJ (King James translation): These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
BN (BibleNet translation): Now these are the clan-chiefs, and this is the inventory of those who went up with me from Bavel, in the reign of King Artachshast'.
In Yehudit once again.
HIT'YACHSAM: Unclear how the translators derive the word "genealogy" here. YACHAS means "relations", in the sense of "familial relatives", so yes, there are genealogical links. But see verse 3.
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8:2 MIBNEY PINCHAS GERSHOM {ס} MIB'NEY ITAMAR DANI-EL {ס} MIBNEY DAVID CHATUSH {ס}
מִבְּנֵי פִינְחָס גֵּרְשֹׁם מִבְּנֵי אִיתָמָר דָּנִיֵּאל מִבְּנֵי דָוִיד חַטּוּשׁ
KJ: Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.
BN: From the Beney Pinchas, Gershom; from the Beney Itamar, Dani-El; from the Beney David, Chatush.
In the previous list (chapter 2) I noted that there was neither a preposition nor a definite article, before each of the BENEY, and wondered why not; here the preposition is attached. MIBNEY is an ellision of MI BENEY = "from the BENEY..."
BENEY PINCHAS:
BENEY ITAMAR:
BENEY DAVID:
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8:3 MIBNEY SHECHAN-YAH {ס} MIBNEY PHAR'OSH ZECHAR-YAH VE IMO HIT'YACHES LIZCHARIM ME'AH VA CHAMISHIM {ס}
מִבְּנֵי שְׁכַנְיָה מִבְּנֵי פַרְעֹשׁ זְכַרְיָה וְעִמּוֹ הִתְיַחֵשׂ לִזְכָרִים מֵאָה וַחֲמִשִּׁים
KJ: Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.
BN: From the Beney Shechan-Yah [...]; from the Beney Phar'osh, Zechar-Yah; and with him were inventoried a hundred and fifty males.
[...] I have placed this inside my translation to indicate that, or so it would appear, there ought to be a name, but there isn't one. On the other hand, there is another Shecan-Yah in verse 5, unless that is the one misplaced here.
ZECHAR-YAH: This is not the Prophet Zechar-Yah (Zechariah), who Ezra named as Zechar-Yah ben Ido (6:14), and who was alreay living in Yeru-Shala'im at the time of Zeru-Bavel, probably one of those who returned with him. Two other bearers of the same name occur later in the list, at verses 11 and 16.
HIT'YACHES: In other words, lots and lots of his extended family.
LIZCHARIM: infers an indefinite article; I note this because the many uses afterwards in this chapter all include a definite article, and meaning changes: see my note to the next verse. But also because of the play on words - Zechar, his name, means "male", and ZECHARIM means "male offspring". The same word will recur throughout this inventory.
It is also worth wondering why the specificity of males is stated, and then restated. Zeru-Bavel took priests and professionals, which included women, and they probably went as families, because we know they settled, and there is no text telling us that the men went first, and the families were brought afterwards - such a long and arduous journey on foot or by donkey, through hostile terrain, would not have encouraged a separate wife-and-children venture anyway. But on this occasion it really does seem that the men alone are going - is it because of the ongoing war with the Greeks, in spite of the "Peace of Callias" (see my notes to 7:6)?
Note yet again how prominent the Yah-names appear to be; every one of these will be masculinised into YAHU by the time of the Hasmoneans, but it is much more logical, in a polytheistic epoch, to thank the fertility goddess through the naming of your child, than her male consort.
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8:4 MIBNEY PACHAT MO-AV EL-YEHO'EYNAY BEN ZERACH-YAH VE IMO MA'TAYIM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
מִבְּנֵי פַּחַת מוֹאָב אֶלְיְהוֹעֵינַי בֶּן זְרַחְיָה וְעִמּוֹ מָאתַיִם הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
BN: From the Beney Pachat Mo-Av, El-Yeho'eynay ben Zerach-Yah; and with him two hundred males.
Likewise large numbers of his family went too, though it is expressed differently here. HA ZECHARIM is indeed "males", but the rather colloquial term, with that definite article especially, might be better translated as "two hundred of his boys"
PHACHAT MO-AV: The name also appeared in the Zeru-Bavel list at 2:6. PACHAT in Syrian means "to dig" or "excavate", and comes into Yehudit in 2 Samuel 17:9 as "a pit"; see also Psalm 7:16, Isaiah 24:17 and Jeremiah 48:43. How does this get to be somebody's name, unless it's a title, metaphorically symbolic: a reference to the terrain where the tribe is based, perhaps, or some archaeological role in the Temple or palace. Having said all of which, the overall impression from the many further usages of the name, in Ezra and Nechem-Yah, is that this was the family of the man appointed Governor of Mo-Av, in which case PHACHAT here has nothing to do with PACHAT, but must be a word of Persian origin.
EL-YEHO'EYNAY: Wonderful name! "My eyes are turned towards..." though whether it is YAH or YHVH is open to discussion, especially in the light of his father's name, which means "Yah has risen".
BEN ZERACH-YAH: see above.
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8:5 MIBNEY SHECHAN-YAH BEN YACHAZI-EL VE IMO SHELOSH ME'OT HA ZECHARIM {ס}
מִבְּנֵי שְׁכַנְיָה בֶּן יַחֲזִיאֵל וְעִמּוֹ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
BN: From the Beney Shechan-Yah ben Yachazi-El; and with him three hundred males.
SHECHAN-YAH: Is this the same Shechan-Yah as verse 3?
BEN YACHAZI-EL: But he still doesn't have a name, or not a full one anyway. Ben Yachazi-El is somebody's patronymic; or is Shechan-Yah himself the son of Yachazi-El - but then there is a need for me to write [...] again. (Note the rarity of an EL name).
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8:6 U MIBNEY ADIN EVED BEN YONATAN VE IMO CHAMISHIM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי עָדִין עֶבֶד בֶּן יוֹנָתָן וְעִמּוֹ חֲמִשִּׁים הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
BN: And from the Beney Adin, Eved ben Yonatan; and with him fifty males.
ADIN:
EVED: Meaning "servant" or "worshipper", depending on the context. But as a child's name? My previous gold medal for the best-worst name ever bestowed may have to be shared! "Slave - go and tidy your room!" Can you just imagine the psychotherapy sessions later on? (But see verse 9 where there is Oved-Yah, and probably this should be too.)
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8:7 U MIBNEY EYLAM YESH'A-YAH BEN ATAL-YAH VE IMO SHIV'IM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי עֵילָם יְשַׁעְיָה בֶּן עֲתַלְיָה וְעִמּוֹ שִׁבְעִים הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
BN: And from the Beney Eylam, Yesh'a-Yah ben Atal-Yah; and with him seventy males.
BENEY EYLAM: Eylam is one of the earlier names for the very land that we are leaving: Persia, today's Iran.
YESH'A-YAH: Probably not the Prophet Isaiah, though the inner evidence of the text of his book suggests that these Prophets were not lone individuals, but the masters of specialist Guilds, and that whoever was the Master at the time bore the title; the earliest date for such a Master is around 740 BCE, but the last chapters of the book can only have been written in Babylon during the exile - see for example chapters 46 and 47, which are very explicit. Interesting to note that whoever was the bearer of this name in this verse, he was Yesh'a-Yah, and not Yesh'a-Yahu.
And if it was indeed the current Master of the Guild of Yesha-Yahu, how many BANIM would we expect to find in his equivalent of today's Yeshiva? 70, all males.
See also verse 19, where another of the same name is listed.
BEN ATAL-YAH: need to check up if this connects him to the prophet. It would be interesting to find Zechar-Yah and Yesha-Yahu travelling in the same caravan. However, despite my comments above, I think this was probably just some bloke who happened to have the same name, and happened to bring seventy men with him.
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8:8 U MIBNEY SHEPHAT-YAH ZEVAD-YAH BEN MICHA-EL VE IMO SHEMONIM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי שְׁפַטְיָה זְבַדְיָה בֶּן־מִיכָאֵל וְעִמּוֹ שְׁמֹנִים הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.
BN: And from the Beney Shephat-Yah, Zevad-Yah ben Micha-El; and with him eighty males.
SHEPHAT-YAH: The same name appeared in the Zeru-Bavel list at 2:57.
BEN MICHA-EL:
Eighty males makes them sound like cattle! I think it's that HA, the totally unnecessary definite article, that is causing it: "and with him the eighty men" is how it should be translated.
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8:9 MIBNEY YO-AV OVAD-YAH BEN YECHI-EL VE IMO MA'TAYIM U SHEMONAH ASAR HA ZECHARIM {ס}
מִבְּנֵי יוֹאָב עֹבַדְיָה בֶּן יְחִיאֵל וְעִמּוֹ מָאתַיִם וּשְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
BN: From the Beney Yo-Av, Ovad-Yah ben Yechi-El; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
BENEY YO-AV:
BEN YECHI-EL:
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8:10 U MIBNEY SHELOMIT BEN YOSIPH-YAH VE IMO ME'AH VE SHISHIM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי שְׁלוֹמִית בֶּן־יוֹסִפְיָה וְעִמּוֹ מֵאָה וְשִׁשִּׁים הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.
BN: And from the Beney Shelomit [ ... ] ben Yosiph-Yah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.
BENEY SHELOMIT: Is Shelomit a male or a female name? The female lover in the Song of Songs (6:13 in some versions, 7:1 in others) is named "Ha Shulamit", "the Shulamite", which may simply denote her as a woman from Shulem or Shalem or even Yeru-Shala'im, or it could just as easily place what was originally a Kena'ani wedding song in the realms of the Babylonian war goddess Shulmanitu, herself an aspect of the fertility goddess Ishtar, who of course becomes Mother Mary, precisely in Yeru-Shala'im, in the Jesus legend; added to which there is then that other tale in the Christian texts, of the dancing priestess Salome, daughter of King Herod. By whatever route, the root is SALM, adding still one more to the long list of names associated with Yeru-Shala'im. (Click here for a very thorough essay on Ha Shulamit by Chana Bloch.)
Once again a name appears to be missing from the text; the square bracket and dots are mine, to indicate it. KJ simply assumes the name was unknown, and renders the patronymic on its own, as with Shechan-Yah in verse 5. Same difference.
BEN YOSIPH-YAH:
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8:11 U MIBNEY VAVAI ZECHAR-YAH BEN BEVAI VE IMO ESRIM U SHEMONAH HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי בֵבַי זְכַרְיָה בֶּן בֵּבָי וְעִמּוֹ עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁמֹנָה הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.
BN: And from the Beney Vevai, Zechar-Yah ben Bevai; and with him twenty-eight males.
BENEY VEVAI:
ZECHAR-YAH BEN BEVAI: see my notes to verse 3.
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8:12 U MIBNEY AZ-GAD YO-CHANAN BEN [ ... ] HA KATAN VE IMO ME'AH VA ASARAH HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי עַזְגָּד יוֹחָנָן בֶּן־הַקָּטָן וְעִמּוֹ מֵאָה וַעֲשָׂרָה הַזְּכָרִים׃ ס
KJ: And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.
BN: And from the Beney Az-Gad, Yo-Chanan ben [... ] Ha Katan; and with him a hundred and ten males.
AZ-GAD: I have hyphenated this, assuming it to be a conjunct name, but it needs checking; we saw it in Ezra 2:12, and it will come up again in Nechem-Yah, but it does not occur elsewhere in the Tanach. If correct, the first part means "strength", while the second part remembers the Biblical tribe of Gad, possibly coincidentally.
YO-CHANAN: as opposed to Yonotan, which we have encountered above, or Yah-Natan, which is its spelling elsewhere in the Tanach. I mention it only because we have two names in modern English, which people often think are the same name, but one of them mis-spelled. Yochanan yields John (Johannes in German actually comes from yet a third source, the Mesopotamian deity Oannes, whence also Jonah); Yonotan/Yah-Natan yields Jon/Jonathan.
HA KATAN: meaning "the small", whether of age ("the younger") or size; and therefore unlikely to have been the person's name; his nickname or sobriquet perhaps; so I am assuming that, yet again, the full name is missing.
I wonder if all these missing names are simply because Ezra never knew them all in the first place, or half-knew and half-remembered them, and put down what he could recall, and hoped no one would notice (better than writing "And of the Beney Az-Gad, Yo-Chanan, Ben-what's-his-name, the little bloke...", though something of that level of colloquialism is definitely present in the next verse).
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8:13 U MIBNEY ADONI-KAM ACHARONIM VE ELEH SHEMOTAM ELI-PHELET YE'I-EL U SHEM'A-YAH VE IMAHEM SHISHIM HA ZECHARIM {ס}
וּמִבְּנֵי אֲדֹנִיקָם אַחֲרֹנִים וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹתָם אֱלִיפֶלֶט יְעִיאֵל וּשְׁמַעְיָה וְעִמָּהֶם שִׁשִּׁים הַזְּכָרִים
KJ: And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.
BN: And last of all from the Beney Adoni-Kam; and these are their names, Eli-Phelet, Ye'i-El, and Shem'a-Yah; and with them sixty males.
ACHARONIM: Really does mean "last of all" - the irony being that there is one more verse after this. Amidst all the careful language of the earlier chapters, this one, a mere memo! I wonder if verse 14 was a late scribble, added on the back of the scrap of paper which is now part of the holy book of scripture!
ELI-PHELET: see my notes on the Pelishtim, though this does not suggest he was one. It is the meaning, not the ethnos, that matters here.
SHEM'A-YAH:
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KJ: Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
BN: And from the Beney Vigvai, Utai and Zachur [Zabud]; and with him [them] seventy males.
8:14 U MIBNEY VIGVAI UTAI VE ZACHUR [VE ZABUD] VE IMO SHIVIM HA ZECHARIM {פ}
וּמִבְּנֵי בִגְוַי עוּתַי וְזָבוּד וְעִמּוֹ שִׁבְעִים הַזְּכָרִים
VIGVAI: The same name appeared at 2:14.
UTAI: Also found at 1 Chronicles 9:4, the name may mean "a worshipper", depending on how understand its Aramaic source, which is AVATAH; etymologists generally regard it as meaning "to bend", but Lamentations 3:59 uses it to mean "to wrong".
ZACHUR: much debate over the name here, which is why we have one in square brackets. You will see in a moment why I have only included Zabud in my Yehudit text, but first, let us exegise ZACHUR fairly:
ZACHUR: the singular of ZECHARIM; meaning "a male" or "a boy"; I said memo, above, and I meant it; I am wondering if this was simply some private list that Ezra was drawing up for his memoirs, with the intention of asking somebody to fill in the missing names later, but then it got into the files for the final draft, and no one checked. ZACHUR should really be translated as "And of the Beney Vivgai, Utai and some boy..."
All of which is rejected by the Masoretes, who, I guess, cannot accept such an attitude, and so prefer an error, replacing ZACHUR with ZABUD (I happen to like these human touches in the Biblical heroes, but the Masoretes are probably correct). And if it is ZABUD... absolutely nothing of any interest to be said.
IMO: a grammatical error; it should be IMAHEM (see the previous verse), as per my square bracket. Ezra's Yehudit is never as fluent or accurate as his Aramaic.
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8:15 VA EKBETSEM EL HA NAHAR HA BA EL AHAV'A VA NACHANEH SHAM YAMIM SHELOSHAH VA AVIYNAH VA AM U VA KOHANIM U MIBNEY LEVI LO MATSATI SHAM
וָאֶקְבְּצֵם אֶל הַנָּהָר הַבָּא אֶל אַהֲוָא וַנַּחֲנֶה שָׁם יָמִים שְׁלֹשָׁה וָאָבִינָה בָעָם וּבַכֹּהֲנִים וּמִבְּנֵי לֵוִי לֹא מָצָאתִי שָׁם
KJ: And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
BN: And I gathered them together where the Ahav'a flows into the River; and we camped there for three days; and I made a tour of the entire group, but of the Kohanim and the Beney Levi I found none there.
He seems to speak a strange mix of Yehudit and Aramit - or was this the stage the language had reached, transitioning between the two, the remembered Yehudit of one who knew it because he scribed it, but probably never spoke it, and the Aramit that he likely considered a foreign tongue, a necessity that he resented but required to survive?And no doubt bits of Persian thrown in as well.
AHAV'A: With a Vav, not a Vet, so, no, this is not the "River of Love", though a listener, unlike a reader, cannot be expected to know that. Exactly where it is remains a matter of conjecture (click here), but a tributary of the Euphrates north of Bavel.
KOHANIM...LEVIYIM: Why were there none? Had no one thought to include them, or had they declined to participate? From what follows, it looks like an oversight.
8:16 VA ESHLACHAH LE ELI-EZER LE ARI-EL LISHM'A-YAH U LE EL-NATAN U LE YARIV U LE EL-NATAN U LE NATAN VE LIZCHAR-YAH VE LIMSHULAM RA'SHIM U LE YO-YARIV U LE EL-NATAN MEVIYNIM
וָאֶשְׁלְחָה לֶאֱלִיעֶזֶר לַאֲרִיאֵל לִשְׁמַעְיָה וּלְאֶלְנָתָן וּלְיָרִיב וּלְאֶלְנָתָן וּלְנָתָן וְלִזְכַרְיָה וְלִמְשֻׁלָּם רָאשִׁים וּלְיוֹיָרִיב וּלְאֶלְנָתָן מְבִינִים
KJ: Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.
BN: Then I sent for Eli-Ezer, for Ari-El, for Shem'a-Yah, and for El-Natan, and for Yariv, and for El-Natan, and for Natan, and for Zechar-Yah, and for Meshulam, all senior men; and also for Yo'ariv, and for El-Natan, teachers.
Why is this verse numbered as Tet-Zayin (תז) in some orthodox versions (click here), which is 9+7, rather than the customary Yud-Vav (יו), which is 10+5? - and now I need to check if there are other anomalies like this one that I missed! (I have checked, at least in the version at the link, and it does this throughout the Tanach; and I just never noticed before).
EL-NATAN: more than one of them!
U LE but VE LI: is this a grammar rule that was taught when I had flu and so I missed it? I think it's because VELIZCHAR-YAH ellides when you say it, and so the stress shifts, but even so, when it is written, in order to distnguish the conjunction (VI) from the preposition (LI) from the name (Zechar-Yah)...
MEVIYNIM: Literally "understanders" though it is usually translated here as "teachers", which is normally "melamdim" or "morim". But I confess that I like this, that a person has to be an understander first, in order to be able to teach. Unfortunately I don't think it's correct in this context; I think that these men were "interpreters", though whether of Aramit into Yehudit, or vice versa, or both, or even possibly Pharsi into Aramit for the benefit of the Persian governor, or even any of those languages into Greek, in case they ran into troops from there. Or even, though less likely, "interpreters" of Torah into exegesis; we cannot deduce from this line (but in other contexts, it is plausible).
8:17 VA AVATS'EH OTAM AL IDO HA ROSH BE CHASIPHYA HA MAKOM VA ASIYMAH BE PHIHEM DEVARIM LEDABER EL IDO ACHIV HE NETIVONIM BE CHASIPHYA HA MAKOM LEHAV'I LANU MESHARTIM LE VEIT ELOHEYNU
וָאֲוַּצֶאה אוֹתָם עַל אִדּוֹ הָרֹאשׁ בְּכָסִפְיָא הַמָּקוֹם וָאָשִׂימָה בְּפִיהֶם דְּבָרִים לְדַבֵּר אֶל אִדּוֹ אָחִיו הַנְּתִונִים בְּכָסִפְיָא הַמָּקוֹם לְהָבִיא לָנוּ מְשָׁרְתִים לְבֵית אֱלֹהֵינוּ
KJ: And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
BN: And I gave them instructions for Ido the senior priest at the standing stone of Chasiphya; and I told them what they should say to their brother Ido, and to his brethren the officers and other employees at the standing stone of Chasiphya, that they should bring us ministers for the house of our god.
VA ATSAVEH: I must go back and make sure all the bracketed alternatives are in, for all three versions: transliteration, text and translation; and explain what the differences are. In this case it looks like one is Aramit and the other Yehudit.
IDO: But wait a moment, isn't Zechar-Yah the Prophet's full name ZECHAR-YAH BEN IDO? We had it as his patronym, but this infers it was his "rosh yeshivah" (they didn't yet have yeshivot; the headmaster, of whatever his scribal training college was called). See my note on the Prophetic Guilds at verse 7.
CHASIPHYA: I am not completely happy with this transliteration, but I think not apostrophising the final "a" on this occasion may be the only way to convey it accurately. As to what it was: Arabia is replete with scraps of fallen meteorite, revered as sacred stones wherever they are found. Probably the rock that sits today beneath the Shrine of Omar in Yeru-Shala'im was such a rock, and no doubt that the baetylos at Beit-El was one; the most famous in Arabia is of course the Ka'aba in Mecca itself, whose correct full name is MAKAM IBRAHIM. Does Chasiphya connect to the word KESEPH, which means "silver", but is also used for "money" in general, in Yehudit? Probably not. As with MAKAM, this is a Babylonish word, not even Aramaic, let alone Yehudit.
MAKOM: does indeed mean "place", in Yehudit, but it also makes no sense with that meaning here. See my note to Chasiphya, above.
HA NETIVONIM: Is this the same word as NETINIM which KJ always fails to translate? And should it in fact be NETIVONIM, with a Vav medugash? Masoretic texts give "(הנתונים (הַנְּתִינִים", the first unpointed with a Vav, the second pointed with a Yud.
MESHARTIM: "Ministers", which could include any aspect of the multiple tasks of the Kohanim and Leviyim, from Temple sacrifice to marriages and deaths, from teaching to serving on the Beit Din.
8:18 VA YAVIY'U LANU KE YAD ELOHEYNU HA TOVAH ALEYNU ISH SECHEL MIBNEY MACHLI BEN LEVI BEN YISRA-EL VE SHEREV-YAH U VANAV VE ECHAV SHEMONAH ASAR
וַיָּבִיאּוּ לָנוּ כְּיַד אֱלֹהֵינוּ הַטּוֹבָה עָלֵינוּ אִישׁ שֶׂכֶל מִבְּנֵי מַחְלִי בֶּן לֵוִי בֶּן יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשֵׁרֵבְיָה וּבָנָיו וְאֶחָיו שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר
KJ: And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
BN: And they brought us - according to the good hand of our gods upon us - a man of discretion, of the Beney Machli, a son of Levi, a son of Yisra-El; and Sherev-Yah, with his followers and his kinsmen, eighteen.
ISH SECHEL: "A man of discretion" is a very good translation; if I could remember where I found it, I would acknowledge.
ECHAV: Why does he say ECHAV here, but previously ACHIV? Is the previous singular? This is definitely plural. I think the answer lies in his role, which was the head of another of these priestly "yeshivot"; if the Ba'al Shem Tov wanted to make a journey and called Menachem-Mendl from Kozke to accompany him, the entire disciple-body (VANAV) of his Yeshivah would come too, and of course bring their wives and children (ECHAV): something of the same order.
MACHLI: Is he naming the man as Machli ben Levi ben Yisra-El, or is he saying that Machli was a Levite, a proper Yisra-Eli, in the sense of "a real mensch". I ask because, normally, Yehudim are denoted by one of three, and cannot be two of the three: Kohen, Levite or Yisra-El. I wonder if, from his name, which comes from the root that also gives "sickness", he wasn't perhaps a physician of some sort.
SHEREV-YAH: And given that most medicine until very recent times was little more than leeching, burning, poulticing and repenting sin, having a man whose name connects with "burning heat" makes for an interesting pairing with Machli.
8:19 VE ET CHASHAV-YAH VE ITO YESH'A-YAH MIBNEY MERARI ECHAV U VENEYHEM ESRIM
וְאֶת חֲשַׁבְיָה וְאִתּוֹ יְשַׁעְיָה מִבְּנֵי מְרָרִי אֶחָיו וּבְנֵיהֶם עֶשְׂרִים
KJ: And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
BN: And Chashav-Yah, and with him Yesh'a-Yah of the Beney Merari, his followers and their kinsmen, twenty.
ET: the object identifier suddenly appears, an abstruse obscurity of esoteric Yehudit grammar; why not for the previous names? are they not accusatives? is there now a definite article? or are all these errors a hint that Ezra may have been a scribe, but no wonder the Torah is full of dyslectic questions that we can't answer!
CHASHAV-YAH: Strong (see the link) reckons this roots in CHASHAV, whence CHESHBON = a bank account in modern parlance, and the suggestion that he was the Treasurer of the shrine at CHASIPHYA - and if CHASIPHYA is indeed from the root KESEPH, then silver and cash will have required a treasurer. But here is also the root CHASHAV = "to think", and linked with Yah it would mean "one who tinks of the goddess", a rather more spiritual role.
YESHA-YAH: see verse 11.
BENEY MERARI: The youngest son of Levi, and presumably therefore a name long attached to an order of priests, in the same way that Christianity has Franciscans and Benedictines et al.
samech break
8:20 U MIN HA NETIYNIM SHE NATAN DAVID VE HA SARIM LA AVODAT HA LEVIYIM NETIYNIM MA’TAYIM VE ESRIM KULAM NIKVU VE SHEMOT
וּמִן הַנְּתִינִים שֶׁנָּתַן דָּוִיד וְהַשָּׂרִים לַעֲבֹדַת הַלְוִיִּם נְתִינִים מָאתַיִם וְעֶשְׂרִים כֻּלָּם נִקְּבוּ בְשֵׁמוֹת
KJ: Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
BN: And of the Temple professionals, whom David and the princes had provided to support the work of the Leviyim, two hundred and twenty Netinim; all of them had their names marked.
I have noted previously that KJ, and several other translations, repeatedly fail to translate Netiynim, while simultaneously translating the other temple artisans. I have wondered if they do [not do] so because they don't know what the Netinim were or did - yet here is the explanation, as clear as a trumpeting chatsotsra: they were the assistants of the Leviyim, doing whatever was needed that a clergyman couldn't or didn't need to: plumbers when the mikveh needed fixing, candlemakers, silver and metal and goldsmiths, hewers of wood, medics, singers and musicians, legal experts, secretaries...
KULAM NIKVU VE SHEMOT: This goes with all those "etc etc" that we have seen previously, and the memo-style scribbling of verse 13. Ezra feels obligated to write all this down, so everyone can have their deserved place in history, but really he doesn't care, really he can't be bothered, and now for the fourth or fifth time we are witnessing him deciding not to bother.
NIKVU comes from the root NAKAV, which actually indicates the making of marks in a piece of wood, or the act of tatooing (but not in the Yisra-Eli world, where it is taboo, and which I mention only because the same root yields the verb for what we now call "blasphemy", and things like tatooing may be the reason why the root developed that meaning). "All of them had their names marked". But not by Ezra - some professional among the Netinim no doubt had been appointed to take care of the matter.
8:21 VE EKR'A SHAM TSOM AL HA NAHAR AHAV'A LEHIT'ANOT LIPHNEY ELOHEYNU LEVAKESH MIMENU DERECH YESHARAH LANU U LE TAP'ENU U LE CHOL RECHUSHENU
וָאֶקְרָא שָׁם צוֹם עַל הַנָּהָר אַהֲוָא לְהִתְעַנּוֹת לִפְנֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ לְבַקֵּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ דֶּרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה לָנוּ וּלְטַפֵּנוּ וּלְכָל רְכוּשֵׁנוּ
KJ: Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
BN: Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahav'a, that we might humble ourselves before our god, to seek from him a straight road, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our possessions.
Confirmation that this is an expedition in full family, and not just the men. And of course this, precisely this, just like Zeru-Bavel's expedition seventy years previously, this is the Av-Ramic journey, the original one, with Terach and Nachor, in their case to Charan in Padan Aram before Av-Ram and Sarai continued on to Kena'an; but the starting-point is the same (even though, historically, it probably wasn't; but the symbolism is essential for the creation of the national history which Ezra is about to undertake), from the villages around Bavel where Ur Kasdim once stood.
8:22 KI VOSHTI LISH'OL MIN HA MELECH CHAYIL U PHARASHIM LE AZRENU ME OYEV BA DARECH KI AMARNU LA MELECH LEMOR YAD ELOHEYNU AL KOL MEVAKSHAV LE TOVAH VE UZO VE APHO AL KOL OZVAY
כִּי בֹשְׁתִּי לִשְׁאוֹל מִן הַמֶּלֶךְ חַיִל וּפָרָשִׁים לְעָזְרֵנוּ מֵאוֹיֵב בַּדָּרֶךְ כִּי אָמַרְנוּ לַמֶּלֶךְ לֵאמֹר יַד אֱלֹהֵינוּ עַל כָּל מְבַקְשָׁיו לְטוֹבָה וְעֻזּוֹ וְאַפּוֹ עַל כָּל עֹזְבָי
KJ: For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
BN: For I was embarrassed to request of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy along the way; because we had spoken to the king, saying: "The hand of our god is upon all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him."
VOSHTI: Unusual to see this in the Po'al form, and it changes its meaning; in modern Ivrit we are familiar with it in the Hit'pa'el form, where it does mean "ashamed"; but in the Po'al it does not have that reflective intensity, and so this is about mere embarrassment, not shame.
A deeply disappointing verse though - the true man of religion, fanatically devoted, as we shall see; but at the same time, wanting a secure passage across a war zone, he would have preferred to place his trust in human soldiers than in the power of prayer. And lacked the tenacity to ask. Did Artachshast's edict, in chapter 7, not effectively offer a military escort?
8:23 VA NATSUMAH VA NEVAKSHAH ME EOLHEYNU AL ZOT VA YE'ATER LANU
וַנָּצוּמָה וַנְּבַקְשָׁה מֵאֱלֹהֵינוּ עַל זֹאת וַיֵּעָתֵר לָנוּ
KJ: So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
BN: So we fasted, and petitioned our gods for this; and the gods heard us and answered us.
Once again ELOHEYNU, not YHVH; and plural, but used with a singular verb (YE'ATER).
YE'ATER: ATAR is incense, burned alongside the sacrificial offerings, and it is the incense more than the meat or other offering that propitiates the deity, which is probably why the verb evolved to mean successful propitiation - cf Genesis 25:21, 2 Samuel 21:14, Isaiah 19:22 et al.
8:24 VA AVDIYLAH MI SAREY HA KOHANIM SHENEYM ASAR LE SHEREV-YAH CHASHAV-YAH VE IMAHEM ME ACHEYHEM ASARAH
וָאַבְדִּילָה מִשָּׂרֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר לְשֵׁרֵבְיָה חֲשַׁבְיָה וְעִמָּהֶם מֵאֲחֵיהֶם עֲשָׂרָה
KJ: Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
BN: Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherev-Yah, Chashav-Yah, and ten of their colleagues with them.
How else should the remnant of Yisra-El return to its motherland, if not in the nearest they can substitute for the twelve Mosaic tribes?
8:25 VA ESHKOLAH LAHEM ET HA KESEPH VE ET HA ZAHAV VE ET HA KELIM TERUMAH BEIT ELOHEYNU HA HERIYMU HA MELECH VE YO'ATSAV VE SARAV VE CHOL YISRA-EL HA NIMTSA'IM
וָאֶשְׁקוֹלָה לָהֶם אֶת הַכֶּסֶף וְאֶת הַזָּהָב וְאֶת הַכֵּלִים תְּרוּמַת בֵּית אֱלֹהֵינוּ הַהֵרִימוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ וְיֹעֲצָיו וְשָׂרָיו וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל הַנִּמְצָאִים
KJ: And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:
BN: And I weighed out to them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels for the offering for the house of our gods, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Yisra-El there present, had offered.
8:26 VA ESHKALAH AL YADAM KESEPH KIKARIM SHESH ME'OT VA CHAMISHIM U CHLEY CHESEPH ME'AH LE CHIKARIM ZAHAV ME'AH CHIKAR
וָאֶשְׁקֲלָה עַל יָדָם כֶּסֶף כִּכָּרִים שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים וּכְלֵי כֶסֶף מֵאָה לְכִכָּרִים זָהָב מֵאָה כִכָּר
KJ: I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;
BN: Then I weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty sigloi of silver, plus a hundred sigloi in one set of silver vessels, and a hundred darics in another set of gold vessels.
KIKARIM: Usually translated as "talents", but that was Greek money, from τάλαντον (talanton), meaning "scale" or "balance". One Greek "talent" is reckoned (cick here) to have weighed about 80 pounds (36 kg), and to have been worth about 6,000 denarii, one denarius being the standard payment for a day's labour - but that would make each talent several times larger than a piece of standard bullion, so it seems to me the experts may have got this wrong.
The Yehudit word is KIKAR, and can be found as coinage at Exodus 38:25 and 2 Kings 5:5, where it is worth three thousand shekels by the scales and balances used in the Second Temple period (a shekel comes from the root SHAKAL = "weight"). The root of KIKARIM means "something circular" (Exodus 29:23, Zechariah 5:7), so it is nigh on certain that these were coins ( I say "nigh on" because it is unlikely that the plain of the river Yarden was circular, and yet it is known as KIKAR YARDEN - see Genesis 13:10). And by curious archaeological chance we just happen to know that Darius introduced coinage into Persia, around 520 BCE, and the ones made of silver were called sigloi, and the ones made of gold were called - what else! - darics - click here for more on this.
8:27 U CHEPHOREY ZAHAV ESRIM LA ADARCHONIM ALEPH U CHLEY NECHOSHET MUTS'HAV TOVAH SHENAYIM CHAMUDOT KA ZAHAV
וּכְפֹרֵי זָהָב עֶשְׂרִים לַאֲדַרְכֹנִים אָלֶף וּכְלֵי נְחֹשֶׁת מֻצְהָב טוֹבָה שְׁנַיִם חֲמוּדֹת כַּזָּהָב
KJ: Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.
BN: And twenty coffers of gold, containing a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, as precious as gold.
CHEPHOREY: Fascinatingly complex word this. The golden lid covering the Ark of the Covenant, sometimes translated as the Mercy Seat, was known as the KAPORET. Any kind of "cover" would stem from this root, even the hair that covers a man's face, or the pitch used on No'ach's Ark (Genesis 6:14), or the villages that cover the plains - the latter would be KFAR, as in Kfar Nachum, best known from the Jesus legends. How do we get from that to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement? To which the answer lies in the Pi'el or intensive form of the verb: ordinary errors can be "covered over" ordinarily, but serious sin needs something rather more intense, which KAPARAH provides, and the Mercy Seat likewise. In addition to villages, those plains might also be covered by trees, and one of those trees might happen to be a cypress tree, which is a KOPHER in Yehudit, though it is highly probable that they were called KOPHER trees for the same reason that we call them cypress trees in English, in that they were first known on the island of Cyprus, which in modern Ivrit is Kaprisin, and therefore, or perhaps, an entirely different word (and just to make that still more complex, as per the link to Kaprisin, the Greeks called it Kypros for the "cyprus", not the "cypress" - cyprus being a type of henna - click here first, and then confirm it as yet another use of KOPHER in Yehudit, at Song of Songs 1:14 and 4:13).
After all of which, how do we get to "basons", whatever "basons" might be, from this same root. To which the answer lies alongside the cypress trees - yet another word that comes into English from the Bible. A"coffer" is a strongbox or wooden chest - and quite possibly made of cypress wood - for holding valuables (such as your expensive henna from Cyprus).
ALEPH: Should this not be ELEPH for a thousand; ALEPH is used for 1?
CHAMUDOT: I'm not sure it's the preciosity, either in the sense of delicacy or material value, that Ezra is intending here; or am I applying retrospectively the modern use of the term. CHAMUD today is used like "darling", so CHAMUDOT KA ZAHAV would "as gorgeous as gold". And of course we too use the word "brass" as slang for those gold coins.
8:28 VA OMRAH AL'EHEM ATEM KODESH LA YHVH VE HA KELIM KODESH VE HA KESEPH VE HA ZAHAV NEDAVAH LA YHVH ELOHEY AVOTEYCHEM
וָאֹמְרָה אֲלֵהֶם אַתֶּם קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה וְהַכֵּלִים קֹדֶשׁ וְהַכֶּסֶף וְהַזָּהָב נְדָבָה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם
KJ: And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.
BN: And I said to them: You are holy to YHVH, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering to YHVH, the god of your ancestors.
ATEM KODESH: Ezra's poor Yehudit in evidence again - ATEM KEDOSHIM... HA KELIM KEDOSHIM.
I wonder if he is thinking of the tale of Micha-Yehu in Judges 17.
8:29 SHIKDU VE SHIMRU AD TISHKELU LIPHNEY SAREY HA KOHANIM VE HA LEVIYIM VE SAREY HA AVOT LE YISRA-EL BIYRU-SHALA'IM HA LISHCHOT BEIT YHVH
שִׁקְדוּ וְשִׁמְרוּ עַד תִּשְׁקְלוּ לִפְנֵי שָׂרֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם וְשָׂרֵי הָאָבוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בִּירוּשָׁלָםִ הַלִּשְׁכוֹת בֵּית יְהוָה
KJ: Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.
BN: Look after them, and keep them safe, until you weigh them before the chiefs of the Kohanim and Leviyim, and the princes of the clans of Yisra-El, in Yeru-Shala'im, in the chambers of the house of YHVH.
SAREY HA KOHANIM: is another evasion by the translators. SAREY means "princes", not "chiefs", and thus do they translate it in the very next phrase. It may well be uncomfortable to speak of the "princes" of the Kohanim and Leviyim, when we want to see them as clerics, not aristocrats. But the truth was, and this will be a central argument among the Yehudim for the next four hundred years - the Pharisees versus the Sadducees will be precisely this quarrel - the Kohanim and Leviyim have become an aristocracy; and somewhere in my commentaries on Torah you will find the exact spot at which it started.
8:30 VE KIBLU HA KOHANIM VE HA LEVIYIM MISHKAL HA KESEPH VE HA ZAHAV VE HA KELIM LEHAV'I LIYRU-SHALA'IM LE VEIT ELOHEYNU
וְקִבְּלוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם מִשְׁקַל הַכֶּסֶף וְהַזָּהָב וְהַכֵּלִים לְהָבִיא לִירוּשָׁלִַם לְבֵית אֱלֹהֵינוּ
KJ: So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
BN: So the Kohanim and Leviyim received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Yeru-Shala'im, to the house of our god.
pey break
8:31 VA NIS'AH MI NEHAR AHAV'A BISHNEYM ASAR LA CHODESH HA RI'SHON LALECHET YERU-SHALA'IM VE YAD ELOHEYNU HAYETAH ALEYNU VA YATSIYLENU MI KAPH OYEV VE OREV AL HA DARECH
וַנִּסְעָה מִנְּהַר אַהֲוָא בִּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר לַחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן לָלֶכֶת יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְיַד אֱלֹהֵינוּ הָיְתָה עָלֵינוּ וַיַּצִּילֵנוּ מִכַּף אוֹיֵב וְאוֹרֵב עַל הַדָּרֶךְ
KJ: Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
BN: Then we departed from the river Ahav'a on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Yeru-Shala'im; and the hand of our god was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.
YERU-SHALA'IM: Yet one more istance of what I have called "the inconsistent dative" - this really should be YERU'SHALA'IMAH, with a qamats-hey ending. The same applies in the next verse.
OREV: as in "crow"? Yes, and we have seen the use of the word as a metaphor for "ambushers" in several battle-scenes (cf Judges 21:10, but also an odd use in Judges 7:25 ff)
8:32 VA NAV'O YERU-SHALA'IM VA NESHEV SHAM YAMIM SHELOSHAH
וַנָּבוֹא יְרוּשָׁלִָם וַנֵּשֶׁב שָׁם יָמִים שְׁלֹשָׁה
KJ: And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
BN: And we came to Yeru-Shala'im, and lodged there for three days.
YERU-SHALA'IM: See my note in the previous verse.
YAMIM SHELOSHAH: Where we would normally expect the word-order to be reversed: SHELOSHAH YAMIM.
VA NAV'O: And if it were not for all these C-grade-at-GCSE errors in Ezra's use of Yehudit, I would like to suggest that VA NAVO is a brilliant piece of word-play, because their journey is very much a prophetic pilgrimage, an almost Messianic return to re-complete the destroyed work, and to complete the incomplete, of Zeru-Bavel - with NAVI being the word for Prophet. But alas I fear it is simply Ezra getting his tenses and his verbs mixed up, using LAVO ("to come") when he should be using LEHAGI'A ("to arrive"), and even if LAVO were correct, U BANU, or even U VANU, but not VE NAV'O.
8:33 U VA YOM HA REVIY'I NISHKAL HA KESEPH VE HA ZAHAV VE HA KELIM BE VEIT ELOHEYNU AL YAD MEREMOT BEN URI-YAH HA KOHEN VE IMO EL-AZAR BEN PINCHAS VE IMAHEM YO-ZAVAD BEN YESHU'A VE NO'AD-YAH VEN BINU'I HA LEVIYIM
וּבַיּוֹם הָרְבִיעִי נִשְׁקַל הַכֶּסֶף וְהַזָּהָב וְהַכֵּלִים בְּבֵית אֱלֹהֵינוּ עַל יַד מְרֵמוֹת בֶּן אוּרִיָּה הַכֹּהֵן וְעִמּוֹ אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן פִּינְחָס וְעִמָּהֶם יוֹזָבָד בֶּןיֵשׁוּעַ וְנוֹעַדְיָה בֶן בִּנּוּי הַלְוִיִּם
KJ: Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;
BN: And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our god into the hand of Meremot ben Uri-Yah the Kohen; and with him was El-Azar ben Pinchas; and with them was Yo-Zavad ben Yeshu'a, and No'ad-Yah ben Binu'i, the Leviyim.
YO-ZAVAD BEN YESHU'A: Would that be the same Yeshu'a who led the group that accompanied Zeru-Bavel (2:2), or just a coincidental repetition of a name?
NO'AD-YAH BEN BINU'I: Another No'ad-Yah will be mentioned in Nehemiah 6:14, but that one female, and quite explicitly described as a "Neviy'ah", a Prophetess.
8:34 BE MISPAR BE MISHKAL LA KOL VA YIKATEV KOL HA MISHKAL BA ET HA HI
בְּמִסְפָּר בְּמִשְׁקָל לַכֹּל וַיִּכָּתֵב כָּל הַמִּשְׁקָל בָּעֵת הַהִיא
KJ: By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.
BN: The whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written down at that time.
Every piece of writing has a context: who is writing, when, for what audience, to convey what ostensible message, with what hidden agenda, with or without posterity in mind, with or without expectation of criticism, disagreement, accusation of falsehood, etc etc - and for most of the Tanach the multiple tiers of context are obvious. But I am finding it difficult with this chapter of Ezra to determine what his context is: Is he simply keeping a diary? Are these self-protective notes in case anyone challenges him later on over such large quantities of gold and silver? Why does history need all this; a handful of verses would suffice to convey the core information? Did the king in Bavel expect a report; and if so, this surely isn't it? And where would it have been published - I am thinking that maybe it could have propaganda or fund-raising value back in Bavel or among the sceptics of Yehudah? If published, naming all these people would give them nachas, but he forgets so many names, that would become counter-productive because the forgotten or mis-remembered would simply be upset. Nor is it simply self-aggrandisement - he doesn't need to, he's the big chief already, he carries the king's seal.
And isn't the fact of arriving at Yeru-Shala'im what really counts here - where are the expressions of joy, of amazement, of relief? Where are the celebrations? He may hint at the word NAV'I, but this is a status report by Securicor, not a blessing by the oracle.
pey break
8:35 HA BA'IM ME HA SHEVI VENEY HA GOLAH HIKRIYVU OLOT LE ELOHEY YISRA-EL PARIM SHENEYM-ASAR AL KOL YISRA-EL EYLIM TISH'IM VE SHISHAH KEVASIM SHIV'IM VE SHIV'AH TSEPHIYREY CHAT'AT SHENEYM-ASAR HA KOL OLAH LA YHVH
הַבָּאִים מֵהַשְּׁבִי בְנֵי הַגּוֹלָה הִקְרִיבוּ עֹלוֹת לֵאלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל פָּרִים שְׁנֵים-עָשָׂר עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵילִים תִּשְׁעִים וְשִׁשָּׁה כְּבָשִׂים שִׁבְעִים וְשִׁבְעָה צְפִירֵי חַטָּאת שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר הַכֹּל עוֹלָה לַיהוָה
KJ: Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.
BN: Those who came out of the captivity, the children of exile, offered burnt-offerings to the gods of Yisra-El, twelve bullocks for all Yisra-El, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering; all this was a burnt-offering to YHVH.
Seven and twelve are the numbers we expect - the seven planetary deities and the twelve constellations; seventy has become a significant number, as evidenced by the curse of Lamech in Genesis 4:23/24; but why 96? 12 x 7 would be 84, but this adds a further 12 - maybe the twelve priests who carried the gold and silver made a separate offering? Even among the websites of astro-mysticism and deep-cognitive-nonsense-weaving, no one has anything of the utmost stupidity to suggest about this number, beyond an imaginary allignment of the flying comets with however you pronounce Uranus. Perhaps there just happened to be 96 people who brought a sacrifice! It is, in fact, a major problem for all scholars of all subjects, when numbers turn out to be merely numbers, and not symbols at all.
ELOHEYNU...YHVH: And speaking of nonsense. The Documentary Hypothesis insists that YHVH belongs to the southern kingdom of Yehudah and Elohim to the northern kingdom of Ephrayim; but Ephrayim had been lost to history almost three centuries by the time of Ezra, and here he is, using both names, separately, in the same sentence.
pey break
8:36 VA YITNU ET DATEY HA MELECH LA ACHASHDARPENEY HA MELECH U PHACHAVOT EVER HA NAHAR VE NIS'U ET HA AM VE ET BEIT HA ELOHIM
וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶת דָּתֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ לַאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וּפַחֲווֹת עֵבֶר הַנָּהָר וְנִשְּׂאוּ אֶת הָעָם וְאֶת בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים
KJ: And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.
BN: And they delivered the king's commissions to the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River; and they furthered the people and the house of Elohim.
VA YITNU: THEY? Once again we seem to have shifted from Ezra back to the anonymous narrator. And this may well be why there was a pey break at the end of the last verse, and then this additional paragraph, followed by a samech break - perhaps the Ezra fragments are "quotations" by the anonymous narrator, but they hadn't yet invented a way of conveying this, beyond the pey and samech breaks.
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