20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold.
We have here an account of the particular care which Ezra took of the treasure he had with him, that belonged to God's sanctuary, Observe, 1. Having committed the keeping of it to God, he committed the keeping of it to proper men, whose business it was to watch it, though without God they would have waked in vain.
Commenting on Ezra 8:24-30
And I said unto them, ye are holy unto the Lord, the vessels are holy also,.... As they were dedicated and set apart to holy service, so the vessels were sacred to holy uses, and therefore not to be converted to any other: and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers: and therefore not to be...
A FAST PROCLAIMED. (Ezra 8:21-36) Then I proclaimed a fast there--The dangers to travelling caravans from the Bedouin Arabs that prowl through the desert were in ancient times as great as they still are; and it seems that travellers usually sought the protection of a military escort.
Commenting on Ezra 8:21-36