Ezra 1:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezra 1:5
Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
chief
רָאשֵׁ֣יra.Shei
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct
fathers
הָאָב֗וֹתha.'a.Vot
H1
father · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
Judah
לִֽיהוּדָה֙li.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Benjamin
וּבִנְיָמִ֔ןu.vin.ya.Min
H1144
Binjamin · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
priests
וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֖יםve.ha.ko.ha.Nim
H3548
literally one officiating · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Levites
וְהַלְוִיִּ֑םve.hal.vi.Yim
H3881
a Levite or descendant of Levi · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
spirit
רוּח֔וֹru.Cho
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
God
הָאֱלֹהִים֙ha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
raised
הֵעִ֤ירhe.'Ir
H5782
to wake (literally or figuratively) · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up
לַעֲל֣וֹתla.'a.Lot
H5927
to ascend · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
build
לִבְנ֔וֹתliv.Not
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
house
בֵּ֥יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Jerusalem
בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽםbi.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up th…
2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD sti…
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Nehemiah 2:12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was…
2 Corinthians 8:16 But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.
Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 1:5–end
We are here told,
I. How Cyrus's proclamation succeeded with others. 1. He having given leave to the Jews to go up to Jerusalem, many of them went up accordingly, Ezr 1:5. The leaders herein were the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, eminent and experienced men, from whom it might justly be expected that, as they were above their brethren in dignity, so they should go before them in duty. The priests and Levites were (as became them) with the first that set their faces again towards Zion. If any good work is to be done, let ministers lead in it. Those that accompanied them were such as God had inclined to go up. The same God that had raised up the spirit of Cyrus to proclaim this l…
Then rose up the chief of the fathers, &c.--The paternal and ecclesiastical chiefs of the later captivity, those of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with some also from other tribes (Ch1 9:3), who retained their attachment to the pure worship of God, naturally took the lead in this movement. Their example was followed by all whose piety and patriotism were strong enough to brave the various discouragements attending the enterprise. They were liberally assisted by multitudes of their captive countrymen, who, born in Babylonia or comfortably established in it by family connections or the possession of property, chose to remain. It seems that their Assyrian friends and neighbors, too, either f…
Whosoever remaineth in any place - Every one was at liberty to go, but none was obliged to go. Thus their attachment to God was tried; he whose heart was right with God went; he who was comfortably settled in Babylon, might go if he chose. Those who did not go, were commanded to assist their brethren who went.
John Gill on Ezra 1:5
Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin,.... Princes of these tribes, and heads of families in them, and of some other tribes too, though chiefly of these, as appears from 1 Chronicles 9:3,
and the priests and the Levites: whose presence was necessary both to direct in the building of the temple, and to animate to it, and to set the vessels in their proper places; and particularly to assist in the setting up of the altar, and to offer sacrifices on it, which was the first thing done when come to Jerusalem, Ezra 3:2
with all them whose spirit God raised to go up, to build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem; God, who "works" in men "both to will and to do", wrou…
The Church Fathers
And the leaders of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin rose up, etc. Cyrus indeed, having proclaimed his voice, and having sent letters throughout his kingdom, permitted, nay commanded, from the whole people of Israel, which consisted of twelve tribes, those with whom God was, to go up to Jerusalem to build the house of the Lord. Nevertheless, of the entire people, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the priestly and Levitical tribe, to whom Jerusalem itself and the temple of the Lord previously belonged, wanted to ascend. For the other ten tribes had long since under King Jeroboam been alienated from the temple of the Lord and the worship of piety, and for the merit of such a great transgression had been taken captive by the kings of Assyria, and deported beyond the mountains of the Medes, and are not said to have ever been collectively returned to their homeland. Moreover, the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who held Jerusalem and the surrounding regions of Judah, together with the priests and Levites to whom the ministry of the temple belonged, although they had imitated the sins of the ten tribes, never abandoned the habitation of the city of Jerusalem and the ceremonies of the temple. Hence they were the last to be captured by the Chaldeans and the first, under Persian rule, to be permitted to return home; and rightly so, because our Lord arose from the tribe of Judah, and his mother Mary was also connected by consanguinity to the tribe of Levi. Hence Elizabeth, the wife of the priest Zechariah, is called her cousin by the angel (Luke 1). The tribe of Benjamin also joined them in devout faith, particularly because the city of Jerusalem was within its lot, and therefore it deserved to share in the mercy granted to them. It is beautifully said that the leaders of the fathers from the aforementioned tribes rose to go up to build the temple of the Lord. For it is the duty of the leaders and fathers, that is, of the teachers, by work and doctrine of preaching, to take on the laborious task of exhorting, reproving, correcting, and striving in the pursuit of good works, to build the mind of the erring. They are said to rise well to go up to Jerusalem, because they seem to lie down with a weak and inert mind who shirk the care of their own or their brother's salvation. But they rise when they hear the king's edict, and indeed, the Lord stirring their…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Babylon — The Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning “The Gate of God.” In the Assyrian tablets it means “The city of the dispersion of the tribes.” The monumental list of its kings reaches back to…
Benjamin — Son of my right hand. (1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His…
Captivity — (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chr.…
Exile — (1.) Of the kingdom of Israel. In the time of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser II. carried away captive into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; comp. Isa. 10:5, 6) a part of the inhabitants of Galilee and of Gilead (B.C.…
Jerusalem — Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the…
Benjamin, Tribe Of · Numbers of, returned from the captivity and dwelt at Jerusalem — Numbers of, returned from the captivity and dwelt at Jerusalem
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · Exemplified: Chief of the Fathers, &c — Exemplified: Chief of the Fathers, &c
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
In consequence of this royal summons, the heads of the houses of Judah and Benjamin, of the priests and Levites, - in short, all whose spirit God stirred up, - rose to go up to build the house of God. The ל in לכל serves to comprise the remaining persons, and may therefore be rendered by, in short, or namely; comp. Ewald, 310, a. The relative sentence then depends upon כּל without אשׁר. The thought is: All the Jews were called upon to return, but those only obeyed the call whom God made willing to build the temple at Jerusalem, i.e., whom the religious craving of their hearts impelled thereto. For, as Josephus says, Antt. xi. 1: πολλοὶ κατέμειναν ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι τὰ κτήματα καταλιπεῖν…
As he had done with the heart of Cyrus (1:1), God stirred the hearts of Israel’s leaders. • Very few priests and Levites actually responded (see 2:36-42). Most of the people who did respond were from two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Persian documents show that many Jews stayed in Babylon, where they had homes, businesses, and relatives. A dangerous four-month trip back to the desolate city of Jerusalem, now inhabited by foreigners, was not an inviting choice compared to their comfortable life in Babylon. It was much easier to give many valuable gifts and voluntary offerings to those who did return.
Rashi on Ezra 1:5
of Judah and Benjamin the heads of the families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
all whom... inspired They ascended to Jerusalem to build the Temple with all those whom God inspired to ascend and to build the Temple.
