Ezra 8:15-31 - Exposition

DETAILS OF EZRA 'S JOURNEY FROM BABYLON TO JERUSALEM ( Ezra 8:15-31 ). We gather from scattered statements in this passage—

1. That Ezra, with his companions, after a journey of nine days' duration, reached Ahava from Babylon on the ninth day of the first month;

2. That he rested three days at Ahava, and proclaimed a fast;

3. That he was there joined by a small number of Levites and a considerable body of Nethinims from the immediate neighbourhood;

4. That, on the twelfth day of the first month, he resumed his journey, and, though threatened by some opposition upon the way, arrived safely at his destination fourteen weeks after he quitted Ahava, and exactly four months after he had started from Babylon. The only other important fact mentioned is, that at Ahava twelve of the principal priests were selected by Ezra, and the royal offering of silver, gold, and vessels handed over to them for safe custody, after having been carefully weighed. The weights are recorded with Ezra's usual exactness in verses 26, 27.