Ezra · Chapter 1

And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia This book is arranged as a continuation of the Book of Daniel, as is explained in Baba Bathra (15a), and the word [וּבְשְׁנַת] refers back from this [book] to that one, for it is stated in Daniel (9:2): “In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations of the number of the years that the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah the prophet from the destruction of Jerusalem, seventy years.” And so the entire chapter proceeds to relate [the story] of the destruction of the Temple, the time of the Babylonian exile, and his confession, in which he confessed Israel’s sin. The beginning of this book is as follows: After Belshazzar was assassinated, Darius the Mede reigned, as it says (Dan. 6:1): “And Darius the Mede received the kingdom etc.” and after Darius’ death, this Cyrus, the king of Persia, reigned, and in the first year of his reign, the seventy years for the remembrance of the Babylonian exile, [counting] from the day that Jehoiakim was exiled, were completed, as it says (Jer. 29:10): “At the completion of seventy years of Babylon, I will remember you etc.” When Israel returned from the Babylonian exile to the land of Israel, in that year, in the first year of Cyrus, Israel laid the foundation of the Temple, and the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin slandered them to Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he commanded [them] to curtail the work, no longer to build the edifice of the Temple; and the Israelites were idle, for they did not build the Temple during the entire reign of Cyrus and Ahasuerus, who succeeded him, until the second year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, who was Darius, the son of Esther. And in the second year of his reign, they began building the Temple until the building was completed. And from the first year of Cyrus until the second year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus the king of Persia, in whose days the Temple was built, were eighteen years, to fulfill what was said (Dan. 9:2): “from the destruction of Jerusalem, seventy years etc.” And now, in the second year of Darius, seventy years had elapsed since the destruction of Jerusalem; [i.e.,] the destruction of the Temple, when Zedekiah was exiled. From the exile of Jehoiakim until the exile of Zedekiah, when the Temple was destroyed, were eighteen years, and now in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, seventy years since the exile of Jehoiakim, when Israel was exiled to Babylon, were completed, and thereby the verse that states (Jer. 29:10): “for at the completion of seventy years of Babylon I will remember you etc.” was fulfilled. And this is the remembrance, that Israel returned to their soil and built the foundation of the building of the Temple, although it was not yet completed. We find that there were fifty-two years from the exile of Zedekiah, when the Temple was destroyed, until the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia; and eighteen years after the first year of Cyrus, which is the second year of Darius, when Israel commenced to build the edifice, and they completed it. This is proven in Seder Olam (ch. 29), in Tractate Megillah (11b) and in this book, as I explained. at the completion of the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah at the time that the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, which Jeremiah spoke, was completed, as it says (Jer. 29:10): “for at the completion of seventy years of Babylon etc.” the Lord aroused the spirit the will. a proclamation He proclaimed a proclamation throughout his kingdom. and also in writing And he also sent his letter throughout his kingdom about this matter. saying And so he said to them in his proclamation that he proclaimed and in his epistle that he sent throughout his kingdom.

He who instills a spirit of trust, who dwells in the heart of the pure-minded thinker — He shall teach me to understand secrets; the attainment of wisdom from Him is radiant. He who despises the corrupt, who hates the arrogant — my portion is Ezra, the ready scribe. 'Now in the first year' — The word 'year' is bound to the word 'one,' for whenever a number is joined with a term of years, [the number] serves only to indicate at which point of the count the event occurred, tying the matter to one of the numbers — as we find 'in the third year,' 'in the seventh year,' where likewise the numbers are bound to the nouns, to inform and indicate from them what the things are, just as we say: 'two men,' 'three of the wave-offering,' 'four days,' 'eight of the morning.' And its meaning is: 'in the first year of his reign' over Babylon, for previously he had been [only] king of Persia. As for the word 'achat' [one], the grammarians say that it is missing the letter dalet, as though it were 'achadat' — whereas root letters, such as those of dagaz, kataf, etz, and chesed, are never dropped, except for doubled letters that appear merged, from the second and third root-letters. But the correct view is that 'echad' is used for the masculine and 'achat' for the feminine — two forms for one meaning, from two [different] roots; and likewise 'achad asar' and 'ashtei asar' [eleven] express one meaning [from two different roots]. 'Of Cyrus' — Some say the word is a transposition of 've-chasher hadavar' ['and the matter was successful'], for the prophet Isaiah had already called him by this name, alluding to the success he would bring about for Israel; this is the meaning of: 'He shall build My city, and he shall let My exiles go free' (Isaiah 45:13). 'That ... might be accomplished' — at the time for the fulfillment of the word of Hashem that went out from the mouth of Jeremiah, that He would take note of them once Babylon's kingdom reached seventy years, and bring them out of servitude — for so it is written in Chronicles, that they became slaves to him and to his sons until the Persian kingdom reigned; for in the first year of Cyrus, fifty-two years had passed since the destruction of Jerusalem and the servitude ceased, until the land had made up for its Sabbaths (2 Chronicles 36:21); and in the second year of Darius the seventy years for the destruction of the Holy City were completed, for so it is written: 'which You were angry with, these seventy years' (Zechariah 1:12). 'Hashem stirred up his spirit' — to build His city. 'And also in writing' — sealed with his signet ring.

'Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,' etc. - [This comment runs] through 'and in the reign of Ahasuerus, at the beginning of his reign' (below, 4:6). 'That the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished' - Meaning that at that time the seventy years of the Babylonian exile were completed, counting from the first exile, which occurred in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. 'Hashem stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,' etc. - It appears that Hashem, may He be blessed, showed Cyrus this matter in a dream, and in it commanded him to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah; and it appears that in his dream he saw that Hashem, may He be blessed, told him that He had given him all the kingdoms of the earth, and therefore commanded him to build Him a house in Jerusalem.

Now in the first year — That is, in the first year [of his reign]. That it might be accomplished — At the time when the period Hashem had spoken of through Jeremiah came to a close; this was at the completion of seventy years from when Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jehoiakim, as we explained in [our commentary on] Daniel. That he made a proclamation — He commanded that it be proclaimed. Throughout all his kingdom — In all the provinces of his kingdom. And put it also in writing — He sent these words in written form. Saying — And thus he said:

Stirred up (he'ir) - An expression of arousal. Spirit (ruach) - Meaning "will," as in "Behold, I will put a spirit in him" (II Kings 19). Made a proclamation (vaya'aver kol) - An expression of proclaiming, as in "and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp" (Exodus 36:6).

Questions: (1) What does the connecting vav in the word 'and in the year' indicate? By what means did Hashem stir up his spirit? And why both a proclamation and a written decree? 'Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia' — Ezra [who wrote both his own book and the Book of Chronicles] had ended the Book of Chronicles with: 'and he exiled the remnant to Babylon, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah ... until the land had made up for its sabbaths; all the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to complete the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah, Hashem stirred up the spirit of Cyrus...' and so on, down to 'Whoever there is among you of all His people, his God be with him, let him go up.' This shows that the Book of Ezra was written after the Book of Chronicles, and that is why this book opens with the same two verses with which the previous book ended. That is why it says 'and in the year' with a connecting vav — showing that it continues the Book of Chronicles [and this is also the view of Abarbanel]. The point is that Jeremiah's prophecy stated explicitly that the decree would come at the time of Babylon's downfall, which was seventy years after the start of Babylonian rule, as is explained there (Jeremiah 25:12, 29:10). However, by the reckoning of the punishment decreed — that they be exiled seventy years for the neglect of the sabbatical years — the count should have begun from the exile of Zedekiah, which was eighteen years after the start of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, since it was from then that the land lay desolate and made up for its sabbaths. This is just as the angel revealed to Daniel in the third vision (Daniel 9:24), in the statement 'seventy weeks are decreed upon your people,' as is explained there. That is why Daniel understood from the books that the count had to run to the fulfillment of the ruin of Jerusalem, as stated there (Daniel 9:2). In fact, both were fulfilled: to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah, Hashem stirred up the spirit of Cyrus in the first year of his reign and gave a decree that they should return to Jerusalem and build the Temple — but this was only a decree to fulfill what Jeremiah had said, that when Babylon's seventy years were completed, 'I will fulfill for you My good word, to bring you back to this place' (Jeremiah 29:10); Jeremiah did not there promise that the Temple would be built at that time, since that was not yet its appointed time, but rather eighteen years later, when the seventy years for the destruction of Jerusalem would be completed, for then the atonement for the sin of the sabbatical years would be finished. Yet had Cyrus not granted permission to build the Temple, the people would not have returned from the exile at all — so Hashem stirred up his spirit to grant permission to build the Temple, and through this many returned from Babylon and Jeremiah's words were fulfilled. Afterward the building was halted, until the second year of Darius, who reinstated the permission, and thus was fulfilled 'until the land made up for its sabbaths,' which is reckoned from the time of the destruction. This is what is meant at the end of Chronicles by 'to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah' [for which they needed to return immediately at the start of Cyrus's reign], and by 'until the land made up for its sabbaths,' which was not completed until eighteen years later — therefore, in the first year of Cyrus, Hashem stirred up his spirit. With this the Book of Ezra continues from the Book of Chronicles, as its completion: it tells how the exiles then went up and Jeremiah's words were fulfilled, and afterward it tells how the building was halted, and how they returned to build it eighteen years later, in the second year of Darius, when 'until the land made up for its sabbaths' was fulfilled. 'Hashem stirred up the spirit of Cyrus' — it is explained in Sefer Yosippon that at the time Daniel interpreted for Belshazzar the writing [on the wall], warning that Belshazzar would be punished for having profaned the vessels of the Temple, he was killed that very night, and Darius the Mede received his kingdom; this became known to Darius and Cyrus, and they vowed to build the Temple. It is also possible that Cyrus learned of Isaiah's prophecy spoken about him: 'He shall build My city, and let My exiles go free' (Isaiah 45:13) — and these words of Hashem stirred up his spirit. 'That he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing' — meaning that they proclaimed it aloud, and he also issued the decree in writing, because a decree without writing could be altered, but a document written in the king's name could not be revoked, under the laws of Media and Persia [as is explained in Esther, and in Daniel chapter 6] — for what later halted the building was not, in fact, a change to this decree, as will be explained in chapter 4. Moreover, it was through this very written decree that they were able to resume building a second time, in the days of the later Darius, as will be stated below (chapter 6:1-2).

So said Cyrus, the king of Persia...delivered to me that I am the king and ruler over all the kingdoms. and He commanded me He commanded me through Isaiah the prophet to build for Him the Temple in Jerusalem, as it says in the Book of Isaiah (44:28): “Who says to Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and all My desire he shall fulfill,’ and to say to Jerusalem, ‘It shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded.’” (ibid. 45:1): “So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I held....” And this prophecy was already stated by lsaiah. in Jerusalem, which is in Judea whch is in the province of Judea.

'Thus' — these three verses are connected [as a unit], for this was [the text of] the decree. 'The God of heaven' — he did not say 'the God of the earth,' for the earth had already been given to mankind. And so he [Cyrus] says: 'All the kingdoms of the earth has Hashem given me.' 'Has charged' — this is the language of 'appointee' [pakid], meaning: He has placed the charge upon me. 'In Judah' — in the land of Judah.

Has given me — That is to say: since Hashem has placed all the kingdoms in my hands, it is fitting that I carry out His command. He has charged me — He commanded me to build [Him a house], as it is written: 'who says of Cyrus... and the Temple shall be founded' (Isaiah 44:28). Which is in Judah — That is, in the land of Judah.

Charged (pakad) - Commanded, as in "the precepts of Hashem" (Psalms 19).

'All the kingdoms' — he declared that he believes there is a God in heaven who rules over all, yet he called Him only 'the God of heaven,' for he thought that God hands over the governance of the earth itself to whoever is appointed to stand in His place; and that he himself had been chosen by Hashem to be His ruler here below on earth, and that He had handed the kingdoms of the earth into his charge; and that this God had also commanded him to build Him a house in Jerusalem, for there He desired a dwelling place for Himself among the people who worship Him.

Who is among you So did he announce and write to all the kingdoms, “Who is among you of all His people,” [i.e., of the people] of the Holy One, blessed be He, may the Holy One, blessed be He, be at his assistance, and let him ascend to build His house that is in Jerusalem.

'His God be with him' — meaning that Hashem was with him and gave him the financial means [to succeed]. The vav of 've-ya'al' [and let him go up] is the [conjunctive vav] that opens a new topic; so too 'And it came to pass in the days when the judges judged' (Ruth 1:1) — and it need not be rendered [as 'and']. 'Which is in Jerusalem' — this connects with 'the house of Hashem.'

Whoever there is among you — For he commanded these words to be proclaimed and sent out among the idolatrous nations, and so he said: whoever among you is found to be of the people of Hashem, may Hashem be with him and help him, and let him go up, etc.; that is, permission is granted by me to go up. He is the God — He explains that he means the God of Israel is the God who dwells in Jerusalem.

Questions: (3-4) Why does it say 'He is the God who is in Jerusalem'? And what is meant by 'and whoever is left,' and by 'let the men of his place help him'? 'Whoever there is among you' — he said this to the nations: whoever is found among you, of all His people, [let him go up] — for since the building of His house can only be done through His own people, you [the other nations] must send them there. 'His God be with him' — meaning, may divine help and higher inspiration accompany him, whether concerning the going up to Jerusalem, as it says 'let him go up to Jerusalem,' or concerning the building, as it says 'and build the house of Hashem, the God of Israel.' The point is that in the future it is written, 'for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples,' and it will no longer be called specifically 'the God of Israel,' since all peoples will then worship Him; but that time has not yet arrived. That is why it says 'He is the God who is in Jerusalem' alone — for the governance of the rest of the world, apart from Jerusalem, He has, in Cyrus's own view, handed over to the workings of the constellations. Now, he said that whoever is inspired of his own accord to go up and build, may go — but

And whoever remains and every Jew who remains in his place, who cannot ascend because he has no money. shall help him I command the people of his place to provide him and help him with silver, gold, possessions and cattle, in order that he be able to ascend to Jerusalem with the donation that the people of his place will donate for the building of the Temple, for also among the nations there were some who contributed donations to the building of the Temple. to the House of God, which is in Jerusalem From “So said Cyrus” until here is the proclamation and the message of the written epistle.

'And whoever is left' — meaning one who is poor and does not have the means to afford [the journey] to go up. 'Let them help him' [yenasse'uhu] — [on one reading:] they shall give him loads and gifts to carry; or [on another reading] 'yenasse'uhu' means they shall lift him up, related to 'ram ve-nissa' [high and lifted up], since the poor person is otherwise in a lowly state — and this [second reading] is correct. 'Beside the freewill-offering' — that they should help/lift him up along with the other gifts that people freely give.

'And whoever is left, in any place where he sojourns,' etc. - Meaning that whoever of Israel remains behind, in any place where he sojourns, should help each of those going up to Jerusalem to build the house of Hashem who is from his own place, giving them silver, gold, property, and animals to give to those going up, to assist them - besides whatever the men of that place also freely donate to the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

And whoever is left — That is, anyone who is forced to remain where he is because he is poor and lacks the means to go up. In any place where he sojourns — That is, I command that in every place where such a poor man resides, the people of that place should each assist him by giving him silver and so forth, so that he may go up to Jerusalem. Beside the freewill-offering — That is, this gift [of assistance] shall be in addition to the freewill-offering that they will give for the House of Hashem.

And with goods (uverechush) - This is the term for anything worth money, as in "and all his goods" (Genesis 14).

'And whoever is left' — whoever is not inspired to go and instead remains in the Diaspora, whether because his spirit is too lowly to rise to so great a matter, or because he lacks the means for the expense, or because he has nothing to bring as a donation for building the Temple — concerning such a one, He commands that for 'whoever is left,' in every place, He commands the men of that place: (1) that they help him with silver and gold, and with property that is worth money, and with beasts to ride on; (2) that they 'help him,' which also includes lifting up his own spirit to this task; and (3) that alongside this aid, the nations should also send, through him, a freewill offering, a consecrated gift, for the house of God.

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.

'Then ... rose up ... of Judah and Benjamin' — for Jerusalem falls within the territory of Judah, while the [Temple] site falls within the territory of Benjamin. 'Even all whose spirit God had stirred' — the word 'that/whom' is omitted [to be understood].

Of Judah — That is, who belonged to Judah. Even all whose spirit [God] had stirred — That is, everyone whose spirit God had aroused, etc.

Heads of fathers' houses (rashei ha'avot) - The heads of the families. Even all whose (lechol) - [Equivalent to] "kol" (all) whom He stirred; the lamed stands in place of the [direct-object marker] "et," as in "they killed [lit. to] Abner" (II Samuel 6). His spirit (rucho) - His will.

'Rose up' - He is telling us that there were two elements to this. First, the people arose on their own initiative to do this, and at their head were the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, who were stirred to it first - this was an arousal from below, [expressed by] 'rose up.' From this came an arousal from Above, for 'to all' - meaning, to all who were going up - God stirred their spirit, both to go up and to build the house of Hashem. And with all this, also all who were around them - meaning their neighbors who surrounded them - strengthened their hands [the phrase 'strengthening weak hands' ordinarily refers to one who is already weak, but here they had no need of strengthening on account of weakness; rather, their neighbors strengthened them with gifts, so that they would be even stronger, and that is why the verse joins the two with the word 'with']. He further means that all this was given for the needs of those going up, for provisions and travel expenses, apart from what was sent through them as donations for the Holy Temple.

And all those around them And all the nations who were Israel’s neighbors assisted and strengthened the hands of the Jews with gold and silver and all these gifts in order that they be able to ascend to Jerusalem. besides all that was donated All this the neighbors of the Jews did, besides what they [the Jews] themselves donated for the building of the Temple.

'And all ... strengthened' — [strengthened] the hands of the faltering and the poor with flocks and cattle. 'And with beasts' — for riding. 'With precious things' — this possibly derives from [the same root as] 'migdanim' [choice gifts]. 'Beside all that was willingly offered' — its meaning: the silver, the gold, and the other gifts were given separately, in addition to all that was contributed as freewill offerings.

With precious things (u'vamigdanot) - These are choice items: garments, or fruits, or precious stones.

And all they who were round about them — All the idol-worshipping neighbors who lived around them strengthened the hands of those going up, by giving them all they needed—vessels of silver, and so forth. Beside — Aside from whatever any of them contributed as a freewill gift to the House of Hashem.

And with precious things (uvamigdanot) - This word denotes something choice, whether among fruits, garments, or vessels, as in "and precious gifts to Hezekiah" (II Chronicles 32). Beside all (levad al) - This is a doubling [of synonyms] for added emphasis, similar to "has He indeed spoken only through Moses" (Numbers 12), [where "rak" and "ach" both mean "only"].

and had placed them in the temple of his god that Nebuchadnezzar had placed in the temple of his pagan deity.

'And had put them in the house of his gods' — this connects back to Nebuchadnezzar.

Brought forth — From the treasury of the idol temple, where Nebuchadnezzar had placed them, as stated in Daniel.

The questions (7-8): Why does it say 'brought forth' and then, [further on], 'brought them out' - a seeming repetition? 'And King Cyrus brought forth... and brought them out' - Since the vessels had been in a house of idols, they could no longer simply be used in the Holy Temple. He tells us that Cyrus first had them brought out of the house of idolatry and handed over to the treasurer; this amounted to a kind of nullification [of their idolatrous status], since they thereby passed out of the domain of idolatry into the domain of the king. Then, from the king's domain, he had them brought out again through his own treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar.

by the hand of Mithderath the treasurer such was the name of Cyrus’s treasurer, and Cyrus commanded [him] to take them out. and he counted them out This treasurer counted them and delivered them to Sheshbazzar, so that he would carry them and transport them to Jerusalem. Our Rabbis said: “Sheshbazzar is identical with Daniel, and why was he called Sheshbazzar? Because he endured six troubles (שֵּׁשּׁ צָרוֹת) .” the prince of Judah He is the prince of the tribe of Judah.

'The treasurer' — one appointed over the king's treasuries; its meaning is 'officer.' 'And numbered them' — he handed them over by count. 'To Sheshbazzar' — this is Zerubbabel, who was called by this name in the language of the Chaldeans.

The treasurer (hagizbar) - The official appointed over safeguarding the vessels of the house of Hashem. And numbered them (vayisperem) - This is from the same root as counting (mispar). Now, Sheshbazzar is Zerubbabel, but he was called by this name either as a personal name or in the Chaldean language; that is why it says afterward, 'who came with Zerubbabel.'

By the hand of — He brought them out by order of the king. And numbered them — He handed them over, counted out, to Sheshbazzar, who is Zerubbabel; this was his name in the Persian language. Our Sages, however, said that this is Daniel, who was called [Sheshbazzar] because he endured six (Hebrew: shesh) troubles (tzarot).

By the hand of (al yad) - Meaning "by the hand"; the word "al" stands in place of the letter "bet," as in "according to their hosts" (Exodus 12), and there are many similar examples. The treasurer (hagizbar) - The officer [in charge of the treasury].

their number of the vessels of the House of the Lord. basins Heb. אֲגַרְטְלֵי. They are kinds of vessels. knives Heb. מַחֲלָפִים. They are knives, and this expression refers to the chamber of the knives (בֵּית הַחֲלִיפוֹת). Because they would deposit the knives therein, it was called the chamber of the depository of the knives (לִשְּׁכַּת בֵּית הַחֲלִיפוֹת).

'Agartelei' [basins] — basins; and its explanation in the Yerushalmi: why are they called agartelei? Because there they used to store the blood of the lamb [taleh] — [an explanation] not from the plain text [i.e., a homiletical rather than a literal reading]. 'Agartelei' — the word has five letters, or the alef is extra, and its meaning is 'goblets.' 'Machalafim' [knives] — this is related to [the sense of] 'kalil yachalof' and 'bnei chalof,' whose meaning is 'cutting.'

Basins (agartelei) - These are vessels for washing the hands. Knives (machalafim) - Cutting implements; these are knives and things similar to them.

Basins (agartelei) - The name of a vessel in which water is placed for washing the hands. Knives (machalfim) - Knives; the word relates to "utterly pass away" (yachalof) (Isaiah 2:18), because with them one slaughters, thus "transferring" (machalif) [the animal] from life to death. For this reason our sages called the chambers on either side of the Temple hall the "House of the Knives" (Beit HaChalifot) (Middot 4), because there the priests stored their knives.

'Agartelei' - according to the Sages, a type of basin. 'Machalafim' - knives. 'Keforei' - a type of basin; see Rashi. 'Mishnim' - vessels of a lesser rank than the ones mentioned before them, as in 'the best of the flock and the mishnim [the second-best]' (I Samuel 15).

bowls Heb. כְּפוֹרֵי, bowls, and they were called כְּפוֹרֵי from an expression of wiping, like (Bava Mezia 24b): “who wiped (דְּכָפַר) his hands on his neighbor’s cloak,” because the one who would receive the blood in a bowl would wipe the squirtings of the blood that splattered on his hand on the rim of the bowl. secondary Heb. מִשְּׁנִים, secondary ones, other vessels of another kind.

'Keforei' [bowls] — basins for receiving the blood of the sacrifices. 'Of a second sort' — as opposed to the golden basins. 'And other vessels, a thousand' — these are not mentioned by their individual names, [yet number] a thousand; and the text mentioned their individual items, which together total two thousand four hundred and ninety-nine. In my opinion: these very individual items, which total two thousand four hundred ninety-nine, are the large vessels; and afterward it grouped them together with the small ones, coming to five thousand four hundred — and so it is written in Chronicles: 'And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasuries of the house of the king, all did he bring to Babylon' (2 Chronicles 36:18).

Bowls of gold (keforei zahav) - Basins of gold. Silver bowls of a second sort (kesef mishnim) - Silver basins, of a second kind.

Bowls (keforei) - Basins for sprinkling [blood]; so called because the priest performing the sprinkling would wipe his finger of the blood on the rim of the basin, and for this reason it is called "kafor," an expression of wiping. So too in the words of our sages: "and she needed to wipe (lechaper) her hands" (Gittin 56). Of a second sort (mishnim) - An expression of "two" (shenayim), meaning double [vessels], fit to be used on both of their sides.

All the vessels Now he totals the sum of those counted and those who were not counted all into one number, but the important ones he counts. when the exiles were brought up Heb. הֵעָלוֹת, [a passive] expression.

'The bringing up of the captivity' — this is a verbal noun [an infinitive construct used as a noun].

Of gold and of silver — Whether of gold or of silver [combined]. Five thousand and four hundred, etc. — This number includes all the vessels, both small and great, whereas above only the great and important ones were counted. When they of the captivity were brought up — He brought [the vessels] up together with the bringing up of the exiles.

'All the vessels' - meaning that in addition to the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had brought out, Cyrus also contributed vessels of his own, and the total of all of them together came to five thousand four hundred.