Ezra 8:24

24 Then I selected twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives with them.

Ezra 8:24 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 8:24

Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests
That were in company with him; so that it seems there were more than the two mentioned, ( Ezra 8:2 ) , very probably their families, or some of their brethren, were with them:

Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them;
these men named were Levites, and not priests, ( Ezra 8:18 Ezra 8:19 ) and therefore the copulative "and" must be supplied:

and Sherebiah
or with the twelve priests, Sherebiah, &c. and ten Levites more with them; so that the number of priests and Levites were equal, and in all twenty four.

Ezra 8:24 In-Context

22 I had been ashamed to ask the king for a group of soldiers and cavalry to help us in facing enemies on the way, because we had told the king, "The power of God favors all who seek him, but his fierce wrath is against all who abandon him."

23 So we fasted and prayed to our God for this, and he responded to us.

24 Then I selected twelve of the leading priests, Sherebiah and Hashabiah and ten of their relatives with them.

25 I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the equipment, the offering for the house of our God that the king, his counselors, his officials, and all Israel present there had offered.

26 I weighed out into their keeping six hundred fifty kikkars of silver, one hundred silver containers weighing a certain number of kikkars, one hundred kikkars of gold,