Ezra 2:69

69 According to their ability they gave to 1the treasury of the work 61,000 darics[a] of gold, 5,000 minas[b] of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

Ezra 2:69 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 2:69

They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the world
threescore and one thousand drachms of gold
These "darcemons or darics" were a Persian coin; one of which, according to Brerewood F11, was of the value of fifteen shillings of our money, and so this quantity of them amounted to 45,750 pounds; but according to Bishop Cumberland F12 they were of the value of twenty shillings and four pence of our money, and so came to upwards of 61,000 pounds; these everyone, according to his ability, put into the common stock or treasury for the work of building the temple; the Vulgate Latin F13 reads 40,000:

and five thousand pounds of silver;
and an Hebrew "mina", or pound, being of our money seven pounds, ten shillings, according to Brerewood {n}, amounted to 31,250 pounds: but others F15, reckoning a drachm of gold at ten shillings, and a mina or pound of silver at nine pounds, make the whole to amount only to 75,500 pounds of our money:

and one hundred priests' garments;
which, as they were laid up among treasures, so were necessary for the service of the temple.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 De Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num. ch. iii. v.
F12 Scripture Weights & Measures, ch. 4. p. 115.
F13 Sixtus V. Lovain & MSS. in James ut supra. (Contrariety of Popish Bibles, p. 295)
F14 Ut supra, (De Pret. & Ponder. Vet. Num.) ch. iv. v.
F15 Universal History, vol. 10. p. 183, marg.

Ezra 2:69 In-Context

67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.
68 Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site.
69 According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments.
70 Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.

Cross References 1

  • 1. [1 Chronicles 26:20]

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams
  • [b]. A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.