Ezra 8:15-20

Ezra 8:15-20

[15] And I gathered them together  to the river  that runneth  to Ahava;  and there abode we in tents  three  days:  and I viewed  the people,  and the priests,  and found  there none of the sons  of Levi.  [16] Then sent  I for Eliezer,  for Ariel,  for Shemaiah,  and for Elnathan,  and for Jarib,  and for Elnathan,  and for Nathan,  and for Zechariah,  and for Meshullam,  chief men;  also for Joiarib,  and for Elnathan,  men of understanding.  [17] them with commandment  unto Iddo  the chief  at the place  Casiphia,  and I told  them what  they should say  unto Iddo,  and to his brethren  the Nethinims,  at the place  Casiphia,  that they should bring  unto us ministers  for the house  of our God.  [18] And by the good  hand  of our God  upon us they brought  us a man  of understanding,  of the sons  of Mahli,  the son  of Levi,  the son  of Israel;  and Sherebiah,  with his sons  and his brethren,  eighteen;  [19] And Hashabiah,  and with him Jeshaiah  of the sons  of Merari,  his brethren  and their sons,  twenty;  [20] Also of the Nethinims,  whom David  and the princes  had appointed  for the service  of the Levites,  two hundred  and twenty  Nethinims:  all of them were expressed  by name. 

What does Ezra 8:15-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The returnees assembled on the banks of the Ahava waterway that flowed through the district of Babylon that bore the same name. The site is presently unknown.
". . . Babylonia was crisscrossed by a network of irrigation canals that tapped the water of the Euphrates and flowed toward the Tigris, which had a slightly deeper bed." [1]
No Levites had volunteered to return to Judah. In view of his plans for the restoration, Ezra needed more Levites than those already in Judah. Due to his recruiting efforts in Casiphia (site unknown, probably a district of Babylon), 38 Levites and220 temple servants joined the immigrants. One writer estimated the total number of men who returned with Ezra as about1 ,700-plus women and children. [2] Another calculated the total number of men, women, and children as between4 ,000,5 ,000. [1]
Chronology of Ezra 7-10YearMonthEvent4581Ezra led1 ,700 men out of Babylon ( Ezra 7:1; Ezra 7:8).Ezra"s party left the Ahava waterway.2345Ezra"s party arrived in Jerusalem.Shecaniah proposed a solution to the mixed marriages problem.6789The Jews agreed to dissolve their mixed marriages.101112The Jews finally dissolved113mixed marriages.