Av 4 – The silver, gold, and utensils were weighed out in the House of our God

August 7, 2024

Av 4, 5784; from sunset August 7, 2024, to sunset August 8, 2024

(The fourth day of the fifth month)

This is the name “Ezra” (עֶזְרָא) the Scribe as seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls; written by a scribe over two thousand years ago.

Ezra arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month and then rested for three days. Today in the Bible, he has gathered together those who were entrusted with the silver and gold vessels for the House of the LORD and has turned those vessels over to the care of Meremoth, the son of Uriah the priest.

And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. – Ezra 7:8-9 (NAS)

Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days. And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was recorded at that time. The exiles who had come from the captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to the LORD. Then they delivered the king’s edicts to the king’s satraps, and to the governors in the provinces beyond the River, and they supported the people and the house of God. – Ezra 8:32-36 (NAS)

It was almost four months ago that we remembered the days when Ezra gathered together the people to make the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. They gathered at the river near Ahava. It was there that Ezra took a head count and was surprised to learn that there were no Levites to be found. He then sent to the place of Casiphia to see if they could find any Levites who were willing to return to Jerusalem with them. In our post for Nisan 8, we delved into the meaning of the word Casiphia and what other “treasures” that Ezra brought back with him in addition to the silver and gold vessels. You can find that article, as well as all of our other articles about Ezra, by clicking on the image below.

To read all of our posts about Ezra, please click on the image above.