And [some] of the chief fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand two hundred pounds of silver.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand darics of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven priests' coats.
Nehemiah ends his long register of the returned exiles the way Ezra does: with a record of gifts for God's work. Three questions follow: why repeat an eighty-year-old list, why the totals differ from Ezra's, and why God records what ordinary people gave.
The chapter is not mere record-keeping. Nehemiah ties his own generation back to the people who first came home under Zerubbabel.
Hamilton SmithThe rest of the chapter shows how Nehemiah connects his own finished work with the work of the remnant. They were the ones who first returned with Zerubbabel some eighty years before. Many of them must have died by Nehemiah's day. Yet they are still held in honour, and their varied services recalled. The work they did in their day made Nehemiah's work possible.
Verse 72 is the last of three entries. Two groups have already given: the heads of families and the governor — and the governor was Nehemiah himself.
Leslie M. GrantIt is good to read that some of the heads of the fathers' houses contributed to the work of the Lord (v. 70). The governor (though Nehemiah does not say "I") gave 1,000 gold drachmas and 2,200 silver minas. This was no small amount! The rest of the people gave 20,000 gold drachmas, 2,200 silver minas and 67 priestly garments. Nehemiah, instead of "receiving" as he had a right to do, was a generous giver.
Ezra's record of the same giving does not match these totals. Some blame copying mistakes; commentators answer that the two lists count different givers.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinNehemiah mentions the gifts for the work more fully. See Ezra's record, chapter 2:68-70. The amounts in both records do not agree. People generally charge that this is due to different traditions or copyists' errors. But there is no real discrepancy. Ezra mentions what some of the chiefs of the fathers offered. Nehemiah records what he himself gave, as well as what the chiefs and the rest of the people gave. (Tirshatha is Nehemiah's Persian title as governor.)
Ezra's account of the same giving adds one phrase: they gave "according to their ability." The state of God's ruined house is what moved them.
Edward DennettGod seems to have used the ruin of His sanctuary to touch the hearts of these heads of families. When they came to the Lord's house and saw its condition, they were moved, and they "offered freely" of what they had. The Spirit of God is careful to note this, setting His approval on the act: "they gave according to their ability." In this they are examples for all time to those of the Lord's people who have the privilege of ministering to the Lord, whether by sharing with His needy saints or by meeting the needs of His service.
Compared with what an earlier generation raised for Solomon's temple, these sums are small. That is why they count.
H. L. RossierThis was little compared with what the heads of families had once offered for the building of Solomon's temple (1 Chr. 29:6-9). But in a time of extreme poverty, this gift had great value in the eyes of the Lord of the temple. He owns all the treasures of the universe, and He valued the gift by the zeal that prompted them to offer it. In the same way, He later valued the widow's small coins more than the surplus of the rich.
The list ends with a small, exact item: sixty-seven sets of priests' garments. Priests wore what God gave them to wear.
J. N. DarbyThe sons of Aaron were also clothed. Their natural nakedness was not to appear, but the glory and the honour with which God clothed them. The girdle of service also marked them out.
God's record of giving names small amounts as well as large ones.
VariousIn noting the contributions, we may observe that the Spirit of God mentions not only the talents but the drams. So whatever is done for God in the name of the Lord Jesus has a value set on it, however little it may seem to people. Even a cup of cold water is not overlooked.
- Remembered. The repeated register honours the first returnees; their work made Nehemiah's work possible.
- Led. The governor gave a large amount without naming himself; he had the right to receive, and gave instead.
- Shared. The giving runs all the way down to "the rest of the people," so the whole company has a stake in the house.
- Measured. The standard is ability, not amount; God weighs a small gift in a poor time by the zeal behind it.
- Recorded. God notes the small coins and the sixty-seven garments alike. He overlooks nothing done for Him.