Nehemiah 7:71

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:5-73 Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, loving this present world! and happy those who dedicate themselves, and their substance, to his service and glory!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compared with Ezra 2:69 there is considerable difference between the totals for gold, silver, and garments. The usual explanation is that of corruption in the one or the other of the passages.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

71. pound of silver—that is, mina (sixty shekels, or £9).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work,.... To be put into the treasure, out of which the expenses of the temple, and service of it were defrayed:

twenty thousand drachms of gold; which were so many pounds of our money, and somewhat more: for, according to Bishop Cumberland (f), a drachm of gold was of the value of twenty shillings and four pence: and 2200 pounds of silver; "the maneh", or pound, with the Jews, was of the value of sixty shekels, Ezekiel 45:12 and so is reckoned by our Brerewood (g) to be of our money seven pounds and ten shillings; he reckoning a shekel at half a crown, whereas it was little more than two shillings and four pence; and so sixty of them, or a "maneh", came to about seven pounds; wherefore this sum here was seven times so many pounds of silver.

(f) Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 115. (g) De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

71. to the treasure] R.V. into the treasury.

pound] R.V. marg. ‘Heb. maneh’.

Nehemiah 7:71

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

And God put into my heart, i.e., God inspired me with the resolution; comp. Nehemiah 2:12. What resolution, is declared by the sentences following, which detail its execution. The resolution to gather together the nobles and rulers of the people for the purpose of making a list of their kinsmen, and thus to obtain a basis for the operations contemplated for increasing the inhabitants of Jerusalem. והסּגנים החרים are combined, as in Nehemiah 2:16. On התיחשׂ, comp. 1 Chronicles 5:17.

While this resolve was under consideration, Nehemiah found the register, i.e., the genealogical registry, of those who came up at first (from Babylon). בּראשׁונה, at the beginning, i.e., with Zerubbabel and Joshua under Cyrus (Ezra 2), and not subsequently with Ezra (Ezra 7). "And I found written therein." These words introduce the list now given. This list, vv. 6-73a, is identical with that in Ezra 2, and has been already discussed in our remarks on that chapter.