Ezra 7:19

Ezr 7:19 The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, [those] deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

Ver. 19. The vessels also, &c.] How naturally seemeth this king to care for the service of God! and what pity is it that he should so oft call him your God, and thy God, and not own him for his! So hard a thing it is to relinquish that vain conversation that people have received by tradition from their fathers. I will never forsake the religion that I have received from my forefathers, said Cicero. And the monarch of Morocco told the English ambassador that he had lately read St Paul’s Epistles, and liked them so well, that were he now to choose his religion, he would, before any other, embrace Christianity. But every one ought, said he, to die in his own religion; and the leaving of the faith wherein he was born was the only thing that he disliked in that apostle.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(19) The vessels.—Offered (see Ezr_8:25) to be added to those sent up by Zerubbabel.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. The vessels also … those] R.V. And the vessels. The vessels here mentioned are probably those enumerated chap. Ezr_8:25-27, gifts (ἀναθήματα) to the Temple from the king and from individuals. Quite separate from the sacred vessels (Ezr_1:7) restored by Cyrus.

for the service of &c.] A word occurring only here, connected with the word rendered A.V. ‘ministers’, R.V. ‘servants’ in Ezr_7:24. LXX. translates by λειτουργίαν, Vulgate ‘ministerium’.

before the God of Jerusalem] A remarkable expression, probably a condensed form for ‘before the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem’ (Ezr_7:15).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river,.... The receivers of his tribute, tax, and custom, beyond the river Euphrates, on the side towards the land of Israel:

that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven; see Ezr 7:12,

shall require of you, it be done speedily; which seems at first a grant at large for whatsoever he should want or demand, but is limited and restrained by what follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19. The vessels — Gold and copper basins, and the like, which had been contributed by Persians or Israelites. Compare Ezr_8:25-27. The vessels mentioned in Ezr_1:7 were those which had been taken from Jerusalem, and that act of Cyrus was a restoration of what belonged to the temple. But the vessels here mentioned were an additional contribution to the treasures of the temple, and were the gifts, chiefly, of the king and his counsellors.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The vessels also. It does not appear that these were sacred vessels belonging to the temple, like those which Cyrus had intrusted to Zerubbabel for restoration to the house of God. Rather, it would seem, they were a part of the voluntary "offering" mentioned in ver. 15, in which they are distinctly included (viii. 25-28). We may perhaps conclude that the vessels sent with Zerubbabel had proved insufficient in number for the great festivals.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

This continues the decree that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra.

the objects that were freely given to you

This can be expressed in active form. AT: "the objects that we have freely given to you" (See: Active or Passive)

Place the objects ... before him

The word "him" refers to God.

for the service of the house of your God

The abstract noun "service" can be expressed with the verbs "serve" or "use." AT: "to use in the house of your God" or "to serve in the house of your God" (See: Abstract Nouns)

treasury

a secure place where money is stored

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And the vessels And the vessels that are given to you for the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, give in their entirety before the Holy One, blessed be He, in Jerusalem.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.