Ezra 7:20

Ezr 7:20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow [it] out of the king’s treasure house.

Ver. 20. And whatsoever more, &c.] What could this king say more to seal up his good affection to the work in hand? Shall not this liberal heathen rise up in judgment and condemn such hold fasts among us, such miserly money hoarders, as have no quick silver, no current money for God or any good uses; but are, the richer the harder, as Dives?

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.

Ezr 7:20. Whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God —

Toward the reparation, or adorning, or completing of it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(20) Out of the king’s treasure house.—Every satrap had his local treasury. The decree gives Ezra very large powers, but the following verses add a measure of qualification.

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

20. Permission to draw, for further expenditure, upon the king’s treasury, i. e. upon the sums in the local treasury, which the satrap paid annually out of the tribute money into the king’s treasury at Susa or Ecbatana.

out of the king’s treasure house] See note on Ezr_6:8 ‘of the king’s goods even of the tribute beyond the river, &c.’ The treasury of the satrapy of the country W. of the Euphrates (Abhar-Nahara). Cf. ‘the king’s treasure house’ Ezr_5:17, ‘the king’s house’ Ezr_6:4.

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.

Unto one hundred talents of silver,.... Which amounted to 35,300 pounds sterling; these, according to Jarchi, were to buy the offerings or sacrifices with:

and an hundred measures of wheat; or corn, the same measure with the homer, each of which held ten ephahs, or seventy five wine gallons, five pints, and upwards; these, according to the same writer, were for meat offerings, made of fine flour, or rather bread offerings, as they may be called:

and to an hundred baths of wine; which was the same measure in liquids as the ephah in things dry, a tenth part of the cor or homer, and held seven wine gallons, five pints, and upwards (u); these were for the drink offerings:

and to an hundred baths of oil; the same measure as before; these were to mix in the meat offerings:

and salt without prescribing how much; because it was used in all offerings, and was cheap, and therefore no measure is fixed, but as much as was wanting was to be given, see Lev 2:1.

(u) See Cumberland's Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 137.

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

By me. Hebrew, "to spend, take it out of the king’s treasure-house." Septuagint adds, "and from me."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For the house of thy God; towards the reparation, or adorning, or completing of it. See Poole "Ezr 6:14".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whatever more shall be needful. Here the terms of the firman are very wide indeed, and authorise apparently an unlimited application of the royal revenue, or, at any rate, of the revenue of the province, to any purpose in any way connected with the temple. Probably it was expected that Ezra"s own discretion would act as a restraint. If this failed, the royal treasurers would see that the amounts specified in ver. 22 were not exceeded. The king"s treasure-house is not the royal treasury at Susa, to which the tribute went up from the various provinces, but the local treasury of Judaea or Syria, to which the Jews made their remittances, and on which Ezra was now authorised to draw. Such local treasuries existed of necessity under a satrapial system.

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

And the rest of the necessities and the rest of the necessities that you will require for the House of the Holy One, blessed be He, to purchase, for which you will have to give the money; you shall give from the royal treasury.

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.