Ezra 8:31–36, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezra 8:31–36
The company arrives, accounts, worships, and reports
The hand of God delivers from ambush
They depart the Ahava on the twelfth of the first month. The hand of God is on them, and he delivers them from the hand of the enemy and those who lie in wait. The fast's petition is answered on the road, not only in camp. Then they come to Jerusalem and remain three days before the next public acts.
Weighing, burnt offerings, and satrap reports
On the fourth day silver, gold, and vessels are weighed in the house of God into Meremoth's hand, with Eleazar, Jozabad, and Noadiah, numbered and recorded. Returned exiles offer burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he-goats as a sin offering. They also deliver the king's commissions to the satraps and governors, who then further the people and the house of God. Worship and imperial reporting happen in the same arrival week.
How this should shape us
Finish the audit you promised, then worship, then deal honestly with the powers who still govern the map. Safe arrival is not the end of accountability. If you prayed on the road, keep the books in the city.
Teach it back
Explain Ezra 8:31–36 in your own words. Include the movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one misuse the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The route details and external verification are limited. The narrative's own sequence—danger, arrival, accounting, worship, and administration—is clear.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Ezra 8:31–36, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic wording, morphology, names, clause relations, and translation controls.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezra.xml, Hebrew and Aramaic words and morphology for 8:31–36
Supports: Material lexical, grammatical, textual, Persian-period, numerical, and translation notes within the unit.
NET Bible Ezra PDF, printed pp. 758–759, translation and translator notes on 8:31–36
Supports: Directly inspected commentary on literary shape, documents, chronology, Persian administration, temple, identity, and family reform.
Smith-Christopher, Oxford Bible Commentary, printed p. 316 on Ezra 8:31–36
Supports: Ezra's priestly-scribal portrayal, documents, Achaemenid parallels, authenticity arguments, and historical limits.
Reeves, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Ezra, Book of,' print pp. 130–131 and web paragraphs 1–12
Supports: Specialist Achaemenid-period historical context with explicit reconstruction limits.
Fried, Encyclopaedia Iranica, web paragraphs 26–29 on Ezra, Artaxerxes, law, tax, and administration
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Ezra 8:31–36, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew aramaic text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezra
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic wording, morphology, names, clause relations, and translation controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezra.xml, Hebrew and Aramaic words and morphology for 8:31–36
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ezra with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Material lexical, grammatical, textual, Persian-period, numerical, and translation notes within the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible Ezra PDF, printed pp. 758–759, translation and translator notes on 8:31–36
Open source ↗scholarly commentary article
Ezra-Nehemiah
Daniel L. Smith-Christopher
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, edited by John Barton and John Muddiman, 2001
Supports: Directly inspected commentary on literary shape, documents, chronology, Persian administration, temple, identity, and family reform.
Exact location: Smith-Christopher, Oxford Bible Commentary, printed p. 316 on Ezra 8:31–36
Open source ↗specialist encyclopedia article
Ezra, Book of
John C. Reeves
Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IX, Fasc. 2, 1999; updated 2013
Supports: Ezra's priestly-scribal portrayal, documents, Achaemenid parallels, authenticity arguments, and historical limits.
Exact location: Reeves, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Ezra, Book of,' print pp. 130–131 and web paragraphs 1–12
Open source ↗specialist historical encyclopedia article
Judeo-Persian Communities ii. Achaemenid Period
Lisbeth S. Fried
Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2009
Supports: Specialist Achaemenid-period historical context with explicit reconstruction limits.
Exact location: Fried, Encyclopaedia Iranica, web paragraphs 26–29 on Ezra, Artaxerxes, law, tax, and administration
Open source ↗