Bible Strands
Nehemiah 7:70
Some of the heads of the families contributed to the project. The governor gave to the treasury 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah 7:70 records the material contributions following the return from exile, as family leaders and the governor deposit resources for the rebuilding project. The governor personally delivers 1,000 darics of gold, 50 bowls, and 530 priestly garments to the official storehouse.
The words — The text highlights הַתִּרְשָׁתָא (ha-tirshata), meaning "the governor," who furnishes the treasury, and לָאוֹצָר (la-otzar), literally "to the treasury," marking the formal deposit location. These terms frame the donation as an administrative transaction rather than a private offering.
The thread — This pattern of recorded leadership contributions to a sacred treasury appears in Nehemiah 7:71, where heads of families add 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver for the same work. The bowls mentioned in Nehemiah 7:70 parallel the ritual vessels used in Exodus 24:6 for blood offerings.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of how institutional rebuilding relies on documented, verifiable contributions from those in authority. It asks a reader to account for the tangible costs of communal restoration and to treat sacred resources with administrative precision.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests’ garments.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 8:9 Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.
- Exodus 12:22 Take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin, and brush the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.
- Exodus 24:6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar.
- Numbers 7:2 And the leaders of Israel, the heads of their families, presented an offering. These men were the tribal leaders who had supervised the registration.
- 1 Kings 7:45 and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. All the articles that Huram made for King Solomon in the house of the LORD were made of burnished bronze.
- 1 Chronicles 28:17 the weight of the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers; the weight of each gold dish; the weight of each silver bowl;
- 1 Chronicles 29:3 Moreover, because of my delight in the house of my God, I now give for it my personal treasures of gold and silver, over and above all that I have provided for this holy temple:
- 2 Chronicles 4:8 Additionally, he made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 Additionally, Huram made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work that he had undertaken for King Solomon in the house of God:
- Ezra 2:68 When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings to rebuild the house of God on its original site.