Gathering the people
I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there. 16 So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning, 17 and I sent them to Iddo, the leader in Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, the temple servants in Casiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God. 18 Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah’s sons and brothers, 18 men; 19 and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 men. 20 They also brought 220 of the temple servants—a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
Ezra summoned the returnees to a camp at one of the canals flowing off the Euphrates River near Babylon. There they prepared for the journey. If the numbers in the preceding list are the full count of those returning to Jerusalem, the group numbered only a couple thousand, a much smaller return than that at the time of Zerubbabel.
Ezra was especially disappointed by the lack of turnout of Levites. He was planning reform of the temple services and needed temple workers if he was to be successful. Perhaps the temple workers were unwilling to leave their established homes in Babylon in order to perform what seemed to them to be menial tasks in the temple. At any rate, Ezra found it necessary to send a delegation of leaders to recruit temple workers. They were successful in obtaining workers from Casiphia, apparently a town or place of worship where there was a concentration of Levites. Ezra again credited his success to the helping hand of God.
Notice that the narration here has switched to the first person, “I.” This indicates that Ezra’s personal memoirs or recollections are the source of this part of the book.