Ezra 2:63 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

The Tirshatha - i. e., Zerubbabel. See margin. The word is probably old Persian, though it does not occur in the cuneiform inscriptions. Some derive it from a root “to fear.” See the introduction to the Book of Ezra, first note.

A priest with Urim and with Thummim - See Exodus 28:30 note. According to the rabbinical writers, the second temple permanently lacked this glory of the first. Zerubbabel, it would seem by the present passage (compare Nehemiah 7:65), expected that the loss would be only temporary.

Ezra 2:63

63 And the Tirshathap said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.