And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
Ver. 18. And by the good hand of God upon us] God was in all this good man's thoughts: he set upon every passage, as the ancients upon every special piece of work they did, Yεος, Yεος (Pausanias). This was the only way to make his journey comfortable, thus to converse with God all along, et Paradisum mente deambulare, and let your mind walk in paradise, as Jerome counselled the young hermit, assuring him that so long as he had paradise in his mind, and God in his apprehensions, tamdiu in eremo non esset, so long he should not be in a desert.
They brought us a man of understanding] The Hebrew word Shacal signifieth three things: 1. To understand. 2. To instruct. 3. To prosper. Those that understand themselves, and teach others, shall do much good to themselves and others; see the note on Ezra 8:16. This egregie cordatus homo exceptional sweet hearted man, was Sherebiah, as it followeth here, and Sherebiah, or, even Sherebiah; confer Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 9:4,5 .