Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren,

And I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

And I separate from the heads of the priests, twelve, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them of their brethren ten,

So I put on one side twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,

Then I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, besides Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,

And I separated twelve from among the leaders of the priests: Sherebiah, and Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers.

Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests,.... That were in company with him; so that it seems there were more than the two mentioned, Ezra 8:2, very probably their families, or some of their brethren, were with them:
Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them; these men named were Levites, and not priests, Ezra 8:18 and therefore the copulative "and" must be supplied:
and Sherebiah, &c. or with the twelve priests, Sherebiah, &c. and ten Levites more with them; so that the number of priests and Levites were equal, and in all twenty four.

Do we expect that God should, by his providence, keep that which belongs to us, let us, by his grace, keep that which belongs to him. Let God's honour and interest be our care; and then we may expect that our lives and comforts will be his.

Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests . . . and weighed unto them the silver, &c.--The custody of the contributions and of the sacred vessels was, during the journey, committed to twelve of the chief priests, who, with the assistance of ten of their brethren, were to watch closely over them by the way, and deliver them into the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. The treasures in silver and gold, according to the value of the Babylonian talent, amounted to about £515,000 sterling.