Unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred cores of wheat, and unto a hundred bates of wine, and unto a hundred bates of oil, and salt without measure.

Unto silver a hundred talents, and unto wheat a hundred cors, and unto wine a hundred baths, and unto oil a hundred baths, and salt without reckoning;

Up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of grain, a hundred measures of wine, and a hundred measures of oil, and salt without measure.

even up to one hundred talents of silver, and up to one hundred cors of wheat, and up to one hundred baths of wine, and up to one hundred baths of oil, and truly salt without measure.

This verse assigns limits to the permission of Ezra 7:20. As the Persian tribute was paid partly in money and partly in kind (see Ezra 4:13 note), the treasuries would be able to supply them as readily as they could furnish money.

A hundred talents of silver - The talent of silver was 450.
A hundred measures of wheat - A hundred cors; each cor was a little more than seventy-five gallons, one quart, and a pint, wine measure.
A hundred baths of wine - Each bath was seven gallons and five pints.

Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred (m) baths of oil, and salt without prescribing [how much].
(m) Read (1-Kings 7:26; 2-Chronicles 2:10).

Unto one hundred talents of silver,.... Which amounted to 35,300 pounds sterling; these, according to Jarchi, were to buy the offerings or sacrifices with:
and an hundred measures of wheat; or corn, the same measure with the homer, each of which held ten ephahs, or seventy five wine gallons, five pints, and upwards; these, according to the same writer, were for meat offerings, made of fine flour, or rather bread offerings, as they may be called:
and to an hundred baths of wine; which was the same measure in liquids as the ephah in things dry, a tenth part of the cor or homer, and held seven wine gallons, five pints, and upwards (u); these were for the drink offerings:
and to an hundred baths of oil; the same measure as before; these were to mix in the meat offerings:
and salt without prescribing how much; because it was used in all offerings, and was cheap, and therefore no measure is fixed, but as much as was wanting was to be given, see Leviticus 2:1.
(u) See Cumberland's Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 137.

an hundred talents of silver--£22,000 according to the rate of the silver talent of Babylon. Fourthly, Artaxerxes gave his royal sanction in the establishment of the divine law, which exempted priests and Levites from taxation or tribute and confirmed to them the exclusive right to officiate in the sacred services of the sanctuary. And, finally, in the expression of the king's desire for the divine blessing upon the king and his government (Ezra 7:23), we see the strong persuasion which pervaded the Persian court, and had been produced by the captivity of the Hebrew people, as to the being and directing providence of the God they worshipped. It will be observed, however, that the commission related exclusively to the rebuilding of the temple--not of the walls. The Samaritans (Ezra 4:20-22) had succeeded in alarming the Persian court by their representations of the danger to the empire of fortifying a city notorious for the turbulent character of its inhabitants and the prowess of its kings.