Ezra 8:18

By the good hand. This is Ezra’s usual mode of acknowledging divine providence (see chapters 7:6, 9, 28; 8:31). Similar expressions also occur in Nehemiah (Ezra 2:8, 18), but not elsewhere in Scripture.

A man of understanding. Hebrew ’ish sekel, considered by some commentators as a proper name, but without sufficient reason. No such name is known to have existed. If ’ish sekel is taken as a proper name we are confronted with the further difficulty of having to assume that the name of his ancestors and the number of Levites in his family group have been lost from the list. The name of this man of discretion or prudence is given as Sherebiah, who is mentioned more than once in Nehemiah’s time as a chief Levite (Neh. 8:7; 9:4, 5).

And Sherebiah. The Hebrew conjunction we, “and,” should be rendered “namely” (RSV) or “even,” so that the text reads, “they brought us a man of understanding, … namely Sherebiah.”