John Trapp on Ezra 8:15

Verſe 15. And I gathered them together to the River] There was their firſt Rendevous, at the meeting of two Rivers; whereof that Countrey was full, Pſal. 137.1 and therefore fertile as the Garden of the Lord, whereof it was a part, as moſt Geographers are of opinion.

And there abode we in tents] Glad we had our faces ſet toward Zion (going weeping, &c. Jer. 50.4, 5) and our backs upon Babylon; of which we might well ſay, as the Philoſopher afterwards did of Athens, that it was a pleaſant place to travel thorough, but not ſafe to dwell in.

And found there none of the ſons of Levi] None but what he afterwards ſent for; no voluntiers: this was lamentable, that Levites ſhould be ſo backward to ſo good a buſineſſe. Here was nomen inane, crimen immane.