All the articles of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with those of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.
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Bede
AD 735
Therefore the basins, which are large vessels, signify the clear hearts of the simple, who do not know how to hide in themselves any covert thought but always declare with a pure tongue the things they have in their mind … The knives, which they used to cut and divide in a right measure the members of the victims, so that, after everything had been prepared according to the ritual, a part might be consumed on the altar by the holy fire and a part might be given to the use of those who had made the offering, indicate those in the church, who are renowned for the grace of discretion, who know perfectly how to distinguish the sacrifice of salvation, which is Christ.… The bowls, which are vessels for drinking, figuratively express those who are usually inebriated by a greater ardor of interior charity.
Hundred. Only 2499 are specified. 3 Esdras reads, 5469. Josephus ( xi. 1.) differs from all, reading 5210; which shows that the copies have varied, and that the Hebrew is incorrect. (Calmet)
The use of numeral letters might cause this confusion. (Haydock) (Capel. iii. 20, 13.)
