The number of gold and silver objects brought back from Babylon to Jerusalem upon the return from exile (Ezra 1:11)
In Ezra 1:11 the total number of gold and silver objects that Sheshbazzar brought from Babylon to Jerusalem is given as five thousand four hundred. These items had originally belonged to the temple in Jerusalem and were plundered by Nebuchadnezzar during the destruction of the first temple in 586 B.C. The return of these sacred vessels and objects marked a decisive turning point in Israel's history – the transition from exile to rebuilding. Thus, the number 5400 symbolizes God's faithfulness in restoring what was lost, and his care that worship in the temple could resume in its full scope. That the exact number of items was recorded underscores the careful stewardship of the holy things and shows that each individual item was regarded as significant. There is an apparent discrepancy in Ezra 1:9–10, where the individual categories of objects add up to 2499 rather than 5400. Rabbinic commentators and modern scholars have proposed various explanations, including that there were additional categories not specified individually. Sheshbazzar, who led the transport of the objects, is identified in some traditions with Sheshbazzar, a Jewish prince and possibly the son of King Jehoiachin, which underscores the royal and official nature of the return. In the Jewish calendar, the year 5400 corresponds to approximately 1640 CE, but this does not give the number any symbolic meaning beyond its historical occurrence in Ezra. The component numbers 5 and 400 have their own symbolic associations in Jewish tradition – 5 is linked to the five books of the Torah and grace, while 400 can be associated with periods of testing (cf. Gen 15:13) – but such a decomposition of 5400 is speculative and not based on established tradition.*