Ezra 7 Commentary discusses Ezra's genealogy and journey to Jerusalem. It provides context that Ezra was a descendant of Seraiah the high priest, though not his immediate son due to a 130 year gap. Scholars debate whether the king mentioned, Artaxerxes, refers to Artaxerxes I or II, with implications for the timeline. Ezra is described as a skilled scribe of the law of Moses who went to Jerusalem to teach God's statutes during the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes.

1. EZRA 7 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1
After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes
king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of
Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
BAR ES, "After these things - The words mark an interval of 57 years; if, with
most commentators, we take Artaxerxes to be Longimanus. See the introduction to the
Book of Ezra. Three kings named Artaxerxes, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew
Artakhshasta, and the Persian Artakhshatra, ruled over Persia, namely,: Longimanus,
Mnemon, and Ochus. The evidence is in favor of the first being meant here: he was the
grandson of Darius Hystaspis, Jeshua’s contemporary.
The genealogy of Ezra here is incomplete. The time between the Exodus and Ezra must
have exceeded one thousand years, and cannot have been covered by 16 generations.
One gap may be filled up from 1Ch_6:7-10, which supplies six names between Meraioth
and Azariah Ezr_7:3 : another gap probably occurs between Seraiah Ezr_7:1 and Ezra
himself; since Seraiah appears to be the high priest of Zedekiah’s time (marginal
reference), who lived at least 130 years before Ezra. Three or four names are probably
missing in this place. Another name (Meraioth) may be supplied from 1Ch_9:11,
between Zadok and Ahitub Ezr_7:2. These additions would produce 27 generations - a
number nearly sufficient - instead of 16 generations.
CLARKE, "In the reign of Artaxerxes - This was Artaxerxes Longimanus, the
seventh of whose reign chronologers place A.M. 3547, sixty-eight years after Cyrus had
sent back Zerubbabel. - Calmet. See the introduction.
Son of Seraiah - Either this could not have been Seraiah the high priest, who had
been put to death by Nebuchadnezzar one hundred and twenty-one years before this
time, or the term son here must signify only his descendants, or one of his descendants.
Were it otherwise, Ezra must now be at least one hundred and twenty-two years of age,
supposing him to have been born in the year of his father’s death; if, indeed Seraiah the
high priest was his father; but this is evidently impossible. In this place there are only
sixteen generations reckoned between Ezra and Aaron, but in 1Ch_6:3, 1Ch_6:4, etc.,
there are not less than twenty-two. We must therefore supply the deficient generations
from the above place, between Amariah son of Meraioth, 1Ch_6:7, and Azariah the son
of Johanan, 1Ch_6:10. There are other discrepancies relative to genealogies in these
historical books which it would be useless to investigate. On these differences much has

2. been already said in different parts of this comment.
GILL, "Now after these things,.... The finishing of the temple, and the dedication of
it, and keeping the passover:
in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia; in the seventh year of his reign, Ezr_7:7,
who is the same with Darius in the preceding chapter; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; See Gill
on Ezr_6:14.
Ezra the son of Seraiah; the high priest slain by Nebuchadnezzar Jer_52:24, this
Ezra was a younger son of his, brother to Josedech, and uncle to Joshua, who were high
priests in succession; his pedigree is carried in the ascending line up to Aaron, in this
and the four following verses; only six generations, for brevity sake, are omitted,
between Azariah and Meraioth, which may be supplied from 1Ch_6:7; see Gill on 1Ch_
6:3.
HE RY, "Here is, I. Ezra's pedigree. He was one of the sons of Aaron, a priest. Him
God chose to be an instrument of good to Israel, that he might put honour upon the
priesthood, the glory of which had been much eclipsed by the captivity. He is said to be
the son of Seraiah, that Seraiah, as is supposed, whom the king of Babylon put to death
when he sacked Jerusalem, 2Ki_25:18, 2Ki_25:21. If we take the shortest computation,
it was seventy-five years since Seraiah died; many reckon it much longer, and, because
they suppose Ezra called out in the prime of his time to public service, do therefore think
that Seraiah was not his immediate parent, but his grandfather or great-grandfather, but
that he was the first eminent person that occurred in his genealogy upwards, which is
carried up here as high as Aaron, yet leaving out many for brevity-sake, which may be
supplied from 1Ch_6:4, etc. He was a younger brother, or his father was Jozadak, the
father of Jeshua, so that he was not high priest, but nearly allied to the high priest.
JAMISO , "Ezr_7:1-10. Ezra goes up to Jerusalem.
in the reign of Artaxerxes — the Ahasuerus of Esther.
Ezra the son of Seraiah — that is, grandson or great-grandson. Seraiah was the
high priest put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (2Ki_25:18). A period of one
hundred thirty years had elapsed between that catastrophe and the journey of Ezra to
Jerusalem. As a grandson of Seraiah, namely, Jeshua, who held the office of high priest,
had accompanied Zerubbabel in the first caravan of returning exiles, Ezra must have
been in all probability a grandson, descended, too, from a younger son, the older branch
being in possession of the pontificate.
K&D, "Ezr_7:1-10 form the introduction to the narrative which follows of Ezra's
return to Jerusalem and his ministry there, and speak in general terms of himself and
his arrival at Jerusalem with a band of exiles. They are followed, vv. 11-26, by a copy of
the royal commission, and a thanksgiving, Ezr_7:27, Ezr_7:28, on the part of Ezra, for
the mercy of God bestowed upon him.
Ezr_7:1-6

3. What follows is slightly combined with the former occurrences by the formula “after
these things,” without any more exact chronological definition; comp. Gen_15:1; Gen_
22:1, and elsewhere. Between the dedication of the temple in the sixth year of Darius and
the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem, a period of fifty-seven years had elapsed. “In the reign
of Artachshasta king of Persia, went up Ezra,” etc. The verb of the subject ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ ֶ‫ע‬ does not
follow till Ezr_7:6, where, after the interposition of the long genealogy, Ezr_7:1-5, the
distant subject is again taken up in ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ‫.הוּא‬ It is all but universally agreed that
Artaxerxes Longimanus is intended by ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ס‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ח‬ ַ ְ‫ר‬ፍ; the explanation of this appellation as
Xerxes in Joseph. Antiq. xi. 5. 1, for which Fritzsche (on 1 Esdr. 8:1) has recently
decided, being a mere conjecture on the part of that not very critical historian. The fact
that the Artachshasta of the book of Nehemiah (Neh_1:1; Neh_5:14; Neh_13:6) can be
no other than Artaxerxes, is decisive of this point: for in Neh_13:6 the thirty-second year
of Artachshasta is mentioned; while according to Neh_8:9; Neh_12:26, Neh_12:36, Ezra
and Nehemiah jointly exercised their respective offices at Jerusalem.
(Note: Very superficial are the arguments, and indeed the whole pamphlet, Etude
Chronologique des livres d'Esdras et de Néhémie, Paris 1868, p. 40, etc., by which F.
de Saulcy tries to show that the Artachshasta of Ezra 7 and of Nehemiah is
Artaxerxes II (Mnemon).)
Ezra is called Ben Seraiah, whose pedigree is traced to Eleazar the son of Aaron; Seraiah
the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, was the father of Josedec the high priest carried
into captivity (1Ch_6:14, etc.), and was himself the high priest whom Nebuchadnezzar
slew at Riblah (2Ki_25:18-21). Between the execution of Seraiah in the year 588 and the
return of Ezra from Babylon in 458 b.c., there is a period of 130 years. Hence Ezra could
have been neither the son nor grandson of Seraiah, but only his great or great-great-
grandson. When we consider that Joshua, or Jeshua (Ezr_2:2), the high priest who
returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, was the grandson of Seraiah, we cannot but
regard Ezra, who returned thence 78 years later, as a great-great-grandson of Seraiah.
Moreover, we are justified in inferring from the fact that Ezra is not, like Joshua,
designated as Ben Josedech, that he did not descend from that line of Seraiah in which
the high-priestly dignity was hereditary, but from a younger son, and hence that his
immediate ancestors were not (though his forefathers from Seraiah upwards were) of
high-priestly descent. Hence the names of Ezra's ancestors from Seraiah up to Aaron
(Ezr_7:1-5) agree also with the genealogy of the high-priestly race (1Ch_6:4-14), with
the one deviation that in Ezr_7:3, between Azariah and Meraioth, six members are
passed over, as is frequently the case in the longer genealogies, for the sake of shortening
the list of names. - In v. 6 Ezra, for the sake of at once alluding to the nature of his office,
is designated ‫בת‬ ‫יר‬ ִ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ֵ‫ּוף‬‫ס‬ ‫,ר‬ a scribe skilful in the law of Moses. The word ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬‫ס‬ means in
older works writer or secretary; but even so early as Jer_8:8 the lying pen of the ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫ּפ‬‫ס‬ is
spoken of, and here therefore ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬‫ס‬ has already attained the meaning of one learned in the
Scripture, one who has made the written law a subject of investigation. Ezra is, however,
the first of whom the predicate ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬ ַ‫,ה‬ ᆇ γραµµατεύς, is used as a title. He is so called also
in the letter of Artaxerxes (Ezr_7:11), because he is said (Ezr_7:9) to have applied his
heart to seek out and to do the law of the Lord, and to teach in Israel statutes and
judgment, i.e., because he had made the investigation of the law, for the sake of
introducing the practice of the same among the congregation, his life-task; and the king
granted him all his desire, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. The

4. peculiar expression ‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫יו‬ ָ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ ‫יהוה‬ ‫ד‬ַ‫י‬ ְⅴ which is found only here and in Ezr_7:9, Ezr_7:28,
Ezr_8:18; Neh_2:8, Neh_2:18, and in a slightly altered guise in Ezr_8:22, Ezr_8:31,
“according to the good hand of his God, which was over him,” means: according to the
divine favour or divine care arranging for him; for the hand of God is ‫ה‬ ָ‫וב‬ ַ‫,ה‬ the good
(Ezr_7:9, and Ezr_8:18), or ‫ה‬ ָ‫ּוב‬‫ט‬ ְ‫,ל‬ Ezr_8:22. ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ ַ , the desire, request, demand, occurs
only here and in the book of Esther.
COKE, "Ver. 1. Ezra the son of Seraiah— He calls himself here, according to the Hebrew
idiom, the son of Seraiah, who was the high-priest that Nebuchadnezzar caused to be
slain at the taking of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:30.; but had he been his real
son, he must then have been at least one hundred and thirty-two years old, supposing
him to have been an infant when his father died; and so wholly unfit for such a journey
and employment: whereas we find him capable of reading the Scriptures to the people
from morning till noon, one whole week; and of assisting Nehemiah in his office thirteen
years after, when he must have been at least one hundred and forty-five years old; but
since he there also calls Azariah the son of Meraioth, though it appears from 1 Chronicles
6:7; 1 Chronicles 6:81 that there were six descendants between them, it becomes very
probable that he may himself have been some descents off Seraiah, though it does not
appear how many.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
U DER ARTAXERXES I; EZRA RETUR S FROM BABYLO
"After these things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia ..."
This verse establishes the chronology of this chapter which features Ezra's journey
from Babylon to Jerusalem, but the problem centers in the question of just which
one of the two kings of Persia named Artaxerxes is the one spoken of here.
Those kings were Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) who reigned 465-425 B.C., and
Artaxerxes II (Mnemon) who ruled in 405(4) to 358 B.C. Depending upon which one
of these monarchs was meant, there is a gap between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7 here of
either 58 years or 117 years. There is a sharp disagreement among scholars on this.
C. F. Keil,[1] Merrill F. Unger,[2] Henry H. Halley,[3] John C. Whitcomb, Jr.,[4] F.
C. Cook,[5] and Stephen S. Short[6] affirm that Artaxerxes I is the monarch
mentioned; and Raymond A. Bowman[7] and Emmett Willard Hamrick[8]
designate Artaxerxes II as the ruler spoken of here. H. G. M. Williamson in his
award winning commentary (in 1985) made no choice between them writing that,
"Assuming that this king is Artaxerxes I (465-425 B.C.), `after these things' covers
some fifty-seven years (much more, of course, if Artaxerxes II is intended)."[9] This
writer's opinion is that the evidence strongly favors Artaxerxes I.
In the interval indicated by the words "after these things," Ahasuerus had ruled,
during which the events centering around the names of Mordecai and Esther had
occurred; and some scholars have supposed that Esther's influence might have been
a factor in the favorable attitude of Artaxerxes I.

5. Ezra 7:1-10
THE ABBREVIATED GE EALOGY OF EZRA
"Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum,
the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son
of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of
Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest -
this Ezra went up from Babylon. And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses,
which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his
request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him. And there went up
some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers,
and the porters, and the ethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of
Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the
seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month began he to go up
from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem,
according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to seek
the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances."
The events centered around the name of Ezra must be accounted among the most
wonderful things that ever happened to God's people. The immense dimensions of
Ezra's request of Artaxerxes stagger the imagination; and the authority given to
Ezra by that monarch, making him, in fact, ruler of the entire province beyond the
River, with the power of life and death to enforce his reforms appears to have been
directly the result of Divine favor and intervention, as positively indicated by Ezra's
thanksgiving at the end of the chapter. It seems quite unlikely that Ezra's `request'
would have included all that the king gave, unless the request came following the
king's decision to turn the government of the satrapy over to Ezra.
The purpose of this genealogy is to show the importance of Ezra as a direct
descendant of the great High Priest Aaron. It is also significant that he had a copy of
the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:14); and this, we may believe, was also true of many
faithful descendants of Aaron through the long centuries between the Exodus and
the return from Babylon, making it utterly impossible for any forged document
such as the so-called P Code to have been fraudulently imposed upon Israel. That
Ezra was in full possession of the Torah indicates the preservation of it through the
ages.
"Priests, Levites, singers, porters, ethinim, ..." (Ezra 7:6). Oesterley wrote that,
"That all these various classifications of Israelites should have been available to
return with Ezra witnesses a considerable communal organization among the Jews
during their captivity."[10]
"On the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the frst
day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:9). All of this journey
occurred in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I; and Whitcomb gave the date of this

6. journey as being, "From March 27 to July 24,457 B.C., a journey of exactly four
months."
"The direct distance between Babylon and Jerusalem is about 520 miles; but the
circuitous route usually followed by armies or other large groups was not direct, but
went through Carchemish and the Orontes Valley, a distance of about 900
miles."[11]
That Ezra and his company required 120 days to complete this journey, averaging
only about eight miles a day was probably due to the dangers encountered and other
difficulties associated with moving a large number of people.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:1. In the reign of Artaxerxes — The same of whom he speaks
chap. Ezra 6:14. Ezra the son of Seraiah — Descended from him, but not
immediately. For Seraiah, being high-priest when Jerusalem was taken was then
slain by the Chaldeans, (2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:21,) at which time, it is likely,
Ezra was not in being: but he was his grandson, or great-grand-son, and his descent
is mentioned from him, because he was an eminent person, who flourished before
the destruction of the temple, whereas Ezra’s father, if not also his grandfather,
lived obscurely in captivity.
ELLICOTT, "(1) After these things.—Fifty-seven years after: this special phrase is
here alone used. During the interval we must place the events of the Book of Esther.
Ezra the son of Seraiah.—His lineage is given, as frequently in Scripture,
compendiously, and according to the genealogical law which makes every ancestor a
“father” and every descendant a “son.” We know not the reason why certain names
supplied in 1 Chronicles 6 are here omitted; but Seraiah is claimed as the father of
Ezra because he was the eminent high priest who last ministered in Solomon’s
Temple and was slain at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18). The links wanting in the lineage are
easily supplied.
CO STABLE, "Ezra"s background7:1-10
"These things" ( Ezra 7:1) refers to the events of the first return that the writer
described in chapters1-6.
Ezra"s genealogy ( Ezra 7:1-5) shows that he was a man of importance whom his
fellow Jews would have respected. His name is a shortened form of " Prayer of
Azariah ," meaning "Yahweh helps." He was a descendant of Aaron, the first high
priest of Israel ( Ezra 7:5). There are gaps in this genealogy (cf. 1 Chronicles 6:3-15).
"Son of" occasionally means "descendant of," as elsewhere in the Old Testament.
[ ote: L. H. Brockington, Ezra , ehemiah and Esther , p70; Fensham, The Books .
. ., p79; et al.] The purpose of this linear genealogy was not to record all of Ezra"s
ancestors but to trace his lineage from Aaron.

7. A "scribe" ( Ezra 7:6) was a person who functioned as a copier, writer, and
communicator. Scribes fulfilled various roles before the exile. These included
military officer ( Judges 5:14; 2 Kings 25:19), messenger of the king ( 2 Kings
18:18), secretary to the king ( 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 20:25), clerk, and writer (
Jeremiah 36:26; Jeremiah 36:32). In the Gospels we have many references to
scribes. In Jesus" day they were primarily students and teachers of the Law. In
Ezra"s time this specialized function of the scribe was developing. Ezra himself, as a
scribe and priest, was able to teach the Law (cf. Leviticus 10:11; ehemiah 8:1-9;
ehemiah 8:13). He also enjoyed special divine protection and enablement ( Ezra
7:6; cf. Ezra 7:9; cf. Ezra 7:28; Ezra 8:18; Ezra 8:22; Ezra 8:31). [ ote: Judah J.
Slotki, Daniel ,, Ezra ,, ehemiah , p150.]
"The wise scribe followed an honored profession in which he might take pride (
Sirach 38:24-34). His was the highest privilege and virtue: to study the law, to
meditate on it and apply it to life (cf. Psalm 1; Psalm 19:7-14; Psalm 119)." [ ote:
Bright, pp424-25.]
Ezra and his companions left Babylon in the spring of458 B.C. The Jewish month of
isan corresponds to our late March and early April.
"It is emphasized that the date of departure from Babylon was carefully calculated
to take place on the first day of the first month, though in the event they could leave
only on the twelfth day due to the need to recruit Levites ( Ezra 8:31). While the
point is not made explicitly, this arrangement implies that the Ezra caravan, like the
Israelites of old, marked their departure with the celebration of Passover (cf Exodus
12:1; umbers 33:3), and that therefore this second episode in the restoration of the
commonwealth begins in the same way that the first ends." [ ote: Joseph
Blenkinsopp, "A Theological Reading of Ezra - ehemiah." Proceedings of the Irish
Biblical Association12 (1989):29.]
Ezra and his fellow travelers completed their900-mile journey exactly four months
later ( Ezra 7:8-9) because of God"s enablement ( Ezra 7:9). [ ote: J. Stafford
Wright, The Date of Ezra"s Coming to Jerusalem, pp17-28. Cf. K. Koch, "Ezra and
the Origins of Judaism," Journal of Semitic Studies19:2 (1974):173-97; and Frank
M. Cross, "A Reconstruction of the Judean Restoration," Interpretation29:2
(1975):194.]
Ezra"s personal resolve provides an excellent example for every believer ( Ezra
7:10). He first purposed to study (lit. seek) the law (Heb. torah) of God, then to
apply that teaching to his own life, and then to teach others the revealed will of God.
This was the key to Ezra"s impact. "Torah" means "instruction," and it describes
the Law of Moses, the Book of Deuteronomy , the Pentateuch, and the whole Old
Testament in various places in Scripture. Here it probably refers to all the revealed
will of God that Ezra had, all the scrolls of the Old Testament sacred writings to
which he had access.
"The order is very significant, for you cannot effectively practice what you have not

8. thoroughly learned, and you cannot convincingly teach what you have not
practically applied." [ ote: Laney, p52.]
"One called by God to teach must also study and obey." [ ote: Breneman, p130. Cf.
McConville, p47; Steven J. Lawson, "The Pattern of Biblical Preaching: An
Expository Study of Ezra 7:10 and ehemiah 8:1-18 ," Bibliotheca Sacra158:632
(October-December2001):451-66.]
PETT, "Ezra Comes To Jerusalem (Ezra 7:1-10).
Almost sixty years after the completion of the Temple, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem as
an Expert in the Law of Moses, eager to teach it to the worshippers of YHWH, and
accompanied by many Israelite exiles who had been given permission to return. It
will be noted that Ezra 7:1-26 are written in the third person (‘he’). It is clear why
from the introduction. Ezra is presenting his report to the king with due formality.
There was no better way for a Jew to reveal his status than by outlining his
genealogy. Without excessive boasting it revealed his pedigree and would impress
those who heard because it connected him with the ancients. Thus the following
narrative continued the note of formality, leading up to the king’s commission. The
change to the first person is initiated by Ezra’s cry of praise and gratitude to God,
and that continues until he comes to the end of his report in chapter 10 when he
demonstrates how he and the people have fulfilled the king’s commission..
Ezra 7:1-5
‘ ow after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of
Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son of
Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of
Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua,
the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest,’
‘After these things’ is a loose way of indicating that what is described comes
chronologically after what has previously been described. It gives no indication of
what the time gap between them might be, and in fact what has been described in
the previous narrative had dealt with matters up to the reign of Artaxerxes (Ezra
4:11; Ezra 4:23).
ote how Ezra’s pedigree is listed in detail, drawing attention to his direct descent
from Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Apart from the omission of a few names, which was
common practise in ancient genealogies, it coincides with that in 1 Chronicles 6:1-
15. Whether Seraiah was his actual father or grandfather, named after the Seraiah
from whom he was descended (1 Chronicles 6:14), or whether he was simply that
well known ancestor, it is impossible at this stage to determine. Probably the former
is true. The aim of the genealogy was, of course, in order to establish Ezra’s
credentials as a son of Zadok (the High Priest in David’s day whose descendants
were approved by Ezekiel 43:19; Ezekiel 44:15), who was the son of Eleazar (the
High Priest in Joshua’s day), the son of the first Priest, Aaron, here called ‘the chief

9. priest’.
It has been argued that Zadok was not the son of Ahitub, as it was Ahimelech who
was the son of Ahitub (1 Samuel 22:9). But it is noteworthy that the same phrase is
used of Zadok in 2 Samuel 8:17. There is no reason at all why Zadok’s father should
not have been called Ahitub. This book itself is a witness to how often the same
name appears with reference to different people.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "EZRA’S EXPEDITIO
Ezra 7:1-8
LIKE the earlier pilgrimage of Zerubbabel and his companions, Ezra’s great
expedition was carried out under a commission from the Persian monarch of his
day. The chronicler simply calls this king "Artaxerxes" (Artahshashta), a name
borne by three kings of Persia, but there can be no reasonable doubt that his
reference is to the son and successor of Xerxes - known by the Greeks as
"Macrocheir," and by the Romans as "Longimanus"-Artaxerxes "of the long
hand." for this Artaxerxes alone enjoyed a sufficiently extended reign to include
both the commencement of Ezra’s public work and the later scenes in the life of
ehemiah which the chronicler associates with the same king. Artaxerxes was but a
boy when he ascended the throne, and the mission of Ezra took place in his earlier
years, while the generous enthusiasm of the kindly sovereign-whose gentleness has
become historic-had not yet been crushed by the cares of empire. In accordance
with the usual style of our narrative, we have his decree concerning the Jews
preserved and transcribed in full; and yet here, as in other cases, we must make
some allowance either for the literary freedom of the chronicler, or for the Jewish
sympathies of the translator; for it cannot be supposed that a heathen, such as
Artaxerxes undoubtedly was, would have shown the knowledge of the Hebrew
religion, or have owned the faith in it, which the edict as we now have it suggests.
evertheless, here again, there is no reason to doubt the substantial accuracy of the
document, for it is quite in accord with the policy of the previous kings Cyrus and
Darius. and in its special features it entirely agrees with the circumstances of the
history.
This edict of Longimanus goes beyond any of its predecessors in favoring the Jews,
especially with regard to their religion. It is directly and personally addressed to
Ezra. whom the king may have known as an earnest, zealous leader of the Hebrew
community at Babylon, and through him it grants to all Jewish exiles who wish to go
up to Jerusalem liberty to return to the home of their fathers, it may be objected
that after the decree of Cyrus any such fresh sanction should not have been needed.
But two generations had passed away since the pilgrimage of the first body of
returning captives, and during this long time many things had happened to check
the free action of the Jews and to cast reproach upon their movements. For a great
expedition to start now without any orders from the reigning monarch might excite
his displeasure, and a subject people who were dependent for their very existence on

10. the good-will of an absolute sovereign would naturally hesitate before they ventured
to rouse his suspicions by undertaking any considerable migration on their own
account.
But Artaxerxes does much more than sanction the journey to Jerusalem; he furthers
the object of this journey with royal bounty, and he lays a very important
commission on Ezra, a commission which carries with it the power, if not the name,
of a provincial magistrate. In the first place, the edict authorises a state endowment
of the Jewish religion. Ezra is to carry great stores to the poverty-stricken
community at Jerusalem. These are made up in part of contributions from the
Babylonian Jews, in part of generous gifts from their friendly neighbours, and in
part of grants from the royal treasury. The temple has been rebuilt, and the funds
now accumulated are not like the bulk of those collected in the reign of Cyrus for a
definite object, the cost of which might be set down to the "Capital Account" in the
restoration of the Jews; they are destined in some measure for improvements to the
structure, but they are also to be employed in maintenance charges, especially in
supporting the costly services of the temple. Thus the actual performance of the
daily ritual at the Jerusalem sanctuary is to be kept up by means of the revenues of
the Persian Empire. Then, the edict proceeds to favour the priesthood by freeing
that order from the burden of taxation. This "clerical immunity," which suggests an
analogy with the privileges the Christian clergy prized so highly in the Middle Ages,
is an indirect form of increased endowment, but the manner in which the
endowment is granted calls especial attention to the privileged status of the order
that enjoys it. Thus the growing importance of the Jerusalem hierarchy is openly
fostered by the Persian king. Still further, Artaxerxes adds to his endowment of the
Jewish religion a direct legal establishment. Ezra is charged to see that the law of his
God is observed throughout the whole region extending up from the Euphrates to
Jerusalem. This can only be meant to apply to the Jews who were scattered over the
wide area, especially those of Syria. Still the mandate is startling enough, especially
when we take into account the heavy sanctions with which it is weighted, for Ezra
has authority given him to enforce obedience by excommunication, by fine, by
imprisonment, and even by the death-penalty. "The law of his God" is named side
by side with "the law of the king," [Ezra 7:26] and the two are to be obeyed equally.
Fortunately, owing to the unsettled condition of the country as well as to Ezra’s own
somewhat unpractical disposition, the reformer never seems to have put his great
powers fully to the test.
ow, as in the previous cases of Cyrus and Darius, we are confronted with the
question, How came the Persian king to issue such a decree? It has been suggested
that as Egypt was in revolt at the time, he desired to strengthen the friendly colony
at Jerusalem as a western bulwark. But, as we have seen in the case of Cyrus, the
Jews were too few and feeble to be taken much account of among the gigantic forces
of the vast empire; and, moreover, it was not the military fortification of Jerusalem-
certainly a valuable stronghold when well maintained-but the religious services of
the temple and the observance of The Law that this edict aimed at aiding and
encouraging. o doubt in times of unsettlement the king would behave most
favourably towards a loyal section of his people. Still, more must be assigned as an

11. adequate motive for his action. Ezra is charged as a special commissioner to
investigate the condition of the Jews in Palestine. He is to "inquire concerning
Judah and Jerusalem." [Ezra 7:14] Inasmuch as it was customary for the Persian
monarchs to send out inspectors from time to time to examine and report on the
condition of the more remote districts of their extensive empire, it has been
plausibly suggested that Ezra may have been similarly employed. But in the
chronicler’s report of the edict we read, immediately after the injunction to make
the investigation, an important addition describing how this was to be done, viz.,
"According to the law of thy God which is in thine hand," [Ezra 7:14] which shows
that Ezra’s inquiry was to be of a religious character, and as a preliminary to the
exaction of obedience to the Jewish law. It may be said that this clause was not a
part of the original decree, but the drift of the edict is religious throughout rather
than political, and therefore the clause in question is fully in harmony with its
character. There is one sentence which is of the deepest significance, if only we can
believe that it embodies an original utterance of the king himself-"Whatsoever is
commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of
heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?"
[Ezra 7:23] While his empire was threatened by dangerous revolts, Artaxerxes
seems to have desired to conciliate the God whom the most devout of his people
regarded with supreme awe.
What is more clear and at the same time more important is the great truth detected
by Ezra and recorded by him in a grateful burst of praise. Without any warning the
chronicler suddenly breaks off his own narrative, written in the third person, to
insert a narrative written by Ezra himself in the first person-beginning at Ezra 7:27
and continued down to Ezra 10:1-44. The scribe opens by blessing God "the Lord
God of our fathers," who had "put such a thing in the king’s heart as to beautify the
house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." [Ezra 7:27] This, then, was a Divine
movement. It can only be accounted for by ascribing the original impulse to God.
atural motives of policy or of superstition may have been providentially
manipulated, but the hand that used them was the hand of God. The man who can
perceive this immense fact at the very outset of his career is fit for any enterprise.
His transcendent faith will carry him through difficulties that would be insuperable
to the worldly schemer.
Passing from the thought of the Divine influence on Artaxerxes. Ezra further
praises God because he has himself received "mercy before the king and his
counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes." [Ezra 7:28] This personal
thanksgiving is evidently called forth by the scribe’s consideration of the part
assigned to him in the royal edict. There was enough in that edict to make the head
of a self-seeking, ambitious man swim with vanity. But we can see from the first that
Ezra is of a higher character. The burning passion that consumes him has not a
particle of hunger for self-aggrandisement, it is wholly generated by devotion to the
law of his God. In the narrowness and bigotry that characterise his later conduct as
a reformer, some may suspect the action of that subtle self-will which creeps
unawares into the conduct of some of the noblest men. Still the last thing that Ezra
seeks, and the last thing that he cares for when it is thrust upon him, is the glory of

12. earthly greatness.
Ezra’s aim in leading the expedition may be gathered from the reflection of it in the
royal edict, since that edict was doubtless drawn up with the express purpose of
furthering the project of the favoured Jew. Ezra puts the beautifying of the temple
in the front of his grateful words of praise to God. But the personal commission
entrusted to Ezra goes much further. The decree significantly recognises the fact
that he is to carry up to Jerusalem a copy of the Sacred Law. It refers to "the law of
thy God which is in thine hand." [Ezra 7:14] We shall hear more of this hereafter.
Meanwhile it is important to see that the law, obedience to which Ezra is
empowered to exact, is to be conveyed by him to Jerusalem. Thus he is both to
introduce it to the notice of the people, and to see that it does not remain a dead
letter among them. He is to teach it to those who do not know it. [Ezra 7:25] At the
same time these people are distinctly separated from others, who are expressly
described as "all such as know the laws of thy God." [Ezra 7:25] This plainly
implies that both the Jerusalem Jews, and those west of the Euphrates generally,
were not all of them ignorant of the Divine Torah. Some of them, at all events, knew
the laws they were to be made to obey. Still they may not have possessed them in any
written form. The plural term "laws" is here used, while the written compilation
which Ezra carried up with him is described in the singular as "The Law." Ezra,
then, having searched out The Law and ‘tested it in his own experience, is now eager
to take it up to Jerusalem, and get it executed among his fellow-countrymen at the
religious metropolis as well as among the scattered Jews of the provincial districts.
His great purpose is to make what he believes to be the will of God known, and to
see that it is obeyed. The very idea of a Torah implies a Divine will in religion. It
presses upon our notice the often-forgotten fact that God has something to say to us
about our conduct, that when we are serving Him it is not enough to be zealous, that
we must also be obedient. Obedience is the keynote of Judaism. It is not less
prominent in Christianity. The only difference is that Christians are freed from the
shackles of a literal law in order that they may carry out "the law of liberty," by
doing the will of God from the heart as loyal disciples of Jesus Christ, so that for us,
as for the Jews, obedience is the most fundamental fact of religion. We can walk by
faith in the freedom of sons, but that implies that we have "the obedience of faith."
The ruling principle of our Lord’s life is expressed in the words "I delight to do Thy
will, O My God," and this must be the ruling principle in the life of every true
Christian.
Equipped with a royal edict, provided with rich contributions, inspired with a great
religious purpose, confident that the hand of his God was upon him, Ezra collected
his volunteers, and proceeded to carry out his commission with all practicable
speed. In his record of the journey, he first sets down a list of the families that
accompanied him. It is interesting to notice names that had occurred in the earlier
list of the followers of Zerubbabel, showing that some of the descendants of those
who refused to go on the first expedition took part in the second. They remind us of
Christiana and her children, who would not join the Pilgrim when he set out from
the City of Destruction, but who subsequently followed in his footsteps.

13. But there was little at Jerusalem to attract a new expedition, for the glamour which
had surrounded the first return, with a son of David at its head, had faded in
grievous disappointments, and the second series of pilgrims had to carry with them
the torch with which to rekindle the flames of devotion.
Ezra states that when he had marshalled his forces he spent three days with them by
a river called the "Ahava." apparently because it flowed by a town of that name.
The exact site of the camp cannot be determined, although it could not have been far
from Babylon, and the river must have been either one of the tributaries of the
Euphrates or a canal cut through its alluvial plain. The only plausible conjecture of
a definite site settles upon a place now known as Hit, in the neighbourhood of some
bitumen springs, and the interest of this place may be found in the fact that here the
usual caravan route leaves the fertile Valley of the Euphrates and plunges into the
waterless desert. Even if Ezra decided to avoid the difficult desert track, and to take
his heavy caravan round through orthern Syria by way of Aleppo and the Valley
of the Orontes-an extended journey which would account for the three months spent
on the road-it would still be natural for him to pause at the parting of the ways and
review the gathering host. One result of this review was the startling discovery that
there were no Levites in the whole company. We were struck with the fact that but a
very small and disproportionate number of these officials accompanied the earlier
pilgrimage of Zerubbabel, and we saw the probable explanation in the
disappointment if not the disaffection of the Levites at their degradation by Ezekiel.
The more rigid arrangement of Ezra’s edition of The Law, which gave them a
definite and permanent place in a second rank, below the priesthood, was not likely
to encourage them to volunteer for the new expedition. othing is more difficult
than self-effacement, even in the service of God.
There was a community of Levites at a place called "Casiphia," under the direction
of a leader named Iddo. It would be interesting to think that this community was
really a sort of Levitical college, a school of students of the Torah, but we have no
data to go upon in forming an opinion. One thing is certain. We cannot suppose that
the new edition of The Law had been drawn up in this community of the Levites,
because Ezra had started with it in his hand as the charter of his great enterprise;
nor, indeed, in any other Levitical college, because it was not at all according to the
mind of the Levites.
After completing his company by the addition of "the Levites," Ezra made a solemn
religious preparation for his journey. Like the Israelites after the defeat at Gibeah
in their retributive war with Benjamin; [ 20:26] like the penitent people at Mizpeh,
in the days of Samuel, when they put away their idols; [1 Samuel 7:6] like
Jehoshaphat and his subjects when rumours of a threatened invasion filled them
with apprehension, [2 Chronicles 20:3] -Ezra and his followers fasted and humbled
themselves before God in view of their hazardous undertaking. The fasting was a
natural sign of the humiliation, and this prostration before God was at once a
confession of sin and an admission of absolute dependence on His mercy. Thus the
people reveal themselves as the "poor in spirit" to whom our Lord directs His first
beatitude. They are those who humble themselves, and therefore those whom God

14. will exalt.
We must not confound this state of self-humiliation before God with the totally
different condition of abject fear which shrinks from danger in contemptible
cowardice. The very opposite to that is the attitude of these humble pilgrims. Like
the Puritan soldiers who became bold as lions before man in the day of battle, just
because they had spent the night in fasting and tears and self-abasement before
God, Ezra and his people rose from their penitential fast, calmly prepared to face all
dangers in the invincible might of God. There seems to have been some enemy
whom Ezra knew to be threatening his path, for when he got safely to the end of his
journey he gave thanks for God’s protection from this foe, [Ezra 8:31] and, in any
case, so wealthy a caravan as his was would provoke the cupidity of the roving
hordes of Bedouin that infested the Syrian wastes. Ezra’s first thought was to ask
for an escort, but he tells us that he was ashamed to do so, as this would imply
distrust in God. [Ezra 8:22] Whatever we may think of his logic, we must be struck
by his splendid faith, and the loyalty which would run a great risk rather than
suffer what might seem like dishonour to his God. Here was one of God’s heroes.
We cannot but connect the preliminary fast with this courageous attitude of Ezra’s.
So in tales of chivalry we read how knights were braced by prayer and fast and vigil
to enter the most terrible conflicts with talismans of victory. In an age of rushing
activity it is hard to find the hidden springs of strength in their calm retreats. The
glare of publicity starts us on the wrong track, by tempting us to advertise our own
excellences, instead of abasing ourselves in the dust before God. Yet is it not now as
true as ever that no boasted might of man can be in any way comparable to the
Divine strength which takes possession of those who completely surrender their wills
to God? Happy are they who have the grace to walk in the valley of humiliation, for
this leads to the armoury of supernatural power!
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "EZRA THE SCRIBE
Ezra 7:1-10
ALTHOUGH the seventh chapter of Ezra begins with no other indication of time
than the vague phrase " ow after these things," nearly sixty years had elapsed
between the events recorded in the previous chapter and the mission of Ezra here
described. We have no history of this long period. Zerubbabel passed into obscurity
without leaving any trace of his later years. He had accomplished his work, the
temple had been built; but the brilliant Messianic anticipations that had clustered
about him at the outset of his career were to await their fulfilment in a greater Son
of David, and people could afford to neglect the memory of the man who had only
been a sort of temporary trustee of the hope of Israel. We shall come across
indications of the effects of social trouble and religious decadence in the state of
Jerusalem as she appeared at the opening of this new chapter in her history. She
had not recovered a vestige of her ancient civic splendour; the puritan rigour with
which the returned exiles had founded a Church among the ruins of her political
greatness had been relaxed, so that the one distinguishing feature of the humble
colony was in danger of melting away in easy and friendly associations with

15. neighboring peoples. When it came, the revival of zeal did not originate in the Holy
City. It sprang up among the Jews at Babylon. The earlier movement in the reign of
Cyrus had arisen in the same quarter. The best of Judaism was no product of the
soil of Palestine; it was an exotic. The elementary "Torah" of Moses emerged from
the desert, with the learning of Egypt as its background, long before it was
cultivated at Jerusalem to blossom in the reformation of Josiah. The final edition of
The Law was shaped in the Valley of the Euphrates, with the literature and science
of Babylon to train its editors for their great task, though it may have received its
finishing touches in Jerusalem. These facts by no means obscure the glory of the
inspiration and Divine character of The Law. In its theology, in its ethics, in its
whole spirit and character, the Pentateuch is no more a product of Babylonian than
of Egyptian ideas. Its purity and elevation of character speak all the more
emphatically for its Divine origin when we take into account its corrupt
surroundings; it was like a white lily growing on a dung-heap.
Still it is important to notice that the great religious revival of Ezra’s time sprang up
on the plains of Babylon, not among the hills of Judah. This involves two very
different facts-the peculiar spiritual experience with which it commenced, and the
special literary and scientific culture in the midst of which it was shaped.
First, it originated in the experience of the captivity, in humiliation and loss, and
after long brooding over the meaning of the great chastisement. The exiles were like
poets who "learn in suffering what they teach in song." This is apparent in the
pathetic psalms of the same period, and in the writings of the visionary of Chebar,
who contributed a large share to the new movement in view of the re-establishment
of religious worship at Jerusalem.
Thus Jerusalem was loved by the exiles, the temple pictured in detail to the
imagination of men who never trod its sacred courts, and the sacrificial system most
carefully studied by people who had no means of putting it in practice. o doubt
The Law now represented an intellectual rather than a concrete form of religion. It
was an ideal. So long as the real is with us, it tends to depress the ideal by its
material bulk and weight. The ideal is elevated in the absence of the real. Therefore
the pauses of life are invaluable; by breaking through the iron routine of habit, they
give us scope for the growth of larger ideas that may lead to better attainments.
Secondly, this religious revival appeared in a centre of scientific and literary culture.
The Babylonians "had cultivated arithmetic, astronomy, history, chronology,
geography, comparative philology, and grammar." In astronomy they were so
advanced that they had mapped out the heavens, catalogued the fixed stars,
calculated eclipses, and accounted for them correctly. Their enormous libraries of
terra-cotta, only now being unearthed, testify to their literary activity. The Jews
brought back from Babylon the names of the months, the new form of letters used in
writing their books, and many other products of the learning and science of the
Euphrates. Internally the religion of Israel is solitary, pure, Divine. Externally the
literary form of it, and the physical conception of the universe which it embodies,
owe not a little to the light which God had bestowed upon the people of Babylon;

16. just as Christianity, in soul and essence the religion of Jesus of azareth, was
shaped in theory by the thought, and in discipline by the law and order, with which
God had endowed the two great European races of Greece and Rome.
The chronicler introduces Ezra with a brief sketch of his origin and a bare outline
of his expedition to Jerusalem. [Ezra 7:7-9] He then next transcribes a copy of the
edict of Artaxerxes which authorised the expedition. [Ezra 7:11-26] After this he
inserts a detailed account of the expedition from the pen of Ezra himself, so that
here the narrative proceeds in the first person-though, in the abrupt manner of the
whole book, without a word of warning that this is to be the case. [Ezra 7:1-10]
In the opening verses of Ezra 7:1-28. the chronicler gives an epitome of the
genealogy of Ezra, passing over several generations, but leading up to Aaron. Ezra,
then, could claim a high birth. He was a born priest of the select family of Zadok,
but not of the later house of high-priests. Therefore the privileges which are
assigned to that house in the Pentateuch cannot be accounted for by ascribing
ignoble motives of nepotism to its publisher. Though Ezra is named "The Priest," he
is more familiarly known to us as "The Scribe." The chronicler calls him "a ready
scribe" (or, a scribe skilful) "in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had
given." Originally the title "Scribe" was used for town recorders and registrars of
the census. Under the later kings of Judah, persons bearing this name were attached
to the court as the writers and custodians of state documents. But these are all quite
distinct from the scribes who appeared after the exile. The scribes of later days were
guardians and interpreters of the written Torah, the sacred law. They appeared
with the publication and adoption of the Pentateuch. They not only studied and
taught this complete law; they interpreted and applied its precepts. In so doing they
had to pronounce judgments of their own. Inasmuch as changing circumstances
necessarily required modifications in rules of justice, while The Law could not be
altered after Ezra’s day, great ingenuity was required to reconcile the old law with
the new decisions. Thus arose sophistical casuistry. Then in "fencing" The Law the
scribes added precepts of their own to prevent men from coming near the danger of
transgression.
Scribism was one of the most remarkable features of the later days of Israel. Its
existence in so much prominence showed that religion had passed into a new phase,
that it had assumed a literary aspect. The art of writing was known, indeed, in
Egypt and Babylon before the exodus; it was even practised in Palestine among the
Hittites as early as Abraham. But at first in their religious life the Jews did not give
much heed to literary documents. Priestism was regulated by traditional usages
rather than by written directions, and justice was administered under the kings
according to custom, precedent, and equity. Quite apart from the discussion
concerning the antiquity of the Pentateuch, it is certain that its precepts were
neither used nor known in the time of Josiah, when the reading of the roll
discovered in the temple was listened to with amazement. Still less did prophetism
rely on literary resources. What need was there of a book when the Spirit of God
was speaking through the audible voice of a living man? At first the prophets were
men of action. In more cultivated times they became orators, and then their speeches

17. were sometimes preserved-as the speeches of Demosthenes were preserved-for
future reference, after their primary end had been served. Jeremiah found it
necessary to have a scribe, Baruch, to write down his utterances. This was a further
step in the direction of literature, and Ezekiel was almost entirely literary, for his
prophecies were most of them written in the first instance. Still they were
prophecies, i.e., they were original utterances, drawn directly from the wells of
inspiration. The function of the scribes was more humble-to collect the sayings and
traditions of earlier ages; to arrange and edit the literary fragments of more original
minds. Their own originality was almost confined to their explanations of difficult
passages, or their adaptation of what they received to new needs and new
circumstances. Thus we see theology passing into the reflective stage; it is becoming
historical; it is being transformed into a branch of archaeology. Ezra the Scribe is
nervously anxious to claim the authority of Moses for what he teaches. The robust
spirit of Isaiah was troubled with no such scruple. Scribism rose when prophecy
declined. It was a melancholy confession that the fountains of living water were
drying up. It was like an aqueduct laboriously constructed in order to convey stored
water to a thirsty people from distant reservoirs. The reservoirs may be full, the
aqueduct may be sound, still who would not rather drink of the sparkling stream as
it springs from the rock? Moreover scribism degenerated into rabbinism, the
scholasticism of the Jews. We may see its counterpart in the Catholic scholasticism
which drew supplies from patristic tradition, and again in Protestant scholasticism-
which came nearer to the source of inspiration in the Bible, and yet which stiffened
into a traditional interpretation of Scripture, confining its waters to iron pipes of
orthodoxy.
But some men refuse to be thus tied to antiquarianism. They dare to believe that the
Spirit of God is still in the world, whispering in the fancy of little children, soothing
weary souls, thundering in the conscience of stoners, enlightening honest inquirers,
guiding perplexed men of faith. evertheless we are always in danger of one or
other of the two extremes of formal scholasticism and indefinite mysticism. The
good side of the scribes’ function is suggestive of much that is valuable. If God did
indeed speak to men of old "by divers portions and in divers manners," [Hebrews
1:1] what He said must be of the greatest value to us, for truth in its essence is
eternal. We Christians have the solid foundation of a historical faith to build upon,
and we cannot dispense with our gospel narratives and doctrinal epistles. What
Christ was, what Christ did, and the meaning of all this, is of vital importance to us,
but it is chiefly important because it enables us to see what He is today-a Priest ever
living to make intercession for us, a Deliverer who is even now able to save unto the
uttermost all who come unto God by Him, a present Lord who claims the active
loyalty of every fresh generation of the men and women for whom He died in the
far-off past. We have to combine the concrete historical religion with the inward,
living, spiritual religion to reach a faith that shall be true both objectively and
subjectively-true to the facts of the universe, and true to personal experience.
Ezra accomplished his great work, to a large extent, because he ventured to be more
than a scribe. Even when he was relying on the authority of antiquity, the
inspiration which was in him saved him from a pedantic adherence to the letter of

18. the Torah as he had received it. The modification of The Law when it was reissued
by the great scribe, which is so perplexing to some modern readers, is a proof that
the religion of Israel had not yet lost vitality and settled down into a fossil condition.
It was living, therefore it was growing, and in growing it was casting its old shell
and evolving a new vesture better adapted to its changed environment. Is not this
just a signal proof that God had not deserted His people?
Ezra is presented to us as a man of a deeply devout nature. He cultivated his own
personal religion before he attempted to influence his compatriots. The chronicler
tells us that he had prepared (directed) his heart, to seek the law of the Lord and to
do it. With our haste to obtain "results" in Christian service, there is danger lest the
need of personal preparation should be neglected. But work is feeble and fruitless if
the worker is inefficient, and he must be quite as inefficient if he has not the
necessary graces as if he had not the requisite gifts. Over and above the preparatory
intellectual culture-never more needed than in our own day-there is the all-essential
spiritual training. We cannot effectually win others to that truth which has no place
in our own hearts. Enthusiasm is kindled by enthusiasm. The fire must be first
burning within the preacher himself if he would light it in the breasts of other men.
Here lies the secret of the tremendous influence Ezra exerted when he came to
Jerusalem. He was an enthusiast for the law he so zealously advocated. ow
enthusiasm is not the creation of a moment’s thought; it is the outgrowth of long
meditation, inspired by deep, passionate love. It shows itself in the experience
expressed by the Psalmist when he said, "While I mused the fire burned." [Psalms
39:3] Ours is not an age of musing. But if we have no time to meditate over the great
verities of our faith, the flames will not be kindled, and in place of the glowing fire
of enthusiasm we shall have the gritty ashes of officialism.
Ezra turned his thoughts to the law of his God; he took this for the subject of his
daily meditation, brooding over it until it became a part of his own thinking. This is
the way a character is made. Men have larger power over their thoughts than they
are inclined to admit, and the greatness or the meanness, the purity or the
corruption of their character depends on the way in which that power is used. Evil
thoughts may come unbidden to the purest mind for Christ was tempted by the
devil, but such thoughts can be resisted, and treated as unwelcome intruders. The
thoughts that are welcomed and cherished, nourished in meditation, and sedulously
cultivated-these bosom friends of the inner man determine what he himself is to
become. To allow one’s mind to he treated as the plaything of every idle reverie-like
a boat drifting at the mercy of wind and current with.-out a hand at the helm-is to
court intellectual and moral shipwreck. The first condition of achieving success in
self-culture is to direct the course of the thinking aright. St. Paul enumerated a list
of good and honourable subjects to bid us "think on" such things. [Philippians 4:8]
The aim of Ezra’s meditation was three-old. First, he would "seek the law of the
Lord," for the teacher must begin with understanding the truth, and this may
involve much anxious searching. Possibly Ezra had to pursue a literary inquiry,
hunting up documents, comparing data, arranging and harmonising scattered
fragments. But the most important part of his seeking was his effort to find the real

19. meaning and purpose of The Law. It was in regard to this that he would have to
exercise his mind most earnestly Secondly, his aim was "to do it." He would not
attempt to preach what he had not tried to perform, he would test the effect of his
doctrine on himself before venturing to prescribe it for others. Thus he would be
most sure of escaping a subtle snare which too often entraps the preacher. When the
godly man of business reads his Bible, it is just to find light and food for his own
soul, but when the preacher turns the pages of the sacred book, he is haunted by the
anxiety to light upon suitable subjects for his sermons. Every man who handles
religious truths in the course of his work is in danger of coming to regard those
truths as the tools of his trade. If he succumbs to this danger it will be to his own
personal loss, and then even as instruments in his work the degraded truths will be
blunt and inefficient, because a man can never know the doctrine until he has begun
to obey the commandment. If religious teaching is not to be pedantic and unreal, it
must be interpreted by experience. The most vivid teaching is a transcript from life.
Thirdly, Ezra would "teach in Israel statutes and judgments." This necessarily
comes last-after the meditation, after the experience.
But it is of great significance as the crown and finish of the rest. Ezra is to be his
nation’s instructor. In the new order the first place is not to be reserved for a king;
it is assigned to a schoolmaster.
This will be increasingly the case as knowledge is allowed to prevail, and as truth is
permitted to sway the lives of men and fashion the history of communities.
So far we have Ezra’s own character and culture. But there was another side to his
preparation for his great life-work of which the chronicler took note, and which he
described in a favorite phrase of Ezra’s, a phrase so often used by the scribe that the
later writer adopted it quite naturally. Ezra’s request to he permitted to go up to
Jerusalem with a new expedition is said to have been granted him by the king
"according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him." [Ezra 7:6] Thus the
chronicler here acknowledges the Divine hand in the whole business, as he has the
inspired insight to do again and again in the course of his narrative. The special
phrase thus borrowed from Ezra is rich in meaning. In an earlier passage the
chronicler noticed that "the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews."
[Ezra 5:5] ow, in Ezra’s phrase, it is the hand of his God that is on Ezra. The
expression gives us a distinct indication of the Divine activity. God works, and, so to
speak, uses His hand. It also suggests the nearness of God. The hand of God is not
only moving and acting; it is upon Ezra. God touches the man, holds him, directs
him, impels him; and, as he shows elsewhere, Ezra is conscious of the influence, if
not immediately, yet by means of a devout study of the providential results. This
Divine power even goes so far as to move the Persian monarch. The chronicler
ascribes the conduct of successive kings of Persia to the immediate action of God.
But here it is connected with God’s hand being on Ezra. When God is holding and
directing His servants, even external circumstances are found to work for their
good, and even other men are induced to further the same end. This brings us to the
kernel, the very essence of religion. That was not found in Ezra’s wisely chosen
meditations, nor was it to be seen in his devout practices. Behind and beneath the

20. man’s earnest piety was the unseen but mighty action of God, and here, in the hand
of his God resting upon him, was the root of all his religious life. In experience the
human and the Divine elements of religion are inextricably blended together; but
the vital element, that which originates and dominates the whole, is the Divine.
There is no real, living religion without it. It is the secret of energy and the
assurance of victory. The man of true religion is he who has the hand of God resting
upon him, he whose thought and action are inspired and swayed by the mystic touch
of the Unseen.
LA GE, "I. Ezra’s Journey and Purpose. Ezra 7:1-10
1 ow after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of
Seraiah, 2the son of Prayer of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, The son of Shallum, the
son of Zadok, 3the son of Ahitub, The son of Amariah, the son of Prayer of Azariah,
the son of Ma 4 rioth, The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5The
son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief
priest: 6This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of
Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his
request, accord ing to the hand of the Lord his God upon him 7 And there went up
some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers,
and the porters, and the ethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of
Artaxerxes the king 8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in
the seventh year of the king 9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to
go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem,
according to the good hand of his God upon him 10 For Ezra had prepared his
heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and
judgments.
II. Artaxerxes’ Letter of Commission
11 ow this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the
priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and
of his statutes to Israel 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of
the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time 13 I make a decree,
that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm,
which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee 14
Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to inquire
concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine
hand; 15And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have
freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 16And all
the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the
freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of
their God which is in Jerusalem: 17That thou mayest buy speedily with this money
bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat-offerings and their drink-offerings, and offer
them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem 18 And
whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the

21. silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God 19 The vessels also that are
given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God
of Jerusalem 20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God,
which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure-house.
And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are
beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God 22
of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily, Unto a hundred talents of silver,
and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a
hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23Whatsoever is
commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God
of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24Also we certify you, that, touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters,
ethinim, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toil
atribute, or custom, upon them 25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God,
that is in thine hand, set magistrates and Judges, which may judge all the people
that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them
that know them not 26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of
the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or
to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
III. Ezra’s Thanksgiving
27Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the
king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem: And hath
extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the
king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of my Lord my God was
upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
EXEGETICAL A D CRITICAL
Our author has no scruples in simply leaping over a period of fully fifty-seven years,
in the use of the loose connecting formula: And after these things (comp. Genesis
15:1; Genesis 22:1, etc.). Such gaps the ancient sacred history has again and again;
it is silent respecting the time between Joseph and Moses, respecting the time passed
by the generation rejected of God in the wilderness, respecting the time of the exile.
There was lacking in these times useful material calculated for the edification of the
congregation, so much the more then must this have failed in the time subsequent to
the building of the temple, when the congregation of Jehovah had been excused
from the task of giving their life a civil organization, and accordingly was referred
to a quiet life, in which there could be no longer expected, as in former times, new
and important manifestations of God. evertheless the new beginning of the
congregation after the exile, which the book of Ezra would describe, had not been
entirely completed by that which had already transpired. It is true the temple and
its worship had been Revelation -established by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, but the law
was only thereby secured at the basis, an objective validity. With the new and holy
zeal that inspired all, at the beginning, it was their earnest endeavor, as we can
hardly doubt, to carry the law out likewise subjectively in the domestic and personal

22. life, with more and more completeness and thoroughness. But the vicinity of the
heathen, their dependence upon their superior authorities, the manifold intercourse
with many of them, which could hardly be avoided, made the temptation easy to be
brought into closer association with them, even to intermarry with them, and
thereby there was necessarily involved a neglect of the law, especially in its
prescription as to food and purity. Besides, the descendants of Zerubbabel, if we
may refer ehemiah 5:15 to them, were not calculated to offer the congregation a
higher support, they rather, in all probability, soon enough entirely withdrew. Thus
notwithstanding the temple and its worship, that which was properly the principal
thing, the life of the congregation in accordance with the law, yea the congregation
itself as such, was soon again brought into question. The thorough subordination to
the divine law, on the part of all, was now all the more necessary that it alone could
hold the individuals together. What previously had been accomplished by the
kingdom in Israel, must now be done by the law. It was necessary that the law, as
never before, should be exalted on the throne. And only when a real strengthening
of the life in the law had taken place could there be said to be such a new
establishment of the congregation as really promised to be the beginning of a new
and permanent existence. This Revelation -establishment was now for the first the
work of Ezra, and is rightly ascribed to him by a thankful posterity which honored
him as a second Moses. Certainly if we look upon the letter of commission which
Artaxerxes gave him to take along with him upon his first appearance in chap8. it
seems as if for him likewise the worship of the temple and its furtherance stood in
the foreground. And surely he took great pains in this direction likewise. But both of
these, the elevation of the temple worship, that perhaps again threatened to fall into
decay, and the strengthening of the congregation, in the life in the law, were too
closely connected together, that Ezra should have thought the one possible without
the other. And his real design was from the beginning very well given in Ezra 7:10 :
to teach in Israel statutes and judgments; and the letter of commission of Artaxerxes
authorized him, in a manner worthy of attention ( Ezra 7:25), to set up magistrates
and Judges, who should provide for the enforcement of the law. In our book he
accomplishes the Revelation -establishment at least in a negative way, by the
separation of heathen women, in general by the doing away with intermarriage with
the heathen; in eh. (8–10.) likewise in a positive way, that Isaiah, by renewing the
covenant with God on the basis of those prescriptions of the law that were then most
important.
Ezra 7:1-10. Artachshasta, which is here written ‫א‬ְ‫ְתּ‬‫ס‬ ַ‫ְשׁ‬‫ח‬ַ‫תּ‬ ְ‫,אַר‬ as in Ezra 7:11; Ezra
8:1; ehemiah 2:1; ehemiah 5:14; ehemiah 13:6, is surely the same, who in Ezra
6:14 is called ‫א‬ְ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ְשׁ‬‫ח‬ַ‫תּ‬ ְ‫אַר‬ (so also Ezra 4:8; Ezra 4:11; Ezra 4:23), and in Ezra 4:7
‫א‬ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ְשׁ‬‫ח‬ַ‫תּ‬ ְ‫,אַר‬ namely, Artaxerxes Longimanus. In ehemiah 13:6, where the same
person is certainly meant, since there is no doubt that Ezra and ehemiah were
cotemporaries according to ehemiah 12:36, the reference is to the thirty-second
year of his reign. This does not properly refer to Xerxes, whom Josephus (Arch.
XI:5, 1) and recently even Fritzsche (comp. Ezra 8:1), would understand, because it
is most natural to think of him after the Darius of the previous chapter, but only to
Artaxerxes Longimanus, to whom indeed the name itself refers with sufficient
clearness. Ezra sprang, according to the accompanying genealogy from the family of

23. the high-priest through Seraiah. For all the names from Seraiah up to Aaron are of
the line of the high-priest (comp 1 Chron5:30–40); only in. Ezra 7:3 six members of
the line are passed over between Azariah and Meraioth (according to 1 Chronicles
6:7-10), without doubt only for the sake of brevity, as is frequently the case in the
longer genealogies. Seraiah, the son of Prayer of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, was the
high-priest whom ebuchadnezzar had commanded to be slain at Riblah ( 2 Kings
25:18-21), was thus the father of the high-priest Jehozadak, who was carried into
exile ( 1 Chronicles 6:14 sq.). It is very notable, however, that Ezra did not spring
from Jehozadak in whose line the high-priesthood was inherited, but from a
younger son; for else the intervening member between him and Seraiah would not
have been left unmentioned. Ezra was probably the great grandson of Seraiah; for
the high-priest Jeshua who had gone to Jerusalem seventy-eight years before with
zerubbabel, was a grandson of Seraiah. One hundred and thirty years had already
passed since the execution of the latter in the year588.
PULPIT, "SECO D RETUR OF THE ISRAELITES FROM CAPTIVITY
U DER EZRA.
1. DECREE OF ARTAXERXES, A D RETUR U DER EZRA, WITH THE
UMBERS OF THOSE WHO RETUR ED, A D THE AMES OF THE CHIEF
ME .
EXPOSITIO
FIFTY-SEVE years after the completion of the temple and its dedication, when the
long and eventful rein of Darius was over, and his son Xerxes, probably the
Ahasuerus of Esther, had also lived and reigned and passed away, and the grandson
of Darius, known generally as Artaxerxes Longimanus, occupied the Persian throne,
a further return of Israelites from Babylon, on a tolerably large scale, took place.
Ezra, a member of the high priest's family, a descendant of Seraiah, the "chief
priest" at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:18), and probably a
third cousin of the existing high priest, Eliashib, having access to Artaxerxes, and,
apparently, a certain influence with him, asked (Ezra 7:6) and obtained the royal
permission to reinforce the colony in Judaea by a fresh body of emigrants, and at
the same time to convey to Jerusalem a sum of money, which the Babylonian Jews
had subscribed towards the temple service (ibid. verse 16). Artaxerxes appears to
have had a high respect for Ezra; he recognised in him one possessed of wisdom
from on high (verse 25), and readily granted him, not only the request that he had
made, but an important commission, which was mainly one of inquiry (verse 14),
but which made him for a time paramount civil ruler of the province, with power of
life and death over its inhabitants (verse 26); and also conferred upon the Jewish
people certain valuable gifts and privileges. The terms of the decree are set forth in
Ezra 7:12-26, where the Chaldee version of the text, as published by Artaxerxes, is
probably given verbatim et literatim. After reciting it, Ezra breaks out into a brief
but earnest burst of thanksgiving and acknowledgment of God's goodness, which
concludes Ezra 7:1-28; occupying the last two verses. He then proceeds, in Ezra 8:1-

24. 36; to give an account of the number of the Jews who returned with him, with the
names of their leaders, whom he calls "chief of the fathers." Having completed his
list in Ezra 8:14, he goes on (Ezra 8:15-31) to describe the circumstances of the
journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, which occupied exactly four months,
commencing on the first day of the first month and terminating on the first day of
the fifth month (Ezra 7:9). In conclusion, he tells us how, after a rest of three days,
he discharged himself of the most pressing of the commissions intrusted to him,
delivering over to the priests in charge of the temple the gifts sent by Artaxerxes,
and making known to the various Persian officials of the district the terms of the
royal decree so far as they were affected by it (Ezra 8:32-36). This section may be
subdivided into seven parts:—
1. The genealogy of Ezra (Ezra 7:1-5);
2. The fact of his journey, with its dates (Ezra 7:6-10);
3. The decree of Artaxerxes with respect to Ezra (Ezra 7:11-26);
4. The thanksgiving of Ezra (Ezra 7:27, Ezra 7:28);
5. The numbers of those who accompanied him to Jerusalem, with the names of the
chiefs (Ezra 8:1-14);
6. The circumstances of the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:15-31); and
7. The three days' rest at Jerusalem and execution of the more pressing commissions
(Ezra 8:32-36).
Ezra 7:1-5
THE GE EALOGY OF EZRA (Ezra 7:1-5). It is plain that this genealogy is
incomplete. It gives no more than sixteen generations between Ezra and Aaron,
whereas the number of generations between Zerubbabel and ashon, prince of
Judah in Aaron's time ( umbers 1:7; umbers 2:3), was twenty-six (1 Chronicles
2:10-15; 1 Chronicles 3:5-19), and that between Aaron himself and Eliashib at least
as many (1 Chronicles 6:3-15; 1 Chronicles 9:11; ehemiah 12:10). Six names are
omitted between the Azariah and Memioth of verse 3, which will be found in 1
Chronicles 6:7-10; and at least three must be wanting between Ezra himself and
Seraiah, who was the great-great-grandfather of Eliashib, Ezra's contemporary
( ehemiah 3:1; ehemiah 13:4). The curtailment of genealogies by the omission of
names was a common practice of the Jews. A notable instance is the omission of
three royal names in St. Matthew's genealogy of our Lord (Matthew 1:8).
Ezra 7:1
The writer makes a marked division between his first and second sections by means
of the words, " ow after these things," which he uses in this place only. The actual

25. interval seems to have been one of between fifty-seven and fifty-eight years, the sixth
year of Darius being b.c. 516, and the seventh of Artaxerxes Longimanus b.c. 458.
Artaxerxes is in the original "Artakhshata," which reproduces the Persian
Artakhshatra with the change of only one letter. That Longimanus, the grandson of
Darius, is meant seems to follow from the fact that Eliashib, the grandson of Jeshua
is high priest under him ( ehemiah 3:1).
Darius, correspond to Jeshua,
Xerxes correspond to Joiakim
Artaxerxes correspond to Eliashib
But for this it would be possible to regard the Artaxerxes of Ezra (Ezra 7:1-28.) and
ehemiah as Mnemon. Ezra the son of Seraiah. Probably the great-great-grandson.
In the language of the sacred writers, every descendant is a "son," and every
ancestor a "father." Christ is "the son of David," and David "the son of Abraham"
(Matthew 1:1). Joram "begat" Uzziah (Matthew 1:8), his great-great-grandson.
Jochebed was "the daughter of Levi (Exodus 2:1). Ezra omits the names of his
father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, who were undistinguished, and claims
descent from Seraiah, the last high priest who had ministered in Solomon's temple
(2 Kings 25:18). Azariah, the father of Seraiah, does not occur in either Kings or
Chronicles; but Hilkiah, Azariah's father, is no doubt the high priest of Josiah's
time (2 Kings 22:4-14; 2 Chronicles 34:14-22, etc.).
PULPIT, "Ezra 7:1-10
The reformer.
"After these things"—nearly sixty years "after," as usually understood—certain
other things came to pass. Things so far similar that they may be recorded in the
same connection; things so far different as to open out to us quite a new part of this
book. There is this similarity, for example—that we have the story here of another
and supplementary pilgrimage of captive Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem. On
the other hand, there are these points of difference—that the new pilgrimage is on a
much smaller scale; and that the story itself is rather biographical than historical, as
before—all of it, in fact, centring closely round the doings of one man. Accordingly,
it is with the portrait of this one man, Ezra, that this new portion begins. We can see
at once, on looking at the portrait, that he is a zealous ecclesiastical reformer; and
we can easily understand there being a great necessity at Jerusalem for such a man
at that time. Of this, however, and of what he did there, we shall read by and by. At
present we see chiefly his fitness for this difficult role; and that in connection—
1. with his ancestry;
2. his attainments; and

26. 3. his ambition.
I. EZRA'S A CESTRY. This, given us in verses 1-5, would be such as to fit him for
the work of Church reformation in several ways.
1. As to office. By lineage we see that he was a priest; and therefore an authorised
preacher (Le Ezra 10:11; 2 Chronicles 15:3; Malachi 2:5-7); and therefore a person
who would have special facilities in reforming or setting things right, because such
endeavours would, in his case, be only expected. How can any man teach truth and
right without correcting error and wrong?
2. As to tradition. It may at least be noticed that, according to this lineage, very
many of the traditions of his peculiar priestly ancestry would be specially in favour
of reforming work. He belonged, e.g; to the better of the two principal priestly lines,
viz; that of Eleazar as compared with Ithamar, to which Eli and his sons (1
Chronicles 24:3, 1 Chronicles 24:4; 1 Chronicles 6:8) belonged. Also, even in this
very abridged form of his genealogy, how conspicuous are the individual names of
Phinehas ( umbers 25:1-18.; Joshua 22:1-34.; Psalms 106:30) and Hilkiah (2 Kings
22:1-20.; 2 Chronicles 34:1-33.) in regard to this point! It could never, therefore, be
said of him, in attempting similar work, as in 1 Samuel 10:12.
3. As to position. Being himself descended from Seraiah, the grandfather or great
(or great-great) grandfather of the high priest of that time (1 Chronicles 6:14; Ezra
3:2; ehemiah 3:1; ehemiah 12:10), he would be not only a priest, but a priest with
peculiar family advantages for exerting an influence for good, something as is the
case with a "prince of the blood" among us. On the whole, while all these things by
themselves would not necessarily dispose him to become a reformer, they would all
help him, if so disposed.
II. EZRA'S SPECIAL ATTAI ME TS. These would also qualify him for such
labours. For we find that he had learned—
1. How to listen to God. The man who would reform others must begin by reforming
himself; and this he can only do effectually by means of an accurate knowledge of
God's will, that one standard of perfect right (see Psalms 111:10, and end of Luke
11:2). This point secured in the present instance
(a) by Ezra's discrimination. He knew where to look for God's word, viz; in the
"Scriptures" of truth, recognising clearly their double aspect, as at once human (the
"law of Moses"), and also Divine (which "God had given"). Comp. 1 Thessalonians
2:13—"the word of God which ye heard of us." He recognised also their peculiar
value (which the "God of Israel had given"), as God's special gift to his own people
(Romans 3:1, Romans 3:2).
(b) By Ezra's diligence. Being thus valuable, he treated them accordingly. How
much is implied in that expression, a "ready scribe"! "Reading," to know the letter.

27. "Marking," to know the meaning. "Inwardly learning and digesting," to know the
power. And all together, to acquire the right use—to be "ready" with them
whenever called for. A man thus familiar with the "sword of the Spirit" might
naturally be expected to further the Spirit's work.
2. How to speak to men. Many book-learned men are too bookish for this; and,
therefore, not fit for reforming efforts. They can describe their weapons, but not
employ them. Ezra, we find, on the contrary, was a man able to persuade men of all
ranks and conditions, whether superiors, from whom he asked permission to go
(end of verses 6 and 28), or equals and inferiors, both lay and clerical (verse 7),
whom he persuaded to go with him. ote, however, that this second qualification or
attainment was the result of the first, as implied in end of verse 6, and in what we
afterwards read in Ezra 8:17, Ezra 8:18.
III. EZRA'S SPECIAL AMBITIO . Unless a man desires an end—unless he
strongly desires it, if difficult of attainment Ñ he is never likely to reach it. However
favoured by circumstances, however qualified in itself, the locomotive will never go
forward without the requisite moving power. This supplied here by Ezra's special
ambition. We notice—
1. Its patience. What is said here (in verse 9) of the length of his journey from
Babylon may help to illustrate this. Also what we read afterwards in the detailed
account of that journey, his waiting for the Levites, in Ezra 8:15-20, and subsequent
delay for fasting (Ezra 8:21-23). What is worth obtaining is worth waiting for.
Perhaps this conviction is, of all necessities, the most necessary for success (James
5:7).
2. Its depth. "Ezra prepared his heart." He was deeply earnest as well as patient;
could strike as well as endure; and not only bide his time, but use it too. This a rare
combination, but most important, in doing good (see Galatians 6:9; also examples of
Jacob, Moses, and Jehoiada, the high priest, in 2 Chronicles 22:12; 2 Chronicles
23:1-15).
3. Its direction. Those qualifying attainments we have spoken of were his because he
had sought them—sought them not only as an end, but as a means also to other
ends. How definite and complete the description. "Ezra had prepared his heart, to
seek—to do—and to teach." "To teach in Israel statutes and judgments:" there was
the summit of his ambition. First to know and "do" it himself: there was the path, in
his judgment, that led to that summit. As the poet has written: "Allured to brighter
worlds, and led the way."
Such is the opening portrait of the man whom God had called then to this special
calling. We may gather from it some general considerations as to God's preparatory
work in such cases. We see, e.g.—
1. How far back such work may begin. In this ease of Ezra, e.g; as far back (shall we
say?) as Aaron. Certainly before his own birth (comp. Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians

28. 1:15); and thenceforward, continually, in all his early training and studies, and in
all the various hereditary and circumstantial influences that made him finally the
man that he was. This especially illustrated in the case of the greatest of all these
"sent forth" (Hebrews 3:1). As far back, at least, as the birth of Seth, God was
preparing for that of Christ.
2. How far off such work may begin. Here, e.g; in Babylon for the benefit of those in
Jerusalem. So afterwards at Joppa for Cornelius in Cesarea. So in Egypt in
Pharaoh's bed-chamber (Genesis 41:1-57.) for the preservation of those then in
Canaan. So in Troas for the benefit of Macedonia (Acts 16:8, Acts 16:9); and in
Philippi for that of Thyatira (Acts 16:14; Revelation 2:18); and in Palestine for the
salvation of Ethiopia (Acts 8:26-39); and, finally, in heaven itself for the good of
earth (Luke 19:10; John 3:16 . 1 Timothy 1:15).
3. How far in both ways it extends. Here the good work afterwards done by Ezra at
Jerusalem helped to preserve by purifying the nucleus of the whole Jewish
dispersion then residing there; and so, afterwards still, the whole dispersion. The
dispersion, thus preserved, prepared the way, as we saw before, for the preaching of
the gospel to all nations in all parts of the world; which, again, is to prepare for the
restoration of Israel to God's favour, and the consequent fulness of blessing to all
mankind (Romans 11:12, Romans 11:15). What an extraordinary power and depth
and stretch of influence for good is implied in these words—"Beloved for the
fathers' sakes."! And how constantly we see similar influence telling on strange
peoples and future generations in the history of the world!
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDO ALD
Ezra 7:1-10
The exodus under Ezra.
"After these things," viz; the events which culminated in the dedication of the
temple, and consequent ordering of the service of God. "In the reign of Artaxerxes
king of Persia," after an interval of nearly sixty years, during which the house of the
Lord had so fallen into disrepair as to need "beautifying," and the civil state of the
children of the restoration had become disordered, and needed readjustment. With
these purposes, and with a view to leading back to Judaea another detachment of
Israelites, Ezra received a commission from the king. In the text—
I. HE AUTHE TICATES HIMSELF AS THE LEADER OF THIS EXODUS.
1. He evinces his social qualification.
2. He evinces his moral qualifications. "He was a ready scribe," etc.
(2) This is the law, therefore, to be studied. Its author, God. Its matter, truth the
most sublime. Its spirit, holiness. Its end, heaven.

29. (3) A ready scribe (not a skilful penman only, but an able expounder also) of such a
law has the noblest qualifications to be a leader of men.
3. He evinces his political qualification.
II. HE RELATES THE SUCCESS OF HIS U DERTAKI G.
1. In the muster.
2. In the journey.
3. In the blessing of God.
(a) With God.
(b) With the king.
(c) With the people.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSO
Ezra 7:1-10
Ezra: his character and work.
The study of human character and of human life is not only an essential part of
human knowledge, but of spiritual culture. Biography is a means of grace. We do
well to follow in thought the lines along which the noblest of our race have moved:
we are thereby attracted toward them, and grow up toward their spiritual stature.
We may learn from the life and character of Ezra by considering—
I. WHAT WE K OW HE WAS A D DID. He was—
1. A priest, claiming descent, as we see, from Aaron (verse 5); and we doubt not that
he discharged, faithfully and conscientiously, the duties of the priesthood. He was,
moreover, what came to be called—
2.A scribe (verse 6), i.e.
Ezra "prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach," etc.
(verse 10): These three functions of the scribe include the three most important
duties a man can undertake: viz.,
3. Administrator and reformer. He conducted the party whom he headed to
Jerusalem in peace and safety (verse 8); there he established himself as leader of the
people, and set about the work of reforming abuses with a vigorous hand. His

30. ardour led to a serviceable organisation and reform. He seems also to have been, as
few strong-willed men are, a co-operator with others. He acted with ehemiah, the
governor, and it may well have been difficult to define strictly their respective
offices.
4. Man of influence with his fellows. There was that about him, due to the elevation
and disinterestedness of his character as well as to the vigour and robustness of his
mind, which gave him strange influence with the king, so that he gave him leave to
lead out a large return party, and also entrusted him with large powers in the
commission. Men who, like Ezra, earnestly seek the will of God and do what they
know to be right (verse 10), and lay themselves out for "doing good and
communicating" (Hebrews 13:16), are likely to have power with men.
5. Man through whom God wrought. "The hand of the Lord his God was upon
him" (verses 6, 9, etc.). His soul felt the quickening touch of the Divine finger, and it
kindled with a sacred glow of piety and zeal. He was moved of God to attempt great
things, and helped of God to achieve them. His life flowed on like a fertilising river,
and did so because "all his springs were in God" (Psalms 87:7). Our character may
contain much that is excellent, and our lives include much that is honourable, but
except the "hand of the Lord our God be upon us," renewing our heart and blessing
our life, we shall not be or do that which is pleasing to him or useful to our fellows.
II. GE ERALLY RECEIVED TRADITIO RESPECTI G EZRA. It is commonly
believed among the Jews that he instituted the Great Synagogue, that he settled the
canon of Scripture, that he himself wrote the books of the Chronicles, Ezra,
ehemiah, and (perhaps) Esther, and that he established the system of synagogue
worship. This last arose about his time, and, if indeed due to him, is a work which
laid his countrymen, and indeed us all (for had not the forms of the synagogue
something, if not much, to do with the forms of the early Church?), under a heavy
debt of gratitude. Ezra was a holy and zealous man, with a strong mind and a firm
will, exercising a commanding influence on his contemporaries, making the word of
God the basis and mainspring of his action, seeking and striving for the purity of the
people of God. Some things he did we know. Others we know not of. We may not be
so great and distinguished as he was. It may not be in our power to render such
signal services as he did, or to leave behind us such a reputation as he has left. Yet in
the essentials of his character and work we may be like him. We also may—
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL
Ezra 7:1-10
Ezra the type of as ideal minister.
I. THAT HE IS GE ERALLY A MA OF GOOD MORAL A CESTRY. "The son
of Aaron the chief priest" (verse 5). Ezra was in the line of a renowned and religious
ancestry; the past history of Israel would be full of meaning to him; sacred
traditions would inspire him in the present national crisis, It is well for a minister to

31. have in his ancestry men whose lives and activities have been intimately associated
with the Church; their holy example will animate him; natural sympathy will
stimulate him; the sacred enterprise of his family will inspire him; a blessed heritage
will be his. It is a privilege for a minister to be in the line of Aaron, if he continue
faithfully in the work of Aaron. The inspiration and influence of a holy ancestry is a
rich ministerial endowment.
II. THAT HE IS A MA OF SELF-SACRIFICI G SPIRIT. Ezra left Babylon for
Jerusalem. He exchanged the comfort and influence which he enjoyed in the court of
Artaxerxes for the hardships of a perilous journey, and for the broken fortunes of
Israel. The true minister will ever be ready to leave Babylon for Jerusalem; he will
esteem luxury, and even life itself, as subservient to the welfare of the people of God.
Christ left a better court than Babylon, and allied himself with sinful men that he
might restore their broken hopes. The early disciples left all and followed Christ;
the carnal must be sacrificed to the spiritual.
III. THAT HE IS A MA I TELLIGE TLY TAUGHT I THE WORD OF GOD.
"And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses" (verse 6).
1. He intelligently understood the truth.
2. He carefully prepared his moral nature for the reception of the truth. "For Ezra
had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord" (verse 10).
3. He constantly endeavoured to make his conduct an embodiment of the truth.
"And to do it" (verse 10).
4. He wisely recognised the deeper meanings of the truth. "To seek the law of the
Lord"
5. He earnestly sought to impart to others a knowledge of the truth. "And to teach in
Israel." Thus the true minister will understand the gospel; will prepare his soul by
repentance and prayer for the reception of the gospel in all its entirety; will exhibit
the gospel in his daily conduct; will seek the hidden messages of the gospel; and will
strive to bring mankind to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus.
IV. THAT HE IS A MA CAPABLE OF ATTACHI G ME TO HIMSELF (verse
7; compare Ezra 8:16, Ezra 8:18). Ezra went not alone to Jerusalem, but succeeded
in getting many to accompany him.
1. He awakened sympathy in many of his comrades.
2. He awakened conscience in some of his comrades.
3. He employed appropriate agencies to induce others to join him in the journey
(Ezra 8:18). The true minister will employ all rightful means to induce men to walk
with him in the ways of a new life to heaven; he will not isolate himself from men,

32. but take them with him by the force of sympathy.
V. THAT HE IS A MA WHO E DEAVOURS RIGHTLY TO I FLUE CE THE
CIVIL AUTHORITIES. Ezra was evidently on the most friendly terms with
Artaxerxes; magistrates and ministers should be in sympathy with each other. The
sovereign and the scribe should be mutually helpful; there should be no antagonism
between the Church and the state. The true minister will cultivate a judicious co-
operation with the "powers that be." Ezra taught the king, hence his knowledge of
the God of Israel (verse 15). It is the office of the minister to instruct men in lofty
social station, when they have the opportunity, as well as to aid the poor Israelite.
The Church is the best teacher of the state.—E.
2
the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of
Ahitub,
3
the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of
Meraioth,
4
the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of
Bukki,
5
the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest--
6
this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a

33. teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which
the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king
had granted him everything he asked, for the
hand of the LORD his God was on him.
BAR ES, "A ready scribe - Or, “a ready writer” Psa_45:1. The professional scribe
was well known in Egypt from an early date (see Gen_39:4 note); and under David and
his successors “scribes” were attached to the court as the king’s secretaries (2Sa_8:17;
2Sa_20:25; 2Ki_12:10, etc.). It was scarcely, however, until the time of the captivity that
the class to which Ezra belonged arose. The “scribes” of this time, and of later Jewish
history, were students, interpreters, and copiers of the Law (see the marginal references
and Jer_8:8). They retained the knowledge of the old dialect, which was being rapidly
superseded by a new one. The emphatic application of the title “the scribe” to Ezra
marks the high honor in which the office was now held. Its glories eclipsed those of the
priesthood.
The hand of the Lord ... upon him - The use of this phrase in a good sense is rare
elsewhere (compare 1Ki_18:46), but is a favorite one with both Ezra and Nehemiah (see
the marginal references; Neh_2:8, Neh_2:18).
CLARKE, "A ready scribe - ‫מחיר‬ ‫סופר‬ sopher machir does not merely signify a
speedy writer or an excellent penman, but one who was eminently skillful in expounding
the law. In this sense the word γραµµατευς, scribe, is repeatedly used in the New
Testament, and we find that both in the Old and New Testament it had the same
signification. The Syriac gives the sense of the word by translating sophro chocimo, a wise
scribe, or expounder.
GILL, "This Ezra went up from Babylon,.... A second time; for that he went up
with Zerubbabel is clear from Neh_12:1, and is plainly intimated, Ezr_5:4,
and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel
had given; the meaning is, not that he had a quick hand in writing out copies of it, but
was well versed in the knowledge of it; had studied it thoroughly, well instructed in it,
and was abundantly qualified to teach it others; he was an eminent doctor of the law; so
scribes, in the New Testament, who are the same with the lawyers, were such as were
teachers of the law; the word here used in the Arabic language signifies to be expert, as
Jarchi (o) learned from one of their doctors:
and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord
his God upon him; either upon Ezra, giving him favour with the king, and so success
and prosperity; or it may denote the divine influence of the God of Ezra upon the heart

34. of the king, moving him to grant what he asked of him, even everything he desired: he
seems to have been sent upon an embassy to the king from the chief men at Jerusalem;
perhaps the governors of Syria had not so fully made the disbursements the king in his
decree had required them to make, since the following commission chiefly respects such
things; and he was sent on that errand to acquaint the king with it, as well as to persuade
those that remained to return, and to obtain leave for it.
HE RY, "His character. Though of the younger house, his personal qualifications
made him very eminent. 1. He was a man of great learning, a scribe, a ready scribe, in
the law of Moses, Ezr_7:6. He was very much conversant with the scriptures, especially
the writings of Moses, had the words ready and was well acquainted with the sense and
meaning of them. It is to be feared that learning ran low among the Jews in Babylon; but
Ezra was instrumental to revive it. The Jews say that he collected and collated all the
copies of the law he could find out, and published an accurate edition of it, with all the
prophetical books, historical and poetical, that were given by divine inspiration, and so
made up the canon of the Old Testament, with the addition of the prophecies and
histories of his own time. If he was raised up of God, and qualified and inclined to do
this, all generations have reason to call him blessed, and to bless God for him. God sent
to the Jews prophets and scribes, Mat_23:34. Ezra went under the latter denomination.
Now that prophecy was about to cease it was time to promote scripture-knowledge,
pursuant to the counsel of God by the last of the prophets, Mal_4:4. Remember the law
of Moses. Gospel ministers are called scribes instructed to the kingdom of heaven (Mat_
13:52), New Testament scribes. It was a pity that such a worthy name as this should be
worn, as it was in the degenerate ages of the Jewish church, by men who were professed
enemies to Christ and his gospel (Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees), who were
learned in the letter of the law, but strangers to the spirit of it.
JAMISO , "This Ezra ... was a ready scribe in the law of Moses — The term
“scribe” does not mean merely a penman, nor even an attorney well versed in forms of
law and skilled in the method of preparing public or private deeds. He was a rabbi, or
doctor, learned in the Mosaic law, and in all that related to the civil and ecclesiastical
polity and customs of the Hebrew people. Scribes of this description possessed great
authority and influence (compare Mat_23:25; Mar_12:28).
the king granted him all his request — left Babylon entrusted with an important
commission to be executed in Jerusalem. The manner in which he obtained this office is
minutely related in a subsequent passage. Here it is noticed, but with a pious
acknowledgment of the divine grace and goodness which disposed the royal mind in
favor of Ezra’s patriotic objects. The Levites, etc., did not go at that time, but are
mentioned here by anticipation.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:6. This Ezra went up from Babylon — With the king’s consent
and commission. And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses — He is called a
scribe, as Buxtorf observes in his Tiberias, not from writing and describing, but
from declaring and explicating those things that are contained in the Scripture. For,
as ‫,ספר‬ sepher, signifies a book, so ‫,סופר‬ sopher, signifies one skilful and learned in
that book, an interpreter and teacher out of it. And, there being no book
comparable to the book of the law, therefore Sopher became a name of great
dignity, and signified one that taught God’s law, and expounded it to his people.
Thus, in the ew Testament, the scribes were those who instructed the people in the

35. law. It is said he was a ready scribe, because he was expert in the law, and
understood it thoroughly, both in all things belonging to the priesthood, and to the
civil power; in which he was so well versed, that he could give a ready account of
any part of it. The Jews say, he collected and collated all the copies of the law, and
published an accurate edition of it, with all the books that were given by divine
inspiration, and so made up the canon of the Old Testament. Moses in Egypt, and
Ezra in Babylon, were wonderfully fitted for eminent service in the church. This
was the second time that Ezra came up from Babylon, for he came up at first with
Zerubbabel, as we learn from ehemiah 12:1, and probably returned to Babylon to
persuade those who had staid behind to come up to Jerusalem, and to obtain some
further assistance from the king. According to the hand of the Lord his God upon
him — God not only stirred up Ezra to this undertaking, but was so favourable to
him as to incline the king to give a gracious answer to his petition.
COKE, "Ver. 6. A ready scribe— The LXX, the Vulgate, and our translation,
render the original words a ready scribe; as if to have a quick hand at writing out
the law were any great perfection, or that an aged man, as Ezra was, should be
renowned for it. It was not for writing, then, but for explaining the things of
Scripture, that Ezra was so famous; for ‫סופר‬ soper denotes one skilled and learned,
from ‫ספר‬ seper, a book; and, as no book was comparable to the book of the law, ‫סופר‬
soper became a name of great dignity, and signified one who taught God's law, and
instructed the people out of it. In which sense we find the word γραµµατεις, or
scribes, used in the ew Testament; for when our Saviour is said to have taught the
people as one having authority, and not as the scribes, this plainly shews, that these
scribes were not transcribers, but teachers and expounders of the law, though they
did not do it with a proper authority. It can hardly be imagined but that some more
than ordinary means were used to obtain so great a favour from Artaxerxes, as this
commission was upon which Ezra went; and therefore we may suppose, that it was
granted at the solicitation of Esther; for this Artaxerxes was the Ahasuerus of
Esther. She was become the best-beloved of the king's concubines, though not yet
advanced to the dignity of queen; for it being usual for the kings of Persia, on some
particular days and occasions, to allow their women to ask what boons they pleased,
it is not unlikely that, by the direction of Mordecai, upon some such occasion as this,
Esther, though she had not discovered her kingdom and nation, might make this the
matter of her request.
ELLICOTT, "(6) A ready scribe.—The “ready writer” of Psalms 45:1. Ezra was a
priest, and this title is rightly placed before that of scribe in what follows; but here
at the outset, when he first appears in history, the title is used which expressed his
pre-eminent function, that of guarding and interpreting the law (Ezra 7:10).
All his request.—This anticipates the letter of Ezra 7:11; a series of supplementary
notes intervenes.
According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.—The full formula for that
special providence over God’s servants which both Ezra and ehemiah recognised.

36. LA GE, "Ezra 7:6. This Ezra went up from Babylon.—This renews the subject and
gives the predicate of Ezra 7:1.—A ready scribe.—Since Ezra is designated already
at the beginning as a skillful or learned scholar, that talent is ascribed to him, upon
which under the present circumstances, the fostering of the life of the congregation
most depended. ‫ֵר‬‫פ‬‫,סוֹ‬ in the ancient writings, writer or secretary, has already
obtained the meaning of γραµµατεύς in Jeremiah 8:8, where it is parallel and
synonymous with ‫ים‬ִ‫מ‬ָ‫כ‬ֲ‫ח‬. If it became the official name of the chancellor in the sense
of scribe, it has in the sense of scholar, as is clear especially from Ezra 7:11, already
almost the character of a title of honor for the man of learning. The additional
clause: the king granted him——all his request, indicates that his journey was no
private undertaking, that he rather was provided with a certain authority, and
journeyed as an official personage. Yet we must not think of him as governor of
Judah; he is nowhere given this title. He had simply the authority to teach as a
teacher his knowledge of the law, and at the same time as a superior judge—
according to Ezra 7:25, likewise by the setting up of suitably subordinate judges—to
vindicate the law.—‫ה‬ָ‫ָשׁ‬‫ק‬ַ‫ב‬, the request, the petition, except here, is only found in the
book of Esther, Ezra 5:3; Ezra 5:6. The question how this favoring of Ezra is related
to the writing of Artaxerxes given in chap4, is best answered by the fact that Ezra’s
journey occurred somewhat later, that Artaxerxes, since he had been moved to that
writing by his officials, had paid more attention to the Jews, and that he furthered
Ezra’s journey in order to strengthen the Jewish congregation; perhaps also in
order to show thereby that he actually was ready to be as just as possible,
notwithstanding the prohibition issued respecting the walls of the city. It is shown
then by this approval that he would perhaps recall at a suitable time even that
prohibition which indeed had been issued at first only provisionally.—According to
the hand of the Lord his God upon him.—This language which occurs elsewhere
only in Ezra 7:9; Ezra 7:28; Ezra 8:18; ehemiah 2:8; ehemiah 2:18, and whose
foundation is contained in Ezra 8:22; Ezra 8:31, means so much as this, namely:
“according to the goodness, providence and grace which ruled over him,” namely
Ezra, as then this band of God sometimes is expressly designated as ‫ָה‬‫ב‬‫ַטּוֹ‬‫ה‬( Ezra 7:9;
Ezra 8:18) or ‫ָה‬‫ב‬‫ְטוֹ‬‫ל‬ ( Ezra 8:22).
PULPIT, "This Ezra went up. See comment on Ezra 2:1, where the same expression
― "went up"—is used. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. On the meaning
of this phrase, and the new position occupied by "scribes" after the captivity, see
'Introduction to Ezra,' § 5. Which the Lord God of Israel had given. It is
characteristic of Ezra's piety never to forget that the law was not a mere human
code given by an earthly lawgiver, not even a national treasure, the accumulation of
centuries, but a direct Divine gift "the law of the Lord" (verse 10), "the words of the
commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel" (verse 11), "the law which
the Lord had commanded by Moses" ( ehemiah 8:14). According to the hand of the
Lord his God upon him. i.e. "by reason of God's favour to him." God, by reason of
his favour to Ezra, inclined the heart of Artaxerxes towards him, so that he granted
all his request. The nature of the "request" is not directly stated, but may be
gathered from the "letter of Artaxerxes," especially verses 13, 14, 16.
PETT, "Ezra 7:6

37. ‘This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses,
which YHWH, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all his
request, according to the hand of YHWH his God upon him.’
Ezra is described as ‘a ready (skilled and capable) Scribe in the Law of Moses,
which YHWH the God of Israel had given’. He is thus seen as being an expert in the
Law of Moses given at Sinai.
‘The king granted him all his request.’ The idea behind this statement is that he was
fully approved of by Artaxerxes who was willing to give him anything that he
required for the fulfilment of his task. A comparison may be intended here with the
Pharaoh of the Exodus who also granted to Moses, albeit reluctantly, all that he had
requested (Exodus 12:31-32). Ezra may be being seen as the new Moses, swaying the
king and leading his people into the promised land, bearing the Law of Moses, and
having received the gifts from the people who were remaining behind (compare
Ezra 1:4; Ezra 7:15-16). While we are nowhere told of things which Ezra did ask
for, chief among them would be the king’s authority to act in matters to do with the
Law of Moses (Ezra 7:25), something which was very dear to Ezra’s heart (Ezra
7:10). And it may also have included the treasures for God’s house and the right to
require from the officials in Beyond the River anything that he required for his task
(Ezra 7:21). Much may also well have been provided in the way of beasts of burden
in order to ensure the comfort of his journey. And the reason for the king’s favour
was because ‘the hand of YHWH his God was upon him’ (Ezra 7:6)
ISBET, "A ‘WELL-I STRUCTED SCRIBE’
‘Ezra … a ready scribe.’
Ezra 7:6
Here begins the second section of the book, that which gathers around the doings of
Ezra.
I. Between the close of the sixth chapter and the commencement of this, sixty years
have passed away.—They had been to a very great extent uneventful years in the
history of the people settled in Jerusalem. That the people had largely failed in the
realisation of the purposes of Zerubbabel is evident from the work done by Ezra,
and subsequently by ehemiah.
II. The present chapter tells the story of the coming of Ezra, and there are two
verses which explain the movement for us.—They are Ezra 7:10; Ezra 7:23, in
which we discover the individual inspiration in the case of Ezra and Artaxerxes. As
to Ezra (Ezra 7:10) he was moved while still in Babylon toward the helping of his
people in Jerusalem. In order to do this, he yielded himself personally to obedience
to the law of God, and so prepared himself for his work of teaching. The verse
should not be passed without noticing its suggestiveness for all such as are called, or
feel they are called to teach. The order is, ‘to seek, … to do, … to teach.’ Then in
Ezra 7:23 there is an explanation of the personal reason for the decree and
beneficence of Artaxerxes. Why should there be ‘wrath against the realm of the king
and his sons’? It is perfectly evident that he had some very clear consciousness of

38. the power of God.
III. The hand of God rests upon those who love His Word, and where it lights, there
the hearts of men are inclined to help.—The king granted all Ezra’s requests.
Beneath the covert of that hand we can journey safely.
It is good to set our heart to seek God’s law, but searching must always be combined
with doing, and when we do we have a right to teach. O God! give us the steadfast
heart, set on knowing and performing Thy will. May the rudder of our soul be held
by Thy strong hand, that it may vacillate beneath the touch of no cross current.
IV. See how Ezra’s love for God’s law impressed Artaxerxes with the conviction
that it was perfect.—He commanded also that the will of God should be the supreme
court of reference to Ezra and his brethren in the disposal of the freewill offerings.
He further enjoined that they should do exactly the commands of the God of heaven.
He ordained that all who refused to do the will of God should be punished. So great
was his respect for the law, that he left Ezra to do very much as he thought best.
This reverence for God’s law on the part of a heathen monarch shames us. Oh, to
make more of it ourselves! To be people of the Book, and to exalt it as we are exalted
by it, in the judgment even of those who do not revere it!
Illustration
‘We may learn something of Ezra’s mode of speech by the references in the royal
charter, which he bore with him. Evidently he had spoken a good deal of the law of
his God, which was in his hand, of the altar of God’s house, of his direct allegiance
to the God of heaven, and of the necessity of careful obedience. It would be a blessed
result of our own walk with God if we could impress on our associates and
contemporaries the urgent importance of the service of God. Oh, that God were
such a living reality with us that our life and conversation might make Him a living,
moving force in the experience of others!’
7
Some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites,
singers, gatekeepers and temple servants, also
came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King
Artaxerxes.

39. GILL, "And there went up some of the children of Israel,.... Perhaps some of
the ten tribes, as well as others of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; who,
notwithstanding the edict of Cyrus, chose to remain in Babylon, and in the countries of
it, until they saw how things would go in Judea; and hearing that the temple was
finished, and that those that had returned had built them houses in their several cities,
and prospered, thought fit to return also:
and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the
Nethinims, unto Jerusalem; to take their places, and execute their offices in the
temple now built; for of the Levites especially, some of which were singers, and others
porters, and of the Nethinims, there were but few that went up with Zerubbabel: now
this journey of theirs was taken
in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king; that is, of Darius Artaxerxes, and this
was the year after the temple was finished: though it is thought by many learned men,
and not without some show of reason, that Artaxerxes Longimanus is meant.
K&D, "Ezr_7:7-10
With Ezra went up a number of Israelites, priests, and Levites. ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ partitive: a part of
the whole. That they went up with Ezra appears from the context, and is expressly stated
both in the royal edict (Ezr_7:13) and in the further description of the expedition (Ezr_
7:28, Ezr_8:1). They went up in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, and reached Jerusalem
in the fifth month of that year. - In Ezr_7:8 Ezra is again, as in Ezr_7:6, the subject of
the sentence; the intervening seventh verse being really only in apposition with Ezr_7:6.
- In Ezr_7:9 the time occupied by the journey is more precisely defined; ‫י‬ ִⅴ is
explanatory. Namely, on the first day of the first month, he had appointed the journey
from Babylon, etc. The Keri ‫ד‬ ֻ‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ ‫הוּא‬ can only mean, ipsum erat fundamentum
profectionis, as J. H. Mich. after R. Sal. explains it, for ‫ד‬ ֻ‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ is pointed as the construct
state. The departure of the expedition from the place of meeting occurred, according to
Ezr_8:31, on the twelfth day of the first month. Since, however, they encamped three
days there, making the final preparations for their journey, eleven days might easily
elapse between the period when the whole caravan had assembled, and the day of actual
departure. The Keri offers no appropriate signification; for since ‫הוּא‬ can only be taken
for the subject, and ‫הם‬ ‫ד‬ ֻ‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ for the predicate, the sentence would contain an anacoluthon.
To translate ‫הוּא‬ by ipsum cannot be justified by the usages of the language, for there is
no such emphasis on ‫ד‬ ֻ‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ as to cause ‫הוּא‬ to be regarded as an emphatic reference to the
following noun. ‫יסד‬ must be pointed ‫ד‬ ַ‫ס‬ָ‫י‬ or ‫ד‬ ַ ‫,י‬ as the third pers. perf. Kal or Piel,
meaning to arrange, to appoint, and ‫הוּא‬ referred to Ezra. On ‫ה‬ ָ‫וב‬ ַ‫ה‬ ‫יו‬ ָ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ ‫ד‬ַ‫י‬ ְⅴ, comp. Ezr_
7:6. The hand of his God graciously arranged for him, for he had prepared his heart to
seek and to do the law of Jahve, i.e., to make the law of God his rule of action. ‫ּו‬‫ב‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫ין‬ ִ‫כ‬ ֵ‫,ה‬

40. like 2Ch_12:14; 2Ch_19:3; 2Ch_30:19. To teach in Israel statutes and judgments, as
both are prescribed in the law of God.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:7. There went up some of the children of Israel — This was the
second company that went up to Jerusalem, consisting of such like persons as went
up at first with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and others, Ezra 2:2; Ezra 2:70. For, hearing
the temple was rebuilt, and the worship of God restored, we may very well think
many went along with Ezra, who had not such a strong motive to go at the first.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:7-8, mentions in addition that Ezra at the same time led to
Jerusalem a new increase of the population.—And there went up some.—This, in
the view of the historian, so involves “with him” that he continues in Ezra 7:8
without any further ceremony with he came to Jerusalem. Comp. Ezra 7:13; Ezra
7:28; Ezra 8:1. ‫ן‬ִ‫מ‬ is used partitively in the sense “some of” as Ezra 2:70, etc. The
Levites in distinction from the priests on the one side, and from the Levites in the
broader sense, from the singers and porters on the other side, are those who
performed the proper service of the Levites.
PETT, "Ezra 7:7
‘And there went up (with him) some from the children of Israel, and from the
priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the gate-keepers, and the ethinim, to
Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.’
‘Some from the children of Israel’ probably reflects the fact of the presence of the
children of Israel already in the land from the previous return (compare Ezra 3:1).
It is less likely that ‘some of’ is in contrast with those left in exile by their own
choice. To the writer it was those who were in the land who were the new Israel
(Ezra 2:2; Ezra 3:1; Ezra 6:16) Compare with this verse ‘the priests, and the
Levites, and some of the people and the singers, and the gatekeepers, and the
ethinim’ in 1:70) of the first returnees. The two groups would soon be combining.
For information on these different classes see chapter 2, where it will be noted we
have the same order, children of Israel, priests, Levites, singers, gate-keepers, and
ethinim (together with Solomon’s servants). We should note that the reason why
Ezra is not mentioned here is because his ‘going up’ has already been mentioned in
Ezra 7:6. ‘With him’ is to be understood.
The journey of Ezra and his fellow-travellers took place in the seventh year of
Artaxerxes. There may well be intended in the mention of the fact that it was
theseventhyear (the year of divine perfection) the thought of God’s perfect timing.
We can compare how the seventh year was always a year of rest for the land
(Exodus 23:11) and release from debt (Deuteronomy 15:1-3) when they were in the
land. It was also the year of release for the Habiru slave (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy
15:12).
PULPIT, "The same six classes are here mentioned as furnishing colonists under
Ezra which, according to the earlier narrative (Ezra 2:70), had accompanied

41. Zerubbabel. The order in which the classes are mentioned is nearly, but not quite,
the same. In the seventh year of Artaxerxes. This is the emphatic clause of the verse;
Ezra's main object in the section being to give the exact date of his journey. As
Artaxerxes began to reign in b.c. 464, his seventh year would be b.c. 458.
8
Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of
the seventh year of the king.
CLARKE, "He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month - From the following
verse we learn that Ezra and his company set off from Babylon on the first day of the
first month, and thus we find they were upwards of four months on their journey. They
could not travel fast, as they were a great company, composed in part of the aged and
infirm, besides multitudes of women and children. They appear also to have taken a
circuitous route. See on Ezr_8:24-32 (note).
GILL, "And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month,.... With the above
company; this was the month Abib, answering to part of July and part of August: which
was in the seventh year of the king; as in the preceding verse.
HE RY, " His expedition to Jerusalem for the good of his country: He went up from
Babylon (Ezr_7:6), and, in four months' time, came to Jerusalem, Ezr_7:8. It was
strange that such a man as he staid so long in Babylon after his brethren had gone up;
but God sent him not thither till he had work for him to do there; and none went but
those whose spirits God raised to go up. Some think that this Artaxerxes was the same
with that Darius whose decree we had (ch. 6), and that Ezra came the very year after the
temple was finished: that was the sixth year, this the seventh (v. 8), so Dr. Lightfoot. My
worthy and learned friend, lately deceased, Mr. Talents, in his chronological tables,
places it about fifty-seven years after the finishing of the temple; others further on. I
have only to observe, 1. How kind the king was to him. He granted him all his request,
whatever he desired to put him into a capacity to serve his country. 2. How kind his
people were to him. When he went many more went with him, because they desired not
to stay in Babylon when he had gone thence, and because they would venture to dwell in
Jerusalem when he had gone thither. 3. How kind his God was to him. He obtained this
favour from his king and country by the good hand of the Lord that was upon him, v. 6,
9. Note, Every creature is that to us which God makes it to be, and from him our

42. judgment proceeds. As we must see the events that shall occur in the hand of God, so we
must see the hand of God in the events that do occur, and acknowledge him with
thankfulness when we have reason to call it his good hand.
JAMISO , "he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month — that is, corresponding
to the end of our July or beginning of our August. As he left Babylon on the Jewish New
Year’s Day (Ezr_7:9), the journey must have occupied not less than four months (a long
period), but it was necessary to move at a slow pace and by short, easy stages, as he had
to conduct a large caravan of poor people, including women, children, and all their
household gear (see on Ezr_8:24).
PETT, "Ezra 7:8
‘And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the
king.’
They arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month (the number of covenant) of the
seventh year (the number of divine perfection) of Artaxerxes. That was in 458 BC.
The journey took nearly four months, although with women and children in the
caravan they would have to move at a slow pace. The use of the singular ‘he’ refers
back to the mention of Ezra in Ezra 7:6. Ezra 7:7 is an explanatory sentence which
we would have possibly put in parenthesis. The use of the singular continues in Ezra
7:9.
PULPIT, "Ezra 7:8
And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month. From the ninth verse it appears that
the first day of the first month—the opening day of the year—was selected for the
commencement of the journey. This was no doubt viewed as an auspicious day for
beginning an important undertaking. The time occupied on the way was exactly
four months, which is longer than might have been supposed to be necessary.
Herodotus reckoned it a three months journey from Sardis to Susa (verse 53), and
the younger Cyrus conducted an army from Ephesus to Cunaxa, near Babylon, in
ninety- three marching days (Xen, 'Anab' 2 1, § 6)—the distance in either case being
considerably more than that from Babylon to Jerusalem, even supposing the route
followed to have been by Balis and Aleppo. But a caravan, like an army, requires
rests; and we hear of one such rest at Ahava (Ezra 8:15). Cyrus gave his troops
more days of rest than of movement, and took half the year to reach Cunaxa from
Ephesus. We need not be surprised, therefore, that Ezra's journey occupied four
months. Some delay must almost certainly have been caused by the perils of the
route (see Ezra 8:31).

43. 9
He had begun his journey from Babylon on the
first day of the first month, and he arrived in
Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for
the gracious hand of his God was on him.
BAR ES, "The direct distance of Babylon from Jerusalem is about 520 miles; and
the circuitous route by Carchemish and the Orontes valley, which was ordinarily taken
by armies or large bodies of men, is about 900 miles. The time occupied in the journey is
long, and is perhaps to be accounted for by the dangers alluded to in Ezr_8:22, Ezr_
8:31.
GILL, "For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from
Babylon,.... The month Nisan, answering to part of March and part of April; this was
New Year's day:
and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem; the first of the
month Ab, as in the preceding verse; so that he was just four months on his journey:
according to the good hand of his God upon him; his power and providence,
which gave him and his company health and strength, supplied them with everything
necessary, directed, protected, and defended them, and brought them in safety to their
journey's end.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:9. According to the good hand of his God upon him — There
was great reason to acknowledge the favour and protection of God, in conducting
them safe to Jerusalem; for the journey was long and difficult, and they had many
impediments, (going with wives and children, flocks and herds,) and were not
without enemies, by whom they were in danger of being waylaid. These, however,
Ezra did not fear, but relied on the divine protection, as he told the king, Ezra 8:2,
being inspired with supernatural courage and fortitude.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:9. For upon the first day of the first month he had fixed the
departure from Babyion, and on the first of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem.—
This would state the duration of the journey. Instead of ‫ֻד‬‫ס‬ְ‫י‬ we are probably to read
‫ַד‬‫ס‬ָ‫י‬, and indeed in the sense of constituo, præcipio, in which it occurs, especially in

44. Esther 1:8. Probably the punctators had scruples about admitting this unusual
sense, especially as they supposed that they could better give the force of ‫הוּא‬ by
understanding it as: on the first of the first month ipsum erat fundamentum
profectionis, as R. Solomon and J. H. Mich. translate; ‫הוּא‬ would thus serve to
emphasize the “fundamentum” or the beginning in distinction from the completion.
But we should expect ‫ְסוֹד‬‫י‬ instead of ‫ֻד‬‫ס‬ְ‫י‬, moreover the following ‫ָא‬‫בּ‬ would not
connect itself therewith. Besides, on the first of the first month they began to betake
themselves to the common place of assembly, whence then the entire company
entered upon the proper journey to Palestine on the 12 th of the month. Comp. Ezra
8:31.[F 1]
PETT, "Ezra 7:9
‘For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the
first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his
God upon him.’
The first day of the first month is the day of new beginning, the commencement of
the religious calendar. It was on that date that ‘he began to go up --.’ It was then
that he gathered the people at the River of Ahava ready for the journey (Ezra 5:15),
where there was a three day inspection. But the fact that he then discovered that no
Levites had responded to his call (Ezra 8:15) meant that he had to persuade Levites
and ethinim to join him, and this delayed the start of the actual journey, which did
not recommence until the twelfth day (Ezra 8:31). But because the good hand of
God was upon him there were no further delays on the journey so that they made
good time.
10
For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and
observance of the Law of the LORD, and to
teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.
CLARKE, "Ezra had prepared his heart - Here is a fine character of a minister of
God: He prepares, ‫הכין‬ hechin, he fixes, purposes, and determines, ‫לבבו‬ lebabo, with his
heart - with all his powers and affections, to seek the law of God, and to do it himself,
that he may be properly qualified to teach its statutes and judgments to Israel.

45. GILL, "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord,.... To
attain to the knowledge of it, that he might be master of it, and expert in it, and know
what was not to be done, and what to be done; he had set his heart upon this, bent his
studies this way, and taken a great deal of pains in searching into it, in reading of it, and
meditating on it:
and to do it; he was not only concerned to get the theory of it, but to put it in practice,
to exercise himself in it, that it might be habitual to him; and the rather, as his view and
intentions were not merely for the sake of himself, but
to teach in Israel statutes and judgments: and therefore it was not only necessary
that he should have a large and competent knowledge of the laws, moral, ceremonial,
and civil, but that he should act according to them himself, that so by his example, as
well as by his instructions, he might teach the people.
HE RY, " He was a man of great piety and holy zeal (Ezr_7:10): He had prepared
his heart to seek the law of the Lord, etc. (1.) That which he chose for his study was the
law of the Lord. The Chaldeans, among whom he was born and bred, were famed for
literature, especially the study of the stars, to which, being a studious man, we may
suppose that Ezra was tempted to apply himself. But he got over the temptation; the law
of his God was more to him than all the writings of their magicians and astrologers,
which he knew enough of with good reason to despise them. (2.) He sought the law of
the Lord, that is, he made it his business to enquire into it, searched the scriptures, and
sought the knowledge of God, of his mind and will, in the scriptures, which is to be
found there, but not without seeking. (3.) He made conscience of doing according to it;
he set it before him as his rule, formed his sentiments and temper by it, and managed
himself in his whole conversation according to it. This use we must make of our
knowledge of the scriptures; for happy are we if we do what we know of the will of God.
(4.) He set himself to teach Israel the statutes and judgments of that law. What he knew
he was willing to communicate for the good of others; for the ministration of the Spirit is
given to every man to profit withal. But observe the method: he first learned and then
taught, sought the law of the Lord and so laid up a good treasure, and then instructed
others and laid out what he had laid up. He also first did and then taught, practised the
commandments himself and then directed others in the practice of them; thus his
example confirmed his doctrine. (5.) He prepared his heart to do all this, or he fixed his
heart. He took pains in his studies, and thoroughly furnished himself for what he
designed, and then put on resolution to proceed and persevere in them, and thus he
became a ready scribe. Moses in Egypt, Ezra in Babylon, and both in captivity, were
wonderfully fitted for eminent services to the church.
JAMISO , "Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, etc. —
His reigning desire had been to study the divine law - its principles, institutions,
privileges, and requirements; and now from love and zeal, he devoted himself, as the
business of his life, to the work of instructing, reforming, and edifying others.
K&D, "
BE SO , "Ezra 7:10. For Ezra had prepared his heart, &c. — He had set his mind

46. and affections upon it, and made it his chief business. To seek the law of the Lord —
To search and find out the true sense and meaning of it, and thence to learn what
sins or errors were to be reformed, and what duties were to be performed. And to
do it, and to teach in Israel — The order of things in this verse is very observable:
first, he endeavours to understand God’s law and word, and that not for curiosity or
ostentation, but in order to practice; next, he conscientiously practises what he did
understand, which made his doctrine much more effectual; and then he earnestly
desires and labours to instruct others, that they also might know and do it.
ELLICOTT, "(10) For Ezra had prepared his heart.—It must be remembered that
the providence of God over him immediately precedes—not as the reward of his
preparing his heart, but as the reason of it. First, he gave himself to study the law,
then to practise it himself, and lastly to teach its positive statutes or ordinances and
its moral judgments or precepts—a perfect description of a teacher in the
congregation. There is nothing discordant in Ezra saying of himself that he had thus
“set his heart.”
LA GE, "Ezra 7:10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord,
and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.—This is not to explain
the last subordinate clause of Ezra 7:9 : according to the good hand of God upon
him; but the entire undertaking of the journey. ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ‫דּ‬ is here in connection with
‫ָה‬‫וֹ‬ְ‫ה‬‫י‬ ‫ת‬ ַ‫ת־תּוֹר‬ֶ‫א‬ in the same sense as usual in connection with ‫ָה‬‫ו‬ֹ ‫ְה‬‫י‬‫ת־‬ֶ‫,א‬ “adhere to the
law as to a Lord and Benefactor.” This “adhere to the law” comes into consideration
with respect to the following “doctrines” as a necessary foundation, without which
the instruction can never be carried on with success. Ezra’s design was to bring
again to the consciousness of the Jewish congregation, the law which they had in
part neglected and consequently likewise forgotten, to direct their life according to it
and strengthen their relations thereto.
PETT, "Ezra 7:10
‘For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of YHWH, and to do it, and to teach in
Israel statutes and ordinances.’
The reason why the good hand of God was upon him was that he had set his heart to
look into the Law of YHWH so that it had entered into his heart, and then to
actually ‘do it’, living it out in his daily life. Finally he had set himself to teach its
statutes and ordinances in Israel that others might benefit by it too. He was
dedicated to a teaching ministry based on the Law of God. ‘Look into -- do -- teach,
are the perfect combination for such a person. He meditated, then did, and then
taught. It is what the Christian should do with the word of God. It is the man
whodoesthese things who will live by them (Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 4:1;
Deuteronomy 8:1; Deuteronomy 12:1). To be a teacher without doing is to be
deserving of heavy punishment (James 3:1).
This was where the later Scribes condemned by Jesus in Matthew 23; Mark 7 went
astray. Instead of studying the Law as it was in itself, they studied what the elders

47. had said about the Law. They thus failed to observe the true meaning of the Law.
They found ways round it. And in consequence when they taught converts they
made them ‘twofold more a son of Hell than themselves’ (Matthew 23:13).
PULPIT, "For Ezra had prepared his heart, etc. God's favour towards Ezra, and
the prosperous issue of his journey, were the consequences of his having set his
heart on learning God's will, and doing it, and teaching it to others. To seek the law
is to aim at obtaining a complete knowledge of it. To teach statutes and judgments is
to inculcate both the ceremonial and the moral precepts. Ezra appears as a teacher
of righteousness in Ezra 10:10, Ezra 10:11, and again in ehemiah 8:2-18
11
This is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes had
given to Ezra the priest and teacher, a man
learned in matters concerning the commands and
decrees of the LORD for Israel:
GILL, "Now this is the copy of the letter that the King Artaxerxes gave unto
Ezra the priest,.... This title relating to his office is justly given him, since he was the
son of an high priest, and lineally descended from Aaron, as the above account of his
pedigree shows:
the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and
of his statutes to Israel; the doubling of the word "scribe" shows that he was very
wise and learned in the law, in the commandments and statutes of it the Lord gave to
Israel; not only in the language of it in which it was written, but in the matter and
substance of it, in the things contained in it; for ‫דברי‬ "dibre", signfiies "things" as well as
words.
HE RY, "Ezr_7:11-26. Gracious commission of Artaxerxes.
this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave — The measure
which this document authorized, and the remarkable interest in the Jews displayed in it,
were most probably owing to the influence of Esther, who is thought to have been raised
to the high position of queen a few months previous to the departure of Ezra [Hales].
According to others, who adopt a different chronology, it was more probably pressed

48. upon the attention of the Persian court by Ezra, who, like Daniel, showed the prophecies
to the king; or by some leading Jews on his accession, who, seeing the unsettled and
disordered state of the colony after the deaths of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Haggai, and
Zechariah, recommended the appointment of a commission to reform abuses, suppress
disorder, and enforce the observance of the law.
K&D, "The commission given by Artachshasta to Ezra (Ezr_7:11), with a short
postscript by Ezra (Ezr_7:27 and Ezr_7:28). - Ezr_7:11 The introductory title, “This is
the copy of the letter,” On ‫ן‬ֶ‫ג‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ , comp. Ezr_4:11, and on ‫ן‬ָ‫ו‬ ְ ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫,נ‬ Ezr_4:7. Ezra is here, as
also in the letter itself, Ezr_7:12, Ezr_7:21, and in Neh_8:9; Neh_12:26, called only
‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬ ַ‫ה‬ ‫ן‬ ֵ‫ּה‬ⅴ ַ‫,ה‬ the priest, the scribe; in other places we find merely one title or the other:
either the priest, Neh_10:10, Neh_10:16, Neh_8:2; or the scribe, Neh_8:4, Neh_8:13;
Neh_12:36. To designate him according to his rank, as the priest, seems to have
subsequently become more customary; hence in the first book of Esdras he is constantly
called ᆇ ᅿιερεύς. ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּופ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is explained by the addition ‫וגו‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּפ‬‫ס‬, scribe of the words of the
law of Jahve and of His statutes to Israel, i.e., the scribe, whose investigations referred to
the law of God. More briefly in Ezr_7:12 and Ezr_7:21 : scribe of the law.
COFFMA , "Verse 11
THE LETTER OF ARTAXERXES COMMISSIO I G EZRA (Ezra 7:11-16)
" ow this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the
priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah,
and of his statutes to Israel: Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the
scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect, and so forth."
Beginning with Ezra 7:12, the letter of Artaxerxes is written in Aramaic, following
which, in Ezra 7:27, Ezra again wrote in Hebrew.
"Artaxerxes, king of kings" (Ezra 7:12). As learned from the Behistun Inscription
and other Babylonian inscriptions, the title `King of Kings' was assumed by
Babylonian kings, and frequently used by them.
"Perfect, and so forth" (Ezra 7:12). The Aramaic word from which perfect comes is
unknown; and the RSV omitted it.[12" translation="">Ezra 7:12.">[12]
BE SO , "Ezra 7:11. This is the copy of the letter that the King Artaxerxes gave
unto Ezra — “It can hardly be supposed, but that some more than ordinary means
were used to obtain so great a favour from Artaxerxes, as this commission was upon
which Ezra went; and therefore we may suppose that it was granted at the
solicitation of Esther; for this Artaxerxes was the Ahasuerus of Esther. She was
become the best beloved of the king’s concubines, though not yet advanced to the
dignity of queen; for, it being usual for the kings of Persia, on some particular days
and occasions, to allow their women to ask what boons they pleased, it is not
unlikely that, by the direction of Mordecai, upon some such occasion as this, Esther,
though she had not discovered her kingdom and nation, might make this the matter

49. of her request.” — Dodd. See also Pri., Ann. 459, and Le Clerc. Even a scribe of the
words, &c. — The phrase seems emphatical, denoting that he explained both the
words and the things: for the Jews, in the land of their captivity, had, in a great
measure, lost both the language and the knowledge of God’s commands, and
therefore Ezra and his companions instructed them in both.
CO STABLE, "Artaxerxes" decree7:11-26
This decree appears in Aramaic, the official language of the Persian Empire, in the
Hebrew Bible.
The king appointed Ezra as the person responsible to him for the affairs conducted
in the Jewish community in Judah. He held a position in the Persian court
equivalent to Secretary of State for Jewish Affairs. [ ote: Whitcomb, p430; Bright,
p370.] This decree encouraged any Jews in exile to return to their land ( Ezra 7:12-
13).
"The Persians had respect for the laws of other nations as long as they did not
conflict with their own.
"We know from the Elephantine papyri that a whole colony of Jews lived in the
south of Egypt. The greatest concentration of Jews, however, was in Babylon and
vicinity." [ ote: Fensham, The Books . . ., pp104-5.]
Elephantine stood on an island in the ile River on the southern frontier of Egypt
near modern Aswan. Artaxerxes" decree promised provisions for the temple
worship ( Ezra 7:14-20), authorized Ezra to withdraw funds from the provincial
treasury ( Ezra 7:21-23; cf. Ezra 4:12), and permitted him to establish judicial and
educational systems in Judah ( Ezra 7:24-26). The reason Artaxerxes permitted all
this was evidently so there would be peace and good will among his Jewish subjects,
and so he might appease Yahweh"s wrath ( Ezra 7:23).
"In460 B.C. the confederation of Greek cities under Athenian leadership known as
the Attic-Delic League sent a fleet of200 war galleys against Persia in the Cypriot
seas. This fleet sailed to Egypt, gained a great victory over the Persian army there
and captured Memphis in the autumn of459. This placed the coast of Palestine and
Phoenicia into Greek hands as the only possible route from Ionia to Egypt.
"It was in458 , immediately after the fall of Memphis to the Greeks, that Ezra the
Judean courtier was sent to Judea "to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem" (7
, 14) and to reorganize and strengthen this traditional enemy of the Philistines.
From the point of view of the Persian king a strong Proverbs -Persian Judea was a
major threat to the Greek coastal lifeline, and as long as the Greeks dominated the
coast and Egypt he supported a strong Judean province headed by a Judean-
Persian official and peopled by a Proverbs -Persian population, most of whose
families were hostages in Babylon and Persia. The war in Phoenicia continued with
battles in Cyprus and Egypt until the peace of Callias in448 B.C. which put an end

50. to the war between Persia and Greece." [ ote: Othniel Margalith, "The Political
Role of Ezra as Persian Governor," Zeitschrift fr die Alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft98:1 (1986):111.]
The "utensils" ( Ezra 7:19) for the temple may have been some that Cyrus had
overlooked ( Ezra 6:5), or perhaps they were gifts from Artaxerxes. Probably
Artaxerxes granted provisions for the exiles on their return to Jerusalem, not only
for them after they had returned ( Ezra 7:21-22). [ ote: Fensham, The Books . . .,
p106.] Jewish temple employees received special tax exemption ( Ezra 7:24; cf. Ezra
2:43). Ezra was officially responsible to teach the Jews God"s Law ( Ezra 7:25), and
the king paid him to do so.
"Thus Ezra comes to Jerusalem as the real implementation of the Cyrus decree and
his function is to establish an acceptable means of worship whereby Yahweh"s
lordship over Judah and the whole world (in terms of the extravagance of the Cyrus
decree) may be realized and the kingship of God reasserted." [ ote: Dumbrell, p68.]
"Ezra"s interest and assigned task was thus not to build the country materially, as it
had been with the first return [in538 B.C.; Ezra 1:1] and would be again with the
third [in444 B.C.; ehemiah 2:1], but to build the people socially and spiritually."
[ ote: Leon Wood, A Survey of Israel"s History, p396.]
ELLICOTT, "11) Even a scribe.—In the case of Ezra the function of scribe was
more important than that of priest. The word scribe originally meant the writer or
copier of the law; but now it meant the expositor of its general moral
commandments and of its special ceremonial statutes. It is with the latter more
especially that the commission of Ezra had to do.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:11. ow follows the documentary basis for the summary
representation in the foregoing, and indeed first of all the letter of commission given
to Ezra by Artaxerxes.—And these are the contents of the letter.—For ‫ֶן‬‫נ‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ַר‬‫פּ‬, comp.
Ezra 4:11, and for ‫ָן‬‫ו‬ְ‫תּ‬ ְ‫ִשׁ‬‫נ‬, Ezra 4:7. Ezra is called here and in Ezra 7:12; Ezra 7:21
ehemiah 8:9; ehemiah 12:26, first the priest, and then afterwards the scribe; in
Ezra 10:10; Ezra 10:16; and ehemiah 8:2 even, only the priest; hence he is then in
Esdras likewise constantly designated merely as ὁ ἱερεύς.—The scribe of the words
of the commandments of the Lord and of His statutes to Israel means: “the scribe
who especially occupied himself with the words of the law, and who thus before all
was learned with reference to it.”
PETT, "Ezra’s Commission From The Persian King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26).
We are now provided with a copy of Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra, recorded in its
original Imperial Aramaic. We must remember that this was the same king as the
one who would order the work on the walls of Jerusalem to cease (Ezra 4:7-24),
something which probably took place a few years later. On the other hand we must
remember that he was a busy king with many preoccupations. One of those was
with regard to the religious welfare of his people, and a desire to keep the gods on

51. his side, another was with the need to keep the realm safe from rebellion. And for
both he was dependent on advisers. Just as there were enemies who would seek to
present them to the king in the worst light, so there were Jews in high places who
would see it as their responsibility to keep the welfare of their fellow-Jews before
him (consider ehemiah later), and it was no doubt they who had impressed on the
king the need for the Jews in Judah and the surrounding area to be properly taught
the Law of God so that God might feel benevolently disposed towards the empire,
and had brought home the need for a people mainly living in relative poverty to
have financial assistance in order to maintain the complicated requirements of
Temple worship.
We must presume that the king had had consultations with Ezra prior to the decree,
and no doubt Ezra had made his own views known in the form of guidance to the
king subject to his approval (compare Tattenai in Ezra 5:17), so that much that is in
the decree might have resulted from this advice. Alternatively the advice might have
come from Jews in high places. We do not know whether Ezra was already a
minister of state as ‘the Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven’, or whether this
was a title given to him at this time so as to indicate to all that he was acting on the
king’s authority.
The authenticity of the letter is confirmed by the use of Imperial Aramaic, the way
the letter is constructed, the use of Persian loan-words, and the agreement of its
contents with Persian imperial policy. It indicates Persian authorship influenced by
Jewish ideas, which is what we would expect in such a document.
ote the careful pattern of the letter. The opening commission is to enquire
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law (Ezra 7:14), and the
closing commission is to appoint judges over those who know the Law, so as to
ensure its fulfilment, while at the same time teaching that Law to those ignorant of it
(Ezra 7:25-26). In between come the provisions for financing worship that will be
pleasing to God so that He might bless the king, and the decree issued to the
treasurers in Beyond the River ensuring continual provision.
Ezra 7:11
‘ ow this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest,
the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of YHWH, and of his
statutes to Israel:’
This introduction may have been part of the official introduction heading the letter,
depicting the official responsibility given to him. It specifically defines what his
responsibilities were to be. He was to have responsibility for ‘the words of the
commandments of YHWH and of His statutes for Israel’, in other words he was to
teach them to, and if necessary enforce them on, the people who worshipped YHWH
(Ezra 7:25). The words are very reminiscent of the Law of Moses which often speaks
of the ‘commandments and statutes’ of YHWH, often accompanied by the promise
that if they observed them it would go well with them, which was Artaxerxes
concern (e.g. Exodus 15:26; Leviticus 26:2-3; Deuteronomy 4:39-40; Deuteronomy

52. 6:2; Deuteronomy 10:13; Deuteronomy 27:10; Deuteronomy 28:15; Deuteronomy
28:45; Deuteronomy 30:10). There may be an echo in the wording (but not the idea)
of 2 Kings 17:19 ‘the commandments of YHWH -- the statutes of Israel’. This
indicates the influence of Jewish advisers, or even of Ezra himself.
We now come to the main contents of the letter, which is written in Aramaic, and
follows the typical pattern of letters sent by Persian kings, found both here in Ezra
and in papyri.
PULPIT, "Verses 11-28
EXPOSITIO
THE DECREE OF ARTAXERXES WITH RESPECT TO EZRA (Ezra 7:11-26).
The present decree was of the nature of a firman granted to an individual. It
embodied, in the first place, a certain number of provisions which were temporary.
Of this character were—
1. the permission accorded to all Persian subjects of Israelite descent to accompany
Ezra to Jerusalem (verse 13);
2. the commission to Ezra to convey to Jerusalem certain offerings made by the king
and his chief courtiers to the God of Israel (verses 15, 19);
3. the permission given him to convey to Jerusalem the free-will offerings of Jews
and others resident in Babylonia (verse 16);
4. permission to Ezra to draw on the royal treasury to the amount of a hundred
talents of silver, a hundred measures of wheat, a hundred "baths" of wine, a
hundred "baths" of oil, and salt to any amount (verse 22); and,
5. an indefinite commission to "inquire" (verse 14).
Besides these temporary enactments, the decree contained certain provisions of a
more permanent nature.
1. Ezra was invested with the chief authority over the whole district "beyond the
river," and was commissioned to appoint all the subordinate "magistrates and
judges" (verse 25).
2. He was authorised to enforce his decisions by the penalties of imprisonment,
confiscation of goods, banishment, and even death itself (verse 26).
3. An exemption from taxation of every kind was granted to all grades of the
sacerdotal order—to the priests, the Levites, the singers, the porters, the ethinim,
and the lowest grade of "ministers"—to all, in fact, who were engaged in the
performance of any sacred function connected with the temple (verse 24). This last

53. provision was absolutely permanent, and probably continued in force down to the
close of the empire.
Ezra 7:11
The copy of the letter that the king … gave to Ezra. This decree, as already
observed, was a private firman, one copy of which only was made, which was
presented to Ezra, and was his authority for doing certain things himself, and for
requiring certain acts of others. The priest. This is implied in the genealogy (verses
1-5), but not directly stated elsewhere by Ezra himself. ehemiah, however,
designates him similarly (Ezra 8:2, Ezra 8:9). His most usual title is the "scribe." A
scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord. ot so much a writer as an
expounder (see above, verse 10).
PULPIT 11-26, "The reformer's commission.
The insertion here of this decree of Artaxerxes at length, and in its original Chaldee
form, is in more or less close keeping with the earlier parts of this book (Ezra 1:2-4;
Ezra 4:11-16, Ezra 4:17-22; Ezra 5:6-17; Ezra 6:3-12); and furnishes an argument,
therefore, strongly in favour of the unity of authorship of the whole book. It is also
in keeping with the character of Ezra himself. As a special student of God's written
law, he would naturally think much and make much of the very letter of the written
decree of those who ruled in God's name (John 19:22; Romans 13:1, Romans 13:2).
Turning now to our special subject here, viz; the contents of this document itself, we
find them such as to present Ezra to us yet further as the central figure of this last
part of the book; and that under two principal aspects, viz.,
I. BEFORE THE KI G. It is evident, from the nature of the case, as also from a
comparison of the end of verse 23 with 27, that this decree was not wholly
spontaneous on the part of the king. We also gather from verses 14 and 28, that
when Ezra preferred the "request" spoken of, it was in a special audience of state.
There are several things, therefore, under this aspect that we may note of Ezra at
this time.
1. His courage. It was never a light thing, and not always a safe thing, for any man,
and especially for one of a nation of captives, to stand and speak there (comp.
Proverbs 16:14; ehemiah 2:2; Esther 4:11, end of Esther 4:16, etc.). Also,
2. His faithfulness. Whence that acknowledgment on the part of this king and his
council verse 25) of the "wisdom" of Ezra's God; that special respect for the "law"
of the same God (verses 11, 14, 21, 25, 26); also, perhaps, that special acquaintance,
as in the case of Darius in Ezra 6:9, of what was required for Jehovah's sacrifices
(Ezra 6:22); and that notable fear of his judgments (verse 23; comp. Ezra 6:10)—
except in part, at least, from Ezra's previous words on these points (see also what is
said afterwards in Ezra 8:22). These many widely-scattered points of reflected light
argue some common source of light of much size and potency. ot a little light had
there been from him to them, before so much in so public a manner from them to

54. him.
3. His patriotism. Why was all this said and asked? Why so much as this so freely
risked? For Jerusalem's and Israel's sake. It was in going to Judah and Jerusalem
(verse 14), and in the welfare of God's people (verse 25), that he was known to be
interested. All that is offered him turns upon this, because all that he requested, and
all the arguments by which he had supported his request, had previously turned on
it too. It is thus, therefore, that we must think of this Ezra pleading at this time,
before those who then ruled the world, on behalf of a captive people, and in the
name (to his hearers) of a strange divinity. The history is silent as to what particular
occasion led to his doing so (contrast case of ehemiah 1:2, ehemiah 1:3;
ehemiah 2:2-5); but the characteristics which enabled him to do so are patent
enough. How bold a man, how faithful a witness, how true an Israelite he appears!
II. BEFORE THE WORLD. How great was Ezra's success in thus pleading before
Artaxerxes, the decree before us informs us next. That decree was the king's reply to
his pleadings. It was the "commission" which he received in consequence. Observe,
as such—
1. How exclusive its application. It is a commission to Ezra in person (see
"Artaxerxes unto Ezra" in verse 12; also beginning' of verse 25; also the repetition
of "thee," "thou," and "thy" all throughout). It is addressed, in fact, almost to Ezra
alone; certainly to no one else beside him, except as being either appointed by him
(verse 25), or commanded to assist him (verse 21), or associated with him (verse 18).
It says to him throughout, "Thou art the man."
2. How weighty its character. Ezra being, so to speak, its terminus ad quem, where,
on the other hand, was its terminus a quo. ot from any subordinate, but the king
(king of kings he calls himself, verse 12); not even from the king alone, and
therefore, possibly, only as an individual and in a private manner, but from "the
king and his seven counsellors" (verse 14)—the "queen in council," as we should
say—and therefore, in fact, from all the authority of the Persian empire as
represented by such. "All the empire to Ezra." That is the virtual heading of this
decree.
3. How ample its provisions. Whoever Ezra wished for as a companion (verse 13),
whatever Ezra could find to take before starting (verse 16), whatever Ezra wished to
do (verse 18), whatever more he might find afterwards to be needful (verse 20),
whatever even, within certain most liberal limits (verse 22), he might think fit to
require (verse 21)—there was the same injunction about all. Just so he might have,
or take, or do, or ordain on his part; and just so others were to do for him upon
theirs.
4. How cordial its spirit. How was this shown'? By the magnitude, cheerfulness, and
thoughtfulness of the presents made him (verses 15, 20); by the "speediness" and
"diligence" enjoined both on Ezra himself (verse 17) and on those who help him
(verse 21), and on all concerned in doing anything for the good of God's house

55. (verse 23); by the special and, up till then, unexampled exemption from any
description of tax secured for every minister of that house, down to the lowest (verse
24, where observe the "also as though the king had been thinking how else he could
show his good will); by the intelligent sympathy shown in verse 25 with Ezra's
special anxiety to teach all Israel the law of his God; and, finally, by the thorough
determination shown in verse 26 to regard and "speedily" punish all who opposed
Ezra in that matter as offenders against the king himself. ( ote—"The law of thy
God, and the law of the king.") In all these ways does this whole document present
Ezra to the world as "the man whom the king," as the king, "delighted to honour"
and help at that time (see Esther 6:11).
May we not, therefore, learn here—
1. The noblest use of worldly advantages, viz; to help, either directly or indirectly, in
the great work of acquainting men with God and his will, under which we include,
of course, his way of salvation, his way of love. Of all the things the various kings of
Persia ever did with their wealth and power, what was really wiser and more
illustrious than to use them as we read of here? Are not those three names,
therefore, in the end of Ezra 6:14 the three greatest of all? Compared to such uses,
also, what were Ahab's "ivory house" (1 Kings 22:39), and ebuchadnezzar's
"great Babylon" (Daniel 4:30), or Solomon's "apes and peacocks" (1 Kings 10:22),
or all his royal luxuries (Ecclesiastes 2:1-26.), or even his deserved reputation for
wisdom (ibid. end Ezra 6:9), if regarded as anything more than means to a better
end. but vanity and vexation? It is one principal part of God's will that his will (i.e.
his "way," Psalms 67:2) should be "known upon earth." All else in the world is but
transient; but he that helps in making this known doeth that which, like God
himself, "abideth for ever "(1 John 2:17; also Daniel 12:3). To this, perhaps, may be
applied the language of 1 Corinthians 3:9-13. How great a mercy that it is possible
for us thus to build for eternity with the things of time! How great an insanity, that
being so, to neglect to do it! (See Luke 12:21; Luke 16:9; 1 Timothy 6:17-19, etc.)
2. The noblest ideal of human life, viz; like Ezra here, to devote oneself and all one's
days to this "use". Who is the true "king" in this passage? ot Artaxerxes,
whatever he calls himself (verse 12); not Artaxerxes, with all his court, nor even
with all he does here for God's service through the instrumentality of Ezra; but
Ezra himself, as the man whom Artaxerxes and his seven counsellors and his mighty
princes are proud to honour and help. What, in fact, is this whole decree, thus
regarded, but their homage to him? So true is that ancient saying, "Whose service is
perfect freedom;" or, still stronger and truer and more to our present purpose, as
we read it in the original Latin—"Cui servire regnare est."
12

56. Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a
teacher of the Law of the God of heaven:
Greetings. [17]
BAR ES, "The title, “king of kings,” is assumed by almost all the persian monarchs
in their inscriptions.
Perfect peace - “Peace” is not in the original, and the word translated “perfect”
occurs only in this place. Some prefer to take it as an adjective descriptive of Ezra (see
margin); others (Septuagint) as the opening word of the first paragraph of the letter, and
give it the meaning, “it is completed.”
CLARKE, "Artaxerxes, king of kings - This letter, from the beginning of this
verse to the end of Ezr_7:26, is in the Aramitic or Chaldee language.
This title of the king would, in Persian, run thus: Ardsheer shahinshah, or padshah,
“Ardsheer, king of kings;” “great or supreme king, or emperor.”
GILL, "Artaxerxes, king of kings,.... Having many kings and kingdoms subject and
tributary to him; for this was not merely a proud haughty title which the eastern kings
(p) assumed, particularly the Persians; for after Cyrus they were so in fact, who took this
title also, and had it put on his sepulchral monument,"Here I lie, Cyrus, king of kings
(q);''this title was given to Grecian kings, particularly Agamemnon is called king of kings
(r), he being general at the siege of Troy, under whom the rest of the kings fought; if this
was Darius Hystaspis, of him Cyrus dreamed that he had wings on his shoulders, with
one he covered Asia, and with the other Europe (s):
unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven; of which titles see
Ezr_7:11,
perfect peace, and at such a time; the word "perfect" belongs to Ezra's title as a
scribe, signifying that he was a most learned and complete scribe or teacher of the law of
God; "peace" is not in the text, and the phrase "at such a time" respects the date of the
letter, though not expressed, or is only an "et cetera"; see Gill on Ezr_4:10.
(p) See the Universal History, vol. 5. p. 16, 137. & vol. 11. p. 7, 8. margin, & p. 66. (q)
Strabo, Geograph. l. 15. p. 502. (r) Vell. Patercul. Hist. Roman. l. 1. in initio. (s) Herodot.
Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 209.
JAMISO , "Artaxerxes, king of kings — That title might have been assumed as,

57. with literal truth, applicable to him, since many of the tributary princes of his empire
still retained the name and authority of kings. But it was a probably a mere Orientalism,
denoting a great and powerful prince, as the heaven of heavens signified the highest
heaven, and vanity of vanities, the greatest vanity. This vainglorious title was assumed
by the kings of Assyria, from whom it passed to the sovereigns of Persia.
unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven — The
appointment of Ezra to this influential mission was of the highest importance to the
Hebrew people, as a large proportion of them were become, in a great measure,
strangers both to the language and the institutions of their forefathers.
K&D, "Ezr_7:12-13
The letter containing the royal commission is given in the Chaldee original. It is
questionable what explanation must be given to ‫יר‬ ִ‫מ‬ְ in the title. If it were the adjective
belonging to ‫א‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ ‫ר‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָ‫,ס‬ we should expect the emphatic state ‫א‬ ָ‫יר‬ ִ‫מ‬ְ. Hence Bertheau
combines it with the following ‫ת‬ֶ‫נ‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ְ‫וּכ‬ as an abbreviation, “completeness, etc.,” which
would signify that in the royal commission itself this introductory formula would be
found fully given, and that all the words here missing are represented by ‫ת‬ֶ‫נ‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ְ‫.וּכ‬ This
would be, at all events, an extremely strange expression. We incline to regard ‫יר‬ ִ‫מ‬ְ as an
adverb used adjectively: To the scribe in the law of God perfectly, for the perfect scribe,
etc., corresponding with the translation of the Vulgate, doctissimo. The commission
begins with an order that those Israelites who desire to go to Jerusalem should depart
with Ezra, because the king and his seven counsellors send him to order matters in
Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of God, and to carry thither presents and free-
will offerings as a contribution towards the sacrifices, and other matters necessary for
the worship of God, Ezr_7:13. “By me is commandment given,” as in Ezr_6:8. ְ‫ך‬ ָ‫ה‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִ‫...ל‬
‫ב‬ ֵ ַ‫נ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ל־מ‬ ָⅴ: Every one of the people of Israel in my kingdom, who shows himself willing to
go up to Jerusalem, let him go up with thee. On ְ‫ך‬ ָ‫ה‬ְ‫י‬ and the infin. ְ‫ך‬ ָ‫ה‬ ְ‫,מ‬ comp. Ezr_5:5.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:12. Unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven
— Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, a perfect scribe of the law, &c., a title which,
it seems, Ezra delighted in, and desired no other; no, not when he was advanced to
the proconsular dignity, and made the governor of a province. He reckoned it more
to his honour to be a scribe of God’s law than to be a peer or prince of the empire.
ELLICOTT, "(12) Artaxerxes, king of kings.—Artachshatra in Persian,
Artachshasta in Hebrew. The Persian monarchs inherited the title here given from
the Babylonians (Daniel 2:37). It is not used by the historian, only by the king
himself.
Perfect peace, and at such a time.—Literally, perfect, and so forth. The expression
occurs only here, and is a difficult one. Our translation follows the apocryphal
Esdras, and is on the whole to be accepted, a salutation being implied.

58. LA GE, "Ezra 7:12. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra—perfect (peace).—This
is the introductory formula. ‫יר‬ִ‫מ‬ְ‫נּ‬ cannot be an adjective of ‫א‬ָ‫ת‬ָ‫דּ‬ ‫ַר‬‫פ‬ָ‫ס‬; it would then
thus placed alone by itself have to be in the stat. emph. ‫א‬ ָ‫יר‬ְ‫מ‬ְ‫גּ‬. yet it cannot before the
following ‫ֶת‬‫נ‬ֶ‫ע‬ְ‫כ‬‫וּ‬ mean that all that usually belonged to the introductory formula had
been completely expressed in the original document (Berth.); in this way it would
seem too peculiar. There is as little in favor of the view of Keil that it is an adverb in
the sense of “very” belonging to an adjective to be supplied to ‫,ספר‬ as if the sense
were: doctori doctissimo; the adjective could hardly have failed in such a cage.
According to Ezra 7:7 we should expect that the letter, conformable to its contents
of good will, would have contained in its introductory formula a greeting or wish of
peace; so there is to be supplied in thought after ‫יר‬ִ‫מ‬ְ‫נּ‬ a verb as “he wishes,” and the
sense is: Artaxerxes wishes, in a complete manner, or abundantly—namely, peace
[so Esdras, χαίρειν, followed by A. V. perfect (peace).—Tr.]
PETT, "Ezra 7:12-13
‘And so I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and
the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem,
go with you.’
This is the second decree of which we know (compare Ezra 1:3) by which Israelites
informed that they were officially allowed to return to their homeland. It includes
any of ‘the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites’ a phrase which
parallels the main divisions in chapter 2. For ‘the people of Israel’ compare Ezra
2:2; Ezra 9:1; ehemiah 7:7. See also Ezra 2:70. In contrast ‘the children of Israel’
unqualified always means the whole of the returnees, including priests and Levites
(Ezra 3:11; Ezra 6:16, Ezra 6:21; ehemiah 2:10; ehemiah 7:73; ehemiah 9:1),
or the whole of Israel ( ehemiah 8:14; ehemiah 8:17; ehemiah 13:2), except in
the one case where it is qualified by ‘some’ (Ezra 7:7). There is one exception in
ehemiah 10:39 where the children of Israel are paralleled with the children of Levi
in bringing the priests’ heave offering to the Temple, but that was necessary in
consequence of the telescoping of the passage. The children of Israel brought the
tithes to the Levites in their cities, but brought their heave offerings to the priests
when they offered sacrifices. It was the Levites who then brought their tithe of the
tithes to the priests as a heave offering ( umbers 18:24). It is striking that in
Artaxerxes’ letter we should find the phrase ‘the people of Israel’ used as indicating
one of the three groups, as distinguished from the priest and the Levites, something
which suggests that Ezra had a hand in what the letter contained.
But for any who returned it was to be totally of their own freewill. There was to be
no enforced repatriation, although the decision would be in the hands of the adult
men.
PULPIT, "Artaxerxes, king of kings. "King of kings, kkshayathiya khshaya-
thiyanam," an equivalent of the modern shahinshah, was a recognised title of the
Persian monarchs, and is found in every Persian inscription of any considerable
length. It was a title that had been used occasionally, though not at all frequently, by

59. the Assyrian monarchs, and naturally expressed the fact that those monarchs for the
most part maintained the native princes on the thrones of the countries which they
conquered (see Isaiah 10:8). It was less appropriate to the Persians, whose empire
was in the main satrapial, but still had a basis of truth to rest upon, since the
Persian monarch had always a certain number of tributary kings under him. The
Parthian kings took the title from the time of Mithridates I.; and from them it
passed to the Sassanians, who style themselves malkan malka, from first to last,
upon their coins. The God of heaven. On this favourite Persian expression see
comment on Ezra 1:2. Perfect peace. There is nothing in the Chaldee original in any
way corresponding to "peace;" and the participle passage being translated as in the
margin of the A. V.—"to Ezra the priest, a perfect scribe of the law of the God of
heaven." And at such a time. Rather, "and so forth," as in Ezra 4:10, Ezra 4:11,
Ezra 4:17.
13
ow I decree that any of the Israelites in my
kingdom, including priests and Levites, who wish
to go to Jerusalem with you, may go.
CLARKE, "Their own free-will - None shall be forced either to go or to stay. He
who loves his God will avail himself of this favorable opportunity.
GILL, "I make a decree,.... Which, according to the laws of the Medes and Persians,
when signed, might not be changed, Dan_6:8,
that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my
realm; who remained there, and took not the benefit of the edict of Cyrus, which gave
them leave to go; but neglecting the opportunity, it seems as if they could not now go out
of the realm without a fresh grant, which is hereby given:
which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee;
this decree did not oblige them to go whether they would or not; for they might,
notwithstanding this, continue if they pleased; it only gave them leave to make use of the
present opportunity of going along with Ezra, if they chose it.

60. HE RY, " He gives Ezra leave to go up to Jerusalem, and as many of his countrymen as
pleased to go up with him, Ezr_7:13. He and they were captives, and therefore they
would not quit his dominions without his royal license.
COFFMA , "Verse 13
EZRA WAS COMMA DED TO GO TO JERUSALEM
"I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the
Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go
with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counselors, to
inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is
in thy hand, and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors
have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all
the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the
freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of
their God which is in Jerusalem; therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy with this
money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings,
and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem."
"Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors" (Ezra 7:14). The
first clause here may also be translated, "Forasmuch as thou art sent from before
the king,"[13] indicating the possibility that Ezra was the holder of some high
official position in the government of Artaxerxes. This is supported by the vast
authority conveyed to Ezra by this commission, which was supported also by the
seven counsellors of the king.
"The law of thy God which is in thy hand" (Ezra 7:14). This was a copy of the
Torah, the law of Moses.
"Whose habitation is in Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:15). Rawlinson construed this remark
as merely a reference to the temple in Jerusalem, stating that, "Artaxerxes did not
believe that the God of Israel was merely a local deity."[14] His reference to the God
of Israel as the God of heaven in Ezra 7:21 indicates that this is true.
"And all the silver and gold that thou shalt find ... in all the province of Babylon"
(Ezra 7:16). This refers to all of the freewill-offerings which Ezra might be able to
receive in a widespread fund-raising campaign.
PULPIT, "All they of the people of Israel. The decree of Artaxerxes is as wide in its
terms as the proclamation of Cyrus (Ezra 1:3), and gives permission not to the Jews
only, but to all Israelites of whatever tribe, to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem. That
Israelites of all the tribes actually went up to Jerusalem on the occasion seems
indicated by the "twelve bullocks for all Israel," which those who returned with
Ezra offered on their arrival to the "God of Israel" (see Ezra 8:35).

61. 14
You are sent by the king and his seven advisers to
inquire about Judah and Jerusalem with regard
to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.
BAR ES, "Seven counselors - Herodotus relates that there were seven families
pre-eminent in Persia, those of the seven conspirators against the Pseudo-Smerdis (Ezr_
4:7 note); and it is reasonable to suppose that the heads of these families formed the
special council of the king; the “Achaemenidae,” or royal family, being represented by
the head of the branch next in succession to that of the reigning monarch (see the
marginal reference).
CLARKE, "His seven counsellors - It is very likely that the privy counsel of the
king consisted of seven persons simply. The names of these seven counsellors or
chamberlains may be found in the book of Esther, Est_1:10.
GILL, "Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven
counsellors,.... Such a number the kings of Persia used to have from the times of
Darius Hystaspis, who was chosen out of seven nobles to be king, and ever after the
Persian kings had seven counsellors privileged, as those nobles were, Est_1:14, and Ezra
had the honour to be sent with a commission from this king and his seven counsellors:
to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem; the inhabitants thereof, whether
they had knowledge of and behaved
according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; a copy of which he had
with him, and was very expert in and conversant with, and could readily and at once
HE RY, "He gives him authority to enquire into the affairs of Judah and Jerusalem,
Ezr_7:14. The rule of his enquiry was to be the law of his God, which was in his hand.
He must enquire whether the Jews, in their religion, had and did according to that law -
whether the temple was built, the priesthood was settled, and the sacrifices were offered
conformably to the divine appointment. If, upon enquiry, he found any thing amiss, he
must see to get it amended, and, like Titus in Crete, must set in order the things that
were wanting, Tit_1:5. Thus is God's law magnified and made honourable, and thus are
the Jews restored to their ancient privilege of governing themselves by that law, and are

62. no longer under the statutes that were not good, the statutes of their oppressors, Eze_
20:25.
JAMISO , "sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors — This was the
fixed number of the privy council of the kings of Persia (Est_1:10, Est_1:14). The
document describes, with great clearness and precision, the nature of Ezra’s commission
and the extent of power and prerogatives with which he was invested. It gave him
authority, in the first place, to organize the colony in Judea and institute a regular
government, according to the laws of the Hebrew people, and by magistrates and rulers
of their own nation (Ezr_7:25, Ezr_7:26), with power to punish offenders by fines,
imprisonment, exile, or death, according to the degree of their criminality. Secondly, he
was empowered to carry a large donation in money, partly from the royal treasury and
partly raised by voluntary contributions among his countrymen, to create a fund out of
which to make suitable provision for maintaining the regular worship of God in
Jerusalem (Ezr_7:16, Ezr_7:17). Thirdly, the Persian officers in Syria were commanded
to afford him every assistance by gifts of money within a certain specified limit, in
carrying out the objects of his patriotic mission (Ezr_7:21).
K&D, "Ezr_7:14
“Forasmuch as thou (art) sent by the king and his seven counsellors to inquire (to
institute an inquiry) concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God,
which is in thy hand,” i.e., which thou handlest or possessest and understandest. The
seven counsellors of the king formed the supreme court of the realm; see remarks on
Est_1:14. It is obvious from the context that ַ‫יח‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ must be completed by ְ ְ‫נ‬ፍ, for it is
evidently Ezra who is addressed both in what precedes and follows. ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ ַ , to inquire
concerning (the condition of) Judah, i.e., concerning the religious and civil relations of
the Jewish community, to arrange them in conformity with the divine law.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:14. And of his seven counsellors — His chief nobles and officers
of state; of whom see Esther 1:10; Esther 1:14. This decree, being made by their
advice, had the greater authority. To inquire concerning Judah according to the law
of thy God — To make inquiry into all abuses and deviations from your law, and to
redress them. Which is in thy hand — With which thou art very conversant, and in
which thou art well skilled. It may seem strange that the edict should be drawn up
in this manner, as it is more in the style of a Jewish supreme governor than of a
heathen king; but it is not improbable that Ezra, being in such favour in the Persian
court, might get the edict drawn up in the manner and words which he thought
would be most proper for the purposes for which he had obtained it.
ELLICOTT, "(14) Seven counsellors.—These are mentioned in Esther 1:14, and
were probably the heads of those families who aided Darius Hystaspis against the
pseudo-Smerdis, as mentioned by Herodotus.
According to the law of thy God.—Ezra’s commission was first to enquire into the
condition of the city and province, with regard to the relation of both to the Divine
law.

63. LA GE, "Ezra 7:14 would say: because the commission of the king and his seven
counsellors is designed to encourage and strengthen the worship of Jehovah, and
accordingly also the condition of His congregation. For the seven counsellors who
constituted the supreme tribunal of the Persian kings, vid. Esther 1:14.[F 2]‫ִי‬‫ה‬ֹ ‫ֲט‬‫ע‬ַ‫י‬,
for which we might expect ‫ִי‬‫ה‬ֹ ‫ֲט‬‫ע‬ָ‫י‬ because ‫ין‬ִ‫ֲט‬‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ corresponds with the Heb. ‫ִים‬‫צ‬ֲ‫ע‬‫,יוֹ‬ and
is used as ‫ָן‬‫ח‬ְ‫ַשׁ‬‫ח‬ in Ezra 6:9. aturally “thou” cannot be at once supplied to ַ‫ח‬‫ִי‬‫ל‬ ְ‫;שׁ‬
rather the expression is a general one: the sending is made.—To inquire concerning
Judah according to the law of thy God, which is in thine hand.—That the second
person is prominent here, cannot be strange because, indeed, the whole matter is a
communication to Ezra. ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ ‫ָה‬‫ו‬ָ‫קּ‬ַ‫בּ‬ “to hold investigation over,” thus, “revise
something,” is then at the same time the same as “to put in order.”[F 3]‫ת‬ַ‫ְד‬‫בּ‬, which
st. constr. in orzi’s edition is pointed ‫ת‬ָ‫,דּ‬ properly: with the law; means: according
to the norm of the law. ‫ְך‬ָ‫ִיד‬‫בּ‬ ‫י‬ִ‫דּ‬ “which is in thy hand,” means, “which thou
possesseth,” is not however to be under stood as if Ezra had a particular copy of the
law, which Artaxerxes hereby would have explained as the ancient and true law of
God; after that he had obtained the consent of the more distinguished of the Jews;
but it Isaiah, as it were, “which thou knowest, understandest, and hast in hand.”
[Rawlinson, in loco, “righteously and justly according to the principle of thy
religion.”—Tr.]
PETT, "Ezra 7:14
‘Forasmuch as you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors, to enquire
concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your
hand,’
The king emphasises that Ezra has been sent ‘by the king and his seven counsellors’,
that is, his inner court. Compare Esther 1:14 where the seven ‘saw the king’s face
and sat first in the kingdom’. They are also spoken of by Herodotus and Xenophon.
There could be no greater authority.
Ezra was commissioned by this inner counsel of the king of Persia, to investigate the
situation in Judah and Jerusalem in order to ensure that they were conforming to
‘the Law of God which is in your hand’. This makes clear that he had received
disturbing reports from somewhere which suggested that all was not well with the
worship of Judah and Jerusalem, which might well, in his view, have invalidated or
weakened their prayers for the life of the king. It explains why Ezra dealt so
severely with the matter of foreign wives, for the point was not that they were
foreign, but that they were encouraging the worship of foreign gods (Ezra 9:1). The
very purpose that Persia had in ensuring the rebuilding of the Temple on its sacred
site was in order to please the God of Heaven (Ezra 6:3-10). They did not want this
to be rendered ineffective by wrong ritual behaviour.
‘The Law of God which is in your hand.’ This probably simply signifies that as a
priest and son of Aaron he was seen as being versed in the Law of God, because
every legitimate priest had ‘the Law of God in his hand’. This was now the priest’s
purpose in Exile. To teach the Law of God. This may indeed have been the
significance, at least as seen by the priests of Ezra’s day, of the enigmatic phrase ‘to

64. fill the hand’. The phrase is connected in the Law of God with the consecration of
the Levitical priests. In Exodus 28:41, God instructs Moses: “you shall anoint
[Aaron and his sons], and fill their hand, and consecrate them, and they shall
function as priests for me.” See also Exodus 29:9; Exodus 29:33; Exodus 29:35;
Leviticus 8:33; Leviticus 16:32; Leviticus 21:10; umbers 3:3. This was no longer
possible among the Dispersion in Ezra’s day. Whatever was signified may well
therefore have been replaced by the Law of God.
PULPIT, "Ezra received his commission from the king, and from his seven
counsellors, who thus seem to occupy an important position in the Persian state.
They are commonly identified with the "seven princes of Persia and Media,"
mentioned in Esther (Esther 1:14), "which saw the king's face," and "sate first in
the kingdom." A conjecture, which, though not unreasonable, cannot be said to be
substantiated, connects the "seven counsellors" with the seven great Persian septs,
or families, which had privileges beyond the rest, and among them the right of
unrestricted access to the royal presence ('Herod.,' 3.84). The commission which
Ezra received is described in this verse as one to inquire concerning Judah and
Jerusalem; but the subject-matter of the inquiry is not mentioned. He can scarcely
have been sent to make inquiry whether the law of Moses was observed or no, since
that was certainly not a matter with which the Persian government would concern
itself. Probably he was to inquire generally into the material prosperity of the
province, and to report thereon.
15
Moreover, you are to take with you the silver and
gold that the king and his advisers have freely
given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in
Jerusalem,
GILL, "And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors
have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem.
In the temple built there; for the service of which, either for purchasing and procuring
vessels that were wanting in it, or for sacrifices to be offered in it, the king and his nobles
had made a voluntary contribution, and intrusted and sent Ezra with it.

65. HE RY, "He entrusts him with the money that was freely given by the king himself
and his counsellors, and collected among his subjects, for the service of the house of
God, Ezr_7:15, Ezr_7:16.
K&D, "Ezr_7:15-16
“To carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to
the God of Israel, whose habitation is at Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold which
thou shalt obtain in all the province of Babylon, with the free-will offering of the people
and the priests, willingly offering for the house of their God at Jerusalem.” Three kinds
of offerings for the temple are here spoken of: 1st, the gifts of the king and his
counsellors for the service of the God of Israel; 2nd, the gold and the silver that Ezra
should obtain in the province of Babylon, i.e., by the collection which he was
consequently empowered to make among the non-Israelite population of Babylon; 3rd,
the free-will offerings of his fellow-countrymen. ‫בוּת‬ ָ ַ‫נ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫ה‬ is an abstract formed from the
infin. Hithpael: the freely given. The participle ‫ין‬ ִ‫ב‬ ְ ַ‫נ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫מ‬ (not in the stat. emph. i.e., without
an article) is but slightly connected, in the sense of, if they, or what they, may freely
offer.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:15-16. Which the king and his counsellors have freely offered
unto the God of Israel — This shows that they had a high opinion of the God of
Israel, and were desirous of his favour. And all the silver and gold that thou canst
find — That is, procure, as ‫,שׁכח‬ shechach, often signifies. Whatsoever thou canst get
of my subjects, by way of free gift. With the free-will-offering of the people —
amely, of Israel.
PETT, "Ezra 7:15-16
‘And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely
offered to the God of Israel, whose dwellingplace is in Jerusalem, and all the silver
and gold that you will find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering
of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which
is in Jerusalem,’
Ezra’s next responsibility was to carry to Jerusalem the gifts which the king and his
counsellors were freely offering to the God of Israel who dwelt there. This can be
compared with Ezra 6:8-10. It was a sincere offering to ‘the God of Israel’ (a name
which again hints at Jewish influence on the contents of the letter), although clearly
with a view to obtaining his favour. While the counsellors were to be seen as ‘freely
offering’ it is doubtful if they could have done much else. To have refused would
have been seen as wishing ill on the king.
The king also envisages them receiving gifts throughout all the province of Babylon.
This would include contributions from various of the aristocracy (‘the princes’ -
Ezra 8:25), and members of the Jewish population. Furthermore there would be a
receiving of gold and silver as a freewill offering, both from the ordinary people and
from the priests, as gifts for the house of their God in Jerusalem. ‘Their God’ makes

66. clear that it was mainly Jews who were in mind. Some, however, see ‘all the silver
and the gold that you will find in all the province of Babylon’ as referring to gifts
from non-Jews, but, apart from the aristocracy under pressure from the king (Ezra
8:25), it does not say so, although some may well have been willing to give in hope of
benefiting from the blessing of the God of Heaven.
PULPIT, "And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have
freely offered. Large sums in specie had in ancient times to be remitted from one
country to another under escort. The roads were never safe from robbers; and the
more considerable the remittance, the greater the danger of its being intercepted.
We hear of its being usual to protect the treasure annually remitted to Jerusalem
from Babylon in Roman times by an escort of above 20,000 men (see Joseph; 'Ant.
Jud.,' 18:9, § 1). The God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem. o more seems
to be meant by "habitation" here than by "house" in Ezra 1:2, Ezra 1:3. Artaxerxes
does not regard Jehovah as a local God.
16
together with all the silver and gold you may
obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as
the freewill offerings of the people and priests for
the temple of their God in Jerusalem.
CLARKE, "And all the silver and gold - The king and his counsellors had already
made a present to the house of the God of Israel; and Ezra is now empowered to receive
any contribution which any of the inhabitants of the province of Babylon may think
proper to give.
GILL, "And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of
Babylon,.... Not that he might take it wherever he found it, whether the owners of it
were willing he should have it or not; but whatever was freely offered by them, as Jarchi,
that he was allowed to take, whatever he could get in that way:
with the freewill offering of the people; of the people of the Jews, who thought fit

67. to continue in the province:
and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in
Jerusalem; those freewill offerings, whether of the natives of Babylon, or of any of the
Jewish nation, for the service of the temple at Jerusalem, he had leave and a commission
to carry with him.
HENRY, ". Let this be taken notice of, (1.) To the honour of God, as the one only living
and true God;' for even those that worshipped other gods were so convinced of the
sovereignty of the God of Israel that they were willing to incur expenses in order to
recommend themselves to his favour. See Psa_45:12; Psa_68:26. (2.) To the praise of
this heathen king, that he honoured the God of Israel though his worshippers were a
despicable handful of poor men, who were not able to bear the charges of their own
religion and were now his vassals, and that, though he was not wrought upon to quit his
own superstitions, yet he protected and encouraged the Jews in their religion, and did
not only say, Be you warmed, and be you filled, but gave them such things as they
needed. (3.) To the reproach of the memory of the wicked kings of Judah. Those that had
been trained up in the knowledge and worship of the God of Israel, and had his law and
his prophets, often plundered and impoverished the temple; but here a heathen prince
enriched it. Thus afterwards the gospel was rejected by the Jews, but welcomed by the
Gentiles. See Rom_11:11, Through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles. Act_
13:46.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:16. All the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province
of Babylon, with the free-will offering of the people and of the priests,etc. The king
here presupposes that in addition to himself and his counsellors there would
likewise be found others, not Israelites, in the province of Babylon, who would be
willing to contribute silver and gold for the support of the Jewish people; and
indicates that he has given Ezra permission to take up a collection among them; for
what is collected in the province of Babylon in general, is distinguished with
sufficient clearness from the gifts of the people and priests, that is to say, the Jews,
as is evident from the subsequent clauses. ‫בוּת‬ָ‫ַדּ‬‫נ‬ְ‫ִת‬‫ה‬ an abstract formation from infin.
Ithpaal, is that which is voluntarily given. ‫ִין‬‫ב‬ְ‫ַדּ‬‫נ‬ְ‫ת‬ִ‫מ‬, if it were in simple apposition to
people and priests, or represented a relative clause, as Berth supposes, would
necessarily have the article; it is rather loosely connected in the sense of: “if they, so
far as they voluntarily contribute.
17
With this money be sure to buy bulls, rams and
male lambs, together with their grain offerings
and drink offerings, and sacrifice them on the

68. altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem.
GILL, "That thou mayest buy speedily with this money,.... Thus freely
contributed by one and another:
bullocks, rams, lambs; which were for burnt offerings:
with their meat offerings, and their drink offerings; which always went along
with the burnt offerings, according to the law of Moses; and which the king seemed to
have a right knowledge of, being, no doubt, instructed by Ezra, or some other Jew in his
court:
and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in
Jerusalem; the altar of burnt offering in the temple there.
HE RY 17-19, "We are here told that Ezra was entrusted, (1.) To receive this money
and to carry it to Jerusalem; for he was a man of known integrity, whom they could
confide in, that he would not convert to his own use the least part of that which was
given to the public. We find Paul going to Jerusalem upon such an errand, to bring alms
to his nation and offerings, Act_24:17. (2.) To lay out this money in the best manner, in
sacrifices to be offered upon the altar of God (Ezr_7:17), and in whatever else he or his
brethren thought fit (Ezr_7:18), with this limitation only that it should be after the will
of their God, which they were better acquainted with than the king was. Let the will of
our God be always our rule in our expenses, and particularly in what we lay out for his
service. God's work must always be done according to his will. Besides money, he had
vessels also given him for the service of the temple, Ezr_7:19. Cyrus restored what of
right belonged to the temple, but these were given over and above: thus it receiveth its
own with usury. These he must deliver before the God of Jerusalem, as intended for his
honour, there where he had put his name.
K&D, "Ezr_7:17-18
The application of these contributions. ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ ְ ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל־ק‬ ָⅴ, for this very reason, sc. because
furnished by the king and his counsellors, and by the heathen and Israelite inhabitants
of Babylon, thou shalt diligently buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their
meat-offerings and their drink-offerings (the meat and drink offerings pertaining by the
law, Num_15:1, etc., to the sacrifices), and offer them upon the altar ... The Pael ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ק‬ ְ
instead of the Aphel, Ezr_6:10, Ezr_6:17. The distribution and collection were thus
chiefly destined for the support of public worship, but were larger and more abundant
than was necessary for this purpose. Hence the further injunction, Ezr_7:18 : “And
whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the gold
and the silver, that do after the will of your God,” i.e., according to the precept of the law

69. in which the will of God is expressed. “Thy brethren” are the priests, to whom was
committed the care of the temple and its worship.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:17-19. Even on this account, properly in view of these things,
namely, because this sending is ordained by me to encourage the Jewish
congregation and their worship.—Thou mayest buy speedily with this money
bullocks—with their meat and drink offerings—that Isaiah, the meat and drink
offerings belonging to the sacrifices according to umbers 15:1 sq.—And offer them
on the altar.—The Pael. ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ָר‬‫ק‬ְ‫תּ‬ is used instead of Aphel in Ezra 6:10; Ezra 6:17.
PULPIT, "That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, etc. The
primary application of the money sent by Ezra was to be the maintenance of the
Jewish ritual in its full splendour. The residue was, however, to be employed in any
way that Ezra, acting under Divine guidance, might direct (see below, verse 18).
Apparently, this residue was actually employed on beautifying the temple (see verse
27).
18
You and your brother Jews may then do whatever
seems best with the rest of the silver and gold, in
accordance with the will of your God.
CLARKE, "After the will of your God - He gave them the fullest liberty to order
every thing according to their own institutions, binding them to no form or mode of
worship.
GILL, "And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren,.... The
priests, that he should think fit to take in to his assistance in this work:
to do with the rest of the silver and gold; which should be left after the sacrifices
were offered up:
that do after the will of your God; as they should be directed by him, or was

70. prescribed by him in the law.
COFFMA , "Verse 18
I STRUCTIO S REGARDI G THE MO EY
"And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of
the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God. And the vessels that are
given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thee before the God of
Jerusalem. And whatsover more may be needed for the house of thy God, which
thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. And I,
even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond
the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of
heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of
silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to
a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much."
"Whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren" (Ezra 7:18). This
commission to Ezra was about as near a blank check with unlimited authority as
any king ever granted. It exhibits the utmost confidence and trust in Ezra by
Artaxerxes. The only limit imposed here is that of the maximum withdrawals in
Ezra 7:22. "The surplus was actually used in beautifying the temple, as indicated in
Ezra 7:27."[15]
"The king's treasure-house" (Ezra 7:20). This is a reference to the sub-treasury of
the satrapy of Syria, which included all of the territory beyond the River, the
resources of which were made available to Ezra up to the limits indicated in Ezra
7:22.
"A hundred talents of silver" (Ezra 7:22). Some critics have cited this as an
exaggeration, based upon their claim that the whole revenue of the province beyond
the River was only 350 talents of silver; and even Williamson stated that this
amount, "seemed disproportionate."[16] However, the amount seems reasonable to
this writer. "A talent of silver weighed 75 pounds,"[17] and that is only seven
pounds above the weight of one thousand silver dollars; and a hundred talents
would therefore have amounted to only a little more than $100,000.00, which to this
writer appears as a rather insignificant amount as it would have been considered in
the treasury of a king.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:18. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee.—The thorough
organization of the Jewish congregational life might readily render necessary some
additional expense, e. g. for the decoration of the temple; and Artaxerxes
presupposes that the authorities in Jerusalem will be able also to make such
arrangements that they may have something left of the gifts for such purposes—and
thy brethren = the elders in Jerusalem, who also appear in5. and6. to decide such
questions.—That do after the will of your God—namely, as it is declared in the law.

71. PETT, "Ezra 7:18
‘And whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the
silver and the gold, that do you after the will of your God.’
But it was recognised that the riches provided were to be far more than could be
spent sensibly on the daily offerings, and the remainder was therefore at the
disposal of Ezra and his brother priests for them to do with it what seemed good to
them in accordance with the will of God. They would know best what was required
by their God. There may be in mind, among other things, the adorning of the
Temple itself (which would explain the reference to Artaxerxes in Ezra 6:14), and
possibly special festivities for celebrating their arrival in Jerusalem.
19
Deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles
entrusted to you for worship in the temple of your
God.
GILL, "The vessels also that were given thee for the service of the house of
thy God,.... These were vessels of silver, basins of gold, and vessels of fine copper; not
what formerly belonged to the temple, they were delivered by Cyrus to Sheshbazzar; but
what the present king and his counsellors freely offered at this time, see Ezr_8:25, those
deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem; perfect and complete, the full number
of them, as the word signifies (t); meaning not to be delivered before him, or in his
presence, as a witness thereof, but that they should be dedicated and devoted to his
service, who was worshipped in the temple at Jerusalem, and by the inhabitants of it; he
seems as if he thought him a topical deity, the God of that particular place, which was
the notion of the Heathens, see 1Ki_20:23, though he also speaks of him as the God of
heaven.
K&D, "Ezr_7:19
The gold and silver vessels, moreover, which, according to Ezr_8:25-27, the king and
his counsellors, and the princes and all Israel, presented for the service of the house of
God, he is to deliver before the God at Jerusalem (an abbreviated expression for the God
whose dwelling is at Jerusalem). The noun ‫ן‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ ָ , only here and in the Targums, in the

72. Syriac ‫ן‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫וּל‬ , the service, corresponds with the Hebrew ‫ה‬ ָ‫ּור‬‫ב‬ ֲ‫.ע‬ ‫ם‬ ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ in the Aphel, to
complete, to make full, then to deliver entirely, to consign.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:19. And the vessels, for the service of the house of thy God deliver
completely.—These vessels are numbered in Ezra 8:25; Ezra 8:27. The noun ‫ָן‬‫ח‬ְ‫ל‬ָ‫פּ‬,
which is only found here—but comp. ‫ֵי‬‫ח‬ְ‫ל‬ָ‫פּ‬ in Ezra 7:24—is identical with ‫ָן‬‫ח‬ְ‫ל‬‫פוּ‬ =
“service” of the Syriac and Targums, and corresponds with the Hebrew ‫ה‬ ָ‫ֲבוֹר‬‫ע‬. The
meaning of ‫ֵם‬‫ל‬ ְ‫ַשׁ‬‫ה‬ “render completely” is usual in the Aphel in the Syriac, and is
connected with the meaning of the Hebrew Piel ‫ֵם‬‫לּ‬ ִ‫ש‬ “pay.”—Before the God of
Jerusalem is essentially the same as “before the God whose dwelling is in
Jerusalem.” Comp. Ezra 1:3 : He is the God, who is in Jerusalem.
PETT, "Ezra 7:19
‘And the vessels which are given you for the service of the house of your God, do
you deliver before the God of Jerusalem.’
These vessels were probably the gift of Artaxerxes, given by him so at to earn the
approbation of ‘the God of Jerusalem’. They were intended for service in the house
of Ezra’s God, and he was to deliver them before God on his behalf. The next verse
may suggest that Artaxerxes had learned from his Jewish advisers that there was a
shortage of vessels in the Temple, possibly due to the fact that not all the Temple
vessels and been preserved, and thus given back.
PULPIT, "The vessels also. It does not appear that these were sacred vessels
belonging to the temple, like those which Cyrus had intrusted to Zerubbabel for
restoration to the house of God. Rather, it would seem, they were a part of the
voluntary "offering" mentioned in Ezra 7:15, in which they are distinctly included
(Ezra 8:25-28). We may perhaps conclude that the vessels sent with Zerubbabel had
proved insufficient in number for the great festivals.
20
And anything else needed for the temple of your
God that you may have occasion to supply, you
may provide from the royal treasury.

73. GILL, "And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God,
which thou shall have occasion to bestow,.... For the beautifying and ornamenting
the temple, Ezr_7:27,
bestow it out of the king's treasure house; where the money collected by tribute,
tax, and custom, was deposited; his exchequer, as it may be called, see Ezr_6:8.
HE RY 20-22, " He draws him a bill, or warrant rather, upon the treasurers on that
side the river, requiring them to furnish him with what he had occasion for out of the
king's revenues, and to place it to the king's account, Ezr_7:20, Ezr_7:22. This was
considerately done; for Ezra, having yet to enquire into the sate of things, knew not what
he should have occasion for and was modest in his demand. It was also kindly done, and
evinced a great affection to the temple and a great confidence in Ezra. It is the interest of
princes and great men to use their wealth and power for the support and encouragement
of religion. What else are great revenues good for but that they enable men to do much
good of this kind if they have but hearts to do it?
K&D, "Ezr_7:22-23
Unto one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cors of wheat, one hundred baths of
wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescription, i.e., as much as is needed.
Cor had already become, even in Hebrew, the later word for chomer, e.g., 1Ki_5:2; Eze_
45:14. It was equal to ten ephahs or baths, almost two sheffels; see by bibl. Archäol. ii. §
126. The command closes with the injunction, Ezr_7:23 : Whatsoever is commanded by
the God of heaven, i.e., whatever is needful according to the law for the service of God,
let it be completely done for the house of the God of heaven; for why should the wrath of
heaven come upon the realm of the king and of his sons? The ᅋπ. λεγ. ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ז‬ ַ‫ר‬ ְ‫ד‬ፍ is derived
from the Aryan, but is not to be regarded (as by Hitzig and Bertheau) as compounded of
‫ר‬ ַ‫ד‬ ֲ‫א‬ and ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ז‬ፍ; but probably (as by Haug in Ewald's bibl. Jahrb. v. p. 152) as formed of the
Persian drsh, dorest, with ‫א‬ prosthetic, from the Zend root doreç, to grow, to flourish, to
become firm, in the meaning of perfect in all parts, exact. The motive of the royal order,
that the priests may offer acceptable offerings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life
of the king and of his sons, recalls Ezr_6:10. On the formula ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫י‬ ִ , for why should wrath
come, comp. Ezr_4:22.
Ezr_7:24
LA GE, "Ezra 7:20. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy
God, which shall occur to thee, as to be given, that is to say, whatever need may
arise when the other means have been exhausted—shalt thou give out of the house
of the treasury of the king—that Isaiah, out of the royal treasury.[F 4]
PETT, "Ezra 7:20

74. ‘And whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall
have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure-house.’
Furthermore if there was anything else needed in the house of God which Ezra felt
that it was necessary in some way to obtain so that he could bestow it on the Temple,
he was, within broad limits, to bestow it on the Temple from the king’s treasury.
And to this end he included in his letter a copy of a letter addressed to the king’s
treasurers in Beyond the River, the details of which are now provided in Ezra 7:21-
22. The inclusion of one letter within another in this way has been evidenced in
external sources.
PULPIT, "Whatever more shall be needful. Here the terms of the firman are very
wide indeed, and authorise apparently an unlimited application of the royal
revenue, or, at any rate, of the revenue of the province, to any purpose in any way
connected with the temple. Probably it was expected that Ezra's own discretion
would act as a restraint. If this failed, the royal treasurers would see that the
amounts specified in verse 22 were not exceeded. The king's treasure-house is not
the royal treasury at Susa, to which the tribute went up from the various provinces,
but the local treasury of Judaea or Syria, to which the Jews made their remittances,
and on which Ezra was now authorised to draw. Such local treasuries existed of
necessity under a satrapial system.
21
ow I, King Artaxerxes, order all the treasurers
of Trans-Euphrates to provide with diligence
whatever Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law of
the God of heaven, may ask of you--
BAR ES, "All the treasurers - The Persian system of taxing the provinces through
the satraps involved the establishment in each province of at least one local treasury.
GILL, "And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the
treasurers which are beyond the river,.... The receivers of his tribute, tax, and
custom, beyond the river Euphrates, on the side towards the land of Israel:
that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven;

75. see Ezr_7:12,
shall require of you, it be done speedily; which seems at first a grant at large for
whatsoever he should want or demand, but is limited and restrained by what follows.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:21 now gives at once the supplementary order for the treasurer in
question; as a command to which Ezra might appeal. This must also be given
here.—By me, Artaxerxes, myself, is decreed.—The pronoun ‫ָה‬‫י‬ֲ‫א‬ serves to
emphasize the suffix of ‫ִי‬‫נּ‬ִ‫מ‬ (comp. Daniel 7:15), and so also the following noun. The
order: all that Ezra shall require of you, turns itself directly to the treasurer,
because it is thus so much the more clear and impressive.
PETT, "Verses 21-24
The Letter To The Treasurers In Beyond The River A Copy Of Which Is Included
in Artaxerxes Letter (Ezra 7:21-24).
It will be noted that there is in these verses an opening address, followed by the
detail of what is required. All that is missing is Darius’ final signing off. The
treasurers would need to be informed about the decreed freedom from taxation of
the Temple staff. It will be noted that Ezra the Priest is given his official title, ‘the
Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven’.
Ezra 7:21-22
‘And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are in
Beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of
heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of
silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to
a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.’
In this letter Artaxerxes informs his treasurers in Beyond The River of the decrees
that he has made. The first is that they will fulfil all Ezra the Priest’s requirements
as Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, both with regard to money, and with
regard to wheat (for grain offerings), wine (for drink offerings), oil (to supplement
offerings and to maintain the Temple lamps) and salt (for adding to offerings), up to
the limits stated. In the case of the provisions it has been calculated that they would
provide sufficient supplies for the Temple for two years, at which point it would be
up to Ezra to apply for an extension.
In the case of the silver, which is a comparatively huge amount, it would provide
more than ample to meet all Ezra’s needs. It should, however, be noted that this is a
cap or limit, not a statement of amounts to be paid over. (Compare how your credit
card limit might be £10,000. That does not mean that you expect to spend £10,000
every month, and indeed you may never spend that amount in a month). Thus in the
case of the silver the idea is not that Ezra should spend so much, but that if he
needed it, it would be available. Ezra would still have to give account for what he
did spend. The intention is to make available a comparatively unlimited supply of

76. silver to meet his requirements and telling the treasurers not to put any limit on
what he could demand up to this theoretical limit. The silver would be for the
purchase of sacrificial animals, and in order to cover any special requirements that
the Temple might have, ‘to beautify the house of YHWH’ (Ezra 7:27), where these
could not be met out of the gifts described above in Ezra 7:15-16.
‘A hundred talents of silver.’ If Herodotus is correct the total tax levied on the whole
of Beyond the River for a year was three hundred and fifty talents, although of
course revenues would also be obtained in other ways (see in Ezra 7:23 ‘tribute,
customs duty and rent’). Thus accepting the two years mentioned above, after which
Ezra could apply for an extension, one seventh of a two year levy was to be available
to Ezra if it was required (the assumption being that much of it would not be). A
‘measure’ (cor) was roughly 220 litres, a bath roughly 22 litres. Only a small
amount of salt was required for each sacrifice (the salt of the covenant) and thus no
limit was put on it.
22
up to a hundred talents [18] of silver, a hundred
cors [19] of wheat, a hundred baths [20] of wine, a
hundred baths [21] of olive oil, and salt without
limit.
BAR ES, "This verse assigns limits to the permission of Ezr_7:20. As the Persian
tribute was paid partly in money and partly in kind (see Ezr_4:13 note), the treasuries
would be able to supply them as readily as they could furnish money.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "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,

77. 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 Lev_2:1.
JAMISO 22-24, "an hundred talents of silver — about $110,000 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 (Ezr_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 (Ezr_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.
K&D, "Ezr_7:22-23
Unto one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cors of wheat, one hundred baths of
wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescription, i.e., as much as is needed.
Cor had already become, even in Hebrew, the later word for chomer, e.g., 1Ki_5:2; Eze_
45:14. It was equal to ten ephahs or baths, almost two sheffels; see by bibl. Archäol. ii. §
126. The command closes with the injunction, Ezr_7:23 : Whatsoever is commanded by
the God of heaven, i.e., whatever is needful according to the law for the service of God,
let it be completely done for the house of the God of heaven; for why should the wrath of
heaven come upon the realm of the king and of his sons? The ᅋπ. λεγ. ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ז‬ ַ‫ר‬ ְ‫ד‬ፍ is derived
from the Aryan, but is not to be regarded (as by Hitzig and Bertheau) as compounded of
‫ר‬ ַ‫ד‬ ֲ‫א‬ and ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ז‬ፍ; but probably (as by Haug in Ewald's bibl. Jahrb. v. p. 152) as formed of the
Persian drsh, dorest, with ‫א‬ prosthetic, from the Zend root doreç, to grow, to flourish, to
become firm, in the meaning of perfect in all parts, exact. The motive of the royal order,
that the priests may offer acceptable offerings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life
of the king and of his sons, recalls Ezr_6:10. On the formula ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫י‬ ִ , for why should wrath
come, comp. Ezr_4:22.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:22. Salt, without prescribing how much — He limits all the other

78. expenses, except salt, which was of low price, and of very common and necessary use
in all their sacrifices; and therefore, since he would not have any sacrifice hindered,
he did not prescribe any measure of it, but permitted them to take as much as they
found necessary. The sum here ordered, in silver, amounts to thirty-five thousand
three hundred pounds sterling; the wheat to eight hundred bushels; the wine to
twelve or thirteen hogsheads; and the oil to the same quantity, which shows the
princely liberality of Artaxerxes.
ELLICOTT, "(22) Unto an hundred talents of silver . . .—A certain restriction is
laid upon the amount, although the very restriction seems almost indefinite. The
silver might reach £24,000 sterling. As to the rest, Palestine abounded in these
productions, which were regularly remitted to the king’s service. Salt especially was
plentiful near the Dead Sea.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:22. Unto an hundred talents, states the limit to which the giving
may extend. The ‫ַד־‬‫ע‬ (up to one hundred talents) is connected with the phrase: it
shall be done of Ezra 7:21, so far as this involves: it shall be rendered or given. The
‫ָר‬‫כּ‬ִ‫כּ‬, the talent, weighed three thousand sacred shekels (comp. Exodus 38:25; Exodus
38:27), the holy shekel was about two marks, the Persian (comp. Xenoph. Anab. I:5,
6) one and a quarter marks. The ‫ֹר‬ ‫,כּ‬ which occurs already in 1 Kings 5:2; Ezekiel
45:14, instead of the Chomer = ten ephahs or baths, thus almost two bushels.—Salt,
which is not prescribed—which is not stated, not limited to a definite amount. [For
the need of these things in the Jewish system of sacrifice, vid. Ezra 6:9. “As the
Persian tribute was paid partly in money and partly in kind (see note on Ezra 4:13),
the treasuries would be able to supply them as readily as they could furnish money.”
Rawlinson in loco.—Tr.]
PULPIT, "Unto a hundred talents of silver. At the lowest estimate of the Jewish
silver talent, this would be a permission to draw on the royal treasury to the amount
of £24,000 sterling. If we adopt the views of Mr. R.S. Peele ('Dict. of the Bible,
Articles, MO EY and WEIGHTS A D MEASURES), it would authorise drawing
to the amount of £40,000. A hundred measures of wheat. Literally, "a hundred cors
of wheat," as given in the margin. The cor is variously estimated, at 44.25 gallons
and at 86.67 gallons. It contained ten baths. Orders on the treasury for so much
wheat, wine, oil, and salt sound strangely in modern ears; but were natural enough
in the Persian system, where taxation was partly in kind, and every province had to
remit to the court the choicest portion of its produce. Wine, corn, oil, and salt were
all of them produced abundantly in Palestine, which was "a land of corn and wine, a
land of bread and vineyards, a land of off olive, and of honey" (2 Kings 18:32), and
which, in the region about the Dead Sea, abounded with salt.

79. 23
Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it
be done with diligence for the temple of the God
of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the
realm of the king and of his sons?
BAR ES, "Literally, as in the margin, i. e., Whatsoever is commanded in the Law
with respect to the temple service.
CLARKE, "Why should there be wrath - As he believed he was appointed by the
Almighty to do this work, he therefore wished to do it heartily, knowing that if he did
not, God would be displeased, and that the kingdom would be cut off from him or his
posterity.
GILL, "y done for the house of the God of heaven; for the service of it,
particularly sacrifices:
for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
through the neglect of the service of God in the temple, and by reason of the default of
the king's treasurers.
HE RY, " He charges him to let nothing be wanting that was requisite to be done in
or about the temple for the honour of the God of Israel. Observe, in this charge (Ezr_
7:23), 1. How honourably he speaks of God. He had called him before the God of
Jerusalem; but here, lest it should be thought that he looked upon him as a local deity,
he calls him twice, with great veneration, the God of heaven. 2. How strictly he eyes the
word and law of God, which, it is likely, he had read and admired: “Whatsoever is
commanded by your God” (whose institutions, though he wrote himself King of kings,
he would not presume in the least iota or tittle to alter or add to) “let it be done, let it be
diligently done, with care and speed.” And, 3. How solicitously he deprecates the wrath
of God: Why should there be wrath against the realm? The neglect and contempt of
religion bring the judgments of God upon kings and kingdoms; and the likeliest
expedient to turn away his wrath, when it is ready to break out against a people, is to
support and encourage religion. Would we secure our peace and prosperity? Let us take
care that the cause of God be not starved.
COFFMA , "Verse 23

80. A TAX EXEMPTIO FOR ALL RELIGIOUS EMPLOYEES
"Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the
house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the king and his
sons? Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers,
porters, ethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose
tribute, custom, or toll, upon them."
"Why should there be wrath against the king and his sons" (Ezra 7:23)? This
discloses the motive which prompted Persian kings to honor the gods of all the
nations they conquered.
"It shall not be lawful to impose tribute ..." (Ezra 7:24). Regarding this blanket tax
exemption provided for the entire religious community, according to Rawlinson,
"This was absolutely permanent and probably continued in force till the close of the
empire."[18]
BE SO , "Ezra 7:23. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be
diligently done — Here Jacobus Capellus cries out in a kind of rapture, “O, words
to be written upon the palaces of kings, in golden letters, and engraven on the minds
of all, with a style of adamant! For they express an exceeding great sense of God,
and of his supreme authority, and the regard due to him from the greatest kings and
potentates.” It appears from this verse, that Ezra had informed Artaxerxes that the
God of Israel had appointed and given his people certain laws, according to which
he was to be worshipped, and therefore the edict enjoins these laws to be exactly
observed. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
— For the omission of any part of his worship, occasioned by my neglect. He
discerned his duty in this matter, and the danger of incurring God’s displeasure if
he neglected it, partly by the light of nature, and principally by the information of
Ezra. The neglect and contempt of religion brings the judgments of God upon kings
and kingdoms; and the likeliest expedient to turn away his wrath, when it is ready
to break out against a people, is to support and encourage religion.
ELLICOTT, "(23) Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven.—The last is
the strongest ground for such an ample authorisation. In the solemn and devout
firman the phrase “the God of heaven” occurs twice, and the Persian prince
deprecates His wrath. In this seventh year of Artaxerxes, B.C. 458, the tide of
success turned for Persia against the Athenians in Egypt.
And his sons.—Though Artaxerxes Longimanus was young at this time, he is said to
have left eighteen sons.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:23 gives a still more comprehensive injunction—all that is in
accordance with the command of the God of heaven—what is demanded according
to the divine law—let it be completely done.—The ἅπ. λεγ. ‫א‬ָ‫ְדּ‬‫ז‬ ַ‫ר‬ְ‫אַד‬ is regarded by
Hitzig and Berth. as compounded of ‫ר‬ַ‫ד‬ֲ‫א‬ and ‫א‬ָ‫ְדּ‬‫ז‬‫אַ‬ (Hitz. Comm. on Daniel II:5;
Bertheau on II:3) especially because ‫ר‬ַ‫אָד‬ in ‫ָא‬‫יּ‬ ַ‫ְר‬‫ז‬ָ‫גּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ַ‫ד‬ֲ‫,א‬ Daniel 3:2 can be clearly

81. recognized as an intensive prefix (“very”). Haug, on the other hand, in Ewald’s Bib.
Jahrb. V, S 152 sq, derives it from the Persian dorest, the Zend. root doreç = “grow,
prosper, become firm,” as formed by ‫א‬prosth. in the meaning of “completely,
punctually in every thing.”—For why—‫ָה‬‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬‫י־‬ִ‫דּ‬ = for wherefore = “in order that not.”
Comp. Ezra 4:22.
PETT, "Ezra 7:23
‘Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house
of the God of heaven, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king
and his sons?’
Artaxerxes was concerned that the God of Heaven should be pleased with the
offerings offered to Him. Thus whatever He commanded concerning His house was
to be done. And his purpose was to avoid His wrath, whether through invading
armies or natural disaster. As Tattenai had pointed out to Darius, the God of
Heaven was prone to exercise His wrath through invading armies (Ezra 5:12). Thus
He had a reputation among the Persians.
PULPIT, "Why should there be wrath against the realm? In the seventh year of
Artaxerxes Longimanns there was "wrath against the realm" of Persia in a very
dangerous quarter, viz; Egypt. Egypt had revolted from the Persians in b.c. 460, and
in the following year, with the assistance of the Athenians, had driven the last
Persian out of the country. A vain attempt was made by an embassy to Sparta,
towards the close of b.c. 459, to force Athens to recall her troops. In b.c. 458,
Artaxerxes' seventh year, it was resolved that a Persian force should attempt the
recovery of the revolted country. Artaxerxes gives his firman to Ezra when this
expedition is preparing to start, and partly alludes to the past "wrath," shown in the
success of the rebels, partly deprecates any further visitation. Without pretending to
penetrate the Divine counsels, it may be noticed that from the year b.c. 458 things
went well for the Persians in Egypt. Memphis was recovered in that year or the
next; and in b.c. 455 the Athenians were finally defeated, and the province
recovered. The king and his sons. This mention of the "sons" of Artaxerxes has been
regarded as a proof that the Artaxerxes of Esther was Mnemon, and not
Longimanus (Patrick). But it is quite a gratuitous supposition that Longimanus,
who had attained to manhood before he ascended the throne, had no sons in the
seventh year of his reign. Ultimately he left behind him eighteen sons (Ctesias, 'Exc.
Pers.,' § 44).
24
You are also to know that you have no authority
to impose taxes, tribute or duty on any of the

82. priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple
servants or other workers at this house of God.
BAR ES, "The decree of Artaxerxes was more favorable to the Jews than those of all
previous Persian monarchs. We hear of a similar exemption of ecclesiastics from tribute,
only to a less extent, under the Seleucidae.
Ministers - The rare word here used, which in Daniel has the sense of “worshippers,”
appears to designate in this place the lowest class of persons employed in the service of
the temple.
CLARKE, "It shall not be lawful to impose toll - As these persons had no
private revenues, it would have been unreasonable to have laid them under taxation.
GILL, "Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites,
singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God,.... The king had
a right and perfect knowledge of the distinct offices and services of those persons, see
Ezr_7:7,
it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them; that they
might be the less encumbered with the affairs of life, and be more at leisure to attend
divine service, and do it the more readily and freely; it was usual with the Heathens to
except ecclesiastics from taxes, tributes, and imposts; so the priests in Egypt (w), and the
Druids here in Britain (x).
HE RY, " He exempts all the ministers of the temple from paying taxes to the
government. From the greatest of the priests to the least of the Nethinim, it shall not be
lawful for the king's officers to impose that toll, tribute, or custom upon them, which the
rest of the king's subjects paid, Ezr_7:24. This put a great honour upon them as free
denizens of the empire, and would gain them respect as favourites of the crown; and it
gave them liberty to attend their ministry with more cheerfulness and freedom. We
suppose it was only what they needed for themselves and their families, and the
maintenance of their ministry, that was hereby allowed to come to them custom-free. If
any of them should take occasion from this privilege to meddle in trade and
merchandise, they justly lost the benefit of it.
K&D, "Ezr_7:24
The priests, the Levites, and all the servants of the temple, are also to be free from all
customs and taxes. ‫ין‬ ִ‫ע‬ ְ‫ּוד‬‫ה‬ ְ‫מ‬ ‫ּם‬‫כ‬ ְ‫,וּל‬ we also make known to you (it is made known to you).
These words also are addressed to the treasures, as levyers of taxes on this side the river.
That, with regard to all priests, ... and (other) ministers of this house of God, it shall not

83. be lawful to impose upon them toll, tribute, or custom. The ‫א‬ ָ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ ‫ית‬ ֵ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ ָ are not
worshippers in the house of God, but they who do service in the house of God. The
expression comprises any servants of the temple who might have been omitted in the
classes enumerated. On ‫וגו‬ ‫ּו‬‫ל‬ ְ ‫ה‬ ָ ְ‫נ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ comp. Ezr_4:13. ‫יט‬ ִ ַ‫שׁ‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫,ל‬ (any one) has no right, with
an infinitive following: it is allowed to no one to do. ‫א‬ ֵ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ִ‫מ‬ from ‫א‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫,ר‬ Targ. for ‫ים‬ ִ‫.שׂ‬ On this
matter, compare Josephus, Ant. xii. 3. 3, according to which Antiochus the Great freed
the priests and Levites from taxation.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:24. It shall not be lawful to impose tolls, &c. — Thus he
discharged all the ministers of religion, from the greatest of the priests to the least of
the ethinims, from paying taxes to the government, and made it unlawful for the
king’s officers to impose any taxes on them. This was putting a great honour upon
them, as free denizens of the empire, and would gain them respect as favourites of
the crown, at the same time that it gave them liberty to attend on their ministry with
freedom and cheerfulness.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:24 gives an additional clause, which is for the consideration of the
treasurer likewise.—And to you it is made known,etc., ‫ִין‬‫ע‬ְ‫ְהוֹד‬‫מ‬ has an indef. subject,
or the active is for the passive; to you is it made known. Those addressed are still the
same, as from Ezra 7:21 on, thus the treasurers.—That all priests,etc., that Isaiah,
concerning all priests.—Ministers of the house of God.—The ‫ָא‬‫ה‬ָ‫ל‬ֱ‫א‬ ‫ֵית‬‫ב‬ ‫ֵי‬‫ח‬ְ‫ל‬ָ‫פּ‬ are
alongside of the priests not all worshippers of the true God in general, but official
persons, perhaps the lowest class [Rawlinson] as we may infer from their position
after the ethinim, or those who are not included in the foregoing classes. Bertheau
compares the servants of Song of Solomon, who occur in Ezra 2:55; Ezra 2:58, after
the ethinim. For ‫ה‬ָ‫ְדּ‬‫נ‬ִ‫מ‬, etc., comp. Ezra 4:13. ‫ִיט‬‫לּ‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ‫ָא‬‫ל‬ properly = one not having
authority, with the infin, and ‫ל‬ = one who has not power, or: it is not allowed, as
frequently in Syriac. ‫א‬ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ִר‬‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬ from ‫א‬ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ in the Targums for ‫ים‬ ִ‫.שׂ‬ Such a liberation of
priests and Levites from taxes, occurred also under Artaxerxes the great, Comp.
Joseph. Arch., xv3, 3. [F 5]
PETT, "Ezra 7:24
‘We also certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, gate-
keepers, ethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose
tribute, customs duty, or rent, on them.’
All who served in the Temple were to be exempt from all tribute, customs duty and
rent. The exemption from tribute would, however, have to be made up by other
members of the community for, as we have seen above, the province was required to
pay a fixed total amount. Such an exemption is paralleled elsewhere. We can
compare how Darius wrote to a certain Gadatas condemning him for having
‘exacted tribute from the sacred cultivators of Apollo’ at Magnesia.
The details concerning those who served in the Temple would have been provided
by Jewish advisers or by Ezra himself. The reference to ‘servants’ presumably has
in mind the ‘servants of Solomon’ (Ezra 2:55). We can understand why a Persian

84. scribe would not see ‘of Solomon’ as being relevant.
PULPIT, "We certify you. The use of the plural is curious. Hitherto the king has
made every permission and command to rest on his own sole authority (see Ezra
7:12, Ezra 7:13, Ezra 7:21). ow that he reaches the most important point in the
whole of his decree—the permanent exemption of a large part of the people from
liability to taxation of any kind, his style changes, and he says, "We certify you."
Perhaps he speaks in the name of himself and his successors; or possibly he means
to say that in this matter he has asked and obtained the assent and consent of his
council (compare Ezra 7:28). Or ministers. Rather, "and ministers." It is generally
allowed that the word here translated "ministers" is not applied to the ethinim,
but to that still lower grade of attendants in the sanctuary called "Solomon's
servants" in Ezra 2:55-58, and ehemiah 7:57-60. It shall not be lawful to impose
toll, tribute, or custom upon them It may be suspected from this proviso that the
Persians exempted from taxation their own (Magian) priests, though of this there is
no other evidence. But they would scarcely have placed a foreign priesthood on a
higher level of favour than their own.
25
And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of
your God, which you possess, appoint magistrates
and judges to administer justice to all the people
of Trans-Euphrates--all who know the laws of
your God. And you are to teach any who do not
know them.
GILL, "And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand,....
Which he had a large share of from the Lord, and could readily make use of to good
purpose; and this may be meant of the law of God made with the highest wisdom, and to
know and observe which is an instance of wisdom in men, Deu_4:6,
set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond
the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; such as God, in his great wisdom,
directed to in his wise law to be appointed over the people, to judge righteous judgment;

85. to inform them in all matters of controversy that might arise among them, and decide
them according to it; and lead them into a greater and better knowledge of it, Deu_
16:18. Jarchi takes the word for "set" to be a comparative, and the sense to be, that the
wisdom of Ezra was greater than the judges that judged the people, than them that knew
the law:
and teach ye them that know them not; such people that were ignorant thereof;
though the above writer interprets this of ignorant judges,"the judge that knows not to
judge, make him know judgment to do it.''
HE RY 25-26, " He empowers Ezra to nominate and appoint judges and magistrates
for all the Jews on that side the river, Ezr_7:25, Ezr_7:26. It was a great favour to the
Jews to have such nobles of themselves, and especially to have them of Ezra's
nomination. 1. All that knew the laws of Ezra's God (that is, all that professed the Jewish
religion) were to be under the jurisdiction of these judges, which intimates that they
were exempted from the jurisdiction of the heathen magistrates. 2. These judges were
allowed and encouraged to make proselytes: Let them teach the laws of God to those
that do not know them. Though he would not turn Jew himself, he cared not how many
of his subjects did. 3. They were authorized to enforce the judgments they gave, and the
orders they made, conformable to the law of God (which was hereby made the law of the
king), with severe penalties - imprisonment, banishment, fine, or death, according as
their law directed. They were not allowed to make new laws, but must see the laws of
God duly executed; and they were entrusted with the sword in order that they might be a
terror to evil doers. What could Jehoshaphat, or Hezekiah, or David himself, as king,
have done more for the honour of God and the furtherance of religion?
K&D, "Ezr_7:25
Finally, Ezra is empowered to appoint over his whole people (all the Jews) on this side
the river, judges who know the law of God, and to inflict severe penalties upon those who
transgress it.
“Thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God which is in thy hand ( ְ‫ך‬ ָ‫יד‬ ִ‫ב‬ ‫י‬ ִ like Ezr_7:14),
set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are on this side the river,
namely all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye them that know them not.”
The form ‫י‬ִ ֶ‫מ‬ is imper. Pael for ‫י‬ִ ַ‫,מ‬ the A sound probably passing in rapid speech into the
flatter E sound. “All the people on this side the river” is limited to Israelites or Jews by
the further particulars, ”who know the law of thy God,” etc. These are to receive from
Ezra judges, viz., such as are acquainted with the law, i.e., Israelite judges, and thus to be
placed under the jurisdiction established at Jerusalem. The sentence, “and they who
know it (the law) not, them teach ye, make them acquainted with it,” does not refer to
the heathen, but to born Israelites or Jews, who, living among the heathen, had not
hitherto made the Mosaic law the rule of their lives. Such were the judges to constrain to
the observance and obedience of the law.
BE SO , "Ezra 7:25. After the wisdom of thy God in thy hand — That is, which
God hath put into thy heart, and which appears in the works of thy hand. Wisdom
is sometimes ascribed to the hand, as Psalms 78:72. Or, by the wisdom of God, he

86. means the law of God, which was said to be in his hand, Ezra 7:14. Set magistrates
and judges, which may judge all the people, &c. — All the Jews on that side of the
river. All such as know the laws of thy God — All that professed the Jewish religion
were to be under the jurisdiction of these judges; which intimates that they were
exempt from the jurisdiction of heathen magistrates. It was a great favour to the
Jews to have such magistrates of themselves, and especially of Ezra’s nomination.
And teach ye them that know them not — They were to instruct in the laws of God
those that were ignorant of them, whether Jews or others, which implies that he had
no objection to their making proselytes to the Jewish religion.
COFFMA , "Verse 25
EZRA'S AUTHORITY EXTE DED TO I CLUDE ALL BEYO D THE RIVER
There was some quality of mind and character among a number of ancient Jewish
leaders that earned for them the respect and honor of world rulers who observed
them. Joseph under Pharaoh, Daniel under ebuchadnezzar, and now Ezra under
Artaxerxes I were all granted a status under their respective overlords that was little
less than that of a deputy monarch. ote the following:
"And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint
magistrates and judges, who shall judge all the people who are beyond the River, all
such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not. And
whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be
executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or
to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment."
This concludes the letter of Artaxerxes I. It gave Ezra almost despotic power over
the whole Persian province beyond the River. Also, of very great significance, it
recognized the Law of Moses as the supreme law of the land, along with that of the
king, which are here understood to be one and the same thing. From this we must
recognize in Artaxerxes I an unusually brilliant mind, in that he recognized the
utility of the Mosaic Law, including, of course, the Decalogue, as a fit charter of
government for the whole kingdom. How strange it is that forty-seven of the forty-
eight contiguous states of the U.S.A., in their various constitutions, have specifically
listed the Ten Commandments as the basic law in every one of them. Clarence
Manion, Dean of the College of Law at otre Dame University, declared this to be a
fact.
"Let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence" (Ezra 7:26). Here is
another vital principle of just government that was commanded by Artaxerxes,
namely, that punishment of violators of the law, should be executed immediately,
promptly, with all diligence. Our own system of government in the U. S. A. today is
tragically unjust and inefficient in their rejection of this vital principle. The average
time between the conviction of some brutal and heartless murderer and his
execution is measured in years, and sometimes reaches more than a decade. There is
no wonder that criminals hold the law in utmost contempt. Half a millennium before

87. Christ, a pagan Persian king, knew the futility and worthlessness of such a system as
we in America have imposed upon ourselves.
A A ALYSIS OF EZRA'S COMMISSIO
We are indebted to Rawlinson for this summary of Ezra's commission.[19]
A. The temporary provisions: (1) permission for all Israelites who desired to do so to
go with Ezra to Jerusalem; (2) permission to carry the monetary gifts of the king
and his counsellors to Jerusalem; (3) permission to draw upon the royal sub-
treasury large grants up to the limits set in Ezra 7:22; (4) permission to convey to
Jerusalem all of the money that Ezra might receive from an area-wide fund-raising
effort; and (5) a royal mandate to "inquire" concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
B. Permanent provisions: (1) Ezra was endowed with the chief authority over all the
great satrapy beyond the River, with power to appoint magistrates and judges, and
to require their knowledge of the Mosaic Law. (2) He was empowered to enforce his
decisions by penalties of fines, imprisonment, banishment, or even death. (3) A
permanent status of tax exemption was granted for the entire religious community
concerned with services in the temple.
Having recorded, without translating it, the important document in Aramaic by
which Artaxerxes conveyed to Ezra his commission, "Ezra then resumed the use of
the more sacred Hebrew language and employed it uninterruptedly to the end of the
narrative."[20]
ELLICOTT, "(25) All such as know.—The firman, or king’s commission, returning
directly to Ezra, makes him supreme in the province over the Jewish population.
And teach ye them that know them not.—That is, those Jews who had
comparatively forsaken the law. Here he has absolute authority in religion.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:25-26. The third part of the decree authorizes Ezra to set up
judges experienced in the law for the entire Jewish people, and impose punishments
for infractions of the law; this contains that very matter in which he is to afford be
very help to the congregation upon which all now depended, a matter in which
Artaxerxes in his good-will made an important step in advance beyond Cyrus and
Darius. Since the civil and social life of Israel was so closely connected with their
religion by the law, they could not well prosper under judges who had neither
appreciation nor understanding of their religion. It might appear strange to us that
nothing more is expressly said of the setting up of Jewish judges. but our book,
which limits itself to the negative side of confirmation in the law, to the separation.
of the heathen women, was not the proper place for this. In the book of ehemiah,
which adds the positive side, since the congregation obligate themselves in chap10 to
keep all the important parts of the law, this is implicitly involved.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:25. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God,etc.—‫ְך‬ָ‫ִיד‬‫ב‬ ‫י‬ִ‫דּ‬ as in

88. verse24, etc., “which thou possessest.” ‫ִי‬‫נּ‬ֶ‫מּ‬ is imper. Pa. “appoint,” “set up,” for ‫ִי‬‫נּ‬ַ‫מּ‬,
the less hard e sound is more easily uttered, and occurs as a matter of course when it
is followed by a second syllable ma or man.—Magistrates and Judges, which may
judge all the people that are beyond the river.—The imperf. ‫ֱוֹן‬‫ה‬ֶ‫ל‬, with the part.
expresses continued action. The people to be judged are as a matter of course the
Jewish people. Among them are not only those who know the law of God, but also
others who yet for the first time must be instructed in it. We are not to think of the
latter as proselytes, nevertheless it refers not only to the Jews of Palestine, but also
to those dwelling widely scattered in the land to the West of the Euphrates. They are
all to be subject to the judges set up by Ezra; the judges however are, according to
the context, to watch over the observation of the Mosaic law, and maintain its
authority. This is the foundation for the Jewish tradition of the institution of the
great synagogue by Ezra.
PETT, "Ezra 7:25
‘And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint
magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are in Beyond the River,
all such as know the laws of your God, and teach you him who does not know them.’
Ezra was also to appoint magistrates and judges who were to judge ‘all such as
know the laws of your God’ in Beyond The River, that is, those who saw themselves
as members of the covenant with YHWH. There may have been complaints from the
returnees and those who had united with them in the pure worship of YHWH that
the judges appointed in the area of Beyond the River so little understood the Law of
God that they were unable to judge on important matters, and were indeed unable
to judge them fairly. This would very much explain why Ezra was being sent to
establish a new group of magistrates and judges who both knew the Law of God and
knew the law of the king. They would then be able to judge on all matters related to
the community.
It may also be that Artaxerxes had also learned of serious disquiet among the
community of returnees concerning certain things which needed to be remedied if
their prayers in the Temple were to be effective. This comes out later with regard to
the issue of foreign wives who were introducing idolatry among the returnees, thus
bringing great displeasure to the God of Heaven, something no doubt drawn to
Artaxerxes attention by his Jewish advisers. They may well have stressed that God
would not hear their prayers for the king while such things were going on.
But a number of people had joined the community additionally to the returnees
(Ezra 6:21), and where some of these among the community might be ignorant of
the laws of God, Ezra was to teach them accordingly. Law and order was difficult if
people did not know what was required of them. Thus Ezra was to be both a teacher
and a judge in the community, setting up a panel of magistrates and judges to
oversee the judicial needs of the community.
The area described as Beyond the River was widespread. It included people of many
nations, many of whom would have had no knowledge of YHWH. It is inconceivable

89. that the kings of Persia, who so favoured people looking to their ancient gods, would
have sought to turn them to Yahwism. So it is quite clear that Artaxerxes’
statements have to be interpreted of those who did see themselves as committed to
the Law of God.
‘After the wisdom of God which is in your hand.’ In Ezra 7:14 it was ‘the Law of
God which was in his hand’. This appears to confirm that by ‘the wisdom of God’
Artaxerxes means His Law, indicating the great respect that he had for it.
PULPIT, "And thou, Ezra. This conclusion would be by itself sufficient to remove
the document out of the ordinary category of "decrees" or "edicts," and to render
it, what it is called in verse 11, nishtevan, "a letter." After the wisdom of thy God,
that is in thy hand. i.e. "that is in thy possession." Set magistrates and judges. Both
the words used are derived from roots signifying "to judge," and it is difficult to
draw any distinction between them. The one translated "magistrates" is that which
gives its title to the Book of "Judges." Which may judge all the people that are
beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God. The latter clause is probably
intended to be limitative of the former, and to consign to Ezra's government only the
Jewish portion of the population, in which, however, are to be reckoned the
proselytes (see comment on Ezra 6:21). And teach ye them that know them not. As
the other inhabitants of Syria were not Zoroastrians, but idolaters, Ezra was given
free permission to spread his religion among them.
26
Whoever does not obey the law of your God and
the law of the king must surely be punished by
death, banishment, confiscation of property, or
imprisonment.
BAR ES, "Banishment - literally, as in the margin. Separation from the
congregation is probably intended (compare Ezr_10:8).
CLARKE, "Whether it be unto death - These include almost every species of
punishment which should be inflicted on culprits in any civilized state.

90. With this verse the Chaldee part of this chapter ends.
GILL, "And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the
king,.... Either the judge who delays judgment, or does not execute it according to the
law of God, and of the king; or the people, that do not obey the law of God in matters of
religion, and the law of the king in civil things, Judea being now a province of the
Persian empire; though some think the law of the king only refers to this law or decree of
the king, which gave the Jews power to execute their own laws:
let judgment be executed speedily upon him; immediately, without delay,
according to the nature of his crime:
whether it be unto death; if guilty of a capital crime, deserving death, let him be put
to death:
or to banishment; from his native country to a foreign distant land:
or to rooting out (y), as the word signifies; an utter extirpation of him and his family,
a destroying him root and branch; or, as Jarchi expresses it, a rooting him out of the
world, his seed and family:
or to confiscation of goods; to payment of mulcts and fines:
or to imprisonment; for such a term of time; all according to the breach of what law
he may be guilty of; thus far the king's decree.
K&D, "Ezr_7:26
But whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let a court be
speedily ( ֵ ִ‫)מ‬ held on his account (i.e., let him be brought to justice, and punished).
This, too, applies chiefly to such as were Israelites born. The law of the king is the
present edict, the commission therein entrusted to Ezra: whoever opposes, neglects, or
transgresses it, shall be condemned, whether to death, or to banishment, or to
confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. ‫ן‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ... ‫ן‬ ֵ‫ה‬ = the Hebrew ‫ם‬ ִ‫א‬ ... ‫ם‬ ִ‫א‬ = sive ... sive.
‫ּשׁוּ‬‫ר‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ (Keri ‫י‬ ִ‫ּשׁ‬‫ר‬ ְ‫,)שׁ‬ rooting our (from ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ֵ‫,שׁ‬ to root out), i.e., banishment, exilium (Vulg.),
not παιδεία (lxx).
BE SO , "Ezra 7:26. Whosoever will not do the law of thy God, &c. — They were
not allowed to make new laws, but were to see the law of God duly executed, (which
is here made the law of the king,) and therefore were intrusted with the sword, that
they might be a terror to evil-doers. What could Jehoshaphat, or Hezekiah, or David
himself, as king, have done more for the honour of God and the furtherance of
religion?
COKE, "Ver. 26. The law of the king— i.e. Says Bishop Patrick, this decree which

91. was made in favour of the Jews, whereby they were authorized to use the laws of
Moses: in any case where these were doubtful, they were to be directed by the king's
ordinances.
REFLECTIO S.—1st, Ezra seems, soon after the dedication of the temple, to have
returned to court, either to give an account of their proceedings, or to complain of
the backwardness of the governors to supply them according to the king's
commission, or to invite more of his brethren to return, since their beginnings were
now so prosperous.
1. His character answered his high birth. He was eminent for his learning, especially
in the law of God; and as eminent for his practice. His knowledge was not barren
and unfruitful; it engaged him to fidelity in doing the will of God, while he earnestly
sought deeper discoveries of it; and he was zealously communicative of his spiritual
wisdom, in order to teach others how to walk and please God. ote; (1.) Of all
learning, scripture learning is most desirable: none beside can make us wise to
salvation. (2.) They who would know God's truth, must search for it as for silver.
Idleness and ignorance are necessarily connected. (3.) That is truly profitable
knowledge, which is employed in the instruction of others in the good ways of our
God. (4.) They who practise what they teach can speak with greater confidence, and
may expect success. Little can be hoped from the scribe who sits in Moses's seat, and
saith, and doth not.
2. Having executed successfully his commission at the Persian court, he returned to
Jerusalem, bringing with him a number of his brethren, who, hearing of the
prosperity of Zion, were desirous to share in it. Though the journey was long, God's
presence and providence comforted and strengthened them, and they arrived safe,
after a four months' journey, at Jerusalem. ote; God's merciful providence is
continually to be acknowledged in all our goings out and comings in: every mercy
that we enjoy comes from his good hand.
2nd, We have the honourable commission addressed to Ezra the scribe from the
king of Babylon; whose dominions were so extensive, that he assumed the title of
King of kings.
1. He gives liberty to all the Jews in his dominions to return to their own land under
the conduct of Ezra, who is constituted chief inquisitor into the affairs of the Jewish
people, and authorized to take care that the law of God in all things might be
observed among them.
2. He sends by him a noble present from himself and his princes, with vessels of
silver and gold, to be employed in the service of the temple, as Ezra and his brethren
saw most adviseable; and authorizes him to collect from the Jews, who continued to
reside in Babylon, whatever free-will offerings they chose to send to the house of
God at Jerusalem, to be laid out according to the will of God. ote; (1.) The revealed
will of God must be the constant standard of our conduct. (2.) They who are
employed in such trusts of public money need be men of tried integrity.

92. 3. He gives him a large order upon his governors, for whatever more might be
wanting for the service of God; to maintain which, he would spare no expence,
knowing how much it was his interest to engage him as a friend; and how
dangerous, by neglect, to provoke him as an enemy. ote; (1.) How will the
solicitude of a heathen king to obtain God's favour rise up in judgment, to reprove
the negligence and carelessness of professed christians! (2.) They who are zealous in
the cause of God will have generous hearts and open hands.
4. He exempts all the ministers of the sanctuary, from the highest to the lowest, from
tribute; as an honourable mark of distinction. However they may now be slighted,
there was a time when even heathen kings thought that they ought to be had in
honour.
5. Ezra is empowered to nominate magistrates skilled in God's law over his own
people, that no heathen judge might have jurisdiction among them. They were to
administer justice, and instruct the ignorant; and all pains and penalties were put in
their power to punish the disobedient, even to imprisonment or death. ote; (1.)
Magistrates must not bear the sword in vain. (2.) Among the greatest temporal
blessings, is an impartial administration of justice according to the law of God.
3rdly, With grateful acknowledgement Ezra interrupts the history, to offer up a
pious and thankful ejaculation to his merciful God.
1. For the gracious commission which the Lord had put it into the king's heart to
give him. ote; (1.) In all our blessings, we must look above men and means to the
great author of all grace. (2.) If there be a good desire put into the heart, we may be
assured that it is from above.
2. For the support and strength with which he had been supplied in negotiating this
service. ote; Whatever abilities or natural fortitude we possess, we must ascribe all
our success, not to ourselves, but to the support of God's good grace.
3. For the company that God gave him, inclining his brethren, and the chief of them,
to go with him. ote; (1.) It is not our persuasions as ministers, but God's powerful
operative grace upon the heart, that can engage any man to quit this Babylon of the
world, to travel to Zion, the mount of God. (2.) It is matter of most unspeakable
thankfulness to ministers, when their preaching is made effectual to the engaging of
men's hearts to follow Christ and his gospel.
ELLICOTT, "(26) Let judgment be executed speedily upon him.—Hence civil
authority is added to religious. All these powers were usually entrusted to the
provincial administrators, with more or less of reservation, by the Persians. But it is
obvious that their combination in the one person of this servant of Tehovah
demanded express statement.

93. LA GE, "Ezra 7:26. The object of this institution was that judgment might be
diligently held over any one who did not keep the law of God and the king.—The
law of the king can here be joined on to that of God, because so far as it required
obedience to the law of God in the foregoing decree, it was transgressed by
disobedience. Perhaps it had already been shown, likewise, that where obedience to
the law of God ceased, usually also obedience to the royal command vanished. ‫ַד‬‫ב‬ֲ‫ע‬
‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ִ‫דּ‬ is in the Targ. not unusual for “hold judgment.” ‫ֵהּ‬‫נּ‬ִ‫מ‬ “out from him” = “over
him.” The point of beginning is here at the same time the point aimed at. The
following ‫ֵן‬‫ה‬—‫ֵן‬‫ה‬ = sive—sive—whether it be unto death or to banishment, whether
to confiscation of goods or to imprisonment.—‫רשׁוּ‬ְ‫שׁ‬ an entirely Syriac form of ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫ר‬ֵ‫,שׁ‬
properly rooting out, is here in distinction from death, banishment, Vulg: exilium,
or at least excommunication (comp. Ezra 10:8) [Rawlinson], not παιδεία (Sept.).
Respecting the punishment in ‫ִין‬‫ס‬ְ‫כ‬ִ‫נ‬, treasure, property, as Ezra 6:8, comp. Ezra
10:8.
PETT, "Ezra 7:26
‘And whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment
be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to
confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.’
Ezra was made responsible, not only to ensure that the law of God was obeyed, but
also the law of the king. He thus had religious and civil responsibility, a combination
that Jews of course constantly had to face up to when they were living outside the
land. The severer of the punishments then listed were possibly in respect of the law
of the king, although the Law of God certainly demanded the death penalty for
certain gross sins such as murder and adultery. He and his judges were given quite
awesome powers. These included the right to pass the death penalty, the right to
order banishment, the right to confiscate goods, and the right to imprison. The
actual carrying out of the punishment would no doubt be by the Persian authorities.
This putting of local religious law on a par with the law of the king appears to have
been a Persian policy. In 519 BC Darius instructed the Egyptian satrap to gather
‘wise men’ among ‘the warriors, priests and scribes of Egypt’ so that they may ‘set
down in writing the ancient laws of Egypt’. This could only have been in order for
these laws to be in some way incorporated into the legal system in Egypt.
(End of Aramaic section).
PULPIT, "Finally, to Ezra is intrusted distinctly the civil government of the Jewish
people, with power to fine, imprison, banish, or put to death offenders, as he may
think right. These powers were always intrusted by the Persians to the civil
administrators of provinces, who were autocrats within their respective territories,
and responsible to the king alone for the exercise of their authority.

94. 27
Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers,
who has put it into the king's heart to bring honor
to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way
BAR ES, "An abrupt transition from the words of Artaxerxes to those of Ezra.
Compare a similar abrupt change in Ezr_6:6. The language alters at the same time from
Chaldee to Hebrew, continuing henceforth to be Hebrew until the close of the book.
GILL, "Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers,.... This is Ezra's thanksgiving to
God for the above decree:
which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart; which he rightly took to
be of God, who wrought in him to will and to do:
to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem; to provide for the
ornamenting of it, for vessels in it, as well as for sacrifices; for as for the building of it,
that was finished.
HE RY, "Ezra cannot proceed in his story without inserting his thankful
acknowledgement of the goodness of God to him and his people in this matter. As soon
as he has concluded the king's commission, instead of subjoining, God save the king
(though that would have been proper enough), he adds, Blessed be the Lord; for we
must in every thing give thanks, and, whatever occurrences please us, we must own
God's hand in them, and praise his name. Two things Ezra blessed God for: - 1. For his
commission. We suppose he kissed the king's hand for it, but that was not all: Blessed be
God (says he) that put such a thing as this into the king's heart. God can put things into
men's hearts which would not arise there of themselves, and into their heads too, both
by his providence and by his grace, in things pertaining both to life and godliness. If any
good appear to be in our own hearts, or in the hearts of others, we must own it was God
that put it there, and bless him for it; for it is he that worketh in us both to will and to do
that which is good. When princes and magistrates act for the suppression of vice, and
the encouragement of religion, we must thank God that put it into their hearts to do so,
as much as if they had granted us some particular favour. When God's house was built
Ezra rejoiced in what was done to beautify it. We read not of any orders given to paint or
gild it, or to garnish it with precious stones, but to be sure that the ordinances of God
were administered there constantly, and carefully, and exactly according to the
institution; and that was indeed the beautifying of the temple.

95. JAMISO , "Ezr_7:27, Ezr_7:28. Ezra blesses God for this favor.
Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers — This devout thanksgiving is in unison
with the whole character of Ezra, who discerns the hand of God in every event, and is
always ready to express a pious acknowledgment for the divine goodness.
K&D, "Ezr_7:27-28
This royal commission granted to the Jews all they could possibly desire from the
heathen governors of the country, for the establishment and furtherance of their civil
and religious polity. By granting these privileges, Artaxerxes was not only treading in the
footsteps of Cyrus and Darius Hystaspes, but even going beyond these princes in
granting to the Jews a jurisdiction of their own. Without a magistrate who was one of
themselves, the Jewish community could not well prosper in their own land; for the
social and religious life of Israel were so closely connected, that heathen magistrates,
however well-intentioned, were incapable of exercising a beneficial influence upon the
welfare of the Jews. Hence Ezra, having thus reported the royal commission, adds a
thanksgiving to God for having put such a thing into the king's heart, namely, to beautify
the house of the Lord, and for having granted him favour before the king and his
counsellors. The sentence ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫ה‬ ‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫ע‬ְ‫ו‬ e is a continuation of the preceding infinitive
sentence in the tempus finit. ְ‫ל‬ before ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫ל־שׂ‬ ָⅴ is the ְ‫ל‬ comprehensive. Ezra names the
beautifying of the house of God as the occasion of his thanksgiving, not only because this
formed the chief matter of the royal favour, but also because the re-establishment of
divine worship was the re-establishment of the moral and religious life of the
community. “And I felt myself strengthened, and gathered together (so that I gathered
together) the heads of Israel to go up with me (to Jerusalem).” Ezra assembled the
heads, i.e., of houses, as fellow-travellers, because their decision would be a rule for the
families at the head of which they stood. With their heads, the several races and families
determined to return to the land of their fathers.
BENSON, "Ezra 7:27. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, &c. — Ezra cannot
proceed in his story without inserting this thankful acknowledgment to God’s goodness
to him and the people. Which hath put such a thing as this into the king’s heart — God
can and frequently does put things into men’s hearts which would not rise there of
themselves, and that both by his providence and by his grace. If any good appear to be in
our own hearts, or in the hearts of others, we must acknowledge it was God that put it
there, and must bless him for it, for it is he that worketh, in us both, to will and to do
that which is good.
COFFMA , "Verse 27
GOD'S HA D I THIS WAS ACK OWLEDGED BY EZRA
"Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in
the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem; and hath
extended lovingkindness unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all
the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of Jehovah

96. my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me."
"To beautify the house of Jehovah ... in Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:27). This reveals the use
which Ezra made of the surplus money available to Ezra, over and beyond what was
needed to carry out the specific instructions of the king.
"Jehovah ... extended lovingkindness to me before the king" (Ezra 7:28). This could
be interpreted as a reference to the favor God gave Ezra when he made request
(Ezra 7:6) before the king for what he received; but the inclusion of the words,
before the king's counselors, and before all his mighty princes, makes it more likely
that Ezra held some kind of office under Artaxerxes which had placed him under
the observation of all such high officers of the king, and that God had given Ezra
favor in the hearts of all of them. Besides that, Ezra here credited God Himself with
putting "such a thing" in the king's heart, with no reference at all to any request of
Ezra.
CO STABLE, "Ezra"s thanksgiving7:27-28
Ezra recognized and acknowledged that God had moved Artaxerxes to do what he
had done (cf. Proverbs 21:1). "Lovingkindness" ( Ezra 7:28) is more precisely "loyal
love" (Heb. hesed). This Hebrew word has linguistic connections to the word
translated "stork," a bird known for its affectionate devotion to its young. Yahweh
was proving faithful to His promises to care for His chosen people. Again Ezra
acknowledged God"s enabling grace in his life ( Ezra 7:28).
"What makes the Jews" restoration so remarkable is not simply that they should
return, but that kings should supply their needs in relation to worship (cf. Ezra
7:27). It is this that makes the "new exodus" so evidently an act of God"s
salvation." [ ote: McConville, p59.]
Compare the gifts that the Egyptians gave the Israelites at the first Exodus ( Exodus
12:36).
ELLICOTT, "(27) Blessed be the Lord God.—This is the solitary expression of
Ezra’s private devotion; and it is incorporated with his record in so artless a
manner as to confirm the impression that the whole narrative is from his hand.
This sudden ejaculatory thanksgiving, in the midst of his narrative, reminds us of
ehemiah’s habit.
To beautify.—A general term, signifying all that belonged to the restoration of the
Temple.
LA GE, "Ezra 7:27-28. A closing doxology. Ezra cannot but add to the foregoing
decree—whose communication we are without doubt to ascribe to his hand—his
praise for the grace of God, which had been so gloriously exhibited in putting this
into the heart of the king to beautify the temple in Jerusalem.[F 6]‫ֵב‬‫ל‬ְ‫בּ‬ ‫ן‬ַ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ as

97. ehemiah 12; ehemiah 7:15, yet likewise already in 1 Kings 10:24. ‫ֹאת‬ ‫ָז‬‫כּ‬ = the like,
namely, as is indicated in the foregoing decree. We are to consider that the
exaltation of the worship is likewise a glorification of the house of the Lord.
Ezra 7:28. And hath extended mercy unto me before the king.—This is the
continuation of the relative clause in Ezra 7:27. The ְ‫ל‬ before ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ָ‫ָל־שׂ‬‫כּ‬ puts this word
on one and the same footing as the foregoing. Comp. the ְ‫ל‬ before ‫ֵי‬‫ב‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ in Ezra 6:7;
that is to say it represents here essentially the ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ְ‫פ‬ִ‫ל‬, which is before ‫ְֶך‬‫ל‬ֶ‫מּ‬ַ‫ה‬. The clause:
And I was strengthened, which leads over to the narrative, would say “I was able,
would feel myself strong,—and I gathered together = so that I gathered together out
of Israel chief men. These chief men were heads of households or families who, if
they should be taken for the emigration to Judah, would naturally take their
families with them.
PETT, "Ezra Expresses His Appreciation To YHWH (Ezra 7:27-28).
From this point on we have a passage (Ezra 7:27 to Ezra 9:15) where Ezra uses the
first person singular in what are often called ‘The Ezra Memoirs’. But it is quite
clear that Ezra 7:27-28 connect back with what has gone before from Ezra 7:1. This
has caused many to see that Ezra 7:1-11 must also have mainly been based on Ezra’s
memoirs, if indeed they were not the work of Ezra himself. Certainly the inclusion
of the decree of Artaxerxes in Aramaic must be seen as the work of Ezra, for Ezra
7:27-28 assume it. It can therefore be reasonably argued that the writer’s
faithfulness to his sources points to Ezra’s authorship from Ezra 7:1 onwards in
spite of the use of the third person (which regularly occurs in Scripture as used by
writers when referring to themselves). And this being so there is good reason for
arguing that the accumulation of all that has gone before, and the faithful use of
sources, including the citing in Aramaic of the various decrees, is also the work of
Ezra.
Ezra 7:27
‘Blessed be YHWH, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the
king’s heart, to beautify the house of YHWH which is in Jerusalem,’
Ezra gives praise to YHWH for having put it into the king’s heart to beautify the
house of YHWH in Jerusalem. He thus sees this as one of the main emphases of the
decree. As he was given permission to use surplus monies in any way that he felt
suitable (Ezra 7:18) it indicates that this is one of the things that he would have
majored on. This would explain why he saw Artaxerxes as one of those involved
with enabling the completion of the Temple (Ezra 6:14).
PULPIT, "EZRA'S THA KSGIVI G O RECEIPT OF ARTAXERXES'
LETTER (Ezra 7:27, Ezra 7:28). With an abruptness that may appear strange, but
which has many parallels in the works of Oriental writers, Ezra passes without a
word of explanation from Artaxerxes' letter to his own thanksgiving upon the
receipt of it. Compare the interjectional prayers of ehemiah ( ehemiah 4:4;
ehemiah 5:19; ehemiah 6:9, ehemiah 6:14, etc.).

98. Ezra 7:27
Having concluded the important document, which he has transcribed, and not
translated, and which is consequently in the Chaldee dialect, Ezra now resumes the
use of the more sacred Hebrew, and henceforth employs it uninterruptedly to the
close of his narrative. The form of his thanksgiving a little resembles that of David
in 1 Chronicles 29:10. The Lord God of our fathers is an unusual phrase, only
elsewhere employed by David (1 Chronicles 29:18) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles
20:6). "God of our fathers" is more common, being found in Deuteronomy
(Deuteronomy 26:7) and Acts (Acts 3:13; Acts 5:30), as well as in Chronicles
frequently. Which hath put such a thought as this in the king's heart. Compare Acts
1:1. and 6:22. All thoughts favorable to the Jews are regarded by Ezra as impressed
upon the hearts of heathen kings by the direct action of God. To beautify. Or
"adorn." Ezra gathers from the general tenor of the king's letter that the
adornment of the temple is his main object (see comment on verse 17).
28
and who has extended his good favor to me before
the king and his advisers and all the king's
powerful officials. Because the hand of the LORD
my God was on me, I took courage and gathered
leading men from Israel to go up with me.
CLARKE, "And I was strengthened - In what the king decreed he saw the hand of
God; he therefore gave him the praise, and took courage. There is a most amiable spirit
of piety in these reflections. Ezra simply states the case; shows what the king had
determined, and tells what he said; and then points out the grand agent in the whole
business - it was the Lord God of his fathers. Thus God had put it into the king’s heart to
beautify the house of Jehovah; and, as that house was built for the salvation of the souls
of men, he gives God praise for putting it into the king’s heart to repair it: he who loves
God and man will rejoice in the establishment of the Divine worship, because this is the
readiest way to promote the best interests of man.

99. GILL, "And hath extended mercy unto me, before the king and his
counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes,.... Before Artaxerxes, his
seven counsellors, Ezr_7:14 and the nobles of his realm, in being appointed by them to
carry their freewill offerings to Jerusalem, and the king's commands to his treasurers,
with leave to take as many of the Jews with him as were willing to go:
and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me;
animated to undertake this work, and execute this commission, being under the
influence of divine favour and protection:
and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me; he went
about in the several parts where Israelites dwelt, and persuaded some of the principal
men among them to go along with him to Jerusalem, showing them the king's decree,
which gave them leave; and their names and numbers are described in the next chapter.
HE RY, "For the encouragement he had to act in pursuance of his commission
(Ezr_7:28): He has extended mercy to me. The king, in the honour he did him, we may
suppose, had an eye to his merit, and preferred him because he looked upon him to be a
very sensible ingenious man; but he himself ascribes his preferment purely to God's
mercy. It was this that recommended him to the favour of his prince. Ezra himself was a
man of courage, yet he attributed his encouragement not to his own heart, but to God's
hand: “I was strengthened to undertake the services, as the hand of the Lord my God
was upon me to direct and support me.” If God gives us his hand, we are bold and
cheerful; if he withdraws it, we are weak as water. Whatever service we are enabled to do
for God and our generation, God must have all the glory of it. Strength for it is derived
from him, and therefore the praise of it must be given to him.
BENSON, "Ezra 7:28. And hath extended mercy to me, &c. — The king, in
the honour he did Ezra, we may suppose, had an eye to his merits, and
preferred him because he judged him to be an intelligent, dis-interested,
and upright man: but he himself ascribes his elevation purely to God’s
mercy. And I was strengthened — Endowed with courage and ability to
undertake the services; as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me — To
direct and support me. If God gives us his hand, we are bold and cheerful, if
he withdraws it, we are weak as water. Whatever service we are enabled to
do for God and our generation, God must have all the glory of it.
ELLICOTT, "(28) And hath extended mercy unto me.—The honour done to
himself before the council of Persia he ascribes to the mercy of God. Once
more we have an anticipation of the journey, with a parenthesis
intervening.
PETT, "Ezra 7:28
‘And has extended covenant love to me before the king, and his
counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes.’
He also sees YHWH as having extended ‘covenant love’ towards him

100. before the king, his chief advisers, and all his mighty princes. He recognised
that it was YHWH Who had put it into their hearts in order to give him the
authority to do all these things.