Ezra 7:1-10

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT

III. Ezra Becomes Involved In The Restoration of Israel (Ezra 7:1 to Ezra 10:44)

A. Ezra leads a second band of returnees back to Israel, and gives God thanks.
1. Who Ezra was, and what he was doing.

TEXT, Ezra 7:1-10

1

Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there went up Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

2

son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,

3

son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,

4

son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,

5

son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest.

6

This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

7

And some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.

8

And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

9

For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him.

10

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

COMMENT

In the fifty-seven-year break between the close of chapter six (515 B.C.) and the beginning of chapter seven (458 B.C.), the events of the book of Esther have taken place. Israel has been spared once more, and has responded by introducing the Feast of Purim.

Ezra 7:1 takes up the story then with Artaxerxes (Longimanus), son of the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther. This is a different Artaxerxes from the one mentioned in Ezra 4:7. Ezra for the first time is mentioned as a participant of the events in the book. In this section he lists at least six qualifications or credentials which authorized his action. (1) In Ezra 7:1 through 5 he traces his ancestry back to Aaron, from whom all priests must be descended. Like many of the genealogies of the O.T., it included only the more significant names; there are frequent omissions. By reversing the order of the names in Ezra 7:1-5 and comparing them with those in 1 Chronicles 6:7-14, it will he seen that Ezra includes one name not in Chronicles, and Chronicles has seven names not in Ezra. Son of therefore often indicated descended of in the language of their time.

For example, in Ezra 7:1 Ezra is called the son of Seraiah. Seraiah is mentioned as the high priest during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, several generations before (2 Kings 25:6-10; 2 Kings 25:18-21). Ezra was a priest; this is specifically stated in Ezra 7:11, and in Ezra 10:10. Josephus[40] calls him the principal priest among the Jews in Babylonia, which is called Babylon in our next verse. It is to be observed, however, that the Bible text never calls him the high priest; the holder of that office is not named.

[40] Antiquities, XI, 5.1, p. 271.

(2) Ezra 7:6 speaks of his personal skill in handling the law of Moses. This is the first mention of a scribe in the Bible: an order which Ezra may have helped to create. It would be his function not simply to make copies of the law, but to be an expositor of its meaning. The scribes are frequently mentioned in the N.T.

We note also the assertion that God had given the law to Moses.

(3) Ezra 7:6 continues by testifying that his authority came from the king, who approved his request for permission to go.

(4) Ezra 7:6 then adds the information that he had the favor of God Himself, and this had caused the king to approve of him.

(5) Ezra 7:7-9 say that he passed the pragmatic test: he succeeded. The group which accompanied him is described in Ezra 7:7 as containing much the same kinds of people as in the first band, in chapter two.

Ezra 7:8 states the time of their arrival, just four months after their departure as stated in Ezra 7:9. This was a reasonable amount of time for an expedition made up of people of various ages, although it is reported that merchants would make the trip in twenty-five days.[41] Total distance was about 900 miles, which would indicate a speed averaging nine miles a day.[42][41] Interpreter's Bible, Vol. III, p. 641.

[42] Anchor Bible, Ezra-Nehemiah, p. 72.

(6) In Ezra 7:10, there is the further authority that comes from adequate preparation, Three things Ezra had set his heart (i.e., mind, as also in Ezra 7:27)[43] to do, and these are models for any who would serve God today. He determined to begin intellectually by studying God's law. Added to that was action: to obey, or do, or practice it. Then he would share it with others; he would teach these statutes and ordinances to his brethren.

[43] In the O.T., the heart thinks and makes decisions: the feeling comes from the abdomen.

WORD STUDIES

SCRIBE: (Ezra 7:6): to scratch, scrape, write; thus a secretary or scribe; then it became a designation of one skilled in the sacred books and in the law.

TEACH (Ezra 7:10): Lamad (Talmud comes from this word). To beat with a rod, chastise, hence to train, teach, accustom. It is the name of the twelfth letter of the Hebrew or Aramaic alphabets, and in its early form it looked like a whip. This is apparently a recognition that to be taught, one must often be willing to accept some discomfort and discipline.

TEACH (Ezra 7:25): Yeda: to cause to see, perceive, understand, know. Our word, idea, may come from it.

IGNORANT (Ezra 7:25): not to know (see above). Some are ignorant because they have had no opportunity to know. Of course, some have rejected the opportunity to know (Hosea 4:6). One who simply does not know is an excellent prospect for teaching. This would be a good description of Gentiles, in the O.T.

(This is a different word from that used of sins of ignorance [Leviticus 4:2], which indicates wandering or straying unconsciously.)