Ezra 7:8

_AND HE CAME TO JERUSALEM IN THE FIFTH MONTH, WHICH WAS IN THE SEVENTH YEAR OF THE KING._ CAME TO JERUSALEM IN THE FIFTH MONTH - i:e., corresponding to the end of our July or beginning of our August. Since he left Babylon on New Year's Day (Ezra 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 the note at Ezra 8:1.)...

1-10 Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem, for the good of his country. The king was kind to him; he granted all his requests, whatever Ezra desired to enable him to serve his country. When he went, many went with him; he obtained favour from his king, by the Divine favour. Every creature is that to us, which God makes it to be. We must see the hand of God in the events that befal us, and acknowledge him with thankfulness....

Verse Ezra 7:8. _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 Ezra 8:24-15,...

PART II. SECOND RETURN OF THE ISRAELITES FROM CAPTIVITY UNDER EZRA. 1. DECREE OF ARTAXERXES, AND RETURN UNDER EZRA, WITH THE NUMBERS OF THOSE WHO RETURNED, AND THE NAMES OF THE CHIEF MEN. EXPOSITION FIFTY-SEVEN 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 Ahas

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....

FIFTH MONTH That is, August....

II. THE RETURN UNDER EZRA AND HIS REFORMATION CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The journey of Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:1)_ 2. The decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11) 3. Ezra's thanksgiving (Ezra 7:27) Ezra 7:1. The record of the return under Zerubbabel and the rebuilding of the temple ends with the previous chapter. Many years passed after the temple had been built before the godly Ezra and his companions returned to Jerusalem. No record whatever is in existence covering the years which intervened between Zerubabbel's expedition and work, and Ezra's expedition. The critics claim that “it was in these apparently barren years that the priestly c

PART II (Ezra 7-10). THE WORK OF EZRA. Ezra 7:1. Ezra's Genealogy; his Return to Palestine. Ezra 7:1. Now after these things: _i.e._ those recorded as having taken place in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra 6:15). IN THE REIGN OF ARTAXERXES: 465- 425 B.C. What is now recorded took place in the seventh year (see Ezra 7:7) of Artaxerxes, _i.e._ in 458, so that a period of nearly sixty years is passed over in silence. For the genealogy of Ezra _cf._ 1 Chronicles 6:4. It is not complete; in addition to...

FIFTH MONTH. Nisan (March-April). App-51....

_And he came_ This verse resumes Ezra 7:6. -He came" at the same time with those enumerated in Ezra 7:7. The importance of this journey to Jerusalem centres in Ezra. _the fifth month_ This was the month Ab, the Assyrian Abu, corresponding roughly with our -August"....