Ezra 7

After these events, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, there was a man named Ezra. He was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah.

1Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

Note"Long after these events" covers a gap of roughly sixty years between the end of the last chapter and this one. Artaxerxes I ruled Persia from about 465 to 424 BC; Persia was then the empire that governed Judah. The list of fathers that follows is not complete, compared with the fuller list in 1 Chronicles 6 it skips several generations. Ancient genealogies were often shortened like this; the point is to establish that Ezra belonged to the priestly line, not to count every man in it.

2Hilkiah was the son of Shallum, who was the son of Zadok, who was the son of Ahitub.

2The son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,

3Ahitub was the son of Amariah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Meraioth.

3The son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,

4Meraioth was the son of Zerahiah, who was the son of Uzzi, who was the son of Bukki.

4The son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,

5Bukki was the son of Abishua, who was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar, who was the son of Aaron, the chief priest.

5The son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest:

NoteAaron was the brother of Moses and the first chief (high) priest. Only men descended from him could serve as priests, so tracing Ezra's ancestry back to Aaron is what establishes his right to the office.

6This Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who knew the Law of Moses well, the law the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king gave Ezra everything he asked for, because the LORD his God was helping him.

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, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.

Note"Came up" is the standard way of speaking of travel to Jerusalem, which sits in hill country; people always "go up" to it and "go down" from it. Babylon was where the people of Judah had been deported a century and a half earlier, and many still lived there. A "scribe" here is not merely a copyist but a scholar, a trained expert in the written Law who could interpret and teach it. "The LORD" spelled in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which Hebrew tradition avoided pronouncing aloud. "The hand of the LORD his God upon him" is a Hebrew idiom for God's active help and favor, not a description of anything physical.

7In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, some of the people of Israel went up to Jerusalem too. Among them were priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

7And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

NoteFour groups of temple staff, in descending rank. Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who were not descended from Aaron; they assisted the priests with the practical work of the temple. Singers were the trained temple musicians, and gatekeepers guarded its entrances and controlled who came in, both were hereditary jobs, not casual roles. The "temple servants" render a Hebrew word, Nethinim, meaning roughly "the given ones": a hereditary class of lower temple workers, probably descended from non-Israelites assigned to the sanctuary long before.

8Ezra reached Jerusalem in the fifth month of that seventh year of the king's reign.

8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

NoteMonths are counted by the Hebrew calendar, which begins in spring; the fifth month falls in roughly July–August. The seventh year of Artaxerxes I would be about 458 BC.

9He had started out from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. His God was kind to him and helped him.

9For 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.

NoteThe first day of the first month is around late March or early April. The journey therefore took four months, covering something like nine hundred miles by the northern route that followed the Euphrates rather than crossing the desert directly.

10Ezra had made up his mind to study the Law of the LORD, to live by it, and to teach its rules and decisions in Israel.

10For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Note"Rules and decisions" translates two standard legal terms: fixed statutes on the one hand, and case-by-case judgments handed down by a court on the other. Together they are a way of saying the whole body of the Law.

11Here is a copy of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a man who knew the commands and rules the LORD had given to Israel.

11Now 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.

12From Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Greetings.

12Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.

NoteFrom here to the end of verse 26 the original text is in Aramaic, not Hebrew, Aramaic was the official language of government across the Persian empire, so the document is quoted in the language it would actually have been written in. "King of kings" was a standard Persian royal title: the Persian ruler governed many subject kings. The King James "perfect peace, and at such a time" is an attempt at an obscure Aramaic greeting formula that opened official letters; its exact sense is uncertain, and "Greetings" is as much as can be said with confidence.

13I now give this order: any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who choose of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.

13I 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.

14You are being sent by the king and his seven advisers to look into how things stand in Judah and Jerusalem, measured by the Law of your God, which you have with you.

14Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to enquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;

NoteThe Persian king's inner council of seven nobles is mentioned by Greek historians as well; it was a recognized body, not a vague group of courtiers. "Which you have with you" translates "which is in your hand", the Law is being treated as a written code Ezra physically carries and will apply as an imperial standard.

15You are also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his advisers have freely given to the God of Israel, whose home is in Jerusalem.

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,

NoteA "freely given" gift is a voluntary donation, as opposed to the offerings the Law required. Persian kings routinely funded the temples of subject peoples; this was normal imperial policy, and such grants were recorded in official documents like this one.

16Take with it all the silver and gold you can find anywhere in the province of Babylon, along with the gifts the people and the priests give willingly for the house of their God 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:

17With this money you are to buy without delay bulls, rams, and lambs, along with the grain offerings and drink offerings that go with them. Offer them on the altar at the house of your God 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.

NoteBulls, rams and lambs were the animals prescribed for the main sacrifices. A grain offering (the King James calls it a "meat offering," using "meat" in its older sense of food in general) was flour with oil and incense. A drink offering was wine poured out beside the altar. Both accompanied animal sacrifices as a fixed part of the ritual, which is why the money has to cover all three.

18Whatever you and your fellow Israelites think is best to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do it, following the will of your God.

18And whatsoever shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do after the will of your God.

19As for the containers and tools given to you for the service of the house of your God, hand them all over to the God of Jerusalem.

19The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.

NoteThese are the temple's metal bowls, dishes, basins and implements used in the sacrifices. Nebuchadnezzar had carried off the originals when Jerusalem fell; returning such articles was part of Persian policy, and an earlier consignment is described in chapter 1.

20If anything else is needed for the house of your God, and it falls to you to pay for it, take the money from the king's treasury.

20And 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.

21And I, King Artaxerxes, give this order to all the treasurers in the land west of the Euphrates River: whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, asks of you, give it to him at once.

21And 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 of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

Note"West of the Euphrates", literally "Beyond the River", was the formal name of a Persian province covering Syria, Phoenicia and Judah. It is named from the viewpoint of the imperial capitals in the east, so "beyond" means the far, western side. Treasurers were the provincial officials who held the tax revenue.

22Give up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred large measures of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt with no limit set.

22Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

NoteA talent was a weight of roughly seventy-five pounds, so a hundred talents of silver is around three and a half tons, an enormous sum, and this is stated as a ceiling on what the treasurers may hand over, not a fixed grant. The "large measure" of wheat is a cor, about six bushels or 220 liters. A bath was a liquid measure of about six gallons or 22 liters. Salt is left unlimited because it was required with every offering and was cheap.

23Whatever the God of heaven commands must be carried out carefully for the house of the God of heaven. Why should anger fall on the kingdom of the king and his sons?

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?

NoteThe reasoning here is standard for Persian decrees: an offended god was thought to bring disaster on whoever failed to maintain his worship, so funding local temples was ordinary political prudence. The phrasing reflects the king's outlook, not the writer's argument.

24We also inform you that you have no right to charge any tax, payment, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or other workers at this house of God.

24Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.

NoteThree separate levies of the Persian tax system, a land or property tax, a payment in kind or per head, and a road or transit toll. Exempting temple personnel from all three was a recognized privilege that Persian rulers granted to sanctuaries.

25And you, Ezra, using the wisdom your God has given you, are to appoint officials and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates River, that is, all who know the laws of your God. Teach those laws to anyone who does not know them.

25And 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.

26Anyone who will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must be punished at once, whether by death, by being sent away from the land, by having his property taken, or by prison.

26And 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.

NoteThe Aramaic word rendered "banishment" here is uncertain; it may mean exile from the land, or it may mean corporal punishment such as flogging. Both readings are defensible and the text does not settle it.

27Praise the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put it in the king's heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way.

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:

NoteAt this point the text switches back from Aramaic to Hebrew, and from a quoted royal document to Ezra speaking in his own voice about himself, the "I" from here on is Ezra.

28He also caused the king, his advisers, and all the king's powerful officials to treat me kindly. Because the LORD my God was helping me, I found courage, and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me.

28And 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 the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

Note"Mighty princes" means the senior nobles and officials of the Persian court, not princes in the sense of the king's sons. "The hand of the LORD my God was upon me" is the same idiom as in verse 6: God's help and favor.