Bible Commentaries
Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Ezra 7
II. The Return of Ezra the Scribe fromBabylon to Jerusalem, and His Entryupon His Official Duties There - Ezra 7:1
In the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ezra thepriest and scribe returned with certain priests, Levites, and other Israelitesfrom Babylon to Jerusalem, furnished with a royal commission to providefor the worship of God, and the observance of the law, according to theordinance of God, by the community, Ezra 7 and 8. This mission he beganto execute by sending way such heathen women as were married toIsraelites.
Ezra 7:1-10 form the introduction to the narrative which followsof Ezra's return to Jerusalem and his ministry there, and speak in generalterms of himself and his arrival at Jerusalem with a band of exiles. Theyare followed, vv. 11-26, by a copy of the royal commission, and athanksgiving, Ezra 7:27, Ezra 7:28, on the part of Ezra, for the mercy of Godbestowed upon him.
Ezra 7:1-6
What follows is slightly combined with the former occurrencesby the formula “after these things,” without any more exact chronologicaldefinition; comp. Genesis 15:1; Genesis 22:1, and elsewhere. Between the dedicationof the temple in the sixth year of Darius and the arrival of Ezra inJerusalem, a period of fifty-seven years had elapsed. “In the reign ofArtachshasta king of Persia, went up Ezra,” etc. The verb of the subjectעזרא does not follow till Ezra 7:6, where, after the interposition of thelong genealogy, Ezra 7:1-5, the distant subject is again taken up in עזרא הוּא. It is all but universally agreed that ArtaxerxesLongimanus is intended by ארתּחשׁסתּא; the explanation of thisappellation as Xerxes in Joseph. Antiq. xi. 5. 1, for which Fritzsche (on 1Esdr. 8:1) has recently decided, being a mere conjecture on the part of thatnot very critical historian. The fact that the Artachshasta of the book ofNehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 13:6) can be no other than Artaxerxes, isdecisive of this point: for in Nehemiah 13:6 the thirty-second year ofArtachshasta is mentioned; while according to Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 12:26, Nehemiah 12:36, Ezra andNehemiah jointly exercised their respective offices at Jerusalem.
(Note: Very superficial are the arguments, and indeed the wholepamphlet, Etude Chronologique des livres d'Esdras et de Néhémie,Paris 1868, p. 40, etc., by which F. de Saulcy tries to show that theArtachshasta of Ezra 7 and of Nehemiah is Artaxerxes II (Mnemon).)
Ezra is called Ben Seraiah, whose pedigree is traced to Eleazar the son ofAaron; Seraiah the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, was the father ofJosedec the high priest carried into captivity (1 Chronicles 6:14, etc.), and washimself the high priest whom Nebuchadnezzar slew at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18-21). Between the execution of Seraiah in the year 588 and the returnof Ezra from Babylon in 458 b.c., there is a period of 130 years. HenceEzra could have been neither the son nor grandson of Seraiah, but only hisgreat or great-great-grandson. When we consider that Joshua, or Jeshua(Ezra 2:2), the high priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel,was the grandson of Seraiah, we cannot but regard Ezra, who returnedthence 78 years later, as a great-great-grandson of Seraiah. Moreover, weare justified in inferring from the fact that Ezra is not, like Joshua,designated as Ben Josedech, that he did not descend from that line ofSeraiah in which the high-priestly dignity was hereditary, but from ayounger son, and hence that his immediate ancestors were not (though hisforefathers from Seraiah upwards were) of high-priestly descent. Hence the names of Ezra's ancestors from Seraiah up to Aaron (Ezra 7:1-5)agree also with the genealogy of the high-priestly race (1 Chronicles 6:4-14),with the one deviation that in Ezra 7:3, between Azariah and Meraioth, sixmembers are passed over, as is frequently the case in the longergenealogies, for the sake of shortening the list of names. - In v. 6 Ezra, forthe sake of at once alluding to the nature of his office, is designated בת מהיר סוף ר, a scribe skilful in the law of Moses. The word סופר means in older works writer or secretary; but even so early as Jeremiah 8:8 the lying pen of the ספרים is spoken of, and here thereforeסופר has already attained the meaning of one learned in theScripture, one who has made the written law a subject of investigation. Ezra is, however, the first of whom the predicate הסּופר, ὁ γραμματεύς , is used as a title. He is so called also in the letter of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11), because he is said (Ezra 7:9) to have applied his heart to seek out and to do the law of the Lord, andto teach in Israel statutes and judgment, i.e., because he had made theinvestigation of the law, for the sake of introducing the practice of thesame among the congregation, his life-task; and the king granted him all hisdesire, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. The peculiarexpression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד which is found only here and in Ezra 7:9, Ezra 7:28, Ezra 8:18; Nehemiah 2:8, Nehemiah 2:18, and in aslightly altered guise in Ezra 8:22, Ezra 8:31, “according to the good hand of hisGod, which was over him,” means: according to the divine favour or divinecare arranging for him; for the hand of God is הטּובה, the good(Ezra 7:9, and Ezra 8:18), or לטובה, Ezra 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire,request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.
Ezra 7:7-10
With Ezra went up a number of Israelites, priests, and Levites. מן partitive: a part of the whole. That they went up with Ezraappears from the context, and is expressly stated both in the royal edict(Ezra 7:13) and in the further description of the expedition (Ezra 7:28, Ezra 8:1). They went up in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, and reached Jerusalem inthe fifth month of that year. - In Ezra 7:8 Ezra is again, as in Ezra 7:6, the subject ofthe sentence; the intervening seventh verse being really only in appositionwith Ezra 7:6. - In Ezra 7:9 the time occupied by the journey is more preciselydefined; כּי is explanatory. Namely, on the first day of the firstmonth, he had appointed the journey from Babylon, etc. The Keri יסד הוּא can only mean, ipsum erat fundamentum profectionis,as J. H. Mich. after R. Sal. explains it, for יסד is pointed as theconstruct state. The departure of the expedition from the place of meeting occurred,according to Ezra 8:31, on the twelfth day of the first month. Since,however, they encamped three days there, making the final preparationsfor their journey, eleven days might easily elapse between the period whenthe whole caravan had assembled, and the day of actual departure. TheKeri offers no appropriate signification; for since הוּא can only betaken for the subject, and הם יסד for the predicate, the sentencewould contain an anacoluthon. To translate הוּא by ipsum cannotbe justified by the usages of the language, for there is no such emphasis onיסד as to cause הוּא to be regarded as an emphaticreference to the following noun. יסד must be pointed יסד orיסּד, as the third pers. perf. Kal or Piel, meaning to arrange, toappoint, and הוּא referred to Ezra. On הטּובה אלהיו כּיד, comp. Ezra 7:6. The hand of his God graciouslyarranged for him, for he had prepared his heart to seek and to do the law ofJahve, i.e., to make the law of God his rule of action. לבבו הכין, like 2 Chronicles 12:14; 2 Chronicles 19:3; 2 Chronicles 30:19. To teach in Israel statutesand judgments, as both are prescribed in the law of God.
The commission given by Artachshasta to Ezra (Ezra 7:11), with a shortpostscript by Ezra (Ezra 7:27 and Ezra 7:28). - Ezra 7:11 The introductory title, “This isthe copy of the letter,” On פּרשׁגן, comp. Ezra 4:11, and onנשׁתּון, Ezra 4:7. Ezra is here, as also in the letter itself, Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:21,and in Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 12:26, called only הסּופר הכּהן, thepriest, the scribe; in other places we find merely one title or the other:either the priest, Nehemiah 10:10, Nehemiah 10:16, Nehemiah 8:2; or the scribe, Nehemiah 8:4, Nehemiah 8:13; Nehemiah 12:36. Todesignate him according to his rank, as the priest, seems to havesubsequently become more customary; hence in the first book of Esdras heis constantly called ὁ Ἱιερεύς . הסּופר is explainedby the addition וגו דּברי ספר, scribe of the words ofthe law of Jahve and of His statutes to Israel, i.e., the scribe, whoseinvestigations referred to the law of God. More briefly in Ezra 7:12 and Ezra 7:21:scribe of the law.
Ezra 7:12-13
The letter containing the royal commission is given in theChaldee original. It is questionable what explanation must be given toגּמיר in the title. If it were the adjective belonging to דּתא ספר, we should expect the emphatic state גּמירא. HenceBertheau combines it with the following וּכענת as anabbreviation, “completeness, etc.,” which would signify that in the royalcommission itself this introductory formula would be found fully given,and that all the words here missing are represented by וּכענת. This would be, at all events, an extremely strange expression. We incline toregard גּמיר as an adverb used adjectively: To the scribe in the lawof God perfectly, for the perfect scribe, etc., corresponding with thetranslation of the Vulgate, doctissimo. The commission begins with anorder that those Israelites who desire to go to Jerusalem should departwith Ezra, because the king and his seven counsellors send him to ordermatters in Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of God, and to carrythither presents and free-will offerings as a contribution towards thesacrifices, and other matters necessary for the worship of God, Ezra 7:13. “By me is commandment given,” as in Ezra 6:8. למהך … כּל־מתנדּב: Every one of the people of Israel in my kingdom, who showshimself willing to go up to Jerusalem, let him go up with thee. On יהך and the infin. מהך, comp. Ezra 5:5.
Ezra 7:14
“Forasmuch as thou (art) sent by the king and his sevencounsellors to inquire (to institute an inquiry) concerning Judah andJerusalem, according to the law of thy God, which is in thy hand,” i.e.,which thou handlest or possessest and understandest. The sevencounsellors of the king formed the supreme court of the realm; see remarkson Esther 1:14. It is obvious from the context that שׁליח must becompleted by אנתּ, for it is evidently Ezra who is addressed bothin what precedes and follows. על בּקּרה, to inquireconcerning (the condition of) Judah, i.e., concerning the religious and civilrelations of the Jewish community, to arrange them in conformity with thedivine law.
Ezra 7:15-16
“To carry the silver and gold which the king and hiscounsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is atJerusalem, and all the silver and gold which thou shalt obtain in all theprovince of Babylon, with the free-will offering of the people and thepriests, willingly offering for the house of their God at Jerusalem.” Threekinds of offerings for the temple are here spoken of: 1st, the gifts of theking and his counsellors for the service of the God of Israel; 2nd, the goldand the silver that Ezra should obtain in the province of Babylon, i.e., bythe collection which he was consequently empowered to make among thenon-Israelite population of Babylon; 3rd, the free-will offerings of hisfellow-countrymen. התנדּבוּת is an abstract formed from theinfin. Hithpael: the freely given. The participle מתנדּבין (not inthe stat. emph. i.e., without an article) is but slightly connected, in thesense of, if they, or what they, may freely offer.
Ezra 7:17-18
The application of these contributions. דּנה כּל־קבל, forthis very reason, sc. because furnished by the king and his counsellors, andby the heathen and Israelite inhabitants of Babylon, thou shalt diligentlybuy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat-offerings andtheir drink-offerings (the meat and drink offerings pertaining by the law,Numbers 15:1, etc., to the sacrifices), and offer them upon the altar … The Paelתּקרב instead of the Aphel, Ezra 6:10, Ezra 6:17. The distribution andcollection 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, Ezra 7:18: “And whatsoever shall seem good tothee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the gold and the silver, thatdo after the will of your God,” i.e., according to the precept of the law inwhich the will of God is expressed. “Thy brethren” are the priests, towhom was committed the care of the temple and its worship.
Ezra 7:19
The gold and silver vessels, moreover, which, according to Ezra 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 theGod at Jerusalem (an abbreviated expression for the God whose dwellingis at Jerusalem). The noun פּלחן, only here and in theTargums, in the Syriac פּוּלחן, the service, corresponds with theHebrew עבורה. שׁלם in the Aphel, to complete, to make full,then to deliver entirely, to consign.
Ezra 7:20-21
Ezra is to defray the expenses of all other things necessaryfor the temple from the royal treasury, on which account a royal order isdespatched to the treasurer on this side the river. “And whatsoever moreshall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasionto give” (i.e., whatever necessary expenses shall be incurred which cannotbe determined beforehand), and for which the gifts and contributionsalready furnished to Ezra shall not suffice, he is to give, i.e., to defray, outof the house of the king's treasures, i.e., the royal treasury. For thispurpose Artaxerxes commands all the treasures on this side the river, thatwhatsoever Ezra shall require of them shall be immediately done. אנה is an emphatic repetition of the pronoun, as in Daniel 7:15, andfrequently in Hebrew.
Ezra 7:22-23
Unto one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cors ofwheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and saltwithout prescription, i.e., as much as is needed. Cor had already become,even in Hebrew, the later word for chomer, e.g., 1 Kings 5:2; Ezekiel 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, Ezra 7:23:Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, i.e., whatever is needfulaccording to the law for the service of God, let it be completely done forthe house of the God of heaven; for why should the wrath of heaven comeupon the realm of the king and of his sons? The ἁπ. λεγ. אדרזדּא is derived from the Aryan, but is not to be regarded (as by Hitzig andBertheau) as compounded of אדר and אזדּא; 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 acceptableofferings to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of hissons, recalls Ezra 6:10. On the formula למה דּי, for whyshould wrath come, comp. Ezra 4:22.
Ezra 7:24
The priests, the Levites, and all the servants of the temple, arealso to be free from all customs and taxes. מהודעין וּלכם, we also make known to you (it is made known to you). Thesewords also are addressed to the treasures, as levyers of taxes on this sidethe river. That, with regard to all priests, … and (other) ministers of thishouse of God, it shall not be lawful to impose upon them toll, tribute, orcustom. The אלהא בּית פּלחי are notworshippers in the house of God, but they who do service in the house ofGod. The expression comprises any servants of the temple who mighthave been omitted in the classes enumerated. On וגו בּלו מנדּה, comp. Ezra 4:13. שׁלּיט לא, (any one)has no right, with an infinitive following: it is allowed to no one to do. מרמא fromרמא, Targ. for שׂים. On this matter,compare Josephus, Ant. xii. 3. 3, according to which Antiochus the Greatfreed the priests and Levites from taxation.
Ezra 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, andto inflict severe penalties upon those who transgress it.
“Thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God which is in thy hand(בידך דּי like Ezra 7:14), set magistrates and judges, whichmay judge all the people that are on this side the river, namely all such asknow the laws of thy God, and teach ye them that know them not.” Theform מנּי is imper. Pael for מנּי, the A sound probablypassing in rapid speech into the flatter E sound. “All the people on thisside 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 Ezrajudges, viz., such as are acquainted with the law, i.e., Israelite judges, andthus to be placed under the jurisdiction established at Jerusalem. Thesentence, “and they who know it (the law) not, them teach ye, make themacquainted with it,” does not refer to the heathen, but to born Israelites orJews, who, living among the heathen, had not hitherto made the Mosaiclaw the rule of their lives. Such were the judges to constrain to theobservance and obedience of the law.
Ezra 7:26
But whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law ofthe king, let a court be speedily (מנּהּ) held on his account (i.e.,let him be brought to justice, and punished). This, too, applies chiefly tosuch as were Israelites born. The law of the king is the present edict, thecommission therein entrusted to Ezra: whoever opposes, neglects, ortransgresses it, shall be condemned, whether to death, or to banishment, orto confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. הן … הן =the Hebrew אם … אם = sive … sive. שׁרשׁוּ (Keriשׁרשׁי), rooting our (from שׁרשׁ, to root out), i.e.,banishment, exilium (Vulg.), not παιδεία (lxx).
Ezra 7:27-28
This royal commission granted to the Jews all they couldpossibly desire from the heathen governors of the country, for theestablishment and furtherance of their civil and religious polity. Bygranting these privileges, Artaxerxes was not only treading in the footstepsof Cyrus and Darius Hystaspes, but even going beyond these princes ingranting to the Jews a jurisdiction of their own. Without a magistrate whowas one of themselves, the Jewish community could not well prosper intheir own land; for the social and religious life of Israel were so closelyconnected, that heathen magistrates, however well-intentioned, wereincapable of exercising a beneficial influence upon the welfare of the Jews. Hence Ezra, having thus reported the royal commission, adds athanksgiving 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 himfavour before the king and his counsellors. The sentence הטּה ועלי הטּה e is a continuation of the preceding infinitive sentence in thetempus finit. ל before כּל־שׂרי is the ל comprehensive. Ezra names thebeautifying of the house of God as the occasion of his thanksgiving, notonly because this formed the chief matter of the royal favour, but alsobecause the re-establishment of divine worship was the re-establishmentof the moral and religious life of the community. “And I felt myselfstrengthened, and gathered together (so that I gathered together) the headsof 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 forthe families at the head of which they stood. With their heads, the severalraces and families determined to return to the land of their fathers.
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