The Decree Confirmed and the Temple Completed

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:6-12 Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezr 6:6-8).

They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezr 6:11, Ezr 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezr 6:13).

Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezr 6:1 and Ezr 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezr 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence. ” The suffix וּכנותהון, and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter.

On this matter, comp. Ezr 5:6. רחק and רחיק, to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e. g. , from good, Psa 53:2. מן־תּמּה, from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezr 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezr 6:13 The execution of the royal decree, the completion of the building, and the dedication of the new temple. - Ezr 6:13 Tatnai and his associate diligently executed the commands of Darius. “Because Darius the king sent (i.e., despatched to them the letter, whose contents have just been given, Ezr 6:6), they speedily acted accordingly in the manner stated” (כּנמא).

Ezr 6:14 The elders of the Jews, moreover, built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, who thereby effected the resumption of the work, and promised them success. ב is used of the rule by which, or manner in which anything is done. “They built and finished (the building) according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artachshasta, kings of Persia.

” The naming of Artachshasta presents some difficulty; for since it is impossible to conceive that a predecessor of Darius is intended by a name which follows the name of that monarch, none but Artaxerxes Longimanus can be meant, and he did not reign till long after the completion of the temple. Cleric. and J. H. Mich. explain the mention of his name by the consideration that Artaxerxes, by his edict (Ezr 7:15, Ezr 7:21), contributed to the maintenance, though not to the building, of the temple.

It may in this instance be questionable whether the name ארתחשׁשׁתא was added by the author of the Chaldee section, or by Ezra when he introduced this into his book. We believe the latter to be the correct view, because the Chaldee section, to judge by the אמרנא, Ezr 5:4, was composed by one who lived contemporaneously with the building of the temple, while from the date of the completion of the temple to the seventh year of Artaxerxes fifty-seven years elapsed.

Ezr 6:15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar (the twelfth month), which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. שׁיציא, according to the Keri שׁיצי, with the א dropped, is the Shaphel of יצא, to bring a thing to an end, to finish it. The form שׁיציא is not a participle pass. formed from the Shaphel (Gesen.) , for this would be משׁיציא, but a Hebraized passive form of the Shaphel in the meaning of the Targumistic Ishtaphal, like חיתיוּ, Dan 3:13, and חיתית, Dan 6:18, with the active היתיו, Dan 6:17.

In the Targums שׁיצי has mostly an active, and only in a few passages the intransitive meaning, to end, to be at the end; comp. Levy, chald. Wörterbuch, s. v.

Ezr 6:16-17 The sons of Israel, more exactly the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. חנכּה עבד = the Hebrew חנכּה עשׂה, to celebrate the dedication (2Ch 7:9). בּחדוה, Hebrew בּשׂמחה; see Neh 8:10. They brought for the dedication a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs as burnt-offerings, and twelve he-goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, because the temple was intended for the entire covenant people, whose return to the Lord and to the land of their fathers, according to the predictions of the prophets, was hoped for (comp.

e. g. , Eze 37:15. , Jer 31:27.) , not, as older expositors thought, because certain families of the ten tribes, who had before settled in Judah, were also among those who returned (J. H. Mich. ad h. l .)

Ezr 6:16-17 The sons of Israel, more exactly the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. חנכּה עבד = the Hebrew חנכּה עשׂה, to celebrate the dedication (2Ch 7:9). בּחדוה, Hebrew בּשׂמחה; see Neh 8:10. They brought for the dedication a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs as burnt-offerings, and twelve he-goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, because the temple was intended for the entire covenant people, whose return to the Lord and to the land of their fathers, according to the predictions of the prophets, was hoped for (comp.

e. g. , Eze 37:15. , Jer 31:27.) , not, as older expositors thought, because certain families of the ten tribes, who had before settled in Judah, were also among those who returned (J. H. Mich. ad h. l .)

Ezr 6:18 At the same time, the priests and Levites were appointed, according to their classes and divisions, to the service of the temple, that they might henceforth fulfil their office, each class in its week (2Ch 23:4; 2Ki 11:9). והקימוּ corresponds with the Hebrew ויּעמידוּ, Ezr 3:8, and elsewhere. As Bertheau justly remarks, “The services of public worship, which after the completion of the temple were to be performed by the priests and Levites, according to ancient ordinance, are here spoken of.

” With these words the Chaldee section closes. Celebration of the feast of the passover, and of the feast of unleavened bread , in the year following the dedication, as an historical testimony to the fact that the worship of God with its festivals was regularly carried on in the new temple.

Ezr 6:19-20 The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month, took place only a few weeks after the dedication of the temple. The reason given in Ezr 6:20 - for the priests and Levites had purified themselves without exception (כּאחד, like Ezr 3:9); they were all clean, and they killed the passover for all the sons of the captivity (i. e. , the laity who had returned from exile), and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves - has in this connection the meaning: Then the congregation celebrated the passover, and they were able to keep and to eat the passover, because the priests had purified themselves that they might be qualified for performing the office incumbent upon them of sprinkling the blood; and the Levites were also clean, that they might be able to kill the lambs for the whole congregation (comp.

the remarks on 2Ch 30:17, etc. , and 2Ch 35:11, 2Ch 35:14). From the days of Josiah, it seems to have been customary for the Levites to take the place of the heads of families (Exo 12:6, etc.) in slaughtering the passover lambs for the whole community, both priesthood and laity: for the laity, that no person who was unclean might kill the paschal lamb; for the priests, that their labours might be lightened, the sprinkling of blood and the offering of sacrifices occupying them far into the night (2Ch 35:11, 2Ch 35:14-15).

And this custom was followed at this time also. The priests are called אחיהם, brethren of the Levites, as in 2Ch 29:34; 2Ch 35:15.

Ezr 6:19-20 The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month, took place only a few weeks after the dedication of the temple. The reason given in Ezr 6:20 - for the priests and Levites had purified themselves without exception (כּאחד, like Ezr 3:9); they were all clean, and they killed the passover for all the sons of the captivity (i. e. , the laity who had returned from exile), and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves - has in this connection the meaning: Then the congregation celebrated the passover, and they were able to keep and to eat the passover, because the priests had purified themselves that they might be qualified for performing the office incumbent upon them of sprinkling the blood; and the Levites were also clean, that they might be able to kill the lambs for the whole congregation (comp.

the remarks on 2Ch 30:17, etc. , and 2Ch 35:11, 2Ch 35:14). From the days of Josiah, it seems to have been customary for the Levites to take the place of the heads of families (Exo 12:6, etc.) in slaughtering the passover lambs for the whole community, both priesthood and laity: for the laity, that no person who was unclean might kill the paschal lamb; for the priests, that their labours might be lightened, the sprinkling of blood and the offering of sacrifices occupying them far into the night (2Ch 35:11, 2Ch 35:14-15).

And this custom was followed at this time also. The priests are called אחיהם, brethren of the Levites, as in 2Ch 29:34; 2Ch 35:15.

Ezr 6:21 Thus the sons of Israel who had returned from captivity, and all that had separated themselves unto them from the uncleanness of the heathen of the country to seek Jahve the God of Israel, could eat the passover. הארץ גּויי = הארץ עמּי, Ezr 10:2, Ezr 10:11, are the heathen races dwelling in Palestine. The expression is not essentially different from הארצות עמּי, Ezr 9:1.

, Ezr 3:3, and is only distinguishable therefrom, inasmuch as the latter appellation includes not merely the heathen inhabitants of Palestine, but also the heathen of other lands, as the Moabites, Ammonites, Egyptians, etc. (Ezr 9:1.) Those who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the heathen to them (the Jews) to seek Jahve, are not proselytes from heathenism (Aben Ezra, Rashi, Clericus, and others), but Israelites, who had till now lived in Palestine, and mingled with the heathen inhabitants of the land.

They were descended from those Israelites whom the kings of Assyria and Babylon had not carried away from the realms of Israel and Judah, and who with respect to religion had combined heathenism and the worship of Jahve (2Ki 17:32, etc.) , and thus defiled themselves with heathen impurity, but who now, after the erection of the temple, joined themselves to the new community, for the purpose of worshipping with them the God of their fathers in His temple, according to the law of Moses.

For, as Bertheau rightly remarks, “in the days of Ezra the princes of the new community complain that the laity, the priests, and Levites do not separate from the people of the lands (Ezr 9:1); reference is made to the dangers which threaten the Israelites, because they dwell in the holy land among the unclean (Ezr 9:10). To separate from the uncleanness of the nations means to renounce intermarriage and other connection with them.

Ezr 10:2, Ezr 10:10. They are Israelites who are summoned, Ezr 10:11, to separate from the peoples of the land; the seed of Israel is, in Neh 9:2, separated from the sons of the stranger, and in Neh 10:29 they who separate from them are evidently Israelites, for, when they bind themselves to walk according to the law of God, they are said to join their brethren, i.

e. , their fellow-countrymen. ” Hence in this passage also we cannot but regard those who separated themselves as Israelites, dissolving their connection with the heathen for the sake of the God of Israel.

Ezr 6:22 Hereupon they kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned to them (i. e. , had made them joyful by turning to them) the heart of the king of Assyria. With regard to the expression, comp. 2Ch 20:27; Neh 12:43. The king of Assur is the Persian king Darius, who as ruler of the former realm of Assyria is thus designated.

The turning of this king’s heart to them consisted in this, that their hands were strengthened for the work of the house of God, i. e. , that through the goodwill of the king they were enabled to complete the building of their temple, and to restore the worship of the God of Israel. On בּ ידיהם חזּק, comp. 1Sa 23:19. II. The Return of Ezra the Scribe from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Entry upon His Official Duties There - Ezr 7:1 In the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes Longimanus, Ezra the priest and scribe returned with certain priests, Levites, and other Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem, furnished with a royal commission to provide for the worship of God, and the observance of the law, according to the ordinance of God, by the community, Ezra 7 and 8.

This mission he began to execute by sending way such heathen women as were married to Israelites. 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 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 עזרא 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 עזרא הוּא. It is all but universally agreed that Artaxerxes Longimanus is intended by ארתּחשׁסתּא; 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.

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 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 Jer 8:8 the lying pen of the ספרים is spoken of, and here therefore סופר 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 הסּופר, ὁ 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 peculiar expression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד 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 הטּובה, the good (Ezr 7:9, and Ezr 8:18), or לטובה, Ezr 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire, request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.

Ezr 7:1-6 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 עזרא 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 עזרא הוּא. It is all but universally agreed that Artaxerxes Longimanus is intended by ארתּחשׁסתּא; 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.

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 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 Jer 8:8 the lying pen of the ספרים is spoken of, and here therefore סופר 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 הסּופר, ὁ 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 peculiar expression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד 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 הטּובה, the good (Ezr 7:9, and Ezr 8:18), or לטובה, Ezr 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire, request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.

Ezr 7:1-6 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 עזרא 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 עזרא הוּא. It is all but universally agreed that Artaxerxes Longimanus is intended by ארתּחשׁסתּא; 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.

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 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 Jer 8:8 the lying pen of the ספרים is spoken of, and here therefore סופר 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 הסּופר, ὁ 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 peculiar expression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד 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 הטּובה, the good (Ezr 7:9, and Ezr 8:18), or לטובה, Ezr 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire, request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.

Ezr 7:1-6 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 עזרא 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 עזרא הוּא. It is all but universally agreed that Artaxerxes Longimanus is intended by ארתּחשׁסתּא; 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.

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 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 Jer 8:8 the lying pen of the ספרים is spoken of, and here therefore סופר 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 הסּופר, ὁ 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 peculiar expression עליו אלהיו יהוה כּיד 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 הטּובה, the good (Ezr 7:9, and Ezr 8:18), or לטובה, Ezr 8:22. בּקּשׁה, the desire, request, demand, occurs only here and in the book of Esther.