Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Ezra 7:21-24
The Letter To The Treasurers In Beyond The River A Copy Of Which Is Included in Artaxerxes Letter (Ezra 7:21).
It will be noted that there is in these verses an opening address, followed by the detail of what is required. All that is missing is Darius' final signing off. The treasurers would need to be informed about the decreed freedom from taxation of the Temple staff. It will be noted that Ezra the Priest is given his official title, ‘the Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven'.
‘And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are in Beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.'
In this letter Artaxerxes informs his treasurers in Beyond The River of the decrees that he has made. The first is that they will fulfil all Ezra the Priest's requirements as Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, both with regard to money, and with regard to wheat (for grain offerings), wine (for drink offerings), oil (to supplement offerings and to maintain the Temple lamps) and salt (for adding to offerings), up to the limits stated. In the case of the provisions it has been calculated that they would provide sufficient supplies for the Temple for two years, at which point it would be up to Ezra to apply for an extension.
In the case of the silver, which is a comparatively huge amount, it would provide more than ample to meet all Ezra's needs. It should, however, be noted that this is a cap or limit, not a statement of amounts to be paid over. (Compare how your credit card limit might be £10,000. That does not mean that you expect to spend £10,000 every month, and indeed you may never spend that amount in a month). Thus in the case of the silver the idea is not that Ezra should spend so much, but that if he needed it, it would be available. Ezra would still have to give account for what he did spend. The intention is to make available a comparatively unlimited supply of silver to meet his requirements and telling the treasurers not to put any limit on what he could demand up to this theoretical limit. The silver would be for the purchase of sacrificial animals, and in order to cover any special requirements that the Temple might have, ‘to beautify the house of YHWH' (Ezra 7:27), where these could not be met out of the gifts described above in Ezra 7:15.
‘A hundred talents of silver.' If Herodotus is correct the total tax levied on the whole of Beyond the River for a year was three hundred and fifty talents, although of course revenues would also be obtained in other ways (see in Ezra 7:23 ‘tribute, customs duty and rent'). Thus accepting the two years mentioned above, after which Ezra could apply for an extension, one seventh of a two year levy was to be available to Ezra if it was required (the assumption being that much of it would not be). A ‘measure' (cor) was roughly 220 litres, a bath roughly 22 litres. Only a small amount of salt was required for each sacrifice (the salt of the covenant) and thus no limit was put on it.
‘Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?'
Artaxerxes was concerned that the God of Heaven should be pleased with the offerings offered to Him. Thus whatever He commanded concerning His house was to be done. And his purpose was to avoid His wrath, whether through invading armies or natural disaster. As Tattenai had pointed out to Darius, the God of Heaven was prone to exercise His wrath through invading armies (Ezra 5:12). Thus He had a reputation among the Persians.
‘We also certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, gate-keepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, customs duty, or rent, on them.'
All who served in the Temple were to be exempt from all tribute, customs duty and rent. The exemption from tribute would, however, have to be made up by other members of the community for, as we have seen above, the province was required to pay a fixed total amount. Such an exemption is paralleled elsewhere. We can compare how Darius wrote to a certain Gadatas condemning him for having ‘exacted tribute from the sacred cultivators of Apollo' at Magnesia.
The details concerning those who served in the Temple would have been provided by Jewish advisers or by Ezra himself. The reference to ‘servants' presumably has in mind the ‘servants of Solomon' (Ezra 2:55). We can understand why a Persian scribe would not see ‘of Solomon' as being relevant.