Ezra 7 - Introduction
_A.M. 3547. B.C. 457._ An account of Ezra, and his expedition to Jerusalem, Ezra 7:1. The commission which Artaxerxes gave him, Ezra 7:11. His thankfulness to God for it, Ezra 7:27; Ezra 7:28.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 3547. B.C. 457._ An account of Ezra, and his expedition to Jerusalem, Ezra 7:1. The commission which Artaxerxes gave him, Ezra 7:11. His thankfulness to God for it, Ezra 7:27; Ezra 7:28.... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the reign of Artaxerxes_ The same of whom he speaks chap. Ezra 6:14. _Ezra the son of Seraiah_ Descended from him, but not immediately. For Seraiah, being high-priest when Jerusalem was taken was then slain by the Chaldeans, (2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:21,) at which time, it is likely, Ezra was n... [ Continue Reading ]
_The son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth_ There are six generations omitted between Azariah and Meraioth, as before some were omitted between Seraiah and Ezra, which are to be supplied out of 1 Chronicles 6:7, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_This Ezra went up from Babylon_ With the king's consent and commission. _And he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses_ He is called a _scribe_, as Buxtorf observes in his Tiberias, not from writing and describing, but from declaring and explicating those things that are contained in the Scripture.... [ Continue Reading ]
_There went up some of the children of Israel_ This was the second company that went up to Jerusalem, consisting of such like persons as went up at first with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and others, Ezra 2:2; Ezra 2:70. For, hearing the temple was rebuilt, and the worship of God restored, we may very well t... [ Continue Reading ]
_According to the good hand of his God upon him_ There was great reason to acknowledge the favour and protection of God, in conducting them safe to Jerusalem; for the journey was long and difficult, and they had many impediments, (going with wives and children, flocks and herds,) and were not withou... [ Continue Reading ]
_For Ezra had prepared his heart_, &c. He had set his mind and affections upon it, and made it his chief business. _To seek the law of the Lord_ To search and find out the true sense and meaning of it, and thence to learn what sins or errors were to be reformed, and what duties were to be performed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is the copy of the letter that the King Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra_ “It can hardly be supposed, but that some more than ordinary means were used to obtain so great a favour from Artaxerxes, as this commission was upon which Ezra went; and therefore we may suppose that it was granted at the soli... [ Continue Reading ]
_Unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven _ Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, _a perfect scribe of the law_, &c., a title which, it seems, Ezra delighted in, and desired no other; no, not when he was advanced to the proconsular dignity, and made the governor of a province. He... [ Continue Reading ]
_And of his seven counsellors_ His chief nobles and officers of state; of whom see Esther 1:10; Esther 1:14. This decree, being made by their advice, had the greater authority. _To inquire concerning Judah according to the law of thy God_ To make inquiry into all abuses and deviations from your law,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel_ This shows that they had a high opinion of the God of Israel, and were desirous of his favour. _And all the silver and gold that thou canst find_ That is, _procure_, as שׁכח, _shechach_, often signifies. Whatsoever thou... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God _ Toward the reparation, or adorning, or completing of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Salt, without prescribing how much_ He limits all the other expenses, except salt, which was of low price, and of very common and necessary use in all their sacrifices; and therefore, since he would not have any sacrifice hindered, he did not prescribe any measure of it, but permitted them to take... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done_ Here Jacobus Capellus cries out in a kind of rapture, “O, words to be written upon the palaces of kings, in golden letters, and engraven on the minds of all, with a style of adamant! For they express an exceeding great sense o... [ Continue Reading ]
_It shall not be lawful to impose tolls_, &c. Thus he discharged all the ministers of religion, from the greatest of the priests to the least of the Nethinims, from paying taxes to the government, and made it unlawful for the king's officers to impose any taxes on them. This was putting a great hono... [ Continue Reading ]
_After the wisdom of thy God in thy hand_ That is, which God hath put into thy heart, and which appears in the works of thy hand. Wisdom is sometimes ascribed to the hand, as Psalms 78:72. Or, by the _wisdom of God_, he means the law of God, which was said to be in his hand, Ezra 7:14. _Set magistra... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whosoever will not do the law of thy God_, &c. They were not allowed to make new laws, but were to see the law of God duly executed, (which is here made _the law of the king,_) and therefore were intrusted with the sword, that they might be a terror to evil-doers. What could Jehoshaphat, or Hezekia... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers_, &c. Ezra cannot proceed in his story without inserting this thankful acknowledgment to God's goodness to him and the people. _Which hath put such a thing as this into the king's heart_ God can and frequently does put things into men's hearts which would not... [ Continue Reading ]
_And hath extended mercy to me_, &c. The king, in the honour he did Ezra, we may suppose, had an eye to his merits, and preferred him because he judged him to be an intelligent, dis-interested, and upright man: but he himself ascribes his elevation purely to God's mercy. _And I was strengthened_ End... [ Continue Reading ]