Ezra 7 and 8
1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of
Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah,the son of Hilkiah,
2 Of the sons of
Phinehas, Gershom.
Of the sons of Ithamar,
Daniel.
Of the sons of David,
Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shecaniah
of the sons of Parosh,
Zechariah;
and with him were
reckoned by genealogy of the males 150.
4 Of the sons of
Pahathmoab,
Eliehoenai the son of
Zerahiah;
and with him 200 males.
5 Of the sons of
Shecaniah,
the son of Jahaziel;
and with him 300 males.
6 Of the sons of Adin,
Ebed the son of
Jonathan;
and with him fifty
males.
7 Of the sons of Elam,
Jeshaiah the son of
Athaliah;
and with him seventy
males.
“Temple servants.” These people, the “Nethinim” in Hebrew,
were slaves that were serving the Levites in the work of the Temple. See
commentary on Ezra 2:43.
8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the
seventh year of the king.
8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the
seventh year of the king.
He is Ezra
9For on the first day of the first month he began to go up
from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem,
according to the good hand of his God on him.
“on the first day of the fifth month he arrived.” So the trip
from Persia to Jerusalem took Ezra exactly 4 lunar months. This would be very
close to the amount of time it would have taken the magi to go from Persia to
Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1).
10For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh and to
do it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
9For on the first day of the first month he began to go up
from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he arrived at Jerusalem,
according to the good hand of his God on him.
10For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh and to
do it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 Of the sons of Bebai,
Zechariah the son of
Bebai;
and with him 28 males.
“of the matters pertaining to the
commandments of Yahweh.” The
Hebrew is more literally, “even a scribe of the words of the commandments of
Yahweh,” but the word “words,” dabar,
is commonly used of “matters” or “things,” and the genitive phrase “of the
commandments” in this context means “pertaining to the commandments” or
“concerning the commandments.”
12 Of the sons of
Azgad,
Johanan the son of
Hakkatan;
and with him 110 males.
13 Of the sons of
Adonikam who were the last,
and these are their
names:
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and
Shemaiah;
and with them sixty
males.
14 Of the sons of
Bigvai,
Uthai and Zabbud;
and with them seventy
males.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes
gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe; the scribe of the matters pertaining to
the commandments of Yahweh and his statutes to Israel:
12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe
of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. And now
13 I make a decree that all those of the people of Israel and
their priests and the Levites in my realm who freely choose to go to Jerusalem
may go with you.
14 For you are being sent by the king and his seven counselors
to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God, which
is in your hand,
“in your hand.” Here used as an idiom meaning “in your
possession.”
15 and to carry the silver and gold that the king and his
counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in
Jerusalem,
16 and all the silver and gold that you receive throughout the
whole province of Babylon, and with the freewill offering of the people and of
the priests, who offer willingly for the house of their God that is in
Jerusalem.
17 Therefore with all diligence, with this money you are to
buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink
offerings, and you are to offer them on the altar of the house of your God that
is in Jerusalem.
18And whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do
with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that according to the will of your
God.
19The vessels that are given to you for the service of the
house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem.
20 Whatever more will be needful for the house of your God
that you may have occasion to provide, provide it out of the king’s treasure
house.
21 “I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the
treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe
of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, that it be done with all
diligence,
22 up to 100 talents of silver, and to 100 kors of wheat, and
to 100 baths of wine, and to 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how
much.
23Whatever 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?
“for why should there be wrath.” The ancient Persians were polytheists,
but they believed that if the gods were not properly appeased they would be
angered and would cause problems on earth. In effect, that was true but not for
the reasons they thought. If people do not obey God, He cannot effectively
protect them from attacks by the Adversary.
24 Also we inform you that when it comes to any of the priests
and Levites, the singers, gatekeepers, Temple servants, or other servants of
this house of God, it is not lawful to impose tribute, custom or toll on them.
25And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that you
have, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people who are beyond the
River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach anyone who does not
know them.
“that you have.” The Hebrew idiom is “that is in your
hand,” but the meaning is “that you have.” The idiom is unclear enough in
English that the REV has the meaning of the idiom in the text.
26 Whoever will not keep the law of your God and the law of
the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to
death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”
27 Blessed be Yahweh the God of our fathers, who has put such
a thing as this into the king’s heart, to beautify the house of Yahweh that is
in Jerusalem,
28 and has extended covenant faithfulness to me before the
king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty officials. So I was
strengthened according to the hand of Yahweh my God on me, and I gathered
together leading men from Israel to go up with me.
“from Israel.” The men were Israelites of the captivity
and were in Persia, and Ezra gathered them to go with him back to the land of
Israel. This verse is not saying the men Ezra gathered were already back in the
land of Israel.
Ezra 8
1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this
is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of
Artaxerxes the king:
Me again is Ezra
2 Of the sons of Phinehas,
Gershom.
Of the sons of Ithamar,
Daniel.
Of the sons of David,
Hattush.
3 Of the sons of
Shecaniah
of the sons of Parosh,
Zechariah;
and with him were
reckoned by genealogy of the males 150.
4 Of the sons of
Pahathmoab,
Eliehoenai the son of
Zerahiah;
and with him 200 males.
5 Of the sons of
Shecaniah,
the son of Jahaziel;
and with him 300 males.
6 Of the sons of Adin,
Ebed the son of
Jonathan;
and with him fifty
males.
7 Of the sons of Elam,
Jeshaiah the son of
Athaliah;
and with him seventy
males.
8 Of the sons of
Shephatiah,
Zebadiah the son of
Michael;
and with him eighty
males.
9 Of the sons of Joab,
Obadiah the son of
Jehiel;
and with him 218 males.
10 Of the sons of
Shelomith,
the son of Josiphiah;
and with him 160 males.
11 Of the sons of
Bebai,
Zechariah the son of
Bebai;
and with him 28 males.
12 Of the sons of Azgad,
Johanan the son of
Hakkatan;
and with him 110 males.
13 Of the sons of
Adonikam who were the last,
and these are their
names:
Eliphelet, Jeuel, and
Shemaiah;
and with them sixty
males.
14 Of the sons of
Bigvai,
Uthai and Zabbud;
and with them seventy
males.
15 I gathered them together to the river that runs to Ahava,
and we encamped there for three days. And I surveyed the people, and the
priests, but found none of the sons of Levi there.
16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah and for
Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah,
and for Meshullam, leading men; also for Joiarib and for Elnathan, who were
teachers.
17 I sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia,
and I told them what they should tell Iddo and his brothers, the Temple
servants at the place Casiphia, which was that they should bring ministers to
us for the house of our God.
“Temple servants.” These people, the “Nethinim” in Hebrew,
were slaves that were serving the Levites in the work of the Temple. See commentary on Ezra 2:43.
18 According to the
good hand of our God on us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of
Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his
brothers, 18 men;
19 and Hashabiah, and
with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty;
20 and of the Temple servants who David and the officials had
established for the service of the Levites, 220 Temple servants; all of them
were mentioned by name.
“Temple servants.” These people, the “Nethinim” in Hebrew,
were slaves that were serving the Levites in the work of the Temple. See commentary on Ezra 2:43.
Preparing to Return
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the Ahava Canal, that we
might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for us
and for our little ones and for all our substance.
“I
proclaimed a fast.” The
fasting and humbling of oneself would have included prayers for God’s help and
confession of one’s sins—and anything else people could think of doing that
would remove their sin and guilt and move God to be favorable to them. It was
common for a person to fast in the biblical world as a sign to God that they
were serious about behaving in a godly way and that they needed God’s help (cp.
Judg. 20:26; 1 Sam. 7:6; 2 Chron. 20:3; Joel 1:14).
“the
Ahava Canal.” The location of the
Ahava Canal is unknown, but it was the assembly point of Ezra and the Jews who
were returning to Israel.
“a
straight way.” In
this context in Ezra 8:21, a “straight way” (lit. “a straight
road”) is a level road without obstructions. Ezra and the people were praying
for a prosperous and unobstructed journey.
Ezra
saw the great importance of prayer and fasting to solicit God’s help (the
fasting and humbling of self would have included prayer, even though it is
unstated in the text). Ezra was leading a band of basically defenseless Jews
who were carrying great wealth through a territory that had lots of tribes that
would have had few qualms about attacking them, killing them, and taking their
wealth (and likely the women and children as well). Ezra would have been well
aware of the dangers but was too “ashamed” to ask the king for a band of
soldiers to protect the caravan. Ezra had told the king, “The hand of our God
is for good upon all those who seek him; but his power and his wrath is against
all those who forsake him” (Ezra 8:22). If Ezra had asked for soldiers to
guard his caravan, what he told the king about the goodness of God would have
been seen as just empty speech. Worse, it would have been clear that the Jews
did not really trust that their God would protect them, which would reflect
upon God Himself, including His faithfulness to His people and His power to
help and protect them. The Bible does not say exactly how Ezra knew he had
found favor in God’s eyes and would be safe, but God did hear Ezra’s prayers
and they traveled safely (Ezra 8:23).
Ezra
models behavior that should be a part of every Christian’s life. Too often
people start out on journeys without asking for God’s help and protection, but
praying for a “straight way,” a smooth road for the tasks we embark on and/or
engage in, is a wise thing to do.
22 For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and
horsemen to help us against the enemies along the road, because we had spoken
to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is for good upon all those who seek
him, but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”
“the enemies.” The
Hebrew word “enemy” is singular, but it is a collective noun; there was more
than one enemy.
23 So we fasted and sought our God about this, and he heard
our prayers.
24 Then I selected twelve of the leaders of the priests, even
Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers with them,
25 and weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the
vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counselors
and his officials and all Israel who were present there had offered;
26 I weighed into their hand 650 talents of silver, and
articles of silver weighing 100 talents; and 100 talents of gold;
27 and twenty bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics; and two
vessels of fine bright bronze as desirable as gold.
28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to Yahweh, and the
vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh
the God of your fathers.
29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them out in the
chambers of the house of Yahweh in front of the leaders of the priests and the
Levites and the leaders of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem.”
30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the
gold and the articles that had been weighed out, to bring them to Jerusalem to
the house of our God.
Arrival in Jerusalem
31Then we departed from the Ahava Canal on the 12th day of the
first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was on us and he
delivered us from the hand of the enemies and the ambushes along the road.
32 So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.
33 On the fourth day, the silver and the gold and the articles
were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of
Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them
was Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite.
34 The whole was verified by number and by weight, and all the
weight was written down at that time.
35 The children of the captivity, those who had come out of
exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, 12 bulls for all Israel,
96 rams, 77 lambs, and 12 male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt
offering to Yahweh.
36 They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s
satraps and to the governors beyond the River, who gave assistance to the
people and the house of God.
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