Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezra 7
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ezra 7
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Ezra 7
"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," — Ezra 7:1 (ASV)
After these things. — Fifty-seven years after: this special phrase is used here alone. During the interval, we must place the events of the Book of Esther.
Ezra the son of Seraiah. — His lineage is given, as frequently in Scripture, compendiously, and according to the genealogical law which makes every ancestor a “father” and every descendant a “son.” We do not know the reason why certain names supplied in 1 Chronicles 6:0 are omitted here; but Seraiah is claimed as the father of Ezra because he was the eminent high priest who last ministered in Solomon’s Temple and was slain at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18). The links missing in the lineage are easily supplied.
"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, the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest;" — Ezra 7:1-5 (ASV)
II.—THE SECOND RETURN UNDER EZRA.
VII.
- General summary of Ezra’s expedition under Divine guidance.
"this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him." — Ezra 7:6 (ASV)
A ready scribe. —The “ready writer” of Psalm 45:1. Ezra was a priest, and this title is rightly placed before that of scribe in what follows; but here at the outset, when he first appears in history, the title is used that expressed his pre-eminent function, that of guarding and interpreting the law (Ezra 7:10).
All his request. —This anticipates the letter of Ezra 7:11; a series of supplementary notes intervenes.
According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. —This is the full formula for that special providence over God’s servants which both Ezra and Nehemiah recognised.
"And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king." — Ezra 7:8 (ASV)
In the seventh year. — The repeated notes of time must be marked. The journey itself comes afterwards: it is here indicated as having occupied four months. Ezra’s company also is summarised beforehand, according to the manner of this book.
"For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances." — Ezra 7:10 (ASV)
For Ezra had prepared his heart. —It must be remembered that the providence of God over him immediately precedes—not as the reward of his preparing his heart, but as the reason for it. First, he gave himself to study the law, then to practise it himself, and lastly to teach its positive statutes or ordinances and its moral judgments or precepts—a perfect description of a teacher in the congregation. There is nothing discordant in Ezra saying of himself that he had thus “set his heart.”
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