Ezra 8

7 : 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, 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 : this Ezra went up from Babylon ; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given : and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgements. 11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand ; and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem ; therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God. And the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house. And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasures which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever 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? Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toil, upon them. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand, appoint magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgement be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

27. Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem; and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of the LORD my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

8:1 Now these are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel: of the sons of David, Hattush. Of the sons of Shecaniah; of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty. Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males. Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahazid; and with him three hundred males. And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males. And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males. And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourteen males. Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males. And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him an hundred and threescore males. And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males. And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him an hundred and ten males. And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names, Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males. And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

15. And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we encamped three days; and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi. 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, chief men; also for Jolarib, and for Elnathan, which were teachers. And I seat them forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God. And according to the good hand of our God upon 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 brethren, eighteen; and Hashabich, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty; and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were expressed by name. Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us. When I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered: I even weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents; of gold an hundred talents; and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold. And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD, the God of your fathers. Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers’ houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD. So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

31. Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier in wait by the way. And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days. And on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed 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 Levites; the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written at that time. The children of the captivity, which were come out of exile, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD. And they delivered the kings’ commissions unto the king’s satraps, and to the governors beyond the river: and they furthered the people and the house of God.

Few readers of Scripture history look to dates; and it will surprise many to learn that when Ezra made up his second great caravan of pilgrims for Jerusalem, the new Temple had been completed nearly sixty years, and it was nearly eighty years since the first caravan of pilgrims set out under Zerubbabel, who, with all that generation, had been long since dead. Kitto.

It was about sixty years “after these things” that the second expedition left Babylon. Darius continued to reign for thirty-one years. Then Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was king for twenty-one years; so that the whole Book of Esther falls chronologically within the gap between the 6th and 7th chapters of the history before us. Artaxerxes succeeded Xerxes; and in the seventh year of his reign, with his cordial approval, Ezra in person led a second company of Jews to Jerusalem. They were not nearly so many as returned with Zerubbabel, for by this time the Jews had made themselves at home in various provinces of the empire; they had prospered greatly under Esther and Mordecai, in the latter years of Xerxes, and were not very eager to exchange their rich settlements among the heathen for the poor prospect of recolonizing Judea. But Ezra gathered together “chief men of Israel,” with a good many priests and Levites, and received from the king a valuable offering of gold and silver vessels for the new Temple at Jerusalem. D. F.

The Temple was complete just before the spring equinox of B.C. 515. From the passover, a few weeks later, to B.C. 458, the Old Testament is silent as to events in Palestine. During the later half of the interval was the reign of Xerxes, the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther. In B.C. 458, thirteen years before the arrival of Nehemiah, Ezra came to Jerusalem, and the events recorded in the last four chapters of Ezra took place. We are compelled to think of Ezra as already an old man, though he lived at least twenty-five years after this (Neh. 12:36). He had gained distinction as a student of the sacred laws of Israel. He brought with him a large company, including numerous trained Levites, singers, and other Temple attendants. He brought also rich gifts from the Persian emperor Artaxerxes and others, and requisitions on the Persian officials of the region for additional supplies. And, most important of all, he brought with him authority from the king for enforcing the Israelitish sacred laws on all who recognized them, or could be led to recognize them (Ezra 7:25). The details that are given of the mission of Ezra justify the inference that the Palestine Jews, during the fifty-eight years since the completion of the Temple, had not been in the highest degree exemplary and prosperous. W. J. B.

Ezra, a member of the high-priest’s family, a descendant of Seraiah, the “chief priest” at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (2 K. 25:18), and probably a third cousin of the existing high-priest, Eliashib, having access to Artaxerxes, and, apparently a certain influence with him, asked (chap. 7:6) and obtained the royal permission to reinforce the colony in Judea by a fresh body of emigrants, and at the same time to convey to Jerusalem a sum of money, which the Babylonian Jews had subscribed toward the Temple service (ibid., verse 16). Artaxerxes appears to have had a high respect for Ezra; he recognized in him one possessed of wisdom from on high (verse 25), and readily granted him not only the request that he had made, but an important commission, which was mainly one of inquiry (verse 14), but which made him for a time paramount civil ruler of the province, with power of life and death over its inhabitants (verse 26); and also conferred upon the Jewish people certain valuable gifts and privileges. The terms of the decree are set forth in chap. 7:12-26, where the Chaldee version of the text, as published by Artaxerxes, is probably given verbatim et literatim. After reciting it, Ezra breaks out into a brief but earnest burst of thanksgiving and acknowledgment of God’s goodness, which concludes chap. 7, occupying the last two verses. He then proceeds, in chap. 8, to give an account of the number of the Jews who returned with him, with the names of their leaders, whom he calls “chief of the fathers.” Having completed his list in verse 14, he goes on (verses 15-31) to describe the circumstances of the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, which occupied exactly four months, commencing on the first day of the first month and terminating on the first day of the fifth month (chap. 7:9). In conclusion, he tells us how, after a rest of three days, he discharged himself of the most pressing of the commissions entrusted to him, delivering over to the priests in charge of the Temple the gifts sent by Artaxerxes, and making known to the various Persian officials of the district the terms of the royal decree so far as they were affected by it (chap. 8:32-36). P. C.

The crown of Persia passed, on the death of Xerxes (Ahasuerus of “Esther”), after a certain period of disturbance, to the youngest of his sons, Artaxerxes, whom the Greeks called “Macrocheir” and the Romans “Longimanus.” He was not much more than a boy at his accession, and had some difficulty in maintaining himself upon the throne; but after seven months of indecision, he adopted a vigorous policy, punished Artabanus, the murderer of his father, and his tool, Aspamitres, with death, and undertook the active direction of the state. After suppressing a revolt in Bactria, in which he gained some military distinction, his attention was turned, in the fifth year of his reign, toward Egypt, where an insurrection had broken out under Inarus, an African chief, and Amyrtaeus, a native Egyptian, which threatened the gravest danger to the empire, since it was fomented by the Athenians. It may well have been in connection with this most important rebellion, which was not suppressed till six years later, that the great monarch took into special consideration the condition of Palestine, which lay upon the Egyptian border; and, regarding the Judeans as the most faithful of all his subjects in that quarter, resolved to attach them as closely as possible to his interests by favors which should recall the old kindness and the old munificence of Cyrus and of Darius Hystaspes. He resolved to renew the permission which had been given, eighty years earlier, by Cyrus, and to make a decree that “all they of the people of Israel in all his realm, and of their priests and Levites, which were minded to go up to Jerusalem,” should be at liberty to do so (Ezra 7:13). The terms of his decree seem to imply something like a close personal knowledge of Ezra. Ezra is described as “the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect.” “The law of his God is in his hand,” and “the wisdom of his God.” He is trusted to an almost unlimited extent. He is addressed in the second person (7:14-25). Ezra had clearly gained the deep respect and high approval of the Persian king, who must have formed an extraordinary estimate of his character and capacity. Personal knowledge best explains this high estimate, and is quite conceivable under the circumstances. G. R.

7:1-5. The genealogy of Ezra. It is plain that this genealogy is incomplete. It gives no more than sixteen generations between Ezra and Aaron, whereas the number of generations between Zerubbabel and Nashon, prince of Judah in Aaron’s time, was twenty-six (1 Chron. 2:10-15; 3:5-19), and that between Aaron himself and Eliashib at least as many (1 Chron. 6:3-15; 9:11; Neh. 12:10). Six names are omitted between the Azariah and Meraioth of verse 3, which will be found in 1 Chron. 6:7-10; and at least three must be wanting between Ezra himself and Seraiah, who was the great-great-grandfather of Eliashib, Ezra’s contemporary (Neh. 3:1; 13:4). The curtailment of genealogies by the omission of names was a common practice of the Jews. A notable instance is the omission of three royal names in Matthew’s genealogy of our Lord. P. C.

6. Law of Moses.** Moses is, humanly speaking, the great deliverer, leader and legislator of the Hebrew people. The work accomplished by him has no parallel in history. No other legislator, no prophet, priest or king ever wrought to such purpose, or with so lasting efficiency, as he did. A new polity, new institutions, new laws and a revived spiritual religion could not be made, as it were, to spring up at once out of the earth, but must have time to grow up slowly, and thus to become inrooted in the hearts and habits of the people. Hence the persistency, the abiding character, of the Mosaic legislation. F. Bowen.

6-10. Ezra’s journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, with dates. In introducing himself, Ezra seems to regard it as of primary importance to state two things—who he was, and what place he had in a history of which the main object is to give an account of the return of Israel from captivity. In connection with the former point he gives, first of all, his genealogy; and, secondly, the account of himself contained in verses 6 and 10. He describes himself as “a ready scribe,"—one who “had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it,” and also “to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” In connection with the latter, he is careful to put before us at once the fact that he too, like Zerubbabel, “went up from Babylon” to Jerusalem by the permission of the Persian king, and, like Zerubbabel, was accompanied by priests, Levites, both singers and porters, Nethinim, and a number of the people (verse 7). He adds an exact statement as to the date of both his departure and arrival, very natural in one who is his own biographer, and very interesting to the general historian. He also, without any parade of religious sentiment, acknowledges the hand of God as directing, helping and sustaining him in all his proceedings, ascribing to the Divine favor, especially, Artaxerxes’ allowance of his journey, and his safe accomplishment of it (verses 6, 9).

11-26. The decree of Artaxerxes with respect to Ezra. The present decree embodied, in the first place, a certain number of provisions which were temporary. Of this character were—(1)

the permission accorded to all Persian subjects of Israelite descent to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem (verse 13); (2) the commission to Ezra to convey to Jerusalem certain offerings made by the king and his chief courtiers to the God of Israel (verses 15, 19); (3) the permission given him to convey to Jerusalem the freewill offerings of Jews and others resident in Babylonia (verse 16); (4) permission to Ezra to draw on the royal treasury to the amount of a hundred talents of silver, a hundred measures of wheat, a hundred “baths” of wine, a hundred “baths” of oil, and salt to any amount (verse 22); and (5) an indefinite commission to “inquire” (verse 14). Besides these temporary enactments, the decree contained certain provisions of a more permanent nature. 1. Ezra was invested with the chief authority over the whole district “beyond the river,” and was commissioned to appoint all the subordinate “magistrates and judges” (verse 25). 2. He was authorized to enforce his decisions by the penalties of imprisonment, confiscation of goods, banishment, and even death itself (verse 26). 3. An exemption from taxation of every kind was granted to all grades of the sacerdotal order—to the priests, the Levites, the singers, the porters, the Nethinim, and the lowest grade of “ministers”—to all, in fact, who were engaged in the performance of any sacred function connected with the Temple (verse 24). This last provision was absolutely permanent, and probably continued in force down to the close of the empire.

The insertion here of this decree of Artaxerxes at length, and in its original Chaldee form, is in more or less close keeping with the earlier parts of this book (1:2-4; 4:11-16, 17-22; 5:6-17; 6:3-12), and furnishes an argument, therefore, strongly in favor of the unity of authorship of the whole book.

13. All they of the people of Israel. The decree of Artaxerxes is as wide in its terms as the proclamation of Cyrus (chap. 1:3), and gives permission not to the Jews only, but to all Israelites of whatever tribe, to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem. That Israelites of all the tribes actually went up to Jerusalem on the occasion seems indicated by the “twelve bullocks for all Israel,” which those who returned with Ezra offered on their arrival to the “God of Israel.”

14. Ezra received his commission from the king and from his seven counsellors, who thus seem to occupy an important position in the Persian state. They are commonly identified with the “seven princes of Persia and Media,” mentioned in Esther (1:14), “which saw the king’s face,” and “sate first in the kingdom.”

20. Whatever more shall be needful. Here the terms of the firman are very wide indeed, and authorize apparently an unlimited application of the royal revenue, or, at any rate, of the revenue of the province, to any purpose in any way connected with the Temple.

23. Why should there be wrath against the realm? In the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus there was “wrath against the realm” of Persia in a very dangerous quarter—viz., Egypt. Egypt had revolted from the Persians in B.C. 460, and in the following year, with the assistance of the Athenians, had driven the last Persian out of the country. In B.C. 458, Artaxerxes’ seventh year, it was resolved that a Persian force should attempt the recovery of the revolted country. Artaxerxes gives his firman to Ezra when this expedition is preparing to start, and partly alludes to the past “wrath,” shown in the success of the rebels, partly deprecates any further visitation. Without pretending to penetrate the Divine counsels, it may be noticed that from the year B.C. 458 things went well for the Persians in Egypt. Memphis was recovered in that year or the next; and in B.C. 455 the Athenians were finally defeated.

27,28. Ezra’s thanksgiving on receipt of Artaxerxes’ letter. With an abruptness that may appear strange, but which has many parallels in the works of Oriental writers, Ezra passes without a word of explanation from Artaxerxes’ letter to his own thanksgiving upon the receipt of it.

27. Having concluded the important document which he has transcribed and not translated, and which is consequently in the Chaldee dialect, Ezra now resumes the use of the more sacred Hebrew, and henceforth employs it uninterruptedly to the close of his narrative. The form of his thanksgiving a little resembles that of David in 1 Chron. 29:10.

Very abruptly, even in our translation, does this short psalm of praise come in. We may take these words as giving us a peculiarly life-like picture of Ezra’s feelings, both when first receiving this decree of the king and also when afterward committing it to writing. Thus seen they teach us specially his true piety and his sincere humility.

27. In the eyes of God’s true servants, every blessing to God’s house and people (God’s house in the highest sense, 1 Pet. 2:5) is a blessing to themselves. This feature, also, is the more noticeable here, because in that decree which led to this praise nothing is said, except most indirectly, as to the beautifying of God’s house. But Ezra, with his great desire for the good of that house, and his zealous intentions in that direction, perceived with admiration and praise how all the provisions of that decree could and would be used in that manner. To have God worshipped in the proper way was the great desire of his heart. Whatever, therefore, promised to help this on was to him a great joy. So with all who truly love God. . . . With all his spirit of praise, with all his constant reference to God’s “hand,” and constant dependence on God’s power, his was no indolent soul. Rather, by this “good hand” of God upon him, he was the more stirred up in work and encouraged. This is just the spirit of true faith.

8:1-14. The number of those who went up to Jerusalem with Ezra, and the names of the chief men. This list is parallel with that of chap. 2:3-19, and repeats for the most part the same family names, though not quite in the same order. The numbers are in each case very much smaller, never amounting to one third, and sometimes falling below one twelfth. The entire number of adult male colonists who accompanied Ezra was, including Levites and Nethinim, 1773. Counting five to a family, this would give a total of nearly 9000 souls.

15-31. Details of Ezra’s journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. We gather from scattered statements in this passage (1) that Ezra, with his companions, after a journey of nine days’ duration, reached Ahava from Babylon on the ninth day of the first month; (2) that he rested three days at Ahava, and proclaimed a fast; (3) that he was there joined by a small number of Levites and a considerable body of Nethinims from the immediate neighborhood; (4) that on the twelfth day of the first month he resumed his journey, and though threatened by some opposition upon the way, arrived safely at his destination fourteen weeks after he quitted Ahava, and exactly four months after he had started from Babylon. The only other important fact mentioned is, that at Ahava twelve of the principal priests were selected by Ezra, and the royal offering of silver, gold and vessels handed over to them for safe custody, after having been carefully weighed. The weights are recorded with Ezra’s usual exactness in verses 26, 27. P. C.

15-20. Ezra determined on a halt of three days. Ahava was a pleasant spot, on the banks of the Euphrates, where a small stream flowed into it from the east. Ezra, having ordered the tents to be pitched, proceeded to hold a muster of the colonists, who were, perhaps, now for the first time counted, and assigned to their several families (Ezra 8:1-15). In making out the muster-roll, the Jewish leader was greatly struck with the fact that, while a certain number of the priests had accompanied him from Babylon, there was not in the entire caravan a single person belonging to the class of simple Levites. There was a Jewish settlement at a place called Casiphia in the neighborhood of Ahava (ibid., verse 17). To this place, where he knew that there were Levites and Nethinim, Ezra sent a formal embassy, consisting of twelve Israelites, to represent the Twelve Tribes, and begged the Casiphians to reinforce his colony by a supply of these lower ministers and servants of the Temple, who were quite as much needed as priests for the service of the sanctuary. The Casiphians, who had at their head a chief called Iddo, readily consented; and Ezra in this way obtained an addition to his followers of thirty-eight Levites of full age, and two hundred and twenty Nethinim. G. R.

21. “I proclaimed a fast there, to seek of God a right way for us.” There was no foolhardiness in his courage; he was well aware of all the possible dangers on the road; and while he is confident of the Divine protection, he knows that, in his own quiet, matter-of-fact words, it is given “to all them that seek Him.” So his faith not only impels him to the renunciation of the Babylonian guard, but to earnest supplication for the defence in which he is so confident. He is sure it will be given—so sure, that he will have no other shield; and yet he fasts and prays that he and his company may receive it. He prays because he is sure that he will receive it, and does receive it because he prays and is sure. So for us, the condition and preparation on and by which we are sheltered by that great hand is the faith that asks, and the asking of faith. We must forsake the earthly props, but we must also believingly desire to be upheld by the heavenly arms. We make God responsible for our safety when we abandon other defence, and commit ourselves to Him. With eyes open to our dangers, and full consciousness of our own unarmed and unwarlike weakness, let us solemnly commend ourselves to Him, rolling all our burden on His strong arms, knowing that He is able to keep that which we have committed to Him. He will accept the trust, and set His guards about us. As the song of the returning exiles, which may have been sung by the river Ahava, has it: “My help cometh from the Lord. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.”

22. The symbolic phrase “the hand of our God,” as expressive of the Divine protection, occurs with remarkable frequency in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and though not peculiar to them, is yet exceedingly characteristic of them. It has a certain beauty and force of its own. The hand is of course the seat of active power. It is on or over a man like some great shield held aloft above him, below which there is safe hiding. So that great hand bends itself over us, and we are secure beneath its hollow. God is upon us to impart power as well as protection; and our “bow abides in strength” when “the arms of our hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” That was Ezra’s faith, and that should be ours. A. M.

31, 32. “We departed.” “We came.” Thus it is that Ezra here relates the rest of his journey, the only thing worthy of note between Ahava and Jerusalem being this, that through “the good hand of God” upon the travellers they were kept in safety the whole way. This being acknowledged with a suitable note of thanksgiving, as something remarkable in such a journey, the story goes on to tell us of the first doings of the pilgrims after reaching the place which they had sought and thought of so long. P. C.

A flash of joyful feeling breaks through the simple narrative, as it tells how the words spoken before the king came true in the experience of the weaponless pilgrims: “The hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way; and we came to Jerusalem.” It was no rash venture that we made. He was all that we hoped and asked. The ventures of faith are ever rewarded. We cannot set our expectations too high. What we dare scarcely hope now we shall one day remember. When we come to tell the completed story of our lives we shall have to record the fulfilment of all God’s promises and the accomplishment of all our prayers that were built on these. Here let us cry, Be Thy hand upon us. Here let us trust, Thy hand shall be upon us. Then we shall have to say, “The hand of our God was upon us.” And as we look from the watch-towers of the city on the desert that stretches to its very walls, and remember all the way by which He led us, we shall rejoice over His vindication of our poor faith, and praise Him that “not one thing hath failed of all the things which the Lord our God spoke concerning us.” A. M.

32-36. Ezra’s three days’ rest at Jerusalem, and subsequent execution of the more pressing of the commissions intrusted to him. After the fatigues of a four months’ journey, a brief period of complete rest was well-nigh necessary. Like Nehemiah (Neh. 2:11), Ezra was content with a rest of three days. On the fourth he discharged himself of his commission to present to the Temple treasury the offerings of the Persian king, his counsellors and lords (verse 25), together with that spontaneously contributed by the Israelites who had accompanied him (chap. 7:16). This he did by appearing in person before the priests and Levites who were in charge of the Temple, and making over to them the entire offering of gold, silver and vessels which had been brought to Jerusalem from Babylon. At the same time the exiles whom he had induced to return, and whom he had conducted in safety through so long a journey, sacrificed on the altar of burnt offerings a number of bullocks, rams, lambs, and he-goats, as a token of their thankfulness to God for delivering them from the perils of the way. After this Ezra proceeded to make known to the satraps and other governors of the provinces lying west of the Euphrates the terms of the permanent commission which he had received from the king. The result was that these officials thenceforth helped the Jews instead of hindering them, and furnished the necessary supplies for the Temple service. P. C.

It was on the “first day of the fifth month” (7:9), in the burning heat of July, that Ezra with his company reached the holy city. They had been just four months upon their journey. The direct distance of Jerusalem from Babylon is not more than about five hundred and twenty miles, but the circuitous route pursued had almost doubled the length of the way. And long halts had no doubt been made at several places besides Ahava. The “king’s commissions” had to be delivered to the Persian satraps and subordinate governors to the west of the Euphrates. The result was that the average rate of progress had been little more than eight miles per diem, and four months had been consumed in travelling a distance that was usually accomplished in less than three.

35. As before, when Zerubbabel made his great sacrifice on the dedication of the second Temple, so now Ezra put prominently forward the idea that the returned exiles represented “all Israel,” were the people of God in their totality—not a remnant of one tribe only escaped from barbarian masters, but the entire nation restored to their native land and planted there a second time, with full right and title to all the old privileges and promises attached to the “seed of Abraham.” G. R.

35,36. Having been conducted safely, by God’s providence, to take up their abode in that place which He had chosen to put His name there, it was very fitting that they should openly declare their consecration to that name. This was represented by those “burnt offerings” of which we are twice informed in this place. In so consecrating themselves, however, they only acted as a portion of that whole consecrated Israel of God to which they belonged. This identification of themselves with the covenant people they appear to have represented by their evidently studied reference in the number of animals offered to the appointed number of the covenant tribes. It is expressly said of the twelve bullocks that they were offered “for all Israel.” P. C.