Ezra 7 · WEB
Ezra Arrives in Jerusalem
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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,
2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest —
6this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his God on him.
7Some of the children of Israel and some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
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 came to 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 statutes and ordinances in Israel.
11Now this is the copy of the letter that king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh and of 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 so forth.
13I make a decree that all those of the people of Israel and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who desire to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
14Because you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand,
15and to bring the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
16with all the silver and gold that you shall 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 —
17therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
18Whatever shall seem 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.
20Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow 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, shall require of you, it shall be done with all diligence,
22to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred cors of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24Also we inform you that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or the servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on them.
25"You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn't know them.
26Whoever will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment."
27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify Yahweh's house which is in Jerusalem,
28and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the hand of Yahweh my God on me, and I gathered chief men out of Israel to go up with me.
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Summary
Sixty years after the temple completion, Ezra — a priest with an unbroken lineage back to Aaron and a skilled scribe in the Mosaic law — leads a second wave of returnees from Babylon to Jerusalem in 458 BC. King Artaxerxes gives him an extraordinarily generous letter: permission to take any Jews who wish to go, silver and gold for the temple, authority to appoint judges, exemption from taxation for all temple personnel, and royal enforcement of God's law. Ezra attributes everything to God's hand. His own motivation is simple and profound: "Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do it, and to teach."
Themes
- Personal devotion to Scripture as the foundation of ministry
- God's hand opening extraordinary doors for those committed to his word
- Gratitude that redirects all human success back to God
Key verses
- Ezra 7:10 — “Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
- Ezra 7:27 — “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king's heart.”
- Ezra 7:6 — “This Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses... the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his God on him.”
Context & background
Ezra's genealogy (vv. 1-5) traces back 16 generations to Aaron — establishing his priestly legitimacy impeccably. He arrives in Jerusalem in 458 BC, about 80 years after the first return under Zerubbabel and 58 years after the temple was completed. Artaxerxes I (modern Iran context: he ruled from Susa and Persepolis) had a Jewish queen (possibly Esther, though chronology is debated) and was unusually favorable toward the Jewish community. The letter grants Ezra a remarkable authority: judge, teacher, and representative of God's law in the Trans-Euphrates satrapy. Ezra's self-description in v. 10 — "seek, do, teach" — is the classic threefold model of biblical ministry: inward formation before outward expression.
Cross-references
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 — The purpose of Scripture: teaching, reproof, correction, training; Ezra's ministry model
- Deuteronomy 31:9-13 — Moses' command to read the Law; Ezra is the post-exilic Moses figure
- Matthew 13:52 — "A scribe who has been made a disciple... brings out of his treasure new and old things" — Ezra embodies this
- Nehemiah 8:1-8 — Ezra publicly reading and explaining the Law; the fulfillment of his mission
- Psalm 119:97 — "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day" — Ezra's heart described here