Ezra 7:6

7:1-10 Ezra went from Babylon to Jerusalem, for the good of his country. The king was kind to him; he granted all his requests, whatever Ezra desired to enable him to serve his country. When he went, many went with him; he obtained favour from his king, by the Divine favour. Every creature is that to us, which God makes it to be. We must see the hand of God in the events that befal us, and acknowledge him with thankfulness.

A second time; for that he went up with Zerubbabel is clear from Nehemiah 12:1 , and is plainly intimated, Ezra 5:4 , and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; the meaning is, not that he had a quick hand in writing out copies of it, but was well versed in the knowledge of it; had studied it thoroughly, well instructed in it, and was abundantly qualified to teach it others; he was an eminent doctor of the law; so scribes, in the New Testament, who are the same with the lawyers, were such as were teachers of the law; the word here used in the Arabic language signifies to be expert, as Jarchi (o) learned from one of their doctors: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him; either upon Ezra, giving him favour with the king, and so success and prosperity; or it may denote the divine influence of the God of Ezra upon the heart of the king, moving him to grant what he asked of him, even everything he desired: he seems to have been sent upon an embassy to the king from the chief men at Jerusalem; perhaps the governors of Syria had not so fully made the disbursements the king in his decree had required them to make, since the following commission chiefly respects such things; and he was sent on that errand to acquaint the king with it, as well as to persuade those that remained to return, and to obtain leave for it. (o) Comment. in Psal. xlv. 1. "acutus ingenio et solers fuit", Golius, col

(6) 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 which 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.—The full formula for that special providence over God’s servants which both Ezra and Nehemiah recognised.

Ezra 7:6 . 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. For, as ספר , sepher, signifies a book, so סופר , sopher, signifies one skilful and learned in that book, an interpreter and teacher out of it. And, there being no book comparable to the book of the law, therefore Sopher became a name of great dignity, and signified one that taught God’s law, and expounded it to his people. Thus, in the New Testament, the scribes were those who instructed the people in the law. It is said he was a ready scribe, because he was expert in the law, and understood it thoroughly, both in all things belonging to the priesthood, and to the civil power; in which he was so well versed, that he could give a ready account of any part of it. The Jews say, he collected and collated all the copies of the law, and published an accurate edition of it, with all the books that were given by divine inspiration, and so made up the canon of the Old Testament. Moses in Egypt, and Ezra in Babylon, were wonderfully fitted for eminent service in the church.

This was the second time that Ezra came up from Babylon, for he came up at first with Zerubbabel, as we learn from Nehemiah 12:1 , and probably returned to Babylon to persuade those who had staid behind to come up to Jerusalem, and to obtain some further assistance from the king. According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him — God not only stirred up Ezra to this undertaking, but was so favourable to him as to incline the king to give a gracious answer to his petition.

Verse 6. - This Ezra went up . See comment on Ezra 2:1, where the same expression — "went up" - is used. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. On the meaning of this phrase, and the new position occupied by " scribes" after the captivity, see Introduction to Ezra,' § 5. Which the Lord God of Israel had given . It is characteristic of Ezra's piety never to forget that the law was not a mere human code given by an earthly lawgiver, not even a national treasure, the accumulation of centuries, but a direct Divine gift "the law of the Lord" (ver. 10), "the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel" (ver. 11), "the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses" ( Nehemiah 8:14 ). According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him . i.e. "by reason of God's favour to him." God, by reason of his favour to Ezra, inclined the heart of Artaxerxes towards him, so that he granted all his request. The nature of the "request" is not directly stated, but may be gathered from the "letter of Artaxerxes," especially vers. 13, 14, 16. Ezra 7:6

Ezra went up from Babylon, with the king’s consent and commission. A ready scribe, i.e. a learned and expert doctor; for in that sense the word scribe is oft used, as Jeremiah 8:8 Matthew 7:29 Matthew 17:10 23:2,13 Mr 12:28 , compared with Matthew 22:35,36 . According to the hand of the Lord his God upon him, i.e. by the grace and favour of God so disposing the heart of the king.

A ready scribe - Or, "a ready writer" Psalm 45:1 . The professional scribe was well known in Egypt from an early date (see Genesis 39:4 note); and under David and his successors "scribes" were attached to the court as the king's secretaries ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ; 2 Samuel 20:25 ; 2 Kings 12:10 , etc.). It was scarcely, however, until the time of the captivity that the class to which Ezra belonged arose. The "scribes" of this time, and of later Jewish history, were students, interpreters, and copiers of the Law (see the marginal references and Jeremiah 8:8 ). They retained the knowledge of the old dialect, which was being rapidly superseded by a new one. The emphatic application of the title "the scribe" to Ezra marks the high honor in which the office was now held. Its glories eclipsed those of the priesthood. The hand of the Lord ... upon him - The use of this phrase in a good sense is rare elsewhere (compare 1 Kings 18:46), but is a favorite one with both Ezra and Nehemiah (see the marginal references; Nehemiah 2:8, Nehemiah 2:18).

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready {c} scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. (c) He shows here what a scribe is, who had charge to write the law and to expound it. Whom Mark calls a scribe, Mr 12:28, Matthew and Luke called a lawyer or doctor of the law, Mt 22:35, Lu 10:25.

6. This Ezra … was a ready scribe in the law of Moses—The term "scribe" does not mean merely a penman, nor even an attorney well versed in forms of law and skilled in the method of preparing public or private deeds. He was a rabbi, or doctor, learned in the Mosaic law, and in all that related to the civil and ecclesiastical polity and customs of the Hebrew people. Scribes of this description possessed great authority and influence (compare Mt 23:25; Mr 12:28). the king granted him all his request—left Babylon entrusted with an important commission to be executed in Jerusalem. The manner in which he obtained this office is minutely related in a subsequent passage. Here it is noticed, but with a pious acknowledgment of the divine grace and goodness which disposed the royal mind in favor of Ezra's patriotic objects. The Levites, &c., did not go at that time, but are mentioned here by anticipation.