Ezra 7 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

The Deeds of Ezra^[a]

Chapter 7

Ezra the Scribe. ¹ After these occurrences, during the reign of Artaxerxes,^[b] king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of the high priest Aaron— ⁶ this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which was given by the Lord, the God of Israel, and the king granted him everything that he requested, since the hand of the Lord God was upon him.

⁷ Ezra was accompanied to Jerusalem by a number of Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple slaves in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes. ⁸ Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s reign.

⁹ On the first day of the first month, Ezra had ordered the departure from Babylon, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, since the gracious hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For he had devoted himself to the study and observance of the law of the Lord so as to put that law into practice and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

¹¹ The Decree of Artaxerxes. This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters pertaining to the commandments and statutes of the Lord for Israel:^[c]

¹² “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest-scribe, a scholar versed in the commandments and statutes of the Lord for Israel. ¹³ I have issued a decree stating that any of the people of Israel in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who freely choose to go up to Jerusalem with you are free to do so. ¹⁴ For you are being sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries as to how the law of your God in which you are extremely knowledgeable is being followed in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁵ “You are also to convey the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have voluntarily offered to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ as well as all the silver and gold which you may receive throughout the province of Babylon and the voluntary offerings that have been freely contributed by the people and the priests for the house of their God in Jerusalem.

¹⁷ “You must spend this money with extreme care to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, as well as the cereal offerings and libations, and sacrifice them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ As for the remainder of the silver and gold, you and your brothers may do whatever seems best to you. ¹⁹ In the presence of the God of Israel you are to deliver those vessels that have been given to you for the service of the house of your God. ²⁰ As for whatever else is required and you are obliged to supply for the needs of the house of your God, you may supply from the royal treasury.

²¹ “I, King Artaxerxes, have issued this decree to all the treasurers of West-of-Euphrates: Whatever the priest Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may request of you is to be provided to him exactly, ²² up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of oil, and unlimited amounts of salt. ²³ Let everything that the God of heaven commands be carried out exactly for the house of the God of heaven so that wrath may not be inflicted upon the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also wish to make clear to you that it is against the law to impose a tribute, tax, or toll on any priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple slaves, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “As for you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God which you possess, you are to appoint magistrates and judges^[d] to administer justice to all the people in West-of-Euphrates—to all, that is, who know the laws of your God. Furthermore, you are to instruct all those who do not know these laws. ²⁶ Whoever refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king is to have judgment be strictly executed, whether the penalty be death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.”

²⁷ Ezra and His Companions. Then Ezra said: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who has influenced the heart of the king in this way to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and who permitted me to be granted the faithful love of the king and his counselors and all the most powerful of the king’s officials. Because the hand of the Lord, my God was upon me, I assembled those Israelite leaders to accompany me.”^[e]

Footnotes

1. Ezra 7:1 At the beginning of the fourth century, or even earlier, Ezra was concerned to create a solid organization of his countrymen who had again settled in Palestine, in order to protect them against pagan influences. In his person a new kind of biblical personage makes his appearance: the scribe. The scholar, as servant of the royal court, had existed since David’s time, but now he becomes more important; as an expert in the law, he gradually replaces the priest (who henceforth deals almost exclusively with the ritual performance of worship) and becomes an influential personage. His often disturbing presence will be seen throughout the gospel story.
   The main element in Ezra’s reform has to do with the marriages of Jews to women of the local population and reaches the point of dismissing these foreign wives. To understand this resolution of the problem, we must look to the setting. Infidelity had brought the nation into exile; therefore only an intransigent fidelity could safeguard it against a new disaster. Furthermore, as the entire past showed, beginning with Solomon’s harem, infidelity made its way in through mixed marriages.
2. Ezra 7:1 Artaxerxes: this would seem to be Artaxerxes II (404–358 B.C.). Therefore, the seventh year of his reign is 398 B.C.
3. Ezra 7:11 The document is written in Aramaic.
4. Ezra 7:25 Magistrates and judges: those that acknowledge the religion of the Israelite people.
5. Ezra 7:28 This prayer of thanks and praise is Ezra’s way of completely acknowledging his dependence on God, without whom he would not have attained his state in life.