Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Artaxerxes sends Ezra to Jerusalem, to visit, instruct, direct, and govern the Jews.
Vulgate Text: 1 Esdrae 7:1-28
1. Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2. the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3. the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4. the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5. the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest. 6. This same Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God had given to Israel: and the king granted him, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him, all that he requested. 7. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the sons of the priests, and of the sons of the Levites, and of the singers, and of the gatekeepers, and of the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8. And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king. 9. For 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 upon him. 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach in Israel the statutes and judgments. 11. Now this is the copy of the letter of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe learned in the words and commandments of the Lord, and in His ceremonies in Israel. 12. Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the most learned scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greeting. 13. I have decreed that whosoever it shall please in my kingdom, of the people of Israel, and of its priests and Levites, to go to Jerusalem, let him go with you. 14. For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your hand: 15. and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem. 16. And all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylon, and whatever the people wish to offer, and whatever the priests freely offer for the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem, 17. take freely, and diligently buy with this money calves, rams, lambs, and their sacrifices and libations, and offer them upon the altar of the temple of your God, which is in Jerusalem. 18. And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God, do it. 19. Also the vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in the presence of God in Jerusalem. 20. And whatever else is needed for the house of your God, however much you need to spend, it shall be given from the treasury and from the royal treasury, 21. and from me. I, Artaxerxes the king, have decreed and ordained to all the keepers of the public treasury who are beyond the river, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall ask of you, give it without delay, 22. up to a hundred talents of silver, and up to a hundred cors of wheat, and up to a hundred baths of wine, and up to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without measure. 23. Everything that pertains to the rite of the God of heaven, let it be diligently given in the house of the God of heaven: lest perhaps He be angry against the kingdom of the king and of his sons. 24. We also notify you concerning all the priests and Levites, and singers, and gatekeepers, Nethinim, and ministers of this house of God, that you have no authority to impose tax, tribute, or provisions upon them. 25. And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint judges and magistrates, that they may judge all the people who are beyond the River, namely those who know the law of your God, and teach freely those who are ignorant. 26. And whoever does not observe the law of your God and the law of the king diligently, let judgment be executed upon him, whether for death, or for exile, or for confiscation of his goods, or at least for imprisonment. 27. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who put this in the heart of the king, to glorify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, 28. and inclined His mercy toward me before the king and his counselors, and before all the mighty princes of the king: and I, strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God which was upon me, gathered princes out of Israel to go up with me.
Verse 1: After These Things
1. After these things — after these deeds and events.
Ezra (the author of this book) the son of Seraiah — the High Priest slain by the Chaldeans, and brother of Jozadak, and uncle of Joshua the High Priest.
Verse 6: A Ready Scribe in the Law of Moses
6. He was a ready scribe in the law of Moses — that is, Ezra was most expert in the Mosaic law, and most ready in teaching and explaining it; therefore "scribe" is the same as "expert in the law" or "doctor of the law." Note: Just as the Greeks of old called their wise men Philosophers, the Chaldeans Magi, the Gauls Druids, the Indians Brahmans and Gymnosophists; so the Jews called their Doctors Sopherim, which the Septuagint translates grammateus; our translator renders "scribes" from sepher, that is, letter or writing, as if to say, men of letters, or scribes, because they occupied themselves with transcribing, teaching, and explaining the Sacred Scriptures. For the office of scribes was to preserve Holy Scripture incorrupt, to watch over its correct transcription, to interpret it both in writing and by the living voice: then to write responses, to compose treatises, to expound it in various ways, etc.; so St. Epiphanius, Heresy 15. Whence sepher, that is "scribe," can be derived from saphar, that is, to narrate, to recount, so that sopher is the same as narrator of the law; but our translator and the Septuagint looked to the etymology of sepher, as I said: so the Grammarians of old were so called because they dealt with grammata, that is, letters, and explained the obscure and doubtful passages of the poets. For the entire study of the Jews was in sacred literature; for they scarcely knew profane and pagan literature. So Jansenius, Toletus, Maldonatus and others, where they treat of the lawyers with whom Christ frequently debated. Among these scribes Ezra was preeminent, as I said in the Introduction. Hence Elias the German says in his Tishbi: "Scribes are wise men, who are called by another name masters:" therefore Sopher is the same as Rabbi, Rab, Rabban. St. Jerome implies the same, epistle 152.
He went up from Babylon — to Jerusalem.
And the king (Artaxerxes) granted him, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him, all that he requested. — "Hand" signifies the favor and operation by which God made Ezra pleasing to the king, says Cajetan, so that the king would grant him whatever he asked.
There is no doubt that Ezra asked the king that Jerusalem be restored and surrounded with walls, and that he obtained this. Whence from this seventh year of Artaxerxes, and from this royal concession, many begin the seventy weeks leading up to Christ, as I said on Daniel 9.
Verse 7: In the Seventh Year of Artaxerxes
7. In the seventh year of Artaxerxes. — From the sixth year of Darius, when the temple was completed and dedicated, to the seventh year of Artaxerxes, who was the grandson of Darius through his son Xerxes, 57 years elapsed. Therefore Ezra was then very old and more than a hundred years old, but still strong and vigorous, God sustaining him for the benefit of the people, that he might instruct and refine them in the law of the Lord. Whence it follows:
Verse 9: Ezra Prepared His Heart to Seek the Law
9. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord (that is, to know it and have a thorough understanding of it), and (then) to do it (that is, to fulfill it in practice), and (finally) to teach in Israel the statutes and judgments — namely, what the law commands to be done or not done, and what according to it is just or unjust (for to discern this is "judgment"), lawful or unlawful.
Learn here from Ezra that the order of teaching is this: first, that you thoroughly learn; second, that what you have learned, you yourself first do and fulfill in practice; third, that you likewise teach others. Thus Christ "began" first "to do," then "to teach," Acts 1:1.
Verse 13: By the Command of the King and His Seven Counselors
13. From the face (that is, by the command and authority) of the king and his seven counselors. — For the kings of the Persians had seven supreme princes and counselors. Whence, fittingly corresponding to this number, seven chief Angels are similarly named thereafter in Scripture as princes of God: "Seven men of the heavenly court." For, as Aristotle says (or whoever is the author, in the book On the World, past the middle), "the majesty and governance of the kings of the Persians was an image of divine majesty and providence." See what was said on Revelation 1:4, at the words: "And from the seven Spirits."
To visit Judea according to the law of your God. — The king therefore appointed Ezra as the visitor of the Jews subject to him, to see whether they were observing the law of God, and wherever they strayed from it, to instruct, correct, and chastise them.
Verse 20: It Shall Be Given from the King's Treasury
20. It shall be given from the king's treasury. — See here the piety of pagan kings, namely of Artaxerxes, who, like Cyrus and Darius, provided from his own treasury the necessary expenses for the ministries of the temple.
Verse 24: No Authority to Impose Tax upon Them
24. That you have no authority to impose tax, etc., upon them. — From this it is clear that the Jews were servants and tributaries of the Persians; but the king here exempts the priests, Levites, and other ministers of the temple from all tribute and similar public burdens. Let Christian princes take note of this.
Verse 25: Appoint Judges and Magistrates
25. And you, Ezra, etc., appoint judges and magistrates to judge all the people — to settle the disputes of the people in a legal and judicial manner.
Verse 26: Whoever Does Not Observe the Law
26. And whoever does not observe the law, etc., let judgment be executed upon him, whether unto death. — Behold, here the king gives Ezra, and the judges to be appointed by him from the people, the power of death over transgressors, which the Romans denied to the Jews: for they granted that power only to Pilate and their other governors. Whence the Jews, when Pilate told them to judge Christ according to their law, responded: "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," Matthew 27.