Ezra7chapter 7

There is a gap of about fifty-eight years between chapter 6 and chapter 7 — the whole span in which the events of Esther take place. The temple has stood for two generations.

Ezra is introduced by pedigree and profession: a priest descended from Aaron, and "a ready scribe in the law of Moses." A scribe was a professional literate official, and in the Persian system a scribe of a people's law could hold real state authority — an expert in the local legal tradition, empowered to administer it on the king's behalf.

The letter Artaxerxes gives him reads like exactly that kind of appointment. Ezra may take volunteers, carry the king's and the nobles' silver and gold, draw further supplies from the treasurers Beyond the River up to stated limits, appoint magistrates and judges, and teach those who do not know the laws of his God.

It also grants a tax exemption to priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants. Exempting temple staff from tolls and tribute was a known Persian practice, and a similar exemption appears in a Greek-inscribed letter from a Persian king concerning a sanctuary.

The summary line about Ezra himself is the one the chapter turns on: he had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. That order — seek, do, teach — is the whole job description.