Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Ezra 7:28

in Ezra 7

and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the leaders of Israel to return with me.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and hath extended lovingkindness unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of Jehovah my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

KJV

And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

This verse in Ezra 7

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

And I, strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, etc. He calls the hand of God the power of God, which works all things. Rightly does he gather those whom he will lead from Babylon to Jerusalem, who themselves are known to have …

This site's exposition

Blessed be the LORD

on Ezra 7:27-28

Ezra's own voice breaks in, blessing the LORD for putting it into the king's heart to honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. The chapter closes on the confidence of verses 6 and 9: "the hand of the LORD my God was upon me".

This site's exposition

I took courage and gathered the leaders

Bede reads the hand of God as the power of God that works all things. John Wesley draws from the clause that God must have all the glory for any service done. Chapter 8 names these leaders house by house.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

As the hand, &c. - If God gives us his hand, we are bold and chearful: if he withdraws it, we are weak as water. Whatever service we are enabled to do for God and our generation, God must have all the glory of it.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He was one of the sons of Aaron, a priest. Him God chose to be an instrument of good to Israel, that he might put honour upon the priesthood, the glory of which had been much eclipsed by the captivity. He is said to be the son of Seraiah, that Seraiah, as is supposed, whom the king of Babylon put to death when he sacked Jerusalem, 2 Kings xxv.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): He has extended mercy to me. The king, in the honour he did him, we may suppose, had an eye to his merit, and preferred him because he looked upon him to be a very sensible ingenious man; but he himself ascribes his preferment purely to God's mercy. It was this that recommended him to the favour of his prince.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

And hath extended mercy unto me, before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And I was strengthened - In what the king decreed he saw the hand of God; he therefore gave him the praise, and took courage. There is a most amiable spirit of piety in these reflections. Ezra simply states the case; shows what the king had determined, and tells what he said; and then points out the grand agent in the whole business - it was the Lord God of his fathers.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְעָלַ֣יand towards me

    vealaiH5921 →5755 times

  • הִטָּה־he has extended

    hitah-H5186 →

  • חֶ֗סֶדcovenant loyalty

    chesedH2617 →247 times

  • לִפְנֵ֤י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְיֽוֹעֲצָ֔יוand counselors his

    veyoatzavH3289 →79 times

  • וּלְכָל־and to all

    ulekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • שָׂרֵ֥י[the] officials of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הַגִּבֹּרִ֑ים<the> mighty

    hagiborimH1368 →

  • וַאֲנִ֣יand I

    vaaniH589 →

  • הִתְחַזַּ֗קְתִּיI strengthened myself

    hitchazaktiH2388 →291 times

  • כְּיַד־according to [the] hand of

    keyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • יְהוָ֤הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהַי֙God my

    ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times

  • עָלַ֔יon me

    ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times

  • וָאֶקְבְּצָ֧הand I assembled !

    vaekbetzahH6908 →127 times

  • מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֛לfrom Israel

    miyisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • רָאשִׁ֖יםchiefs

    rashimH7218 →599 times

  • לַעֲל֥וֹתto go up

    laalotH5927 →890 times

  • עִמִּֽי׃ פwith me

    ʾimiH5973 →1050 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 32:28

    Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

    it leads to

    • Revelation 2:17

      He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone…

    • Genesis 35:10

      And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.

    • Isaiah 62:2–4

      Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

    • Hosea 12:3–5

      In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

    • Genesis 27:33–36

      Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will…

  • Through

    Ezra 9:9

    Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but He has extended to us grace in the sight of the kings of Persia, giving us new life to rebuild…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 7:6

      this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for…

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Ezra 8:18

    And since the gracious hand of our God was upon us, they brought us Sherebiah—a man of insight from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel—along with his sons and…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 8:22

      For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Ezra 5:5

    But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 33:18

      Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

Where this verse is studied

About Ezra

Artaxerxes Grants Freedom to the Jews — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Artaxerxes Grants Freedom to the Jews — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Berean Standard Bible, Ezra 8; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.