Exegesis and Theology

Ezra 10 continues the narrative begun in chapter 9. Chapter 9 concluded with Ezra’s prayer of confession. Chapter 10 opens by telling us that Ezra was “weeping and casting himself down before the house of God” while he was praying. This shows the emotional depth of Ezra’s confession. It also may link Ezra back to Moses. The verb translated “casting himself down” occurs in this form four other times in the Old Testament (Gen. 43:18; Deut. 9:18, 25[twice]). The three occurrences in Deuteronomy 9 are part of Deuteronomy’s account of the golden calf incident. Moses “lay prostrate” before Yhwh for forty days and forty nights to intercede for the people. Here Ezra is taking the same position before Yhwh because of the people’s sin (Steinmann 2010: 344).

This parallel also places the people in the position of idolatrous Israel in the exodus. Notably, the golden calf incident put the construction of the tabernacle in doubt. Here the temple is built, but whether it will be a place of true worship where the people will meet with God or any empty symbol as it became in the days before the exile is now an open question.

The people responded to Ezra’s prayer as they ought. Many people—men, women, and children—gathered in the temple, and they wept because of their sin. Sorrow for sin is a key component of repentance.

But sorrow alone is not sufficient for true repentance. True repentance involves confession and turning from sin. This is what begins to happen in verses 2-3. Shecaniah the son of Jehiel speaks for the people. Notably, it possible that his own father may have been party to one of the sinful marriages (10:26). Shecaniah could have been the fruit of this marriage, but one who fully embraced Israel and Israel’s God. Or his father may have left his Jewish mother to marry a foreign wife (cf. Mal. 3:14-16)(Williamson 1985: 150; Shepherd and Wright 2018: 44).

Shecaniah echoes the report of the officials in 9:2 that these mixed marriages constituted unfaithfulness. Again, this is a term that indicates a covenant breach, and it is a term used to describe why Israel went into exile (Brown 2005c: 452). The breach of faith, Shecaniah says, consists in marriage to foreign women.

However, the term translated married is not the normal term for marriage. It could be translated “given dwelling to” (NASB margin), “give[n] a home to” (Williamson 1985: 150), or “have established households (with)” (Steinmann 2010: 345). In addition, the identification of the women as foreign may have evoked Proverbs depiction of the adulterous woman as a foreign woman.

Proverbs 2:16 says that the purpose of wisdom is “to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words” (KJV). Strange and stranger in this verse translate two different words for foreigner, the latter of which is the same word used in Ezra 10:2. Modern translations render the first as “forbidden woman” (ESV, CSB) or “adulterous woman” (NIV) and the second as “adulteress” (ESV, NASB, NRSV) or “wayward woman” (NIV CSB). The translations recognize that Solomon is speaking figuratively here, rather than literally of foreign women (Prov. 2:17 indicates that an Israelite woman is in view since she broke a covenant with God; Steveson 2001: 30; Longman 2006: 124). “[H]e is indicating that the woman is not his son’s wife and so is ‘foreign’ to his son” (Steinmann 2009: 97). She may also be described as a “foreigner” because she “stands outside the community of the wise” (Waltke 2004: 122) or because she “lives like a heathen even though she dwells among the people of God” (Steveson 2001: 30).

Even though the strange woman in Proverbs is not literally a foreigner, she may be alluded to in Ezra 10:2 as a way of highlighting the illegitimacy of the marriages the Israelites had made with foreign women.

The prophet Malachi pronounces judgment on the people because they divorced Jewish wives in order to marry pagan wives (Petterson 2015: 346, 350-51, 354-55). Malachi may be dated to the time of Ezra, which might strengthen the case that these marriages Ezra is dealing with were adulterous (cf. Steinmann 2010: 358-59). However, Malachi could also be dated to during or after Nehemiah’s ministry (Brown 2005c: 454, n. 57).

Shecaniah still offers hope to the people. He proposes a covenant renewal in which the people “put away all these wives and their children.” Brown observes, “Shecaniah’s proposal is essentially one of repentance. The people must turn from their wrongdoing and renew their covenant to be wholly separated to Yahweh” (Brown 2005c: 453).

Shecaniah’s proposal raises the question of whether it was right for Shecaniah to propose, and later for Ezra to order the Jewish men to divorce their foreign wives. The answer to this question should be shaped by the book’s presentation of Ezra: “This Ezra … was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that Yhwh, the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6). In addition, this section of Ezra is focused on bringing the returned Israelites into obedience to the Law. With this orientation in place, Shecaniah’s proposal and Ezra’s subsequent actions can be evaluated in ten points. The first five show the gravity of this sin. Points 6-8 show the biblical basis for the actions taken. Points 9 and 10 address potential objections.

1. The sin of the people is reported in 9:1-2 as a violation of the Mosaic law. The peoples of the lands with whom the Israelites intermarried committed the same abominations as the nations the Israelites were forbidden to marry (Ex. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1; 20:17) (Brown 2005c: 447). The Ammonites, Moabites, and Egyptians are not mentioned in the original lists, but are mentioned in Deuteronomy 23:3-8, and the combination indicates that the list is representative, not exhaustive. Deuteronomy 7:4 warned that if the Israelites turned to idolatry the Lord would destroy them.

(Importantly, the problem is not with the ethnicity of the wives but with their religion. Rahab and Ruth are examples of acceptable marriages to foreign wives [Brown 2005c: 449; Steinmann 2010: 348-49] and also are demonstrations that foreign wives are honored by being placed in the Messianic line.)

2. The concern that “the holy seed has intermingled with the peoples of the lands” (9:2, NASB, margin) alludes to Isaiah 6:13 and the hope that even in exile the holy seed was in the stump that remained. The returned remnant probably saw themselves as the holy seed in that prophecy. If they as the holy seed became corrupt, what remaining hope would there be for the nation?

3. The intermarriage is characterized throughout these chapters as “unfaithfulness” (9:2, 4; 10:2, 6, 10). In the Old Testament, “[t]he term used most frequently in explaining why the Exile took place” is this term (Brown 2005c: 452). In other words, the intermarriage threatens to place the people back under the curses of the Mosaic covenant, including the judgment of exile.

4. Ezra’s prayer of confession alludes to many earlier Scripture passages, especially Deuteronomy 7 and Leviticus 18:26-30. Leviticus 18 indicates that the “men of the land” (cf. the similar “peoples of the lands” in Ezra) were driven out of the land because their abominations defiled the land. The implication is that by marrying the peoples of the lands, the Israelites were allowing the uncleanness to spread. Exile would be the result (cf. Isa 1:19-20; Eze. 36:17-18). Ezra seems to have been concerned that the sin of intermarriage with pagan wives would lead to the destruction of the remnant (Ezra 9:14-15).

5. The description of the wives as “foreign women/wives” (10:2, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 44) is an allusion back to 1 Kings 11:1 (Brown 2005c: 449). The book of Kings presents Solomon’s violation of Deuteronomy 7 and its parallels as placing Israel on the path to exile.

6. The action of divorcing the foreign wives is said to be according to the counsel of Yhwh (10:2, NASB, mg.; KD 4:79) or according to the counsel of Ezra, referred to by Shecaniah as “my lord” (Williamson 1985: 143; Smith 2010: 96; Steinmann 2010: 346). (The difference has to do with how the vowel points are understood.) Clearly, however, the divorce was to be done according to the law (10:2). Ezra said the divorces were God’s will (10:11). Given that intermarriage with pagans placed the covenant community was in grave danger of judgment, Ezra and the leaders may have discerned that divorce was the proper way to repent and turn from this sin. The divorce was the means of turning from the sin in repentance (Brown 2005c: 453).

7. The legitimacy of divorce in this situation could have been discerned by linking together several OT passages. Deuteronomy 13:6-11, a passage about freeing the land from those who would lead the people into idolatry, taught that family members, including wives, who tempt their husbands toward idolatry were to be executed. Divorce may have been an alternative to execution, especially at a time in which the Jews were under foreign rule (cf. Matt. 1:19; Brown 2005c: 456-58, though Brown observes that Ezra was authorized to carry out the death penalty [cf. 7:26] and that he opted for divorce as a merciful alternative). The Mosaic law did allow for a husband to divorce his wife if he found “some indecency in her” (Deut. 24:1), and “indecency” could include idolatry (Howard 1993: 296; Kidner 1979: 80; Steveson 2011: 86; cf. Williamson 1985: 151).

8. Nehemiah followed Ezra’s example in this matter. Nehemiah, when faced with the same problem in subsequent years, says, “I purified them from everything foreign” (13:30), which seems to be an indication that Nehemiah followed Ezra’s example of separating the men from their foreign wives (Schultz: 58).

9. Some object that since God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) and since Jesus said that man should not separate what God has joined (Matt. 19:6), Ezra was wrong for requiring divorce. Apart from debate over the translation of Micah 2:16 (“‘Indeed, [He] hates divorce!’ Yahweh the God of Israel, has said” [Hill 2008: 221, 250; cf. NKJV] vs. “‘The man who hates and divorces his wife,’ says the Lord the God of Israel [NIV 2011; Petterson 2015: 354]; the NASB reading relies on a textual emendation), the divorce in view in Malachi is the divorce of Jewish wives in order to marry pagan foreign wives—something that Malachi says should result in their excommunication (Mic. 2:13) (Petterson 2015: 346, 350-51, 354-55). The possibility that Malachi 2 is about the same situation that Ezra was dealing with at best casts doubt on whether the separation that Ezra effected was separating people that God had joined. These doubts are strengthened by the way Ezra 10:2 uses terminology that raises questions about the legitimacy of these marriages.

10. Ezra’s actions seem at variance with the apostle Paul’s teaching that in the case of a believer married to an unbeliever, divorce should only occur if the unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage (1 Cor. 7:15). However, Paul was addressing people who were under the new covenant, rather than the Mosaic covenant. Since the new covenant community is no longer organized as mixed multitude of regenerate and unregenerate people, and since it no longer functions according to a genealogical principle (that is, people no longer enter the covenant community by birth), the dangers faced by the new covenant community are different. Nor does the new covenant people face the same requirements regarding foreign peoples in the land. Finally, the permission for divorce given in the Mosaic covenant due to hardness of the people’s hearts, is greatly restricted in the new covenant (on any reading of the exception clause).

Shecaniah then encourages Ezra in terms that were reminiscent of God’s words to Joshua: “be strong and do it” (Ezra 10:4; cf. Josh. 1:7; Breneman 1993: 158). Since Yhwh commanded Joshua to “be strong” in order to “do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you,” implied in Shecaniah’s statement is that Ezra’s leadership of the community will be for them to do according to all that the law of Moses commanded. Ezra’s first step was to have “the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath” that they would act according to Shecaniah’s proposal.

Ezra then went into a temple chamber. There in private he fasted and mourned over the exiles’ faithlessness. This private mourning shows the genuineness of Ezra’s distress (Williamson 1985: 151). Steinman observes:

Ezra’s fast was total—he did not eat or drink. Such stringent fasting is rare in the OT and is only mentioned in a few cases. Moses twice fasted this way (Ex 34:28; Deut 9:18). The people of Nineveh fasted this way when repenting (Jonah 3:7). And Esther, Mordecai, and the Jews of Susa fasted this way for three days before Esther approached Xerxes (Esth 4:15–16). That Ezra went to this extreme with his fast underscores the seriousness with which he regarded the Judeans’ sin. (Steinmann 2010: 354)

The passage most in view may be Deuteronomy 9:18. It was alluded to in Ezra 10:1, and it (along with Ex. 34:28) refers to Moses’s intercession after the golden calf incident, which intercession Ezra’s own seems modeled upon.

After his fast, Ezra made use of the authority given to him by the Persian king to summon the Jews to Jerusalem on pain of loosing his property or being banished (see Ezra 7:26; Steinmann 2010: 351). The verb “should be forfeited” (Ezra 10:8) is used repeatedly in Deuteronomy and Joshua for devoting the Canaanites (and, at times, their property) to destruction (cf. Deut. 20:17; Josh. 6:18, 21; 10:40, etc.) (Steveson 2011: 87). If this is an allusion back to the exodus and conquest, it is no longer an allusion to the hope the prophets had of a second exodus. Now the exiles are in the place of the Canaanites.

Within the three specified days, the people assembled before the temple, the house of God. They came in the right spirit, for they “trembled because of this matter” (10:10). Ezra restated their sin, and he called on them to “make confession” (lit. “to give praise”) and to repent of it by separating from the peoples of the land, including from their foreign wives. The verb “to give praise,” in the sense of making confession to God alludes to Joshua 7:19, where Joshua tells Achan to make confession using the same phrase. Shepherd observes:

This further resonance with the exodus/settlement/conquest tradition foregrounds the conviction that the returnees’ sin, like Achan’s, has the potential not only to compromise the divine intention to install his people in the land, but also, as Ezra’s prayer indicates, to undermine the very existence of the community. (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 45)

The people responded well. They agreed with all that Ezra proposed, though they proposed a process for how to proceed since they are standing in the rain and to do what needed to be done would take many days. The proposal was accepted with opposition from only four men.

Commentators are unsure of whether these men wanted a stricter proceeding or a more lenient one (Williamson 1985: 156-57; Steinmann 2010: 360).

Ezra selected men to handle this issue, and over the course of three months 113 men were found to have married foreign women. Given the number of people that Ezra 2 reported as returning, this is not a large percentage of the population (Steinmann 2010: 365). This observation should not be used to minimize the problem. Steinmann comments:

the problem was not the number or percentage of the marriages that were exogamous. Instead the problem was that this sin caused the corporate people to be “unfaithful” to God (Ezra 10:2). They had failed to keep themselves separate from the pagans with their detestable practices, and they “thereby mixed the holy seed with the peoples of the lands” (Ezra 9:1–2). Moreover, “the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!” (Ezra 9:2). (Steinmann 2010: 367)

Much of the book of Ezra is hopeful. The exiles returned according to the prophetic word. The temple was rebuilt despite opposition. Ezra taught the people the Law of Yhwh and led them to repentance. But the final verse of the book does not end on this hopeful note. At the end of the list of those who had been unfaithful, we read, “All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children” (10:44).

Ezra closed his book to reinforce the idea, present throughout, that the return from exile was only partial in his day. The prophets had predicted the new covenant along with the second exodus. But the new covenant had not been established. Instead of living in the land with hearts that had been made new, the people had returned to the same sins they had committed before the exile. They still needed to look forward to the new covenant.

This section of the book is about God’s providential work of returning additional Jews to Jerusalem. The opposition to the temple and to the true worship of God recounted in the previous chapters has given way to strong Persian support for the temple and for the worship of God according to his Law. The combination of strong providential support from the Persian king and the emphasis on the law of God transitions the reader’s focus from the external threats to the internal threats to true worship.

God’s Providential Working

The letter from Artaxerxes to Ezra stands in contrast with the opposition recounted in chapter 4. T In that chapter the opponents of the Jews had told Artaxerxes that Jerusalem was a rebellious city and that the fortification of Jerusalem would lead to lost revenue (because Judah would no longer pay tribute) and to loss of control over the province Beyond the River (4:12-13, 16). Artaxerxes believed these claims and ordered that Jerusalem not be rebuilt, even telling the Jewish opponents to “take care not to be slack in this matter” (4:21-22).

The timing of this opposition within the reign of Artaxerxes is unknown since the correspondence between Artaxerxes and the opponents of the Jews, Rehum and Shimshai, is not dated. However, it is possible that it occurred subsequent to the return that Ezra is narrating in chapters 7-8.

The Egyptians rebelled against Artaxerxes in 461 BC and were not subdued for another decade. Ezra, returning in 458 BC would have come to Jerusalem toward the beginning of this period. This may provide the context for Artaxerxes generosity toward the beautification of the temple. He may have wanted the subjects of that region to be pleased with the Persians. He also wanted the Jewish God, whom he probably thought of as a regional god, to not be angry with him (7:23). However, the building of the city walls during the Egyptian rebellion, the war with the Greeks that followed (the Athenians had fought alongside the Egyptians in their rebellion), or later rebellion of Megabyzus would not have been viewed favorably by Artaxerxes. (On the historical background, see Yamauchi 1984:570-71; Steinmann, 2910: 27-29.)

Nehemiah 1:3-4 likely implies that Nehemiah heard fresh news about the breaking down of Jerusalem’s walls and the burning of its gates (Steinmann 2010: 388-39). It may be that Nehemiah 1 records his reaction to the forceful end of the wall-building described in Ezra 4:23. If that is the case, then the favorable letter Ezra received from Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:12-26) preceded the opposition recorded in chapter 4 by thirteen years.

The literary effect is to move the reader’s focus from opposition to favor. This should not be seen as in any way deceptive on Ezra’s part. It may be that the book was written under the shadow of opposition and that by condensing the description of opposition into a single thematic section of the book followed by accounts of God’s providential work in the Persian leaders, Ezra was directing his original readers to hope for God future providential working in their present situation.

In any event, the generosity of Artaxerxes in this letter is notable. Any Israelite who wished to return to the land with Ezekiel was permitted to do so (7:14). The king and court provided Ezra with silver and gold for the temple and its worship (7:15-17). The wealth provided is portrayed as being more abundant than actually needed (7:18). In addition, the province Beyond the River was to provide additional funds (7:22). Herodotus records that the tribute taken in by the provincial government was 350 talents, so to allow Ezra up to 100 talents along with wheat, wine, oil, and salt is exceedingly generous (Herodotus, The Histories, 3.91; Shepherd 2018: 33). In addition, Ezra is given several blank checks: “whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the kings treasury” (7:20); “whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven” (7:23).

Not only did Darius lavish gifts on Ezra and the temple, he also prohibited levying tribute on anyone who served in the temple worship—from priests to servants (7:24).

This was not a special exemption for the Jewish temple alone but a Persian policy. “Darius I made specific mention of a long-standing royal policy in these matters in the course of a rebuke to one of his officials in Asia Minor” (Kidner 1979: 22). In that case, Darius corrected officials who imposed tribute on those who officially served in the worship of Apollo (Kidner 1979: 72; Breneman 1993: 135). However, the fact that this policy was not uniquely aimed at Israel does not diminish in the least the idea that God was providentially showing special favor on Israel through Artaxerxes’s decree. God uses empire-wide policies to benefit his people.

Artaxerxes had both political and religious motives for his generosity. As Kidner observes, “religion and politics were inseparable” at this period (Kidner 1979: 71). A king under pressure may have truly desired all of the gods of his empire to favor him (cf. Breneman 1993: 135).

Ezra, however, saw the hand of God behind the actions of the king. He responded to the letter of Artaxerxes with praise to Yhwh for moving the king’s heart to beautify the temple.

A final example of God’s providence in these chapters is the safe transport of all of this wealth from Babylonia to Jerusalem without military protection (8:31). Ezra specifically did not request an escort because he was concerned that doing so would communicate to the king that God could not protect them—as they had clearly communicated to the king (8:22; Steinmann 2010: 312).

Ezra 8:22 does not imply that it would always be wrong for God’s people to accept a military escort when traveling. God uses means, and his people are right to avail themselves of those means, as Nehemiah did when he accepted military protection (2:9; Steinmann 2010: 313). However, God’s people often give up what they could rightfully claim to promote the name of God and his interests in the world (1 Cor. 9:1-12).

God’s providential work on behalf of his people is emphasized in Ezra 7-8 by the repeated use of the phrase “for the hand of Yhwh his God was on him” (with variants). The phrase is first used in the introductory verses of chapter 7 with the summary statement: “the king granted [Ezra] all that he asked, for the hand of Yhwh his God was on him” (7:6). This was something that Ezra had told Artaxerxes: “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him” (8:22). In his response to Artaxerxes’s letter, Ezra said, “I took courage, for the hand of Yhwh my God was on me” (7:28). In response to finding Levites to accompany them back to Jerusalem, Ezra wrote, “by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion” (8:18). In describing the journey, Ezra wrote, “The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the and of the enemy and from ambushes on the way” (8:31). Ezra’s safe arrival in Jerusalem, which is recorded at the beginning of this section to emphasize God’s faithfulness, is noted with the observation “he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him” (7:9).

The repetition is meant to drive home that Yhwh was providentially at work in Ezra’s return.

For Continued Return from Exile (Second Exodus)

The return to the land from captivity continues to be portrayed as a second exodus. The great wealth that the king of Persia provides for Ezra recalls the spoiling of the Egyptians (Throntveit 1992: 45).

Artaxerxes also commissioned Ezra to “appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River” (7:25). This also puts Ezra in the role of a second Moses, for Moses did this task in the first exodus (Ex. 18:13-27) (Throntveit 1992: 45). This harmonizes with the emphasis in these chapters on Ezra teaching the law of Moses to the people.

The fact that Ezra was returning to the land to further the worship of God (an emphasis in Artaxerxes’s letter, 7:15-20) also points back to the original exodus (Throntveit 1992:45-46). God wanted Pharaoh to let the people go so that they could properly worship God. In this, and in the provision of wealth, Artaxerxes acted as a kind of anti-Pharaoh. God used a “strong hand” with Pharaoh (Ex. 6:1; 13:3, 9, 14) by hardening his heart so that God could display his power to the nations. With Artaxerxes the hand of God is still the decisive factor, but it is used to soften the heart of the king, not harden it.

The fact that Ezra took courage to lead the people to go up to the land (7:28) may be an allusion to Joshua 1, in which God told Joshua to “Be strong and courageous” (the word translated strong in Joshua 1:6, 7, 9 being the same word translated courage in Ezra 7:28). The three days camped beside the river of Ahava as well as a three-day pause after arriving is also thought by some to evoke Joshua’s camping three days by the Jordan before entering the land (7:15, 32; Shepherd and Wright 2018: 36-37, 39). This is possible, but less clear than some of the other parallels.

The returnees themselves are once again described in such a way as to represent the return of the whole nation. After noting representatives from two priestly families and a Davidic descendant, Ezra lists twelve families, which mirror the number of the tribes of Israel (Throntviet 1992: 45; Steinmann 2010: 281).

Ezra contains numerous allusions back to the book of Numbers. The word for camping occurs repeatedly in that book, and its mention in Ezra 8:15 may be a subtle allusion (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 36-37).

The need for Levites on the journey back may have also been necessitated by Ezra’s purposeful attempt to evoke the exodus journey since there were already Levites in Jerusalem serving in the temple (Williamson 1985: 116). In Numbers the Levites, along with the priests, had the responsibility of caring for the transport of temple things, as they do also in Ezra’s return journey (8:30) (Williamson 1985: 118).

The date on which Ezra led the people to depart, the twelfth day of the first month, also bears exodus symbolism. Passover was on the tenth day of the month. The Israelites left Egypt on the eleventh day. Ezra leaves for Israel on the twelfth day (Levering 2007: 95).

Also closely connected with the exodus was the giving of the Law. If Israel lived according to the Law, God promised that it would dwell in the land. Now as the people return to the land, adherence to the Law is again emphasized.

For Life under God’s Law

These chapters in Ezra stress that the point of return is not merely the physical return of the people to the land or the physical building and beautifying of the temple. The point of returning to the land is to live under God’s Law.

Ezra 7:1-10 emphasize Ezra’s role as a “scribe skilled in the Law of Moses” and committed to “study,” “do,” and “teach” the law. Verse 11 reinforces this characterization. Ezra is “the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments Yhwh and his statutes for Israel.” Whenever Artaxerxes refers to Ezra by name in the letter that he gave him, Ezra is identified as “the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven” (7:12, 21). (Recall that priests had the duty of teaching the Law of God.) When Artaxerxes directly addresses Ezra in the letter, he does so in relation to Ezra’s possession of the wisdom of God (found in the Law).

These descriptions are not mere formalities. They describe the traits necessary for Ezra to be able to carry out the mission that Artaxerxes has in mind for Ezra. The king wanted Ezra to “make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according the Law of your God, which is in your hand” (7:14). This could possibly be translated “to be superintended over Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand (cf. Steinmann 2010: 293).

According to Steinmann, “Steiner makes a strong case that the Pael (D) of בָּקַר with the preposition עַל in the sense of “over” means “to exercise the office of overseer over” people (here, those in Yehud). The Aramaic expression is analogous to the Greek office of ἐπίσκοπος, ‘overseer, superintendent’” (Steinmann 2010: 293).

In either case, Artaxerxes wanted Ezra to align Judah and Jerusalem with the law of God. He closed the letter by telling Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges who knew the law of God, to teach the law of God to those magistrates and judges who did not know it (7:25). Ezra was then authorized to bring punishment on those Jews who did not obey God’s laws (or the king’s): death, banishment, confiscation of property, and imprisonment are all mentioned as possible punishments (7:27).

Note that there is a parallel between the wisdom of God and the law of God in 7:14, 24 (Kidner 1979: 72). Shepherd notes, “Such an equation is anticipated already in Deut 4:6, which also provides a precedent (1:16–17; 17:8–13) for the appointing of judges (שָׁפְטִין/šāpəṭîn; Ezra 7:25; cf. Deut 16:18)” (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 34

The emphasis on the law in these chapters is tied to Ezra’s interest in moral purity. It may be that the mention of Phinehas should evoke the actions of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron who averted God’s wrath by killing and Israelite man and Moabite woman in the act of intercourse. The context for Phineas’s actions were the efforts of Moabite women to lead the Israelite men into idolatry—a foreshadowing of the problem of intermarriage in chapters 9-10 (Levering 2007: 89-90).

Likewise the presence of the Levites traveling back with the temple vessels may have evoked the responsibility of the Levites to guard the purity of the tabernacle and its furniture (Levering 2007: 92). The holiness of the vessels, the silver and gold dedicated to the temple, and the priests who are transporting it is emphasized by Ezra (8:28). Indeed, Ezra’s confidence that the Lord’s hand was on them for good was tied to the fact they sought the Lord and did not forsake him (8:22). Though Ezra did not make the link with obedience to the law versus forsaking God’s law explicit, it is implicit.

Praise and Prayer

Ezra sought God in his Word, but the Word and prayer are closely linked in Scripture. After Artaxerxes’s letter, Ezra prayed a prayer of praise to God for his providential work on their behalf. Before setting out on the journey Ezra proclaimed a fast and prayed for a safe journey. When the people arrived, they offered sacrifices to God.

Chapter 7 marks the beginning of the second half of the book of Ezra. Chronologically the book moves forward to the reign of Artaxerxes. Topically, the book turns to focus on the internal needs of the Israelites rather than on external opposition.

The book of Esther took place in the time period between the end of Ezra 6 and the beginning of Ezra 7.

Return from Exile as a Second Exodus

Though Ezra 8:31 gives the actual departure date as the twelfth day of the first month, 7:9 highlights that preparations for departure began on the first day of the first month. Since that was the day Israel left Egypt in the first exodus (Ex. 12:2; Num. 33:3; cf. Isa. 11:11.16), Ezra may have been making a connection between his return and the exodus (Williamson 1985: 93; Breneman 1993: 129; Shepherd and Wright 2018: 31).

Some read this verse as stating that Ezra began his journey on this date but was delayed so that he actually left on the twelfth. Steinmann, however, argues for the translation “it was the foundation of the ascent from Babylon” (Steinmann 2010: 285). In other words, this date marks the beginning of a preparatory stage of the journey.

In the first exodus, God led the people out of Egypt, had them build the tabernacle, gave them the law, and led them into the land. This same combination of temple, land, and law is at work in Ezra as well. The first part of the book recounted the rebuilding of the temple in connection with the people’s return to the land. But true temple worship and true life in the land requires the law as well. Levering notes that “for the land to be what it truly is, it requires not merely the temple but the indwelling of God. This indwelling is impossible unless the people are holy” (Levering 2007: 81). This is the whole point of Exodus 33:3-4. The position of the land without the presence of God is of no value. This is also the point of Ezekiel 10. The existence of a temple structure is of no value if God is not present.

A purpose of the law was to instruct the people in how to be holy before a holy God. Just as Moses brought the law to the people in the first exodus, so Ezra in this second exodus instructs the people in the law of Moses (Kidner 1979: 70; Levering 20007: 88).

In both the first and the second exodus the hand of God was at work. God’s mighty hand compelled Pharaoh to let the Israelites go (Ex. 3:19; 6:1; 7:4-5; 13:9), and in Ezra’s day the hand of Yhwh led Artaxerxes to give to Ezra all that he asked for with regard to the journey to the land (Levering 2007: 88).

God’s Providential Work

The repetition of “the hand of Yhwh his God was on him” (7:6) and “the good hand of his God was on him (7:9) in Ezra 7:1-10 highlights also God’s providential working on behalf of his people. In verse 6 the hand of God being on Ezra explains why the “king granted him all that he asked.” Though what Ezra asked for has not yet been related, the reader already knows it will be granted.

In verse 9 the hand of God on Ezra explains why they arrived safely in Jerusalem. Brown (2005a: 47-48) notes that account could have been structured to build suspense by delaying the outcome of Ezra’s journey to chapter 8. This is especially the case since 8:21-23 indicates that there was some anxiety about their safety in the journey. However, 7:8 records the date that Ezra arrived at Jerusalem prior to providing the date when he prepared to leave.

Ezra … deliberately undermined his story’s potential for suspense in favor of a temporal strategy that supports his theological purpose. … At least nine times throughout this episode Ezra inserted narrative references to God’s personal activity. Whereas magnified narrative suspense would have provided an opportunity to focus on faith, Ezra’s minimal suspense maximizes the reader’s awareness of God’s prevenient grace at work on behalf of His people (Brown 2005a: 48).

Ezra the Priest

Chapter 7 opens with a lengthy recitation of Ezra’s genealogy. He stands in the line of priests that extends back to Aaron. As is common in biblical genealogies, the list is not comprehensive.

Ezra is said to be the “son of Seraiah,” who was the grandfather of Joshua the son of Jozadak. The generations between Ezra and Seriah have been omitted. (Son in the Old Testament does not always refer to a direct descendant of a father but can indicate more distant descent as well.) The generations after Seraiah may have been omitted because though Seraiah was a high priest, Ezra was not. He came from a different line of descent from Seraiah than Joshua (KD 4:59-60).

Comparison with 1 Chronicles 6:3-15 reveals that six names between Azariah and Meraioth have been omitted as well. Some think that this was due to a scribal error (Williamson 1985: 93; Steinmann 2010: 286-87). However, there is no textual evidence that these names were ever included. Since biblical genealogies often omit some generations, it is better to conclude that these names were not initially included (KD 4:60; Steveson 2011: 61).

The point of the lengthy genealogy is to highlight Ezra’s importance (Breneman 1993:126) and to link him to the time of Moses and the initial establishment of the priesthood (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 30-31). Ezra remains concerned to establish continuity between the returnees and their forebears.

Notably, Ezra is not described as carrying out the cultic duties of the priests, though this should not cause readers to think that he was uninvolved in the temple or sacrificial system. However, the priests were also to teach the law to the people (McConville 1985: 46; Steinmann 2010: 288). Thus Ezra’s role as a scribe and teacher of the law is tightly connected with his responsibilities as a priest.

Deuteronomy 31:9-13 links the priestly instruction in the law to the Feast of Booths. See Nehemiah 8 which links Ezra’s instruction of the people with the Feast of Booths.

This section of Ezra closes with a series of worship events: the dedication of the house of God, the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The dedication of the temple testified to the already/not yet nature of the return from exile. The dedication offering is made for “all Israel.” This is symbolized by having one goat sacrificed for each of the twelve tribes (6:17) (Steinmann 2010: 190; Shepherd and Wright 2018: 28). Nonetheless, it is only a remnant that has gathered to dedicate the rebuilt temple. The number of animals sacrificed was small compared to what Solomon offered at the dedication of the first temple (1 Kings 8:5, 63; cf. 2 Chon. 30:24; 35:7 )(Steinmann 2010: 271).

Ezra is careful to point out that the priests and their divisions are set up according to the Book of Moses. This may be a reference to Numbers 18 (cf. 1 Chron 23-26) (Steinmann 2010: 271).

The following portrayal of Passover may also draw on Numbers. Shepherd observes, “[T]he insistence on the purity of the Levites in Ezra’s account (טָהוֹר/ṭāhôr; 6:20) resonates specifically with the extensive instructions for the cleansing (טִהַר/ṭihar) of the Levites in Num 8:6–26.” Furthermore, Numbers 9:14 emphasizes that sojourners needed to be purified according to the law in order to participate. “Finally, the specific sequence of the (re)dedication by the tribal leaders (Ezra 6:17; Num 7), purification of the Levites (Ezra 6:20a; Num 8), and celebration of the Passover (Ezra 6:20b–21; Num 9) that appears in both Ezra and Numbers seems unlikely to be accidental” (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 29).

Passover is a fitting feast for Ezra to record since it celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, and it is here “eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile” (6:21). Notably, it was also eaten “by everyone who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land.” The people who came up in the Exodus were not all Israelites by descent; some were Egyptian. God’s intention has always been for Israel to bring the other nations to God. Similarly, the prophets predicted that in the second exodus, the nations would come to worship God in Jerusalem. There is an anticipation of the fulfillment of those prophecies here.

Notably, the problem with the peoples of the land is not their ethnicity but their religious uncleanness. People of all ethnicities are invited to worship Yhwh with the Israelites if they will purify themselves from uncleanness.

It is also fitting that this section of Ezra, focused on the rebuilding of the temple, closes with an emphasis on joyful worship. The purpose of the temple is for worship. The last verse of chapter 6 brings in this fulfillment of the chief end of man—worshipping God with joy—with the other themes of the section: God’s providential working through the Persian kings to bring about the construction of the House of the God of Israel.

Darius is here called “king of Assyria,” which is an odd title for a Persian king. But the exile began under Assyria. Assyria was conquered by Babylon, and Babylon by Persia. Thus through conquest, the Persian king could be seen as the Assyrian king. This title is probably used to signify the end of the exile from the Assyrians (cf. Brenneman 1993: 122-23).

Search of the Royal Archives

Tattenai’s recommendation to Darius was to search the royal archives in Babylon for the decree of Cyrus that the Jewish leaders mentioned (5:17). Darius does decree for the search of the archives to be made, and a memorandum describing the decree was found in Ecbatana, which was where the Persian kings resided in the summer” (6:1-2; Williamson 1985: 80).

These are the kinds of details that a writer who was fabricating an account at a much later date would not get right. They attest the genuineness of the account (Williamson 1985: 80; Steinmann 2010: 266).

Ezra 6:3-5 presents the memorandum of Cyrus’s decree which was found in Ecbatana. The Jewish leaders said that Cyrus decreed the rebuilding of the temple and that he sent back the temple vessels to be placed in the rebuilt temple. The memorandum confirms these points (Breneman 1993: 115; Steinmann 2010: 268). However, it adds some additional material, most notably that cost of the building project would be paid from the royal treasury (6:4). This is an example of potential opposition being providentially redirected to support.

Darius’s Decree

Darius fully supported Cyrus’s decree. He ordered that Tattenai not interfere with the project but instead pay for the cost of rebuilding—and for the cost of the sacrificial animals. He further requests for prayers to be made on behalf of himself and his sons. This seems to reflect the Persian policy of aligning with all of the gods of the conquered peoples.

The details regarding sacrifices are correct in Darius’s decree, which probably indicates that Darius made use of Jews to write the decree. Steinmann says that this reflects the “standard Persian practice of consulting religious authorities (in this case, Judeans) to ensure that worship practices of a particular religion were followed correctly” (Steinmann 2010: 269; cf. Kidner 1979: 64).

The decree is backed up with provisions for enforcement. Kidner notes that “[t]here was poetic justice intended in making a man’s own house his instrument of execution for tampering with the house of God (Kidner 1979: 64). Notably, Darius recognizes that God has caused his name to dwell in Jerusalem. God himself, Darius recognizes, will ensure that the decree to carry out the rebuilding of the temple will be carried out.

Conclusion: Tying up Narrative Threads

Verses 13-15 bring to an initial resolution the part of the narrative begun in 5:1 by tying together the various narrative threads. Tatttenai and his associates are diligent to carry out Darius’s decree. The elders of the Jews, with the support of the prophets. And the building is finished according to the decree of God and of the Persian kings. The decree of the kings comes from the decree of God (Steinmann 2010: 269-70; Brown 2005a: 43).

The mention of Artaxerxes in the list of kings is a bit odd since Artaxerxes reigned after the temple had been completed. Since Artaxerxes contributed to the beautifying of the temple (Ezra 7:29; cf. 7:15-24), Ezra includes him in the list (Williamson 1985: 84). Brown notes, “Ezra’s use of anachrony signals that thematic development is again overriding chronological presentation. The inclusion of Artaxerxes’ name in 6:14 brings into one compass all the Persian kings who contributed to the temple—from initial rebuilding to final beautification—and unites the entire preceding narrative around one of the narrative’s theological centerpoints: Yahweh’s sovereign control of history” (Brown 2005a: 42-43).

Ezra recorded that the temple was completed in the sixth year of Darius’s reign. Though Ezra does not himself make the connection to the seventy years’ prophecy (just as he did not in Ezra 1 make explicit mention of that prophecy), the date enables the diligent reader to make the connection. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in 586 BC, and the Second Temple was dedicated in 516 BC.

Ezra 5-6 forms a cohesive unit that concludes the first part of the book of Ezra. Chapter 4, after the recitation of various kinds of opposition, ended with the observation “work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The Prophets

In the second year of Darius, God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to stir up the people to begin work on the temple once more. The prophets exercised divine authority because they speak “in the name of the God of Israel who was over them” (5:1).

The pronoun in the phrase “over them” could refer to either the prophets or the people. Brenneman notes, “it would seem best to apply the phrase to the Jews because the whole community was subject to God’s will” (Breneman 1993: 107), but whatever the referent, the phrase communicates God’s authority is conveyed in the prophetic message (Shepherd and Wright 2018: 24-25; Kidner 1979: 60).

Ezra does not reveal in his narrative that part of the problem lay with the people themselves. But the book of Haggai reveals that the people had developed excuses for avoiding continued work on the temple. They had even come under the curses of the Mosaic covenant (cf. Hag. 1:5-11 and Deut. 28:16-18, 22-24). Both Joshua and Zerubbabel seemed to need prophetic encouragement that God was with them in the rebuilding endeavor (see Hag. 2 and Zech. 4:11-14; 6:11-15). Furthermore, they all needed to be encouraged to not despise the day of small things (Zech. 4:10; cf. Hag. 2:1-9).

Zerubbabel and Joshua were responsive to the prophets’ preaching, and they lead the people in beginning again to rebuild the temple.

Tattenai’s Inquiry

However, as soon as the building project was restarted, the people encountered another challenge. Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai (presumably Tattenai’s secretary or assistant), and others with them came to investigate. While Zerubbabel was governor over the region of Judah, Tattenai was governor over the larger province Beyond the River, and thus held a higher position than Zerubbabel.

Tattenai did not seem to be fundamentally opposed to the rebuilding of the temple, as the peoples of the land were (Williamson 1985: 76; Steinmann 2010: 263; Steveson 2011: 53). But he did believe that it was his responsibility to confirm that the Jews did have permission to rebuild the temple. The fact that Persian officials had put a stop to the rebuilding during the reign of Cyrus at least cast some uncertainty about whether the project would be permitted to go forward. The request for names may also have struck the Jews as ominous. If the Persian response was unfavorable, what would be done with the names (Kidner 1979: 61)?

While the Jews would have remained in suspense during the months in which Tattenai’s inquiry took place, Ezra records a fact that signals the outcome and which should have encouraged the Jews. Tattenai did not prevent the Jews from continuing to rebuild the temple while he waited for a response from Darius (KD, 49; Breneman 1993: 109).

Ezra’s explanation is that “the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews” (5:4). Notably, when Solomon dedicated the first temple, God told Solomon, “My eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (2 Chron. 7:16; cf. Shepherd and Wright 2018: 25). However, if the people turned away from God’s commandments, God said, “this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples” (2 Chron. 7:20). That judgment had happened, but it could not be the final word because of the previous promise that God’s eyes would be on the temple for all time. So God’s eye on the Jewish leaders who were rebuilding the temple was a sign that they were moving out of judgment and being restored to blessing. This is precisely what Jeremiah prophesied: “Thus says Yhwh, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah…. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land” (Jer. 24:5-6; cf. Shepherd and Wright 2018: 25).