Ezra 7:6

6 this Ezra went up from Bavel: and he was a ready Sofer in the law of Moshe, which the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God on him.

Ezra 7:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 7:6

This Ezra went up from Babylon
A second time; for that he went up with Zerubbabel is clear from ( Nehemiah 12:1 ) , and is plainly intimated, ( Ezra 5:4 ) ,

and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of
Israel had given;
the meaning is, not that he had a quick hand in writing out copies of it, but was well versed in the knowledge of it; had studied it thoroughly, well instructed in it, and was abundantly qualified to teach it others; he was an eminent doctor of the law; so scribes, in the New Testament, who are the same with the lawyers, were such as were teachers of the law; the word here used in the Arabic language signifies to be expert, as Jarchi F15 learned from one of their doctors:

and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the
Lord his God upon him;
either upon Ezra, giving him favour with the king, and so success and prosperity; or it may denote the divine influence of the God of Ezra upon the heart of the king, moving him to grant what he asked of him, even everything he desired: he seems to have been sent upon an embassy to the king from the chief men at Jerusalem; perhaps the governors of Syria had not so fully made the disbursements the king in his decree had required them to make, since the following commission chiefly respects such things; and he was sent on that errand to acquaint the king with it, as well as to persuade those that remained to return, and to obtain leave for it.


FOOTNOTES:

F15 Comment. in Psal. xlv. 1. <arabic> "acutus ingenio et solers fuit", Golius, col. 2272. "in re exercitatus fuit et excultus", Castel. col. 2008. Ethiop. "docuit, erudivit", ib. col. 2007.

Ezra 7:6 In-Context

4 the son of Zerachyah, the son of `Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5 the son of Avishua, the son of Pinechas, the son of El`azar, the son of Aharon the chief Kohen;
6 this Ezra went up from Bavel: and he was a ready Sofer in the law of Moshe, which the LORD, the God of Yisra'el, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God on him.
7 There went up some of the children of Yisra'el, and of the Kohanim, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the temple servants, to Yerushalayim, in the seventh year of Artachshasta the king.
8 He came to Yerushalayim in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.