Ezra 7:7

7 Some of the Israelites - priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves - went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

Ezra 7:7 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 7:7

And there went up some of the children of Israel
Perhaps some of the ten tribes, as well as others of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; who, notwithstanding the edict of Cyrus, chose to remain in Babylon, and in the countries of it, until they saw how things would go in Judea; and hearing that the temple was finished, and that those that had returned had built them houses in their several cities, and prospered, thought fit to return also:

and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters,
and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem;
to take their places, and execute their offices in the temple now built; for of the Levites especially, some of which were singers, and others porters, and of the Nethinims, there were but few that went up with Zerubbabel: now this journey of theirs was taken

in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king;
that is, of Darius Artaxerxes, and this was the year after the temple was finished: though it is thought by many learned men, and not without some show of reason, that Artaxerxes Longimanus is meant.

Ezra 7:7 In-Context

5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the high priest.
6 That's Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the God of Israel had given. Because God's hand was on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for.
7 Some of the Israelites - priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves - went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8 They arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king's reign.
9 Ezra had scheduled their departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month; they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month under the generous guidance of his God.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.