Ezra 7:1

Ver. 1-5. Now after these things,.... The finishing of the temple, and the dedication of it, and keeping the passover: in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia; in the seventh year of his reign,

Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, In the reign of Artaxerxes - i:e., him who was surnamed Longimanus.

EZRA CHAPTER 7 Ezra’ s genealogy, . The priests, Levites, and Ezra go up to Jerusalem, . The gracious commission of Artaxerxes to Ezra, . Ezra blesseth God for his favour to his people, ,28. Artaxerxes; the same of whom he speaks . The son of Seraiah, i.e. his grandson. Here are divers persons omitted for brevity sake, which may be supplied out of 1Ch 6$ 1 Chronicles 7 1 Chronicles 8 1 Chronicles 9.

Ezra 7:1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,Ver. 1. Now after these things] After that Zerubbabel had done his part in building the altar and temple, Ezra (according to the notation of his name) began his, and became a singular helper of the afflicted Church of God, as appeareth in this chapter, and those that follow. In the reign of Arlaxerxes] sc. Longimanus, Esther’ s son, and the same that thirteen years after sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem, Nehemiah 2:1; Nehemiah 2:11, while Ezra was yet alive, Nehemiah 8:1. Ezra the son of Seraiah] That is, the grandson: for Seraiah was slain when Jerusalem was last taken, 2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:21.

II.—THE SECOND RETURN UNDER EZRA. VII.(1-10) A. general summary of Ezra’s expedition under Divine guidance.

CHAPTER VII In the seventh year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra goes up to Jerusalem; and with him certain of the priests, Levites, porters, and Nethinim: his character, 1-10. The letter and decree of Artaxerxes in behalf of the Jews, 11-26. Ezra's thanksgiving to God for these mercies, 27, 28. NOTES ON CHAP. VII Verse 1. In the reign of Artaxerxes] This was Artaxerxes Longimanus, the seventh of whose reign chronologers place A.M. 3547, sixty-eight years after Cyrus had sent back Zerubbabel. - Calmet. See the introduction. Son of Seraiah] Either this could not have been Seraiah the high priest, who had been put to death by Nebuchadnezzar one hundred and twenty-one years before this time, or the term son here must signify only his descendants, or one of his descendants. Were it otherwise, Ezra must now be at least one hundred and twenty-two years of age, supposing him to have been born in the year of his father's death; if, indeed Seraiah the high priest was his father; but this is evidently impossible. In this place there are only sixteen generations reckoned between Ezra and Aaron, but in 1 Chronicles 6:3; Ezra 6:4, c., there are not less than twenty-two. We must therefore supply the deficient generations from the above place, between Amariah son of Meraioth, 1 Chronicles 6:7, and Azariah the son of Johanan, 1 Chronicles 6:10. There are other discrepancies relative to genealogies in these historical books which it would be useless to investigate. On these differences much has been already said in different parts of this comment.

Ch. Ezra 7:1-10. A brief Summary of Events1–5. Ezra’s GenealogyNow after these things] An interval of 58 years is passed over in silence (516–458). One allusion has already been made to the reign of Xerxes (ch. Ezra 4:6). But with this exception the Compiler apparently found nothing to record of historic importance in the formation of the new religious community at Jerusalem during the period which elapsed between the completion of the Temple and the accession of Artaxerxes. The story of Esther belongs to Xerxes’ reign, which belongs to the chronicles of ‘the Dispersion’. It has no part in the development of the Jewish constitution. ‘Now after these things’. A not infrequent phrase combining connexion (‘now’ or ‘and’) with the previous narrative and statement of indefinite interval. Cf. Genesis 15:1; Genesis 22:1; Luke 10:1. in the reign of Artaxerxes] Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes began to reign in 465 b.c. Ezra, the son of Seraiah &c.] Ezra’s genealogy is here traced back to Aaron. (a) His immediate connexion with the high-priestly line is through Seraiah. He is therefore here called ‘the son of Seraiah’, although Seraiah was High-priest in the days of king Zedekiah and was slain at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18-21) in 588 b.c. (i.e. 130 years before). Inasmuch as (1) the High-priest Jeshua (538) is described as the son of Jehozadak, (2) neither of these names occurs in Ezra’s genealogy, (3) Jehozadak was the eldest son of Seraiah (1 Chronicles 6:14) succeeding to the High-priesthood, we conclude that Ezra was descended from a younger son of Seraiah. (b) In this genealogy 15 names occur between Ezra and Aaron. This is manifestly too small a number for a period of about 1000 years (reckoning 30 years to a generation), especially when we find 26 names recorded between Zerubbabel (who was of the previous generation to that of Ezra) and Nashon, prince of Judah, the contemporary of Aaron, in 1 Chronicles 2:10-15; 1 Chronicles 3:1-19. Ezra’s genealogy therefore appears here in an abbreviated form. We are enabled in a great measure, if not completely, to fill up its lacunæ by means of (a) Ezra’s genealogy in the parallel passage, 1Es 8:1-2, (b) in 2Es 1:1-3, (c) the genealogy of the High-priests Jehozadak and Seraiah in 1 Chronicles 6:3-15, (d) in 1 Chronicles 9:10-11; Nehemiah 11:11. The full genealogy then appears as follows: 1 Aaron, 2 Eleazar, 3 Phinehas, 4 Abishua, 5 Bukki, 6 Uzzi, 7 Zerahiah, 8 Meraioth, 9 Amariah, 10 Ahitub, 11 Zadok, 12 Ahimaaz, 13 Azariah, 14 Johanan, 15 Azariah, 16 Amariah, 17 Heli (?), 18 Phinehas (?), 19 Ahiah, 20 Ahitub, 21 Meraioth (see 1 Chronicles 9:11), 22 Zadok, 23 Shallum, Meshullam (1 Chronicles 9:11), 24 Hilkiah, 25 Azariah, 26 Seraiah, 27 son of Seraiah, 28 (?), contemporary with Zerubbabel, 29 father of Ezra, 30 Ezra. Of these names 9–14 occur in 1 Chron. 6:7–10:21 in 1 Chronicles 9:11 : 17, 18, 19 in 2Es 1:2 are doubtful. At least three and possibly four generations must be inserted between Seraiah (died 588) and Ezra (?

After these things - The words mark an interval of 57 years; if, with most commentators, we take Artaxerxes to be Longimanus. See the introduction to the Book of Ezra.

SECTION SECOND.THE ACTS OF EZRA. — CHAPS. 7-10.EZRA’S GOING UP TO , Ezra 7:1-10. 1. After these things — Fifty-seven years after the events narrated at the close of the last chapter.