And after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkijah,
Ezra 7 opens a new section of the book. It starts with a date, a foreign king's name, and a family tree reaching back to Aaron. Behind it lie decades of silence, a people under foreign rule, and God preparing one man to bring His word back to a declining nation.
The phrase that opens the chapter covers a long stretch of unrecorded history. The narrative jumps from the finished temple to a new king and a new generation.
There is a long break in the history, of about sixty years, between Ezra 6 and Ezra 7. The Book of Esther belongs to that period, if the common view is right that the Ahasuerus of Esther was King Xerxes. Ezra 7 records what happened in the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus. Here Ezra, "a ready scribe in the law of Moses," appears for the first time, and is God's agent for blessing. He is spoken of elsewhere as priest and scribe.
Those silent years were not empty. Another writer sees God at work in them:
Between the two parts of this book there are 60 years. In those 60 years the events of the book of Esther took place. They show that God in sovereign mercy kept His people, so that His own service could be set up again.
Israel's own kings are gone. A foreign throne now dates the chapter.
Notice again that the signs are everywhere: ruling power on the earth has passed from the Jew to the Gentile. So the date of Ezra's mission is given as "in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia," and the commission the king gave him for his work is recorded in full (vv. 11-26). This proves that God's people were at this time under the authority of the Gentiles, and that God Himself always recognizes the powers that have their source in His own sovereign appointment.
Israel's own failure had produced that arrangement, yet God did not abandon them in it.
But now their turning away from God had laid them at the feet of the Gentile world-power. So God worked in His compassion — first by prophets and His own word, and now by help that came at the king's word from Babylon. And the faithful priest, who had the king's confidence, comes up to Jerusalem to call the remnant back to the law of Jehovah, which they had neglected and broken.
The verse begins a list of names that runs back to Aaron, Israel's first high priest. Anyone could check Ezra's credentials.
First (vv. 1-5), we find his genealogy, and it has no gap in it. He came from the priestly line. Through his ancestors and their virtues — the faithfulness of a Zadok, the zeal of a Phinehas — his descent goes back to "Aaron the chief priest."
Descent alone did not make Ezra useful. Commentators draw a sharp line between what he inherited and what he acquired.
He became a priest by birth and consecration. But he only became "a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given," by personal study of the Word. So an inherited office, even among the Jews, could not give a man the fitness to use it. That fitness could only come from time spent alone with God in the Scriptures.
Spiritual decline had set in since the temple was finished. So where does a failing people turn?
Where, then, can one find a resource against this spiritual decline and its results? There is but one resource: the word of God. God raises up Ezra to teach the people the law of Moses and to remind them of its importance. This is not a matter of new revelations, as it was when Haggai and Zechariah spoke to the people. It is simply a matter of bringing the "statutes and ordinances" (v. 10) found in "the law of Jehovah" back to light, and of applying them to the conscience.
Ezra's story stands out because nothing spectacular happens in it.
All is ordinary: his resources are only what ours in this day are, the word and the presence of God. But he used them, and used them well and faithfully throughout. Before he began to act, he prepared his heart to seek the Lord. He had meditated on His statutes until his progress, as we may surely say, was plain to everyone.
- Silence — About sixty unrecorded years sit between chapter 6 and this verse. The events of Esther fall in that gap, and God kept His people through it.
- Sovereignty — A Persian king's name dates the chapter. Rule had passed from the Jew to the Gentile, and God honours the authority He Himself appointed.
- Standing — The genealogy runs back to Aaron without a gap, so Ezra could prove his right to the priesthood.
- Study — Birth made him a priest; only personal time in the Scriptures made him a ready scribe. Position never supplies the fitness to use it.
- Supply — Against decline there is one resource: God's word. Not fresh revelation, but old truth brought back to the conscience — carried by a man whose only resources were the word and the presence of God.
the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
This verse sits inside a family list. It runs back from Ezra through Zadok and Ahitub to Aaron, Israel's first chief priest. The names look like dry record-keeping. Commentators read them as the credentials of the man God was about to send back to Jerusalem.
One writer ties this genealogy to the tone of the whole book Ezra wrote:
Ezra was a priest, his genealogy is traced back to Aaron. The Holy Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of Ezra to show the priestly character of that book. And if we bring worldly things into the worship of God, we are on very dangerous ground.
The line through Shallum, Zadok and Ahitub gave Ezra a right to serve. That right alone did not equip him:
The genealogy of Ezra is traced back to Aaron (vv. 1-5). He was therefore entitled to all the rights and privileges of the priesthood (see Ezra 2:62). He was also a ready scribe in the law of his God. That qualified him to teach the people the statutes of Jehovah (see Lev. 10:8-11; Mal. 2:4-7). He became a priest by birth and consecration. But he became "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given" only by personal study of the Word. So even among the Jews, an inherited office could not supply the fitness to carry it out. That could only come from dealing with God personally in the Scriptures. Neglecting the teaching side of their office is what led to the failure and corruption of the priesthood.
Earlier in the same book, other men could not produce a record like Ezra's:
If any could not show their genealogy, they had no claim to take part in the work they had been called to. For the priests, the consequence was even more serious. If they could not find their register, they were treated as unclean and put out of the priesthood. They were not told that they were not priests. The point taken was that their claim was not proved. It might be proved at a later time. Grace could restore what was lost under law; only for this they had to wait patiently.
Zadok, named here as the son of Ahitub, served as priest in David's day:
Son of Ahitub, of the house of Eleazar. He was priest in the reign of David, and though Abiathar was called high priest, at times Zadok is named before him. Abiathar was set aside by Solomon, and Zadok became high priest. 2 Sam. 8:17; 1 Kings 2:35; Ezek. 44:15.
Ezra's ancestors were not just names in a chain. They had a character of their own:
Ezra was, in every respect, remarkable as chosen of God to fulfill this mission. In the first place (vv. 1-5), we find his genealogy which presents no gap. He came from the priestly line. Through his ancestors and their virtues — the faithfulness of a Zadok, the zeal of a Phinehas — his descent went back to "Aaron the chief priest".
The same writer turns this straight onto anyone who serves God's people now:
Should not the case be the same today for the ministers of the Word? Their persons, their works, and their conduct should clearly show that all their springs are in Christ (Ps. 87:7), the true high priest. It should be evident to the eyes of all who their Leader is and from whom they have received life.
Ezra's mission brought no power with it. It brought what the people needed:
The way God stepped in through Ezra's mission is, I think, a touching proof of His loving-kindness. It suited the need of the people exactly. It was not power. Power had been moved to another place. It was the knowledge of the will and the ordinances of God — of the mind of God in the word. The king himself recognised this (Ezra 7:25). Guarded by the good hand of his God, this pious and devoted man goes up with many others to Jerusalem.
- Traced — the list runs back without a gap through Zadok and Ahitub to Aaron. The Spirit records it to stamp a priestly character on the book that follows.
- Proved — Ezra could show his register. Others back from exile could not, so they lost their place among the priests until their claim could be proved.
- Inherited — Zadok, named in this verse, was priest under David. Solomon later put him in Abiathar's place as high priest.
- Earned — birth and consecration made Ezra a priest. Only personal study of the Word made him a scribe skilled in the law. An office never supplies the fitness to use it.
- Shown — Ezra's line made plain where he came from. Those who serve should make plain whose they are. What God sent through Ezra was not power but the knowledge of His mind in the Word.
the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
This verse sits inside a chain of fathers and sons that runs back from Ezra to Aaron, Israel's first high priest. It names only Amariah, Azariah and Meraioth, yet their list is what proves Ezra's right to the priesthood.
The three men named here are priests. A Bible dictionary gives the father of Meraioth, the earliest of the three:
Meraioth was the son of Zerahiah, a priest. 1 Chronicles 6:6-7, 52; Ezra 7:3.
The point of the list is the man it ends with. Ezra could show a descent from Aaron with no gap in it, and the record carries the good name of earlier priests in his line:
Ezra was, in every respect, remarkable as chosen of God to fulfil this mission. In the first place (vv. 1-5), we find his genealogy, which presents no gap. He was of the priestly race, and through his ancestors and their virtues — the faithfulness of a Zadok, the zeal of a Phinehas — he had his origin in "Aaron the chief priest."
A page of names can look like dead weight. One writer finds a purpose in it, and a warning with it:
Ezra was a priest; his genealogy is traced back to Aaron. The Holy Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of Ezra to show the priestly character of that book. If we bring secular things into the worship of God, we are on very dangerous ground.
Commentators differ over whether this genealogy is complete. Rossier reads it as having no gap. William Kelly counts links left out of it, yet holds that the record is sound:
If you take Ezra, for instance, giving his own genealogy as a priest, you find that he leaves out not just three links in the chain, but seven. There may well have been a special reason for the omission. But whatever we make of the difficulty, it is clear that a priest giving his own genealogy would not put it forward in a faulty form.
Another writer, quoting a source, explains why the list here is short:
1 Chronicles 6:1-15 gives the high priest's genealogy going down the line, ending with the captivity. Ezra 7:1-5 gives it going up the line, from Ezra himself back to Aaron. There it is shortened by leaving out many links, because the writer had already given a complete register in Chronicles.
Birth settled what Ezra was allowed to do. It did not settle what he was able to do:
Ezra's genealogy goes back to Aaron, so he was entitled to all the rights and privileges of the priesthood (see Ezra 2:62). He became a priest by birth and consecration. But he only became "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given" by personal study of the Word. So an inherited office, even among the Jews, could not supply the fitness to carry it out. That could only come from dealing with God personally in the Scriptures.
Ezra's readiness came in an order, and teaching was not the first step:
He prepared his heart to seek the law first of all, and then to do it. For himself, he did not separate practice from knowledge. He was not like the teachers of the law in the days of Jesus. They loaded people with "burdens hard to bear," and did not touch the burdens with one of their own fingers (Luke 11:46). The commands of the Word he fed on soaked right through his daily life. Only after that did he set his heart "to teach his statutes and rules in Israel."
- Line. Amariah, Azariah and Meraioth stand in a priestly chain that runs back to Aaron. It gives Ezra a provable claim to the priesthood.
- Legacy. The line carries more than blood. The faithfulness of Zadok and the zeal of Phinehas stand in the family Ezra came from.
- Length. Commentators differ on the gaps. Some read the list as unbroken. Others count missing links, and note that Chronicles already holds the full register.
- Learning. Descent made him a priest; only personal study of the Word made him a scribe. Inherited position never supplies the fitness to use it.
- Living. He sought the Word, then did it, then taught it. Teaching came last, after his own life had been shaped by it.
the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
Ezra 7:4 sits in the middle of a list of fathers and sons — Zerahiah, Uzzi, Bukki. The list carries Ezra's name back, step by step, to Aaron, Israel's first chief priest. It answers one question: on what ground does Ezra stand when he comes to Jerusalem to teach God's people?
The chapter opens a new stage. The temple was finished, and the people had peace. One writer sees that peace as where the trouble began. God's remedy was not new revelation but the recovery of what He had already said.
Now that the first work is finished, the people are called to enjoy its fruit in peace. Will they keep their spiritual level in these new circumstances? No; times come when that level drops fast. The world creeps in. Ungodly alliances are tolerated, as we will see at the end of this book, and they weaken the moral fiber.
Where, then, can one find a resource against this spiritual decline and its results? There is only one resource: the word of God. God raises up Ezra to teach the people the law of Moses and to remind them of its importance. This is not about new revelations, as when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah spoke to the people. It is simply about bringing the "statutes and ordinances" (v. 10) found in "the law of Jehovah" to light again, and applying them to the conscience.
Zadok and Phinehas stand in this same list, and it ends with Aaron. One writer reads these names as a record of character.
Ezra was remarkable in every way as the man God chose for this mission. First (vv. 1-5), we find his genealogy, and it has no gap. He came from the priestly line. Through his ancestors and their virtues — the faithfulness of a Zadok, the zeal of a Phinehas — he traced his origin to "Aaron the chief priest".
Commentators differ on whether the list is complete. One writer counts the links and finds names missing:
So if you take Ezra, for instance, giving his own genealogy as a priest, you find that he leaves out not just three links in a chain, but seven. There may well have been a special reason for leaving them out. But whatever we decide about the true answer to this difficulty, it is clear that a priest giving his own genealogy would not put it forward in a faulty form.
Uzzi and Bukki stand between Phinehas and Zadok in this list. Phinehas received a specific promise about his descendants.
He showed his zeal for God by killing Zimri and Cozbi. God commended him for it, and promised His 'covenant of peace' to him and his descendants — even 'the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.'
Men did not keep that promise. God did:
For hundreds of years the wrong line had seized the high priesthood. Eli belonged to the younger branch of Aaron's family. That branch took the high priesthood without any right to it, despite Jehovah's solemn promise to Phinehas (Num. 25:12-13). But the line was restored in Zadok, in the days of David and Solomon, for Jehovah is faithful despite man's failure and hostility.
The genealogy settles Ezra's right to serve. It does not settle his ability to teach.
He became a priest by birth and consecration. But he became "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given" only by personal study of the Word. So inherited office, even among the Jews, could not give a man the qualities needed to carry it out. Those could come only from his own time with God in the Scriptures.
Most of his fellow priests never made that second step:
But he was a skilled scribe, and that did not come through birth. It came through hard work at learning the law of Moses (v. 6). This ought to have been true of all the priests (Lev. 10:8-11), though most of them failed in this.
Ezra's origin was plain for anyone to check.
Should it not be the same today for those who serve the Word? Who they are, what they do, and how they live should show plainly that all their springs are in Christ (Ps. 87:7), the true high priest. Everyone should be able to see who their Leader is and from whom they received life.
- Decline — peace after the temple was built let the world seep in. The one resource against it was God's word pressed on the conscience.
- Descent — the names trace Ezra back to Aaron through men known for faithfulness and zeal. His right to serve rests on God's own priestly line.
- Promise — God gave Phinehas a covenant of an everlasting priesthood. He kept it even through the centuries when the wrong family held the office.
- Preparation — birth and consecration made him a priest. Only personal study of Scripture made him a skilled scribe, a step most priests skipped.
- Display — Ezra's origin was plain to all. In the same way, a servant's life should make plain whose he is and where his life came from.
the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest,
The family tree that opens Ezra 7 ends at this verse, with the line running back through Phinehas and Eleazar to Aaron himself. Before Ezra acts, God introduces him by his ancestors — which raises two questions: what does the list prove, and what can it never prove?
The list runs backwards, name by name, with nothing missing. One writer picks out two ancestors in it who are remembered for more than their birth:
Ezra was, in every respect, remarkable as chosen by God to fulfil this mission. First (vv. 1–5), we find his genealogy, which has no gap. He was of the priestly line. Through his ancestors and their virtues — the faithfulness of a Zadok, the zeal of a Phinehas — he had his origin in "Aaron the chief priest."
Descent from Aaron gave Ezra a real place. But one writer draws a sharp line between what birth secured and what it could not:
Ezra's genealogy goes back to Aaron (vv. 1–5). He was therefore entitled to all the rights and privileges of the priesthood. He was also a skilled scribe in the law of his God, and that qualified him to teach the people God's statutes. He became a priest by birth and consecration. But he only became "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given" through personal study of the Word. Inherited office, even among the Jews, could not supply the qualifications for carrying it out. Those could only come from dealing with God personally in the Scriptures. Neglect of this second part of their office is what led to the failure and corruption of the priesthood. By the days of King Josiah, God's word had been completely forgotten. Finding a copy of the law in the temple became a landmark in his reign.
Another writer applies the same test to the rest of the priests:
He was a priest of God through birth. But he was a skilled scribe. That did not come through birth. It came through hard work at learning the law of Moses (v. 6). This ought to have been true of all the priests (Lev. 10:8–11), though most of them failed in this.
Phinehas was Aaron's grandson. One act made his name:
Son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. He showed his zeal for God in killing Zimri and Cozbi. God commended him for it, and promised His "covenant of peace" to him and his descendants, even "the covenant of a perpetual priesthood." He succeeded Eleazar as high priest.
So this one verse holds two kinds of priest: Aaron, set apart to the office, and Phinehas, whose zeal won a covenant. One writer treats these two men as two lights for reading the priesthood of Christ:
"Therefore say, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace... even the covenant of a perpetual priesthood." Nothing can be finer than this. You could not have a more magnificent light in which to read the Christ of God than that act of Phinehas. Aaron was never entitled to a covenant of peace in this way. So you have these two Old Testament lights in which to read the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. He was the true Aaron and the true Phinehas.
The list is not filler. One writer reads it as a key to the whole book, and as a warning:
Ezra was a priest; his genealogy goes back to Aaron. The Holy Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of Ezra to show the priestly character of that book. And if we bring secular things into the worship of God, we are on very dangerous ground.
The same applies to those who serve God's people today:
Should the case not be the same today for the ministers of the Word? Their persons, their works and their conduct should clearly show that "all my springs are in you" (Ps. 87:7) — in Christ, the true high priest. It should be obvious to everyone who their Leader is and from whom they have received life.
- Line — The list runs back to Aaron with no gap. Ezra's standing as a priest rested on a record anyone could check.
- Title — That descent gave him every right and privilege of the priesthood. It was a real position, not a formality.
- Limit — Birth made him a priest. Only personal study of Scripture made him a skilled scribe, able to teach. Neglect of that study is what corrupted the priesthood.
- Zeal — Phinehas stands in the same line. His zeal won a covenant of peace and a priesthood that never ends. With Aaron, he is one of two lights for reading Christ's priesthood.
- Stamp — The list marks the whole book as priestly. It presses one question on every servant today: is it clear whose you are and where your life comes from?