Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 7:25
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that [is] in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that [are] beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know [them] not.
25. Ezra again addressed, empowered to appoint judges for Jews in the country W. of the Euphrates and to inflict penalties for the violation of the law.
after the wisdom of God, that is in thine hand ] cf. Ezr 7:14, ‘the law of by God which is in thy hand’. Law in its obligation, wisdom in its spirit.
magistrates and judges ] The former is the same word as the ‘Judges’ (Shphetim) of the book so called. The two words, if capable of distinction, represent administrative and judicial functions.
all such as know the laws of thy God ] No authority save over those of Israelite race or Jewish religion. But this commission gave Ezra and the community at Jerusalem the right to exercise special powers over all countrymen in Syria, Phnicia and Palestine.
and teach ye them that know them not ] R.V. and teach ye him that knoweth them not. The injunction, expressed in the plural, seems to include the leaders of the Jews along with Ezra, with special reference to the ‘magistrates and judges’ to be appointed. The primary intention of this sentence is to ensure instruction in the Law for those Jews. Who by living among the heathen had grown to neglect or to forget the obligations of their religion. It does not amount to a command ‘to proselytize’, but would, no doubt, include the instruction of proselytes, and grant general permission to teach the Jewish religion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand, i.e. which God hath put into thy heart, and which appears in the works of thy hand. Wisdom is sometimes ascribed to the hands, as Psa 78:72. See my Latin Synopsis on Gen 48:14. Or, by the wisdom of God, he means the law of God, which was said to be in his hand, Ezr 7:14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand,…. Which he had a large share of from the Lord, and could readily make use of to good purpose; and this may be meant of the law of God made with the highest wisdom, and to know and observe which is an instance of wisdom in men, De 4:6,
set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; such as God, in his great wisdom, directed to in his wise law to be appointed over the people, to judge righteous judgment; to inform them in all matters of controversy that might arise among them, and decide them according to it; and lead them into a greater and better knowledge of it,
De 16:18. Jarchi takes the word for “set” to be a comparative, and the sense to be, that the wisdom of Ezra was greater than the judges that judged the people, than them that knew the law:
and teach ye them that know them not; such people that were ignorant thereof; though the above writer interprets this of ignorant judges,
“the judge that knows not to judge, make him know judgment to do it.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) All such as know.The firman, or kings commission, returning directly to Ezra, makes him supreme in the province over the Jewish population.
And teach ye them that know them not.That is, those Jews who had comparatively forsaken the law. Here he has absolute authority in religion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Set magistrates and judges Hereby Ezra was commissioned with authority to appoint all officers of the State. The fact indicates that the new community at Jerusalem had fallen into great irregularities.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Appointment Of Judges And The Levels Of Punishment Permitted ( Ezr 7:25-26 ).
Ezr 7:25
‘And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are in Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God, and teach you him who does not know them.’
Ezra was also to appoint magistrates and judges who were to judge ‘all such as know the laws of your God’ in Beyond The River, that is, those who saw themselves as members of the covenant with YHWH. There may have been complaints from the returnees and those who had united with them in the pure worship of YHWH that the judges appointed in the area of Beyond the River so little understood the Law of God that they were unable to judge on important matters, and were indeed unable to judge them fairly. This would very much explain why Ezra was being sent to establish a new group of magistrates and judges who both knew the Law of God and knew the law of the king. They would then be able to judge on all matters related to the community.
It may also be that Artaxerxes had also learned of serious disquiet among the community of returnees concerning certain things which needed to be remedied if their prayers in the Temple were to be effective. This comes out later with regard to the issue of foreign wives who were introducing idolatry among the returnees, thus bringing great displeasure to the God of Heaven, something no doubt drawn to Artaxerxes attention by his Jewish advisers. They may well have stressed that God would not hear their prayers for the king while such things were going on.
But a number of people had joined the community additionally to the returnees (Ezr 6:21), and where some of these among the community might be ignorant of the laws of God, Ezra was to teach them accordingly. Law and order was difficult if people did not know what was required of them. Thus Ezra was to be both a teacher and a judge in the community, setting up a panel of magistrates and judges to oversee the judicial needs of the community.
The area described as Beyond the River was widespread. It included people of many nations, many of whom would have had no knowledge of YHWH. It is inconceivable that the kings of Persia, who so favoured people looking to their ancient gods, would have sought to turn them to Yahwism. So it is quite clear that Artaxerxes’ statements have to be interpreted of those who did see themselves as committed to the Law of God.
‘After the wisdom of God which is in your hand.’ In Ezr 7:14 it was ‘the Law of God which was in his hand’. This appears to confirm that by ‘the wisdom of God’ Artaxerxes means His Law, indicating the great respect that he had for it.
Ezr 7:26
‘And whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.’
Ezra was made responsible, not only to ensure that the law of God was obeyed, but also the law of the king. He thus had religious and civil responsibility, a combination that Jews of course constantly had to face up to when they were living outside the land. The severer of the punishments then listed were possibly in respect of the law of the king, although the Law of God certainly demanded the death penalty for certain gross sins such as murder and adultery. He and his judges were given quite awesome powers. These included the right to pass the death penalty, the right to order banishment, the right to confiscate goods, and the right to imprison. The actual carrying out of the punishment would no doubt be by the Persian authorities.
This putting of local religious law on a par with the law of the king appears to have been a Persian policy. In 519 BC Darius instructed the Egyptian satrap to gather ‘wise men’ among ‘the warriors, priests and scribes of Egypt’ so that they may ‘set down in writing the ancient laws of Egypt’. This could only have been in order for these laws to be in some way incorporated into the legal system in Egypt.
(End of Aramaic section).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 25. That is in thine hand Which is in thee. See Nold. 917.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ezr 7:25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that [is] in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that [are] beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know [them] not.
Ver. 25. And thou, Ezra ] Qui monet ut facias, who warned you to do this, &c.
After the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand
All such as know the laws of thy God
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 7:25-26
25You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. 26Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment.
Ezr 7:25 This describes Ezra’s appointing (BDB 1101, Pael IMPERATIVE) of the provincial Judicial system under Jewish law. The Persians had overall political power in the satraps but allowed local autonomy in areas of religion and customs.
the wisdom of your God which is in your hand The wisdom of your God parallels the law of your God which is in your hand (Ezr 7:14). This strongly implies that Ezra had a complete copy of the writings of Moses (i.e., Torah, Gen. – Deut., cf. Ezr 3:2; Ezr 6:18; Ezr 7:6; Neh 8:1). See Special Topic at Ezr 6:18.
Ezr 7:26 The various consequences of disobedience are spelled out clearly. Notice there is a scale for differing offenses!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Ezr 7:25-26
Ezr 7:25-26
EZRA’S AUTHORITY EXTENDED TO INCLUDE ALL BEYOND THE RIVER
There was some quality of mind and character among a number of ancient Jewish leaders that earned for them the respect and honor of world rulers who observed them. Joseph under Pharaoh, Daniel under Nebuchadnezzar, and now Ezra under Artaxerxes I were all granted a status under their respective overlords that was little less than that of a deputy monarch. Note the following:
“And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who shall judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”
This concludes the letter of Artaxerxes I. It gave Ezra almost despotic power over the whole Persian province beyond the River. Also, of very great significance, it recognized the Law of Moses as the supreme law of the land, along with that of the king, which are here understood to be one and the same thing. From this we must recognize in Artaxerxes I an unusually brilliant mind, in that he recognized the utility of the Mosaic Law, including, of course, the Decalogue, as a fit charter of government for the whole kingdom. How strange it is that forty-seven of the forty-eight contiguous states of the U.S.A., in their various constitutions, have specifically listed the Ten Commandments as the basic law in every one of them. Clarence Manion, Dean of the College of Law at Notre Dame University, declared this to be a fact.
“Let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence” (Ezr 7:26). Here is another vital principle of just government that was commanded by Artaxerxes, namely, that punishment of violators of the law, should be executed immediately, promptly, with all diligence. Our own system of government in the U. S. A. today is tragically unjust and inefficient in their rejection of this vital principle. The average time between the conviction of some brutal and heartless murderer and his execution is measured in years, and sometimes reaches more than a decade. There is no wonder that criminals hold the law in utmost contempt. Half a millennium before Christ, a pagan Persian king, knew the futility and worthlessness of such a system as we in America have imposed upon ourselves.
AN ANALYSIS OF EZRA’S COMMISSION
We are indebted to Rawlinson for this summary of Ezra’s commission.
A. The temporary provisions: (1) permission for all Israelites who desired to do so to go with Ezra to Jerusalem; (2) permission to carry the monetary gifts of the king and his counsellors to Jerusalem; (3) permission to draw upon the royal sub-treasury large grants up to the limits set in Ezr 7:22; (4) permission to convey to Jerusalem all of the money that Ezra might receive from an area-wide fund-raising effort; and (5) a royal mandate to “inquire” concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
B. Permanent provisions: (1) Ezra was endowed with the chief authority over all the great satrapy beyond the River, with power to appoint magistrates and judges, and to require their knowledge of the Mosaic Law. (2) He was empowered to enforce his decisions by penalties of fines, imprisonment, banishment, or even death. (3) A permanent status of tax exemption was granted for the entire religious community concerned with services in the temple.
Having recorded, without translating it, the important document in Aramaic by which Artaxerxes conveyed to Ezra his commission, “Ezra then resumed the use of the more sacred Hebrew language and employed it uninterruptedly to the end of the narrative.”
E.M. Zerr:
Ezr 7:25. The instructions given to Ezra were similar to the advice that Jethro gave to Moses on the subject of governing the people. (Exo 18:13-26.) Beyond the river means west of the Euphrates, since this was written in the land of the Persian capital which was east of the great river.
Ezr 7:26. Two laws or authorities are considered in this verse; God’s law and that of the Persian king. Artaxerxes had learned sufficient of the law of God and the conduct of the people regulated by it, to have respect for it. He was therefore willing to combine it with his own laws to the extent set out in the present conclusion. Four kinds of punishment were provided for as the penalty for disobeying either God’s law or that of the king. As to which or how many of these penalties were to be imposed, it would be decided by the judges authorized in the preceding verse. Artaxerxes understood the fundamental principle involved in the operation of law–that a law without a penalty is void–and completed his great decree with naming the penalties.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the wisdom: Ezr 7:14, 1Ki 3:28, 1Ch 22:12, Psa 19:7, Psa 119:98-100, Pro 2:6, Pro 6:23, Jam 1:5, Jam 3:17, Jam 3:18
set magistrates: Exo 18:21-25, Deu 16:18, 1Ch 23:4, 2Ch 19:8-10
beyond the river: That is, “west of the Euphrates,” which was beyond with regard to the king of Persia, who was on the east. Ezr 6:6
teach ye: Ezr 7:10, 2Ch 17:7-9, Neh 8:1-3, Neh 8:7, Neh 8:8, Neh 9:3, Neh 13:1-3, Mal 2:7, Mat 13:52, Mat 23:2, Mat 23:3, Mar 6:34, Rom 10:14-17
Reciprocal: 2Ch 30:22 – taught Jer 30:21 – nobles Rom 7:1 – them that 2Ti 2:2 – who Heb 8:11 – Know the 2Pe 3:15 – according
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 7:25. After the wisdom of thy God in thy hand That is, which God hath put into thy heart, and which appears in the works of thy hand. Wisdom is sometimes ascribed to the hand, as Psa 78:72. Or, by the wisdom of God, he means the law of God, which was said to be in his hand, Ezr 7:14. Set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people, &c. All the Jews on that side of the river. All such as know the laws of thy God All that professed the Jewish religion were to be under the jurisdiction of these judges; which intimates that they were exempt from the jurisdiction of heathen magistrates. It was a great favour to the Jews to have such magistrates of themselves, and especially of Ezras nomination. And teach ye them that know them not They were to instruct in the laws of God those that were ignorant of them, whether Jews or others, which implies that he had no objection to their making proselytes to the Jewish religion.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that [is] in thine hand, {o} set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that [are] beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know [them] not.
(o) He gave Ezra full authority to restore all things according to the word of God, and to punish them who resisted and would not obey.