All the treasurers – The Persian system of taxing the provinces through the satraps involved the establishment in each province of at least one local treasury.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river,…. The receivers of his tribute, tax, and custom, beyond the river Euphrates, on the side towards the land of Israel:

that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven; see Ezr 7:12,

shall require of you, it be done speedily; which seems at first a grant at large for whatsoever he should want or demand, but is limited and restrained by what follows.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

21. All the treasurers beyond the river The Persian system of finance provided for a royal treasury in every province.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Letter To The Treasurers In Beyond The River A Copy Of Which Is Included in Artaxerxes Letter ( Ezr 7:21-24 ).

It will be noted that there is in these verses an opening address, followed by the detail of what is required. All that is missing is Darius’ final signing off. The treasurers would need to be informed about the decreed freedom from taxation of the Temple staff. It will be noted that Ezra the Priest is given his official title, ‘the Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven’.

Ezr 7:21-22

‘And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are in Beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.’

In this letter Artaxerxes informs his treasurers in Beyond The River of the decrees that he has made. The first is that they will fulfil all Ezra the Priest’s requirements as Scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, both with regard to money, and with regard to wheat (for grain offerings), wine (for drink offerings), oil (to supplement offerings and to maintain the Temple lamps) and salt (for adding to offerings), up to the limits stated. In the case of the provisions it has been calculated that they would provide sufficient supplies for the Temple for two years, at which point it would be up to Ezra to apply for an extension.

In the case of the silver, which is a comparatively huge amount, it would provide more than ample to meet all Ezra’s needs. It should, however, be noted that this is a cap or limit, not a statement of amounts to be paid over. (Compare how your credit card limit might be 10,000. That does not mean that you expect to spend 10,000 every month, and indeed you may never spend that amount in a month). Thus in the case of the silver the idea is not that Ezra should spend so much, but that if he needed it, it would be available. Ezra would still have to give account for what he did spend. The intention is to make available a comparatively unlimited supply of silver to meet his requirements and telling the treasurers not to put any limit on what he could demand up to this theoretical limit. The silver would be for the purchase of sacrificial animals, and in order to cover any special requirements that the Temple might have, ‘to beautify the house of YHWH’ (Ezr 7:27), where these could not be met out of the gifts described above in Ezr 7:15-16.

‘A hundred talents of silver.’ If Herodotus is correct the total tax levied on the whole of Beyond the River for a year was three hundred and fifty talents, although of course revenues would also be obtained in other ways (see in Ezr 7:23 ‘tribute, customs duty and rent’). Thus accepting the two years mentioned above, after which Ezra could apply for an extension, one seventh of a two year levy was to be available to Ezra if it was required (the assumption being that much of it would not be). A ‘measure’ (cor) was roughly 220 litres, a bath roughly 22 litres. Only a small amount of salt was required for each sacrifice (the salt of the covenant) and thus no limit was put on it.

Ezr 7:23

‘Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?’

Artaxerxes was concerned that the God of Heaven should be pleased with the offerings offered to Him. Thus whatever He commanded concerning His house was to be done. And his purpose was to avoid His wrath, whether through invading armies or natural disaster. As Tattenai had pointed out to Darius, the God of Heaven was prone to exercise His wrath through invading armies (Ezr 5:12). Thus He had a reputation among the Persians.

Ezr 7:24

‘We also certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, gate-keepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, customs duty, or rent, on them.’

All who served in the Temple were to be exempt from all tribute, customs duty and rent. The exemption from tribute would, however, have to be made up by other members of the community for, as we have seen above, the province was required to pay a fixed total amount. Such an exemption is paralleled elsewhere. We can compare how Darius wrote to a certain Gadatas condemning him for having ‘exacted tribute from the sacred cultivators of Apollo’ at Magnesia.

The details concerning those who served in the Temple would have been provided by Jewish advisers or by Ezra himself. The reference to ‘servants’ presumably has in mind the ‘servants of Solomon’ (Ezr 2:55). We can understand why a Persian scribe would not see ‘of Solomon’ as being relevant.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ezr 7:21 And I, [even] I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which [are] beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

Ver. 21. Let it be done speedily ] Without shucking and bucking, without delays and consults: I, even I will have it so, saith the great king; dispute not, therefore, but despatch: Quod ego volo, pro canone sit, because I wish, let him be for the writing, as Constantius the emperor said to Paulinus, Lucifer, and other dissenting bishops.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ezr 7:21-24

21I, even I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the provinces beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it shall be done diligently, 22even up to 100 talents of silver, 100 kors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt as needed. 23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal for the house of the God of heaven, so that there will not be wrath against the kingdom of the king and his sons. 24We also inform you that it is not allowed to impose tax, tribute or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, Nethinim or servants of this house of God.

Ezr 7:21 it shall be done diligently This term diligently (BDB 1082) is used often in Ezra.

1. this work is going on with great care, Ezr 5:8

2. the full cost is to be paid, Ezr 6:8

3. let it be (the decree) carried out with all diligence, Ezr 6:12

4. carried out the decree with all diligence, Ezr 6:13

5. you shall diligently buy bulls, Ezr 7:17

6. it shall be done diligently, Ezr 7:21

7. let the judgment be executed upon him strictly, Ezr 7:26

Ezr 7:22 talents. . .kors. . .baths These ancient measurements are very difficult to define precisely. Talents are a weight of metal, kors are a dry volume, and baths are a liquid volume. This describes a large amount of goods.

SPECIAL TOPIC: Ancient near Eastern Weights and Volumes (Metrology)

as needed This phrase shows that the governmental provision was ongoing and expandable.

Ezr 7:23 This verse describes the historical and religious atmosphere of the Persian kingdom. We learn that in the year 457 B.C., Egypt revolted against Persia and this may be a plea for divine help. This phrase is characteristic of Cyrus’, Darius’, and Artaxerxes’ desire for the national gods to be placated and supplicated on their behalf.

Ezr 7:24 This describes the taxation being lifted or prohibited from the servants of the temple. The price of these cultic provisions would have been very costly for the Province Beyond the River because it contained several of these rebuilt national temples.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

I, even I. Figure of speech Epizeuxis, for emphasis.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Artaxerxes: Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:13

beyond the river: Ezr 4:16, Ezr 4:20, Ezr 6:6

Ezra the priest: Ezr 7:6, Ezr 7:10, Ezr 7:11

Reciprocal: Deu 32:31 – General Jdg 5:3 – even I Ezr 5:3 – Tatnai Ezr 8:36 – the king’s commissions Neh 2:7 – let letters Dan 3:3 – the treasurers Mat 13:52 – scribe Rev 16:11 – the God

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

7:21 And I, [even] I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which [are] beyond {l} the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,

(l) Which was the Euphrates river and they were beyond it in respect to Babylon.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes