Ezra 7:25 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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.
thou · conjunction + personal pronoun, 2nd person masculine singular
Ezra
עֶזְרָ֗א'ez.Ra'
H5831
Ezra · proper noun, a man's name
wisdom
כְּחָכְמַ֨תke.cha.khe.Mat
H2452
wisdom · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלָהָ֤ךְ'e.la.Hakh
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
hand
בִידָךְ֙vi.doKh
H3028
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
set
מֶ֣נִּיMe.ni
H4483
to count · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
magistrates
שָׁפְטִ֞יןsha.fe.Tin
H8200
to judge · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
judges
וְדַיָּנִ֗יןve.dai.ya.Nin
H1782
a judge or advocate · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
judge
לֶהֱוֹ֤ןle.he.Von
H1934
to exist · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
all
לְכָלle.khol
H3606
properly · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
people
עַמָּה֙'a.Mah'
H5972
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
beyond
בַּעֲבַ֣רba.'a.Var
H5675
properly · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
river
נַהֲרָ֔הna.ha.Rah'
H5103
a river · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
all
לְכָלle.khol
H3606
properly · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
know
יָדְעֵ֖יya.de.'Ei
H3046
to know (properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
laws
דָּתֵ֣יda.Tei
H1882
a royal edict or statute · noun, common masculine plural construct
God
אֱלָהָ֑ךְ'e.la.Hakh
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
teach
יָדַ֖עya.Da'
H3046
to know (properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
know
תְּהוֹדְעֽוּןte.hod.'Un
H3046
to know (properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
not
לָ֦אla'
H3809
not (the simple or abs. negation) · negative particle
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge t…
Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Psalms 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Malachi 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without pa…
Exodus 18:21-25 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, t…
1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 7:11-26
We have here the commission which the Persian emperor granted to Ezra, giving him authority to act for the good of the Jews; and it is very ample and full, and beyond what could have been expected. The commission runs, we suppose, in the usual form: Artaxerxes, King of kings. This however is too high a title for any mortal man to assume; he was indeed king of some kings, but to speak as if he were king of all kings was to usurp his prerogative who hath all power both in heaven and in earth. He sends greeting to his trusty and well-beloved Ezra, whom he calls a scribe of the law of the God of heaven (Ezr 7:12), a title which (it seems by this) Ezra valued himself by, and desired no other, no,…
an hundred talents of silver--£22,000 according to the rate of the silver talent of Babylon. Fourthly, Artaxerxes gave his royal sanction in the establishment of the divine law, which exempted priests and Levites from taxation or tribute and confirmed to them the exclusive right to officiate in the sacred services of the sanctuary. And, finally, in the expression of the king's desire for the divine blessing upon the king and his government (Ezr 7:23), we see the strong persuasion which pervaded the Persian court, and had been produced by the captivity of the Hebrew people, as to the being and directing providence of the God they worshipped. It will be observed, however, that the commission…
It shall not be lawful to impose toll - As these persons had no private revenues, it would have been unreasonable to have laid them under taxation.
John Gill on Ezra 7:25
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, Deuteronomy 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 a…
The Church Fathers
But you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, etc. The king repeats the word he had spoken and confirms the truth he had recognized with a repeated statement. For previously, he had said that the law of that very God was in the hand of Ezra. Now, however, he says, the wisdom of his God is in his hand. Because, indeed, the wisdom is the law of God, as the Psalmist says: "The mouth of the righteous will meditate on wisdom, and his tongue will speak of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart" (Psalm 36). And the righteous has the law of God and wisdom in his hand, while in all that he does and speaks, he shows himself to be mindful of the divine will. Therefore, the sense of the letter is clear, and the spiritual understanding is clear, that evidently our Lord and Savior has the wisdom of God in his hand. For He is the power of God and the wisdom of God, by whose sole authority it is to appoint judges and overseers of the Churches, who judge all things according to His will and preach His faith to the unlearned throughout the world. And everyone who despises the decrees of His law will be punished according to their own error, either by present punishment or future justice. Therefore, Artaxerxes, writing to Ezra and expressing in writing the love he had for religious worship, clearly manifested what Christian kings, devoted in future times, would do concerning the faith of the truth. Hence, we have briefly taken care to recall his letter, leaving out certain parts, so that the reader might understand how much it concords with the deeds which Christian princes have done for the peace of the holy Church with the revealed grace of the Gospel. Indeed, we can figuratively refer the person of Ezra not only to the Lord Christ but also to any overseer or teacher of the Church; to whom often kings and princes have sent letters for the status of the faithful. And fittingly Ezra himself, to whom this letter was given, subsequently bursts forth in praise of God, saying:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Appeal — A reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court. Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Ex. 18:13-26.)…
Bible — Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning “books,” the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the “Library of Divine Revelation.”…
Chaldee language — Employed by the sacred writers in certain portions of the Old Testament, viz., Dan. 2:4-7, 28; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Gen. 31:46; Jer. 10:11. It is the Aramaic dialect, as it is sometimes called, as…
Persia — An ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern…
Courts Of Justice · Re-established by Ezra — Re-established by Ezra
Judge · Appointed by the Persians — Appointed by the Persians
Magistrate · An officer of civil law — An officer of civil law
Magistrates · To be wisely selected and appointed — To be wisely selected and appointed
Officer · .Appointed by kings — .Appointed by kings
Persia · System of justice — System of justice
Rulers · CHARACTER AND QUALIFI — CHARACTER AND QUALIFI
The commission given by Artachshasta to Ezra (Ezr 7:11), with a short postscript by Ezra (Ezr 7:27 and Ezr 7:28). - Ezr 7:11 The introductory title, "This is the copy of the letter," On פּרשׁגן, comp. Ezr 4:11, and on נשׁתּון, Ezr 4:7. Ezra is here, as also in the letter itself, Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:21, and in Neh 8:9; Neh 12:26, called only הסּופר הכּהן, the priest, the scribe; in other places we find merely one title or the other: either the priest, Neh 10:10, Neh 10:16, Neh 8:2; or the scribe, Neh 8:4, Neh 8:13; Neh 12:36. To designate him according to his rank, as the priest, seems to have subsequently become more customary; hence in the first book of Esdras he is constantly called ὁ Ἱιερευ…
Ezra was to teach God’s laws and govern the area occupied by the Jews in accordance with God’s laws and the law of the king—i.e., Persian civil law.
Rashi on Ezra 7:25
And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, which is in your hand and you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, which is in your hand [and which is] greater than that of the judges and the magistrates who judge all the people beyond the river to the side of Israel, the people knowledgeable in the Torah.
and whoever does not know and the judge who does not know how to judge, inform him of the judgment that he should execute it.
Wisdom Of God, The · Wisdom of saints is derived from — Wisdom of saints is derived from
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
