2. The "scribe" who led the second body of exiles that returned
from Babylon to Jerusalem B.C. 459 and author of the book of
Scripture which bears his name. He was the son, or perhaps
grandson, of Seraiah
(2 Kings 25:18-21) and a lineal descendant of
Phinehas, the son of Aaron
(Ezra 7:1-5) All we know of his
personal history is contained in the last four chapters of his
book, and in
(Nehemiah 8:1)ff and
(Nehemiah 12:26) In the seventh year of
the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus
(See DARIUS)
he obtained leave to go up to Jerusalem and to take with him a
company of Israelites
(Ezra 8:1)ff Artaxerxes manifested
great interest in Ezra's undertaking, granting him "all his
request," and loading him with gifts for the house of God. Ezra
assembled the band of exiles, probably about 5,000 in all, who
were prepared to go up with him to Jerusalem, on the banks of
the Ahava, where they rested for three days, and were put into
order for their march across the desert, which was completed in
four months. His proceedings at Jerusalem on his arrival there
are recorded in his book. He was "a ready scribe in the law of
Moses," who "had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord
and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."
"He is," says Professor Binnie, "the first well-defined example
of an order of men who have never since ceased in the church;
men of sacred erudition, who devote their lives to the study of
the Holy Scriptures, in order that they may be in a condition to
interpret them for the instruction and edification of the
church. It is significant that the earliest mention of the
pulpit occurs in the history of Ezra's ministry
(Nehemiah 8:4) He
was much more of a teacher than a priest. We learn from the
account of his labours in the book of Nehemiah that he was
careful to have the whole people instructed in the law of Moses;
and there is no reason to reject the constant tradition of the
Jews which connects his name with the collecting and editing of
the Old Testament canon. The final completion of the canon may
have been, and probably was, the work of a later generation; but
Ezra seems to have put it much into the shape in which it is
still found in the Hebrew Bible. When it is added that the
complete organization of the synagogue dates from this period,
it will be seen that the age was emphatically one of Biblical
study" (The Psalms: their History, etc.). For about fourteen
years, i.e., till B.C. 445 we have no record of what went on in
Jerusalem after Ezra had set in order the ecclesiastical and
civil affairs of the nation. In that year another distinguished
personage, Nehemiah, appears on the scene. After the ruined wall
of the city had been built by Nehemiah, there was a great
gathering of the people at Jerusalem preparatory to the
dedication of the wall. On the appointed day the whole
population assembled, and the law was read aloud to them by Ezra
and his assistants
(Nehemiah 8:3) The remarkable scene is described
in detail. There was a great religious awakening. For successive
days they held solemn assemblies, confessing their sins and
offering up solemn sacrifices. They kept also the feast of
Tabernacles with great solemnity and joyous enthusiasm, and then
renewed their national covenant to be the Lord's. Abuses were
rectified, and arrangements for the temple service completed,
and now nothing remained but the dedication of the walls of the
city
(Nehemiah 12:1)ff
