Ezra 7:1

“EZRA GOES UP TO JERUSALEM. (Ezr 7:1-10) in the reign of Artaxerxes--the Ahasuerus of Esther. Ezra the son of Seraiah--that is, grandson or great-grandson. Seraiah was the high priest put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah (Kg2 25:18). A period of one hundred thirty years had elapsed between that catastrophe and the journey of Ezra to Jerusalem. As a grandson of Seraiah, namely, Jeshua, who held the office of high priest, had accompanied Zerubbabel in the first caravan of returning exiles, Ezra must have been in all probability a grandson, descended, too, from a younger son, the older branch being in possession of the pontificate.”

“After these things - The words mark an interval of 57 years; if, with most commentators, we take Artaxerxes to be Longimanus. See the introduction to the Book of Ezra. Three kings named Artaxerxes, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Artakhshasta, and the Persian Artakhshatra, ruled over Persia, namely,: Longimanus, Mnemon, and Ochus. The evidence is in favor of the first being meant here: he was the grandson of Darius Hystaspis, Jeshua’s contemporary. The genealogy of Ezra here is incomplete. The time between the Exodus and Ezra must have exceeded one thousand years, and cannot have been covered by 16 generations. One gap may be filled up from 1 Chronicles 6:7-10, which supplies six names…”

“Artaxerxes - The same of whom he speaks, Ezr 6:14. The son - His grand - son. Here are divers persons omitted for brevity sake, which may be supplied out of 1Ch. 6:1-11:47. Ezra was not himself the high priest; but he was nearly related to him. Ezra 7:6”

“7:1-5 Ezra highlights his standing by listing his own genealogy through Zadok, priest under Solomon (1 Kgs 2:35), all the way back to Aaron the high priest, Moses’ brother. This list is clearly abbreviated: It has only sixteen generations from Aaron to eighty years after the Exile, while 1 Chr 6:3-15 has twenty-three generations from Aaron to the Exile. 7:1 Many years later: Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC (7:7-8), about fifty-seven years after the dedication of the second Temple. Ezra has been recording events that occurred before his time, but now he begins to record his own history. • son: In biblical genealogies, the Hebrew word translated son often means descendant. • Seraiah was…”

“am 3547, bc 457 Artaxerxes: Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:21, Ezr 6:14; Neh 2:1 Ezra: Ezr 7:10, 8:1-10:44; Neh 8:2-9 Seraiah: Kg2 25:18; Ch1 6:4-14, Ch1 9:11; Neh 11:11; Jer 52:24-27 Hilkiah: Kg2 22:4, Kg2 22:8; Ch2 34:9, Ch2 34:15 Ezra 7:2”

“Ezr 7:1-10 form the introduction to the narrative which follows of Ezra's return to Jerusalem and his ministry there, and speak in general terms of himself and his arrival at Jerusalem with a band of exiles. They are followed, vv. 11-26, by a copy of the royal commission, and a thanksgiving, Ezr 7:27, Ezr 7:28, on the part of Ezra, for the mercy of God bestowed upon him. Ezr 7:1-6 What follows is slightly combined with the former occurrences by the formula "after these things," without any more exact chronological definition; comp. Gen 15:1; Gen 22:1, and elsewhere. Between the dedication of the temple in the sixth year of Darius and the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem, a period of fifty-seven…”