Ezra 7:14

“Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, etc.] Such a number the kings of Persia used to have from the times of Darius Hystaspis, who was chosen out of seven nobles to be king, and ever after the Persian kings had seven counsellors privileged, as those nobles were, (<170114>Esther 1:14), and Ezra had the honour to be sent with a commission from this king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem; the inhabitants thereof, whether they had knowledge of and behaved according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand; a copy of which he had with him, and was very expert in and conversant with, and could readily and at once pass judgment…”

“sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors--This was the fixed number of the privy council of the kings of Persia (Est 1:10, Est 1:14). The document describes, with great clearness and precision, the nature of Ezra's commission and the extent of power and prerogatives with which he was invested. It gave him authority, in the first place, to organize the colony in Judea and institute a regular government, according to the laws of the Hebrew people, and by magistrates and rulers of their own nation (Ezr 7:25-26), with power to punish offenders by fines, imprisonment, exile, or death, according to the degree of their criminality. Secondly, he was empowered to carry a large donation in…”

“Seven counselors - Herodotus relates that there were seven families pre-eminent in Persia, those of the seven conspirators against the Pseudo-Smerdis (Ezra 4:7 note); and it is reasonable to suppose that the heads of these families formed the special council of the king; the “Achaemenidae,” or royal family, being represented by the head of the branch next in succession to that of the reigning monarch (see the marginal reference). return to 'Top of Page'”

“According, &c. - To make inquiry into all abuses and deviations from your law, and to redress them. Which - Which is now and always in thine hand, being the matter of thy daily study. Ezra 7:16”

“7:14 I and my council of seven: The Greek historian Xenophon knew of this council (Xenophon, Anabasis 1.6.4-5), and Esth 1:14 lists the names of the seven princes of Xerxes, Artaxerxes’ father. • your God’s law: The word translated law in this verse is the Aramaic word dath rather than the Hebrew torah (7:10), suggesting that a Persian wrote this letter (7:11-26).”

“of the king: Chal, from before the king seven counsellors: Seven princes of Persia having conspired against and slain the usurper Smerdis, and thus made way for the family of Darius, which afterwards filled the throne, the Persian kings of this race had always seven chief princes as their counsellors, who possessed peculiar privileges, were his chief assistants in the government, and by whose advice all the public affairs of the empire were transacted. The names of these counsellors are given in the parallel place of the book of Esther. Est 1:14 according: Ezr 7:25, Ezr 7:26; Deu 17:18, Deu 17:19; Isa 8:20 thy God: Ezr 1:3, Ezr 5:8, Ezr 6:12; Dan 2:47, Dan 6:20, Dan 6:26 Ezra 7:15”