Verse 13
EZRA WAS COMMANDED TO GO TO JERUSALEM
"I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand, and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem."
"Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors" (Ezra 7:14). The first clause here may also be translated, "Forasmuch as thou art sent from before the king,"[13] indicating the possibility that Ezra was the holder of some high official position in the government of Artaxerxes. This is supported by the vast authority conveyed to Ezra by this commission, which was supported also by the seven counsellors of the king.
"The law of thy God which is in thy hand" (Ezra 7:14). This was a copy of the Torah, the law of Moses.
"Whose habitation is in Jerusalem" (Ezra 7:15). Rawlinson construed this remark as merely a reference to the temple in Jerusalem, stating that, "Artaxerxes did not believe that the God of Israel was merely a local deity."[14] His reference to the God of Israel as the God of heaven in Ezra 7:21 indicates that this is true.
"And all the silver and gold that thou shalt find ... in all the province of Babylon" (Ezra 7:16). This refers to all of the freewill-offerings which Ezra might be able to receive in a widespread fund-raising campaign.
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