Ezra 7:18

INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THE MONEY

"And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God. And the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thee before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsover more may be needed for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much."

"Whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren" (Ezra 7:18). This commission to Ezra was about as near a blank check with unlimited authority as any king ever granted. It exhibits the utmost confidence and trust in Ezra by Artaxerxes. The only limit imposed here is that of the maximum withdrawals in Ezra 7:22. "The surplus was actually used in beautifying the temple, as indicated in Ezra 7:27."[15]

"The king's treasure-house" (Ezra 7:20). This is a reference to the sub-treasury of the satrapy of Syria, which included all of the territory beyond the River, the resources of which were made available to Ezra up to the limits indicated in Ezra 7:22.

"A hundred talents of silver" (Ezra 7:22). Some critics have cited this as an exaggeration, based upon their claim that the whole revenue of the province beyond the River was only 350 talents of silver; and even Williamson stated that this amount, "seemed disproportionate."[16] However, the amount seems reasonable to this writer. "A talent of silver weighed 75 pounds,"[17] and that is only seven pounds above the weight of one thousand silver dollars; and a hundred talents would therefore have amounted to only a little more than $100,000.00, which to this writer appears as a rather insignificant amount as it would have been considered in the treasury of a king.