Ezra 7:21 Commentary and Bible Study

The regional governors, the Samaritans, and the nations surrounding Judah and Jerusalem, all the treasury departments, are told that they have got to subscribe too, and if Ezra has needs for the rebuilding of the city and the various other things he is undertaking to do, then they must freely supply him. Well, they are Ezra’s enemies; they are implacably opposed to his work, and now a decree of the emperor is going to compel them to render assistance, and to do so speedily. There is to be no prevarication. It won't stop the troubles, but it will greatly curb them. There is a ceiling put on all this help must be offered: ‘unto a hundred talents of silver’, but a hundred talents of silver is four tons of silver, which in those days was a fantastic sum of money. So it is a very high ceiling put on the amount that can be collected from various sources and given. It seems to be given not to limit what the Jews may ask for, but rather to raise the expectations of the treasuries concerning what they must be prepared to give. They are to give ‘whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven’ – in the books of Moses, that is, in the law – ‘let it be diligently done.’ There is a curious statement at the end of verse 23, ‘for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?’ Now while this can be taken another way, the most likely meaning of these words is that the emperor is saying, ‘If I don't guarantee that Ezra is given freedom to advance the work in Jerusalem, I will be held to account by the God of Israel.’ It is put into mind of Artaxerxes that if he doesn’t do it, then it will be the worst for him. They all say he is a pagan king, and he appears to be, but at the same time he is at the very least a fearer of the true God.