Ezra 7:12

Verse 12. Artaxerxes, king of kings] This letter, from the beginning of this verse to the end of Ezr 7:12-26, is in the Aramitic or Chaldee language.

This title of the king would, in Persian, run thus: [Persian] Ardsheer shahinshah, or [Persian] padshah, "Ardsheer, king of kings;" "great or supreme king, or emperor."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ezr 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect [peace], and at such a time.

Ver. 12. Artaxerxes, king of kings] This is a very high style for any mortal wight; yet ambitiously assumed by monarchs and emperors. It is indeed the proper title of Jesus Christ, who hath upon his vesture and upon his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords; kings and captives, lords and lowlies, are all his underlings and vassals, as those good emperors, Constantine, Theodosius, and Valentinian usually called themselves (Socrates). This name of the Lord Christ is said to be written, 1. On his vesture, that all may see it and submit to it. 2. On his thigh, where hangs his sword, to show his absolute and unlimited empire, got out of the hands of his enemies with his sword and with his bow, Psa 45:5. "By me king’s reign," saith he, Pro 8:15. And Nebuchadnezzar is made to know as much, Dan 4:35, who once vain gloriously vaunted that his princes were altogether kings, Isa 10:8. Maximilian, emperor of Germany, also said of himself, that he was a king of kings, but in another sense; for every one of my subjects (quoth he) will be a king; and say I what I can, they will do what they wish (Johan. Manl. loc. com. p. 586).

Of the God of heaven {See Trapp on "Ezr 5:11"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 7:12. Unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven — Or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, a perfect scribe of the law, &c., a title which, it seems, Ezra delighted in, and desired no other; no, not when he was advanced to the proconsular dignity, and made the governor of a province. He reckoned it more to his honour to be a scribe of God’s law than to be a peer or prince of the empire.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Some take this for the name of a people, some for time or continuance, meaning that the king wished him long life.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Artaxerxes, king of kings--That title might have been assumed as, with literal truth, applicable to him, since many of the tributary princes of his empire still retained the name and authority of kings. But it was a probably a mere Orientalism, denoting a great and powerful prince, as the heaven of heavens signified the highest heaven, and vanity of vanities, the greatest vanity. This vainglorious title was assumed by the kings of Assyria, from whom it passed to the sovereigns of Persia.

unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven--The appointment of Ezra to this influential mission was of the highest importance to the Hebrew people, as a large proportion of them were become, in a great measure, strangers both to the language and the institutions of their forefathers.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(12) Artaxerxes, king of kings.—Artachshatra in Persian, Artachshasta in Hebrew. The Persian monarchs inherited the title here given from the Babylonians (Dan_2:37). It is not used by the historian, only by the king himself.

Perfect peace, and at such a time.—Literally, perfect, and so forth. The expression occurs only here, and is a difficult one. Our translation follows the apocryphal Esdras, and is on the whole to be accepted, a salutation being implied.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. king of kings] title common in inscriptions of Persian monarchs. (Cf. of Nebuchadnezzar, Eze_26:7; Dan_2:37.) No mere hyperbole, when the great empire included so many subject kingdoms.

a scribe] R.V. the scribe.

the God of heaven] See note on Ezr_1:2.

perfect peace, and at such a time] R.V. perfect and so forth. The Aramaic word ‘perfect’, ‘g’mir’, occurs only here. The salutation, probably a lengthy affair, is here condensed and the sentence breaks off abruptly. The word ‘perfect’ refers to ‘the scribe’ Ezra and was probably the first of a series of complimentary epithets. So the Vulgate ‘doctissimo’. The A.V. understands the words of salutation, cf. 1 Esdras, ‘hail’ (χαίρειν). The LXX. ‘the word has been ended and the answer’ (τετέλεσται ὁ λόγος καὶ ἡ ἀπόκρισις) is completely at fault. Others render the word as an adverb (= ‘completely’), to be connected either with ‘the scribe’, or with the omitted words of salutation, i.e. the completely (learned) scribe’, or ‘full greetings’.

‘and so forth’, as in Ezr_4:10-11.

12–26. The contents of the letter are given in Aramaic.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I make a decree,.... Which, according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, when signed, might not be changed, Dan 6:8,

that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm; who remained there, and took not the benefit of the edict of Cyrus, which gave them leave to go; but neglecting the opportunity, it seems as if they could not now go out of the realm without a fresh grant, which is hereby given:

which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee; this decree did not oblige them to go whether they would or not; for they might, notwithstanding this, continue if they pleased; it only gave them leave to make use of the present opportunity of going along with Ezra, if they chose it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The title, “king of kings,” is assumed by almost all the persian monarchs in their inscriptions.

Perfect peace - “Peace” is not in the original, and the word translated “perfect” occurs only in this place. Some prefer to take it as an adjective descriptive of Ezra (see margin); others (Septuagint) as the opening word of the first paragraph of the letter, and give it the meaning, “it is completed.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Kings. This title was placed on the tomb of Cyrus, (Strabo xv.) and denoted a very powerful king. Artaxerxes had many tributaries in Media, Sidon, &c. The kings of Assyria had before assumed such pompous titles, Osee viii. 10. (Calmet) --- The most learned, comes later in the original Chaldean. (Haydock) --- "The priest, scribe of the law,...perfection, (health and happiness, (Calmet) or consummate in learning, &c.; Haydock) as at present." (Calmet) --- Gemir uceheneth, "perfection (Castel. Lexic.) even now," chap. iv. 10. Protestants, "perfect peace, and at such a time." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Artaxerxes, king of kings. "King of kings, kkshayathiya khshaya-thiyanam," an equivalent of the modern shahinshah, was a recognised title of the Persian monarchs, and is found in every Persian inscription of any considerable length (Rawlinson, "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Persis," vol. 1 pp. 195, 271, 279, 287, 292, etc.). It was a title that had been used occasionally, though not at all frequently, by the Assyrian monarchs ("Records of the Past," vol. 3. p. 41; vol. 5. p. 8), and naturally expressed the fact that those monarchs for the most part maintained the native princes on the thrones of the countries which they conquered. (see Isa_10:8) It was less appropriate to the Persians, whose empire was in the main satrapial, but still had a basis of truth to rest upon, since the Persian monarch had always a certain number of tributary kings under him (cf. "Herod.," 5:104, 118; 8:142; Xen., "Anab.," 1:2, "Hellen.," 4:1, The Parthian kings took the title from the time of Mithridates I; and from them it passed to the Sassanians, who style themselves malkan malka, from first to last, upon their coins. The God of heaven. On this favourite Persian expression see comment on Ezr_1:2. Perfect peace. There is nothing in the Chaldee original in any way corresponding to "peace;" and the participle passage being translated as in the margin of the A. V. Ezra the priest, a perfect scribe of the law of the God ofheaven." And at such a time. Rather, "and so forth," as in Ezr_4:10, Ezr_4:11, Ezr_4:17.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the Book of Law [as translated,] the Book of Law.

who has mastered... and Ke’eneth He has mastered it in his hand.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.