Ezr 7:23-28 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 23 Why should there be wrath - As he believed he was appointed by the Almighty to do this work, he therefore wished to do it heartily, knowing that if he did not, God would be displeased, and that the kingdom would be cut off from him or his posterity.

Ezra 7:23-28

Verse 23

Why should there be wrath - As he believed he was appointed by the Almighty to do this work, he therefore wished to do it heartily, knowing that if he did not, God would be displeased, and that the kingdom would be cut off from him or his posterity. Verse 24

It shall not be lawful to impose toll - As these persons had no private revenues, it would have been unreasonable to have laid them under taxation. Verse 26

Whether it be unto death - These include almost every species of punishment which should be inflicted on culprits in any civilized state.

With this verse the Chaldee part of this chapter ends. Verse 28

And I was strengthened - In what the king decreed he saw the hand of God; he therefore gave him the praise, and took courage. There is a most amiable spirit of piety in these reflections. Ezra simply states the case; shows what the king had determined, and tells what he said; and then points out the grand agent in the whole business - it was the Lord God of his fathers. Thus God had put it into the king's heart to beautify the house of Jehovah; and, as that house was built for the salvation of the souls of men, he gives God praise for putting it into the king's heart to repair it: he who loves God and man will rejoice in the establishment of the Divine worship, because this is the readiest way to promote the best interests of man.