Ezr 7:1-6 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Ezra 7:1-5: 7:1-5 Ezra highlights his standing by listing his own genealogy through Zadok, priest under Solomon (1 Kgs 2:35 ), all the way back to Aaron the high priest , Moses’ brother. This list is clearly abbreviated: It has only sixteen generations from Aaron to eighty years after the Exile, while 1 Chr 6:3-15 has twenty-three generations from Aaron to the Exile. 7:1 Many years later: Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC (7:7-8 ), about fifty-seven years after the dedication of the second Temple. Ezra has been recording events that occurred before his time, but now he begins to record his own history. • son: In biblical genealogies, the Hebrew word translated son often means descendant. • Seraiah was high priest under Zedekiah; he was executed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:18-21 ).

b1 Kgs 2:35►

c1 Chr 6:3-15►

f2 Kgs 25:18-21►

‏ Ezra 7:1-6

Summary for Ezra 7:1-5: 7:1-5 ^a Ezra highlights his standing by listing his own genealogy through Zadok, priest under Solomon (1 Kgs 2:35 ^b), all the way back to Aaron the high priest, Moses’ brother. This list is clearly abbreviated: It has only sixteen generations from Aaron to eighty years after the Exile, while 1 Chr 6:3-15 ^c has twenty-three generations from Aaron to the Exile. 7:1 ^d Many years later: Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC (7:7-8 ^e), about fifty-seven years after the dedication of the second Temple. Ezra has been recording events that occurred before his time, but now he begins to record his own history.

• son: In biblical genealogies, the Hebrew word translated son often means descendant.

• Seraiah was high priest under Zedekiah; he was executed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:18-21 ^f).
7:6 ^g Ezra came from Babylon, where there was still a substantial and prosperous Jewish community.

• The Hebrew term translated scribe is sometimes translated as “secretary.” It describes an educated and reliable individual who transcribed and interpreted official documents. Accordingly, many scholars think that Ezra functioned like a “Secretary of State for Jewish Affairs” in the Persian government. Here, however, the emphasis is on his scribal role of studying and teaching from the five Books of Moses.