Ezra 7:6

Ezra went up. See ch. 2:1, where the same expression, “went up,” is used in regard to the first group of returning exiles. Ready. Heb. mahir, a word used also in Aramaic and Egyptian to designate a skilled, fast-writing scribe. In the Elephantine papyri Ahikar refers to himself as “a wise and ready scribe,” and uses the same word mahir. He thus wished to indicate that he was not only a scribe but a learned man. In Egypt, where mahir had become a professional title for skilled scribes, such a man was highly trained in every phase of secular learning. Ezra, however, used his talents in the realm of religion, being a scholar “in the law of Moses.” See on v. 11. Which the Lord God. It is characteristic of Ezra’s piety never to forget that the law was not a mere human code given by an earthly lawgiver, but a direct, divine gift — “the law of the Lord” (v. 10), “the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel” (v. 11), and “the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses” (Neh. 8:14). All his request. Ezra had made a favorable impression on the king and had won his confidence. How this was accomplished is unknown.