Old Testament Commentary - Ezra

Ezra (helper): Under the Hebrew title of 'Hymjn-arzu', meaning 'Yahweh Comforts', the now two books of Ezra and Nehemiah were but one book in the Jewish scriptures from the Babylonian Talmud through the time of Josephus and even unto the fifteenth century (1448 A.D.), then divided in a Hebrew manuscript later sustained in the Bomberg edition of 1525. The placement of the combined books was just before Chronicles, which had to do with considered authorship than with actual chronology, for Ezra is credited by the Babylonian Talmud with writing and compiling of the whole of what is today Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. Thus when these texts state 'unto this day' we may consider that it implies down unto the day of Ezra and taken together these writings do give a more continuous history through the time of the kings and on into the post Babylonian captivity era. Together the book(s) Ezra-Nehemiah provide a record of the reconstruction of the Hebrew theocracy in Jerusalem from the return to Jerusalem in the time of King Cyrus to the building and dedication of the temple and even to the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall. Thus they ought to be studied as such as one text. Other prophet based texts also give insights into this era (See such as Zephaniah 3:19-20, Haggai 2:1-9 and even Zechariah). Ezra had devoted himself to the study of the Word of God (Ezra 7:9-10) and is one of the 'unsung' heros of the compilation of the Jewish scriptures. Ezra was a member of a Jewish 'priestly' family indicating that he was actually a Levite. There is also evidence that at one time the whole of the writings of Ezra were one continuous text from Chronicles to the end of Nehemiah as the oldest uncanonized text of 1 Esdras includes at its beginning the last two chapters of 2 Chronicles. As Ezra is but one of the number of such prophets and writers of this era, his name meaning 'helper' seems quite appropriate.