Ezra 7:27

Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) Blessed be the Lord God.—This is the solitary expression of Ezra’s private devotion; and it is incorporated with his record in so artless a manner as to confirm the impression that the whole narrative is from his hand.

This sudden ejaculatory thanksgiving, in the midst of his narrative, reminds us of Nehemiah’s habit.

To beautify.—A general term, signifying all that belonged to the restoration of the Temple.

Benson Commentary

Ezra 7:27. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, &c. — Ezra cannot proceed in his story without inserting this thankful acknowledgment to God’s goodness to him and the people. Which hath put such a thing as this into the king’s heart — God can and frequently does put things into men’s hearts which would not rise there of themselves, and that both by his providence and by his grace. If any good appear to be in our own hearts, or in the hearts of others, we must acknowledge it was God that put it there, and must bless him for it, for it is he that worketh, in us both, to will and to do that which is good.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:27,28 Two things Ezra blessed God for: 1. For his commission. If any good appear in our hearts, or in the hearts of others, we must own that God put it there, and bless him; it is he that worketh in us, both to will and to do that which is good. 2. For his encouragement: God has extended mercy to me. Ezra was a man of courage, yet he ascribed this not to his own heart, but to God's hand. If God give us his hand, we are bold and cheerful; if he withdraw it, we are weak as water. Whatever we are enabled to do for God and those around us, God must have all the glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An abrupt transition from the words of Artaxerxes to those of Ezra. Compare a similar abrupt change in Ezra 6:6. The language alters at the same time from Chaldee to Hebrew, continuing henceforth to be Hebrew until the close of the book.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Ezr 7:27, 28. Ezra Blesses God for This Favor.

27. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers—This devout thanksgiving is in unison with the whole character of Ezra, who discerns the hand of God in every event, and is always ready to express a pious acknowledgment for the divine goodness.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers,.... This is Ezra's thanksgiving to God for the above decree:

which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart; which he rightly took to be of God, who wrought in him to will and to do:

to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem; to provide for the ornamenting of it, for vessels in it, as well as for sacrifices; for as for the building of it, that was finished.

Geneva Study Bible

{p} Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:

(p) Thus Ezra gave thanks to God for giving him success in his business with the king.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers] R.V. Blessed be the lord, the God of our fathers. A similar phrase occurs in Ezra 8:28, Ezra 10:11. We find it elsewhere in 1 Chronicles 29:18; 2 Chronicles 20:6. Cf. Acts 3:13.

The thanksgiving of Ezra relates to the blessing which had been vouchsafed not to himself personally but to the whole nationality.

hath put into the heart] as in Nehemiah 2:12; Nehemiah 7:5; 1 Kings 10:24.

to beautify] This effect of the king’s bounty would result from the general grant contained in Ezra 7:14-20. The actual adornment of the Temple had not been specified.

27, 28. Ezra’s Thanksgiving

Abrupt transition from the letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra’s thanks giving. Compare chap. Ezra 6:8, the transition from the quotation of Cyrus’s decree to the words of Darius.

These two verses contain Ezra’s outburst of praise to God for the favours conceded by Darius.

The Hebrew is here resumed.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 27. - Having concluded the important document, which he has transcribed, and not translated, and which is consequently in the Chaldee dialect, Ezra now resumes the use of the more sacred Hebrew, and henceforth employs it uninterruptedly to the close of his narrative. The form of his thanksgiving a little resembles that of David in 1 Chronicles 29:10. The Lord God of our fathers is an unusual phrase, only elsewhere employed by David (1 Chronicles 29:18) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:6). "God of our fathers" is more common, being found in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 26:7) and Acts (Acts 3:13; Acts 5:30), as well as in Chronicles frequently. Which hath put such a thought as this in the king's heart. Compare Ezra 1:1. and Ezra 6:22. All thoughts favorable to the Jews are regarded by Ezra as impressed upon the hearts of heathen kings by the direct action of God. To beautify. Or "adorn." Ezra gathers from the general tenor of the king's letter that the adornment of the temple is his main object (see comment on ver. 17). Ezra 7:27

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

This royal commission granted to the Jews all they could possibly desire from the heathen governors of the country, for the establishment and furtherance of their civil and religious polity. By granting these privileges, Artaxerxes was not only treading in the footsteps of Cyrus and Darius Hystaspes, but even going beyond these princes in granting to the Jews a jurisdiction of their own. Without a magistrate who was one of themselves, the Jewish community could not well prosper in their own land; for the social and religious life of Israel were so closely connected, that heathen magistrates, however well-intentioned, were incapable of exercising a beneficial influence upon the welfare of the Jews. Hence Ezra, having thus reported the royal commission, adds a thanksgiving to God for having put such a thing into the king's heart, namely, to beautify the house of the Lord, and for having granted him favour before the king and his counsellors. The sentence הטּה ועלי הטּה e is a continuation of the preceding infinitive sentence in the tempus finit. ל before כּל־שׂרי is the ל comprehensive. Ezra names the beautifying of the house of God as the occasion of his thanksgiving, not only because this formed the chief matter of the royal favour, but also because the re-establishment of divine worship was the re-establishment of the moral and religious life of the community. "And I felt myself strengthened, and gathered together (so that I gathered together) the heads of Israel to go up with me (to Jerusalem)." Ezra assembled the heads, i.e., of houses, as fellow-travellers, because their decision would be a rule for the families at the head of which they stood. With their heads, the several races and families determined to return to the land of their fathers.