of our sons and of our cattle, as is prescribed in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of God to the priests who minister in the house of our God; and that we should bring the first bread baked of our dough, the fruit of every kind of tree, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, in the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and that they, the Levites, should receive the tithes in all the cities of our agricultural districts.  And that the priest the son of Aaron should be with the Levites, when the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the store-house.  For the Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the gifts of grain, of new wine, and of oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests who minister and the porters and the singers, and that we would not neglect the house of our God.

I. The Ezra Tradition.  The tradition regarding Ezra and his work presents many difficult problems.  Part of it is found in the heart of the book of Nehemiah; while another part is now found in the second half of the book of Ezra.  It is not entirely clear whether this dislocation is due to the Chronicler, who desired to give Ezra, the priest and scribe, the precedence before Nehemiah, the layman, or to the mistake of a scribe.  A recent writer (Professor Torrey, in Composition of Ezra-Neh.) has shown convincingly that the Ezra story in its present form is at least from the school to which the Chronicler belonged, if not from his own pen.  Not only does it abound in the characteristic phrases of this voluminous editor, but it also reflects at many points his peculiar conception of the history of this period.  Ezra is described as a descendant of Aaron and “a scribe skilled in the law of Moses.”  His work as interpreter of the law, which he is represented as bringing in his hand, is typical of the scribes, who were becoming the chief teachers of Judaism in the days of the Chronicler (the Greek period).  The decree of Artaxerxes found in the seventh chapter of Ezra suggests at every point its late Jewish origin.  It confers upon Ezra, the scribe, royal authority far eclipsing that given by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, his favorite.  A sum representing more than three million dollars is placed at Ezra’s disposal.  At his summons seventeen hundred priests, Levites, singers, and servants of the temple rally about the standard of the faithful scribe.  He is represented as going under the royal protection to Palestine to instruct the Judean community, to reform its abuses, and to institute the rule of the law of Moses which he bore in his hand.