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12 [a] “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven:[b] 13 I have now issued a decree[c] that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel—even the priests and Levites—who wishes to do so may go up with you to Jerusalem. 14 You are authorized[d] by the king and his seven advisers to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your possession,[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 7:12 sn Ezra 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.
  2. Ezra 7:12 tn The verse ends with גְּמִיר וּכְעֶנֶת (gemir ukheʿenet) meaning “completed and now” or “perfect and now.” Some take the masculine form גְּמִיר (gemir) to apply to Ezra, as an expert scribe (Youngs, Holman, Darby). Many others take it as an abbreviated greeting “perfect (peace)” (KJV, NASB, ESV). Some simply render “Greetings” (NIV). The second term “and now” is understood either as beginning the letter’s text, i.e., that it belongs in the next verse (ESV), or as a form of “et cetera” meaning that the full introduction, whether of Ezra’s titles or of a lengthier list of greetings was deliberately omitted as extraneous to Ezra’s purposes here. The LXX interprets it as an introduction, “the message and answer are completed.”
  3. Ezra 7:13 tn Heb “from me is placed a decree.” So also in v. 21.
  4. Ezra 7:14 tn Aram “sent.”
  5. Ezra 7:14 tn Aram “in your hand.”