1Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— 6this Ezra went up from Babylon. He was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to Yahweh his God’s hand on him. 7Some of the children of Israel, including some of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 8He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him. 10For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

11Now this is the copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of Yahweh’s commandments, and of his statutes to Israel:

12Artaxerxes, king of kings,

To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the perfect God of heaven.

Now 13I make a decree that all those of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my realm, who intend of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you. 14Because you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand, 15and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 16and all the silver and gold that you will find in all the province of Babylon, with the free will offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem. 17Therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs with their meal offerings and their drink offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 18Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do that according to the will of your God. 19The vessels that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20Whatever more will be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to give, give it out of the king’s treasure house.

21I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, it shall be done with all diligence, 22up to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred cors of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?

24Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants, or laborers of this house of God.

25You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, who all know the laws of your God; and teach him who doesn’t know them. 26Whoever will not do the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it is to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem; 28and has extended loving kindness to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to Yahweh my God’s hand on me, and I gathered together chief men out of Israel to go up with me.

Person

Adam

Lived: 4004 BC – 3074 BC (approximate)
Born: Eden

Father God

Spouse Eve

Children Seth Abel Cain

Biography | Hershel Wayne House

Biography of Adam (הָֽאָדָ֑ם)

The historical account of the creation in six days is concluded with the creation of Adam and Eve. The person named Adam is the first creation of God in the creation account, who bore the image of God (imago Dei). He is the spouse of the woman created, named Eve (meaning mother of living), who together as male and female is Man according to Genesis 1:27. It is characteristic in the creation account to address Adam as "the man" (Hebrew word, הָֽאָדָ֗ם hāʾāḏām), and only beginning in 3:17 does the text drop the designation "the man," and use the name Adam, as well as Eve for the woman. The Gospel author Luke traces the genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) of Jesus to the man Adam.

Biography | R. Mark Musser

The genealogies of Genesis and Luke that begin or end with Adam, whether going forward or backward, demonstrate the first man was not a mythical archetype. Adam was a real historical man. He is called the original "son of God" (Luke 3:38) in the sense of being directly created by Divine Creator. (Gen 1:26-27) Adam was physically made by God to reflect His characteristics, albeit in a finite, human form. (Gen 9:6; 1 Cor 11:7) Adam was originally fashioned from the dust of the ground, and graciously given the "breath of life" directly by God so that he "became a living being." (Gen 2:7; 1 Cor 15:45) He is not only the founding father of the human race, but also fathered many children. Adam lived 930 years. His death is the first obituary recorded in Scripture. (Gen 5:5) While many theologians and commentators have grappled to explain how his original sin was passed on down to the entire human race, the facticity of it is undeniable. Adam's historical fall led to the fall of history itself which only a second Messianic Adam, who was also a historical Man, can resolve prophetically and/or apocalyptically. (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:20-28) Sin and death are not merely metaphysical, theological, or biblical terms, but permeate all of life from any empirical point of view this side of the grave. Adam is the only man to have historically experienced paradise lost and the sudden fall of the world dominated now by sin and death.

Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.