What authority and resources did Artaxerxes give Esdras?

During the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, a priest and scholar named Esdras came forward. The chapter lists his ancestors back to Aaron, the priest from the beginning: he was the son of Saraias, son of Azarias, son of Helcias, son of Sellum, son of Sadoc, son of Achitob, son of Amarias, son of Azarias, son of Maraioth, son of Zarahias, son of Ozi, son of Bocci, son of Abisue, son of Phinees, son of Eleazar, and son of Aaron. Esdras lived in Babylon and was thoroughly skilled as a scribe in the law of Moses given by the Lord God of Israel. Because the gracious hand of God rested upon him, the Persian king granted him every request he presented.

In the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, Esdras was accompanied by Israelites up to Jerusalem, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants known as Nathinites. Their journey began on the first day of the first month when they set out from Babylon, and by the guidance of God's good hand, they arrived safely in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. Esdras had firmly resolved in his heart to study the law of the Lord, to practice its precepts personally, and to teach its commandments and ordinances throughout Israel.

King Artaxerxes provided Esdras with an official royal decree addressed from the king of kings to the priest and learned scribe of the law of the God of heaven. The edict authorized any Israelite within the Persian empire, whether ordinary citizens, priests, or Levites, who desired to travel to Jerusalem to accompany Esdras freely. The monarch explained that Esdras was officially commissioned by the king and his seven imperial counselors to examine conditions in Judea and Jerusalem according to the divine law in his possession.

The royal decree entrusted Esdras with the silver and gold that the monarch and his seven counselors had freely donated to the God of Israel whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, along with all voluntary contributions of silver and gold collected from the province of Babylon through the goodwill of the people and priests. Esdras was directed to use these funds diligently to purchase bullocks, rams, and lambs, together with their prescribed grain offerings and libations, and present them on the temple altar in Jerusalem. Any remaining gold and silver was to be spent according to the will of their God as seemed best to Esdras and his brethren. The decree also instructed Esdras to deliver the vessels given for the house of God in Jerusalem.

Artaxerxes additionally ordered that any further necessities required for the house of God be supplied directly from the imperial treasury. He issued a binding mandate to all regional treasurers holding public funds beyond the river, commanding them to supply whatever Esdras requested without delay. The king established generous spending allowances up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred cores of wheat, one hundred bates of wine, one hundred bates of oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. The treasurers were instructed to supply everything needed for the worship of the God of heaven with diligence, so that divine anger would not fall upon the king's empire or his sons.

To protect the sacred ministry, Artaxerxes declared complete tax immunity for all temple personnel, forbidding tax collectors from imposing tolls, tribute, or customs upon any priests, Levites, singers, porters, Nathinites, or sanctuary ministers. The king also empowered Esdras, acting in the wisdom of his God, to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice for all the people living beyond the river who knew divine law, and told him to teach freely those who were ignorant of it. For anyone refusing to obey the law of God and the royal decree, the king mandated judgment, whether by death, exile, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

Receiving this extraordinary commission, Esdras praised the Lord God of their fathers, thanking Him for inspiring the Persian king's heart to beautify and honor the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Grateful that divine mercy had been extended to him in the presence of the monarch, his counselors, and his powerful nobles, Esdras found courage through the hand of the Lord his God upon him and gathered together leading men out of Israel to accompany him on the journey to Jerusalem.