Ezra 7:12 (DBY)

Passage

Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an accomplished scribe of the law of the God of the heavens, and so forth.

Nearby Context

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had directed his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and to do it, and to teach in Israel the statutes and the ordinances.

Ezra 7:11 And this is the copy of the letter that king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah, and of his statutes to Israel:

Ezra 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, an accomplished scribe of the law of the God of the heavens, and so forth.

Ezra 7:13 I have given orders that all they of the people of Israel, and of their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are disposed to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.

Ezra 7:14 Because thou art sent by the king, and by his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "artaxerxes", "king", "kings", "ezra", "priest", "accomplished", "scribe", and "heavens". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "artaxerxes" and "king", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And this is the copy of the..." into verse 13's "I have given orders that all they...", so "artaxerxes" and "king" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "artaxerxes" and "king" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.