Ezra 7:9 (KJV)

Passage

For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

Nearby Context

Ezra 7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

Ezra 7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

Ezra 7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Ezra 7:11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "upon", "first", "month", "began", "babylon", and "fifth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "upon" and "first", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And he came to Jerusalem in the..." into verse 10's "For Ezra had prepared his heart to...", so "upon" and "first" 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 "upon" and "first" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.