1. Ezra 7:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does it mean for Ezra to be a scribe?

Ezra 7:6 (ESV)

6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.

In the Bible, a scribe is sometimes a state official (2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Kings 4:3), a military officer (Jeremiah 52:25), or some kind of secretary or amanuensis (Ezra 4:8; Jeremiah 36:27). Some scribes copied manuscripts of Scripture (Psalm 45:1), others taught God’s Word as it was revealed to Moses (Deuteronomy 10:8–9; Deuteronomy 33:8–10; Malachi 2:6–7).1