Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand;
Sent of the king, and of his seven counselors. This was the fixed number of the privy council of the king of Persia (see the note at Ezra 5:2: cf. Esther 1:10; Esther 1:14). The document describes, with great clearness and precision, the nature of Ezra's commission, and the extent of power and prerogatives with which he was invested. It gave him authority, in the first place, to organize the colony in Judea, and institute a regular government, according to the laws of the Hebrew people, and by magistrates and rulers of their own nation (Ezra 7:25-26), with power to punish offenders by fines, imprisonment, exile, or death, according to the degree of their criminality. Secondly, he was empowered to carry a large donation of money, partly from the royal treasury, and partly raised by voluntary contributions among his countrymen, to create a fund out of which to make suitable provision for maintaining the regular worship of God in Jerusalem (Ezra 7:16-17). Thirdly, the Persian officers in Syria were commanded to afford him every assistance by gifts of money, within a certain specified limit, in carrying out the objects of his patriotic mission (Ezra 7:21).