Bible Strands
Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator interjects a summary clause (כִּי, "for") between Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem and the royal letter, identifying the man behind the journey. It is a biographical gloss, not direct speech.
The words — דָּרַשׁ (dāraš), rendered "study," literally means to seek, inquire, or search — an active pursuit rather than passive reading. The verb frames the Law not as a text to be absorbed but as something to be pursued.
The thread — Malachi 2:7 assigns the priest the duty of preserving knowledge and giving instruction; 2 Timothy 4:2 commands the preacher to be prepared; Matthew 7:24 ties hearing to acting. All three echo the same triad: know, do, teach.
Why it lands — The verse makes study, practice, and teaching a single act of the heart, not three separate disciplines. It asks the reader to hold all three together or admit the arrangement is incomplete.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Malachi 2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
- Matthew 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- John 13:17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- Psalms 1:2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
- Ezra 7:25 And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.
- Psalms 19:7 The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Deuteronomy 33:10 He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel; he will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
- 1 Chronicles 29:18 O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.
- Ezra 7:6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.