Think Wink.

This past week Ezra 7:10 has really been a focus of my attention and study. The text reads,

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

What struck me was the movement of the text in its infinitives: “to study,” “to do it,” and “to teach.” What makes this movement so compelling is what precedes this text in Ezra 7:9, “For the good hand of his God was on him.” Why was the good hand of the Yahweh upon Ezra, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” In this three-part series, I want to examine each infinitive and how performing these actions led to the good hand of Yahweh to be on Ezra.

The first infinitive is “to study” ζητῆσαι (2 Esdras 7:10 LXX). A word study is in order to understand how the author of Ezra/Nehemiah (from here on out Ezra/Nehemiah as a whole will be referred to as 2 Esdras as in the LXX since Ezra and Nehemiah are one scroll in Hebrew and the one Greek book; otherwise I will refer to each book by their individual names). I followed the author’s use of this verb in Ezra and I noticed the following: in Ezra 2:62 certain men were looking for their registration among the records; six times the verb is used for someone seeking God (3 times as worship and 3 times seeking God for help) (cf. Ezra 4:2; 6:21; 8:21, 22, 23); in Ezra 7:6 the verb is used to indicate that the king gave to Ezra whatever he asked for; in Ezra 9:12 the Exiles are told not to seek the peace and good of another group of people; in Ezra 10:16 the verb is used to describe the elders of the Exilic community sorting out the issue of who was guilty of intermarrying.

From this brief word study in Ezra, It can be seen that the majority of its uses are in relationship to Yahweh. The word also shows one searching for some thing or idea. It is a word that means to seek for or after. So what does it mean to seek after or seek for the torah or νόμος? I think that the word picture is one seeking something through searching something else, namely Ezra was seeking after God by searching the νόμος or torah. This makes sense if one were to think about it. I just finished reading Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn. It is a great book if you are into that genre. The main character, Mitch Rapp, is a Jack Bauer-esque character (even his wife was killed by terrorists!) only he’s not on your local Fox channel. Rapp doesn’t have the restraints that Bauer has. I read this book because I love who the book is about, not for the sake of reading the book itself. The same can be true for the Narnia books, I love Aslan and not the books themselves. Ezra was reading the Law, not because he loved to read a book of dos and don’ts, but because he loved Yahweh who has revealed himself to Israel in the Law. Thus in his diligent search for Yahweh, he turned to the Law of Moses.

We as Christians should look to the Bible in the same way. We should not read the Bible and study it diligently for the sake of the Bible. Rather we are to read it and examine it so that we can know the one whom the Bible is about: Jesus the Messiah and Sovereign Lord. Too many times Christians are guilty of studying the Bible for the sake of a book, and I am the chief of such idolaters. I get too caught up in things like infinitive verbs and whether the noun is a genitive of content or a partitive genitive etc. I need to remember that the reason why I am trying to ask that important question of Greek grammar is so that I can know and love δεσπότην μού.

So the next time you have your quiet time, make sure that you aren’t just seeking head knowledge, but are seeking to further your relationship with Yahweh and his Messiah and King.

Ezra’s Infinitives Part 2

Ezra’s Infinitives Part 3