This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
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Bede
AD 735
Now Ezra, who is called “a swift scribe in the law of Moses” for having restored the Law that had been destroyed, rewrote not only the Law but also, as the common tradition of our forebears holds, the whole sequence of sacred Scripture that had likewise been destroyed by fire, in accordance with the way that seemed to him to meet the needs of readers.
Went up, a second time, 2 Esdras xii. 1. (Worthington)
Ready. Hebrew mahir, "diligent "(Haydock)
Scribe, not so much noted for his skill in writing fast, or drawing up deeds, as for his knowledge of the divine law. (Calmet)
The gospel sometimes gives the title of scribe to the doctors of the law, Matthew xxii. 35., with Mark xii. 28. It is peculiarly due to Esdras, who gave a correct copy of the Scriptures, and wrote them in a different character, leaving the ancient one to the Samaritans, that the people might be less connected. (Bellarmine, De Verb. xx. 1, citing (Tirinus) the most learned Fathers and Jewish writers. (Calmet, Diss.)
The author of 4 Esdras (xiv. 19,) intimates that the sacred books had been all destroyed, and were dictated again to Esdras by the Holy Spirit. But this book is not of sufficient authority to establish so dangerous an opinion; (Haydock) which is refuted by the whole context of the Bible, in which we see that the law was never forgotten. (Calmet, Diss....
