Verse 10 gives the heart of his vocation: Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, to do it, and to teach statutes and judgments in Israel. The order matters—study, practice, teaching. The restoration now moves from rebuilding a temple to rebuilding a Scripture-shaped community.

Chronology: the traditional and still common reconstruction identifies this Artaxerxes as Artaxerxes I and places Ezra’s arrival in his seventh year, about 458/457 BCE, roughly fifty-eight years after the temple dedication. A serious minority view identifies Artaxerxes II and dates the mission around 398 BCE; another proposal emends the regnal year. The text names “Artaxerxes” but does not number him, so a responsible reading should present the standard reconstruction without pretending the debate does not exist.

Christological calibration: Ezra’s role as teacher of God’s law can meaningfully mirror Jesus’ authoritative teaching, but the New Testament never identifies Ezra as a type of Christ. The stronger trajectory is Word-centered restoration: Israel still needs not merely a good scribe but the one in whom God’s word and will are perfectly embodied.