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Ezra: mover and shaker



Of course, in a historical sense, Ezra was a fifth century BC Jewish priest, scholar, copyist, and historian who wrote the two Chronicles and the Book of Ezra (of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh) and began the compiling and cataloguing of the Old Testament.

I whipped out the only Bible we have laying around the house, (the King James Version) and flicked to Ezra 7:6:
This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready 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.

From this, we can assume that Ezra had connections. Maybe our Ezra can snare some rub out of this.

The fact that Ezra is regarded as a reasonably influential guy in the key texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is also a plus for anyone hedging their bets in an ontological sense
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Comments

the Albino Bowler said…
I'm very curious about tasmania...
25 July 2008 at 12:37
Kris McCracken said…
Well Albino Bowler, I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. I'm always looking for bloggable material.
25 July 2008 at 13:55
Neva said…
Very beautiful , your second son....
25 July 2008 at 15:27
freefalling said…
I had to look up "ontological".
26 July 2008 at 07:58
Dina said…
Well I'm glad you at least keep a Bible in the house (more than i can say for my Aussie daughter).

As an everyday word in Hebrew, ezra sounds positive and good. As you wrote already, it means help.
Help is a good thing that everybody needs.
26 July 2008 at 22:03
Becky said…
This is a beautiful shot. And a beautiful baby. I like the name Ezra, too. And I like your reasoning for choosing it - and not choosing others. :o)

Thanks for stopping by my blog...I look forward to visiting yours again in the future. Keep sharing with us your beautiful baby, and one of these days, please do share a poem of your own.
27 July 2008 at 07:31
Kris McCracken said…
"Ontological" can be a useful word, but my casual use of it is a sure sign that I have spent far too long in a university.

Dina, despite the fact that I was raised in a solidly agnostic household (with a tendency towards atheism), the various 'holy books' are always worth having around. Given the amount of time I've spent studying history and politics, that old bible has had a far work out!

Old Testament God is a little too shrill for my liking though (although it is a better read than the New Testament). That said, Jesus is fine with me and I can't say that my moral framework differs too much ("let he without sin..." "do unto others" et cetera). It's really only a stern, judgmental morality, and some of the dated stuff that jars with me.
28 July 2008 at 13:30
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