King Artaxerxes' letter to Ezra
Now I, King Artaxerxes, order all the treasurers of TransEuphrates to provide with diligence whatever Ezra the priest, a teacher of the Law of the God of heaven, may ask of you—22 up to a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil, and salt without limit. 23 Whatever the God of heaven has prescribed, let it be done with diligence for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and of his sons? 24 You are also to know that you have no authority to impose taxes, tribute or duty on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at this house of God.
25 And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom of your God, which you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach any who do not know them. 26 Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
The final section of the letter gave Ezra authority to govern the Jews of Trans-Euphrates, not only by the laws of the Persian Empire but by the Mosaic Law as well. Ezra was not the governor of the entire province of Trans-Euphrates. He had authority only over the Jews as a semiautonomous national group within the province.
Artaxerxes was very generous to Ezra, but his generosity had limits. The section of the letter addressed to the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates set limits on the amount of provisions Ezra could withdraw from the warehouses. These directions are very similar to stipulations contained in the traveling credentials of other Persian officials, such as the Arsham correspondence found in Egypt.
It is often difficult to translate ancient measurements into our modern equivalents. A cor is probably equal to between four to six bushels, and a bath to about six gallons. The talent is especially difficult to translate because it was not always the same. To further complicate matters there was a light talent and a heavy one, which was double the weight of the light. The talent referred to by Ezra was probably about 66 pounds. Therefore, the amounts allotted by the king were more than three tons of silver, six hundred bushels of grain, and six hundred gallons of wine. It should be remembered that these measurements are approximations.