Ezra
pronunciation
How to pronounce Ezra in British English:
UK ['ezrə]
How to pronounce Ezra in American English:
US [ˈɛzrə]
-
- Noun:
- a Jewish priest and scribe sent by the Persian king to restore Jewish law and worship in Jerusalem
- an Old Testament book telling of a rabbi's efforts in the 5th century BC to reconstitute Jewish law and worship in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity
Word Origin
- Ezra
- masc. proper name, in Old Testament name of a celebrated 5c. B.C.E. scribe, from Late Latin, from Hebrew Ezra, contraction of Azaryah(u), literally "God has helped," from ezer "help" + Yah, a shortened form of Yahweh "God."
Example
- 1. In reality , ezra 's prayer discloses a man who has thought long and hard about israel 's history .
- 2. Ezra treats this as an unmitigated disaster and weeps before the lord as if really grievous harm has been done .
- 3. But ezra is right in understanding this to be the work of god : " the lord moved the heart of cyrus king of persia " ( ezra 1:1 ) .
- 4. It may be difficult for some christians , immersed in the heritage of individualism and influenced by postmodern relativism , to find much sympathy for ezra and his prayer ( ezra 9 ) .
- 5. The poetry of ezra pound is sometimes difficult to understand because it contains so many obscure references .