Note 3 at Mt. 2:4: Ezra was a scribe during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, and he was a very godly man. The office of a scribe was a worthy one, but the scribes of Jesus' day were often rebuked by him for having gone beyond the job of copying out the scriptures. They had a large volume of interpretations that they had added to the scriptures based on traditions, and had thus made "the word of God of none effect" (Mk. 7:13). For additional notes on "scribe," see note 3 at Luke 6:7, page 105; see note 1 at Matthew 13:52, page 147; see note 4 at Luke 11:45, page 264.