The decree of Artaxerxes is as broad in scope as the proclamation of Cyrus (ch. 1:3), and gives permission not only to the Jews but to all Israelites of every tribe to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem. That Israelites of all the tribes actually went up to Jerusalem on the occasion is implied by the reference to “twelve bullocks for all Israel,” which those who returned with Ezra offered, on their arrival, to the “God of Israel” (see on ch. 8:35).