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Ezra 3:3 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

3 And they set H3559 the altar H4196 upon his bases; H4350 for fear H367 was upon them because of the people H5971 of those countries: H776 and they offered H5927 burnt offerings H5930 thereon unto the LORD, H3068 even burnt offerings H5930 morning H1242 and evening. H6153

Cross Reference

Numbers 28:2-8 STRONG

Command H6680 the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 and say H559 unto them, My offering, H7133 and my bread H3899 for my sacrifices made by fire, H801 for a sweet H5207 savour H7381 unto me, shall ye observe H8104 to offer H7126 unto me in their due season. H4150 And thou shalt say H559 unto them, This is the offering made by fire H801 which ye shall offer H7126 unto the LORD; H3068 two H8147 lambs H3532 of the first H1121 year H8141 without spot H8549 day by day, H3117 for a continual H8548 burnt offering. H5930 The one H259 lamb H3532 shalt thou offer H6213 in the morning, H1242 and the other H8145 lamb H3532 shalt thou offer H6213 at even; H6153 And a tenth H6224 part of an ephah H374 of flour H5560 for a meat offering, H4503 mingled H1101 with the fourth H7243 part of an hin H1969 of beaten H3795 oil. H8081 It is a continual H8548 burnt offering, H5930 which was ordained H6213 in mount H2022 Sinai H5514 for a sweet H5207 savour, H7381 a sacrifice made by fire H801 unto the LORD. H3068 And the drink offering H5262 thereof shall be the fourth H7243 part of an hin H1969 for the one H259 lamb: H3532 in the holy H6944 place shalt thou cause the strong wine H7941 to be poured H5258 unto the LORD H3068 for a drink offering. H5262 And the other H8145 lamb H3532 shalt thou offer H6213 at even: H6153 as the meat offering H4503 of the morning, H1242 and as the drink offering H5262 thereof, thou shalt offer H6213 it, a sacrifice made by fire, H801 of a sweet H5207 savour H7381 unto the LORD. H3068

Ezra 4:4 STRONG

Then the people H5971 of the land H776 weakened H7503 the hands H3027 of the people H5971 of Judah, H3063 and troubled H926 H1089 them in building, H1129

Exodus 29:38-42 STRONG

Now this is that which thou shalt offer H6213 upon the altar; H4196 two H8147 lambs H3532 of the first H1121 year H8141 day H3117 by day H3117 continually. H8548 The one H259 lamb H3532 thou shalt offer H6213 in the morning; H1242 and the other H8145 lamb H3532 thou shalt offer H6213 at even: H6153 And with the one H259 lamb H3532 a tenth H6241 deal of flour H5560 mingled H1101 with the fourth part H7253 of an hin H1969 of beaten H3795 oil; H8081 and the fourth part H7243 of an hin H1969 of wine H3196 for a drink offering. H5262 And the other H8145 lamb H3532 thou shalt offer H6213 at even, H6153 and shalt do H6213 thereto according to the meat offering H4503 of the morning, H1242 and according to the drink offering H5262 thereof, for a sweet H5207 savour, H7381 an offering made by fire H801 unto the LORD. H3068 This shall be a continual H8548 burnt offering H5930 throughout your generations H1755 at the door H6607 of the tabernacle H168 of the congregation H4150 before H6440 the LORD: H3068 where I will meet H3259 you, to speak H1696 there unto thee.

2 Chronicles 4:1 STRONG

Moreover he made H6213 an altar H4196 of brass, H5178 twenty H6242 cubits H520 the length H753 thereof, and twenty H6242 cubits H520 the breadth H7341 thereof, and ten H6235 cubits H520 the height H6967 thereof.

Ezra 4:11-16 STRONG

This H1836 is the copy H6573 of the letter H104 that H1768 they sent H7972 unto him, H5922 even unto Artaxerxes H783 the king; H4430 Thy servants H5649 the men H606 on this side H5675 the river, H5103 and at such a time. H3706 Be it H1934 known H3046 unto the king, H4430 that the Jews H3062 which H1768 came up H5559 from H4481 thee H3890 to us H5922 are come H858 unto Jerusalem, H3390 building H1124 the rebellious H4779 and the bad H873 city, H7149 and have set up H3635 H3635 the walls H7792 thereof, and joined H2338 the foundations. H787 Be it known H3046 H1934 now H3705 unto the king, H4430 that, if H2006 this H1791 city H7149 be builded, H1124 and the walls H7792 set up H3635 again, then will they not H3809 pay H5415 toll, H4061 tribute, H1093 and custom, H1983 and so thou shalt endamage H5142 the revenue H674 of the kings. H4430 Now H3705 because H6903 H3606 we have H1768 maintenance H4415 H4416 from the king's palace, H1965 and it was not H3809 meet H749 for us to see H2370 the king's H4430 dishonour, H6173 therefore H5922 H1836 have we sent H7972 and certified H3046 the king; H4430 That search H1240 may be made in the book H5609 of the records H1799 of thy fathers: H2 so shalt thou find H7912 in the book H5609 of the records, H1799 and know H3046 that this H1791 city H7149 is a rebellious H4779 city, H7149 and hurtful H5142 unto kings H4430 and provinces, H4083 and that they have moved H5648 sedition H849 within the same H1459 of H4481 old H5957 time: H3118 for H5922 which H1836 cause was this H1791 city H7149 destroyed. H2718 We H586 certify H3046 the king H4430 that, if H2006 this H1791 city H7149 be builded H1124 again, and the walls H7792 thereof set up, H3635 by this H1836 means H6903 thou shalt have H383 no H3809 portion H2508 on this side H5675 the river. H5103

Ezra 8:21-22 STRONG

Then I proclaimed H7121 a fast H6685 there, at the river H5104 of Ahava, H163 that we might afflict H6031 ourselves before H6440 our God, H430 to seek H1245 of him a right H3477 way H1870 for us, and for our little ones, H2945 and for all our substance. H7399 For I was ashamed H954 to require H7592 of the king H4428 a band of soldiers H2428 and horsemen H6571 to help H5826 us against the enemy H341 in the way: H1870 because we had spoken H559 unto the king, H4428 saying, H559 The hand H3027 of our God H430 is upon all them for good H2896 that seek H1245 him; but his power H5797 and his wrath H639 is against all them that forsake H5800 him.

Psalms 27:1-2 STRONG

[[A Psalm of David.]] H1732 The LORD H3068 is my light H216 and my salvation; H3468 whom shall I fear? H3372 the LORD H3068 is the strength H4581 of my life; H2416 of whom shall I be afraid? H6342 When the wicked, H7489 even mine enemies H6862 and my foes, H341 came H7126 upon me to eat up H398 my flesh, H1320 they stumbled H3782 and fell. H5307

Psalms 56:2-4 STRONG

Mine enemies H8324 would daily H3117 swallow H7602 me up: for they be many H7227 that fight H3898 against me, O thou most High. H4791 What time H3117 I am afraid, H3372 I will trust H982 in thee. In God H430 I will praise H1984 his word, H1697 in God H430 I have put my trust; H982 I will not fear H3372 what flesh H1320 can do H6213 unto me.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezra 3

Commentary on Ezra 3 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

The Altar of Burnt-Offering Erected, the Feast of Tabernacles Celebrated, and the Foundations of the Temple Laid - Ezra 3:1-13

On the approach of the seventh month, the people assembled in Jerusalem to restore the altar of burnt-offering and the sacrificial worship, and to keep the feast of tabernacles (Ezra 3:1-7); and in the second month of the following year the foundations of the new temple were laid with due solemnity (Ezra 3:8-13). Comp. 1 Esdr. 5:46-62.


Verses 1-7

The building of the altar, the restoration of the daily sacrifice, and the celebration of the feast of tabernacles. - Ezra 3:1 When the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. The year is not stated, but the year in which they returned from Babylon is intended, as appears from Ezra 3:8, which tells us that the foundations of the temple were laid in the second month of the second year of their return. The words, ”and the children of Israel were in the cities,” are a circumstantial clause referring to Ezra 2:70, and serving to elucidate what follows. From the cities, in which each had settled in his own (Ezra 2:1), the people came to Jerusalem as one man, i.e., not entirely (Bertheau), but unanimously ( ὁμοθυμαδόν , 1 Esdr. 5:46); comp. Nehemiah 8:1; Judges 20:1.

(Note: The more precise statement of 1 Esdr. 5:46, εἰς τὸ εὐρύχωρον τοῦ πρώτου πυλῶνος τοῦ πρὸς τῇ ἀνατολῇ , according to which Bertheau insists upon correcting the text of Ezra, is an arbitrary addition on the part of the author of this apocryphal book, and derived from Nehemiah 8:1.)

Ezra 3:2

Then the two leaders of the people, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince (see on Joshua 2:2), with their brethren, i.e., the priests and the men of Israel (the laity), arose and built the altar, to offer upon it burnt-offerings, as prescribed by the law of Moses, i.e., to restore the legal sacrifices. According to Ezra 3:6, the offering of burnt-offerings began on the first day of the seventh month; hence the altar was by this day already completed. This agrees with the statement, “When the seventh month approached” (Ezra 3:1), therefore before the first day of this month.

Ezra 3:3

They reared the altar על־מכונתו , upon its (former) place; not, upon its bases. The feminine מכונה has here a like signification with the masculine form מכון , Ezra 2:68, and מכוּנה , Zechariah 5:11. The Keri מכונתיו is an incorrect revision. “For fear was upon them, because of the people of those countries.” The ב prefixed to אימה is the so-called ב essentiae , expressing the being in a condition; properly, a being in fear had come or lay upon them. Comp. on ב essentiae , Ewald, §217, f, and 299, b , though in §295, f , he seeks to interpret this passage differently. The “people of those countries” are the people dwelling in the neighbourhood of the new community; comp. Ezra 9:1; Ezra 10:2. The notion is: They erected the altar and restored the worship of Jahve, for the purpose of securing the divine protection, because fear of the surrounding heathen population had fallen upon them. J. H. Mich. had already a correct notion of the verse when he wrote: ut ita periculi metus eos ad Dei opem quaerendam impulerit.

(Note: Bertheau, on the contrary, cannot understand the meaning of this sentence, and endeavours, by an alteration of the text after 1 Esdras, to make it signify that some of the people of the countries came with the purpose of obstructing the building of the altar, but that the Israelites were able to effect the erection because a fear of God came upon the neighbouring nations, and rendered them incapable of hostile interference.)

Comp. the similar case in 2 Kings 17:25., when the heathen colonists settled in the deserted cities of Samaria entreated the king of Assyria to send them a priest to teach them the manner of worshipping the God of the land, that thus they might be protected from the lions which infested it. The Chethiv ויאל must be taken impersonally: “one (they) offered;” but is perhaps only an error of transcription, and should be read ויּעלוּ . On the morning and evening sacrifices, see on Exodus 28:38., Numbers 28:3.

Ezra 3:4

They kept the feast of tabernacles as prescribed in the law, Leviticus 23:34. “The burnt-offering day by day, according to number,” means the burnt-offering day by day, according to number,” means the burnt-offerings commanded for the several days of this festival, viz., on the first day thirteen oxen, on the second twelve, etc.; comp. Num 29:13-34, where the words כּמשׁפּט בּמספּרם , Numbers 29:18, Numbers 29:21, Numbers 29:24, etc., occur, which are written in our present verse כּם בּמספּר , by number, i.e., counted; comp. 1 Chronicles 9:28; 1 Chronicles 23:31, etc.

Ezra 3:5-6

And afterward, i.e., after the feast of tabernacles, they offered the continual, i.e., the daily, burnt-offering, and (the offerings) for the new moon, and all the festivals of the Lord (the annual feasts). עלות must be inserted from the context before לחדשׁים to complete the sense. “And for every one that willingly offered a free-will offering to the Lord.” נדבה is a burnt-offering which was offered from free inclination. Such offerings might be brought on any day, but were chiefly presented at the annual festivals after the sacrifices prescribed by the law; comp. Numbers 29:39. - In Ezra 3:6 follows the supplementary remark, that the sacrificial worship began from the first day of the seventh month, but that the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. This forms a transition to what follows.

(Note: Bertheau, comparing Ezra 3:6 with Ezra 3:5, incorrectly interprets it as meaning: “From the first day of the seventh month the offering of thank-offerings began (comp. Ezra 3:2); then, from the fifteenth day of the second month, during the feast of tabernacles, the burnt-offerings prescribed by the law (Ezra 3:4); but the daily burnt-offerings were not recommenced till after the feast of tabernacles, etc. Hence it was not from the first day of the seventh month , but subsequently to the feast of tabernacles, that the worship of God, so far as this consisted in burnt-offerings, was fully restored.” The words of the cursive manuscript, however, do not stand in the text, but their opposite. In Ezra 3:2, not thank-offerings ( זבהים or שׁלמים ), but burnt-offerings ( עלות ), are spoken of, and indeed those prescribed in the law, among which the daily morning and evening burnt-offering, expressly named in Ezra 3:3, held the first place. With this, Ezra 3:5, “After the feast of tabernacles they offered the continual burnt-offering, and the burnt-offerings for the new moon,” etc., fully harmonizes. The offering of the continual, i.e., of the daily, burnt-offerings, besides the new moon, the feast-days, and the free-will offerings, is named again merely for the sake of completeness. The right order is, on the contrary, as follows: The altar service, with the daily morning and evening sacrifice, began on the first day of the seventh month; this daily sacrifice was regularly offered, according to the law, from then till the fifteenth day of the second month, i.e., till the beginning of the feast of tabernacles; all the offerings commanded in the law for the separate days of this feast were then offered according to the numbers prescribed; and after this festival the sacrifices ordered at the new moon and the other holy days of the year were offered, as well as the daily burnt-offerings, - none but these, neither the sacrifice on the new moon (the first day of the seventh month) nor the sin-offering on the tenth day of the same month, i.e., the day of atonement, having been offered before this feast of tabernacles.)

Ezra 3:7

Preparations were also made for the rebuilding of the temple; money was given to hewers of wood and to masons, and meat and drink (i.e., corn and wine) and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians (i.e., the Phoenicians; comp. 1 Chronicles 22:4), to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa (i.e., to the coast of Joppa), as was formerly done by Solomon, 1 Kings 5:6., 2 Chronicles 2:7. כּרשׁיון , according to the grant of Cyrus to them, i.e., according to the permission given them by Cyrus, sc. to rebuild the temple. For nothing is said of any special grant from Cyrus with respect to wood for building. רשׁיון is in the O.T. ἁπ. λεγ. ; in Chaldee and rabbinical Hebrew, רשׁא and רשׁי mean facultatem habere; and רשׁוּ power, permission.


Verses 8-13

The foundation of the temple laid. - Ezra 3:8 In the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, i.e., after their arrival at Jerusalem on their return from Babylon, in the second month, began Zerubbabel and Joshua to appoint the Levites from twenty years old and upwards to the oversight of the work (the building) of the house of the Lord. That is to say, the work of building was taken in hand. Whether this second year of the return coincides with the second year of the rule of Cyrus, so that the foundations of the temple were laid, as Theophil. Antioch. ad Autolic . lib. 3, according to Berosus, relates, in the second year of Cyrus, cannot be determined. For nothing more is said in this book than that Cyrus, in the first year of his reign, issued the decree concerning the return of the Jews from Babylon, whereupon those named in the list, Ezra 2, set out and returned, without any further notice as to whether this also took place in the first year of Cyrus, or whether the many necessary preparations delayed the departure of the first band till the following year. The former view is certainly a possible though not a very probable one, since it is obvious from Ezra 2:1 that they arrived at Jerusalem and betook themselves to their cities as early as the seventh month of the year. Now the period between the beginning of the year and the seventh month, i.e., at most six months, seems too short for the publication of the edict, the departure, and the arrival at Jerusalem, even supposing that the first year of Cyrus entirely coincided with a year of the Jewish calendar. The second view, however, would not make the difference between the year of the rule of Cyrus and the year of the return to Jerusalem a great one, since it would scarcely amount to half a year. ויּעמידוּ ... החלּוּ , they began and appointed, etc., they began to appoint, i.e., they began the work of building the temple by appointing. Those enumerated are-1. Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two rulers: 2. The remnant of their brethren = their other brethren, viz., a , the priests and Levites as brethren of Joshua; b , all who had come out of captivity, i.e., the men of Israel, as brethren of Zerubbabel. These together formed the community who appointed the Levites to preside over, i.e., to conduct the building of the temple. For the expression, comp. 1 Chron 23:4-24.

Ezra 3:9

The Levites undertook this appointment, and executed the commission. The singular ויּעמד stands before a plural subject, as is frequently the case when the verb precedes its subject. Three classes or orders of Levites are named: 1. Jeshua with his sons and brethren; 2. Kadmiel with his sons, the sons of Hodaviah; 3. The sons of Henadad, their sons and brethren. Jeshua and Kadmiel are the two heads of orders of Levites already named (Ezra 2:40). From a comparison of these passages, we perceive that יהוּדה בּני is a clerical error for הודויה (or הודיּה ) בּני . This more precise designation is not “a comprehensive appellation for all hitherto enumerated” (Bertheau), but, as is undoubtedly obvious from Ezra 2:40, only a more precise designation of the sons of Kadmiel. כּאחד , as one, i.e., all, without exception. The third class, the sons of Henadad, are not expressly named in Ezra 2:40 among those who returned from Babylon; but a son of Henadad appears, Nehemiah 3:24 and Nehemiah 10:10, as head of an order of Levites. The naming of this order after the predicate, in the form of a supplementary notice, and unconnected by a ו cop., is striking. Bertheau infers therefrom that the construction of the sentence is incorrect, and desires to alter it according to 1 Esdr. 5:56, where indeed this class is named immediately after the two first, but יהוּדה בּני is separated from what precedes; and of these בני יהודה is made a fourth class, υἱοὶ Ἰωδά τοῦ Ἡλιαδούδ . All this sufficiently shows that this text cannot be regarded as authoritative. The striking position or supplementary enumeration of the sons of Henadad may be explained by the fact to which the placing of כּאחד after בני יהודה points , viz., that the two classes, Jeshua with his sons and brethren, and Kadmiel with his sons, were more closely connected with each other than with the sons of Henadad, who formed a third class. The הלויּם at the end of the enumeration offers no argument for the transposition of the words, though this addition pertains not only to the sons of Henadad, but also to the two first classes. hm' עשׂה is plural, and only an unusual reading for עשׁי ; see on 1 Chronicles 23:24.

Ezra 3:10-11

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they (Zerubbabel and Joshua, the heads of the community) set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David. The perf. ויסּדוּ , followed by an imperf. connected by a Vav consecutive, must be construed: When they laid the foundations, then. מלבּשׁים , clothed, sc. in their robes of office; comp. 2 Chronicles 5:12; 2 Chronicles 20:21. ידי על as 1 Chronicles 25:2. On Ezra 3:11, comp. remarks on 1 Chronicles 16:34, 1 Chronicles 16:41; 2 Chronicles 5:13; 2 Chronicles 7:3, and elsewhere. Older expositors (Clericus, J. H. Mich.), referring to Exodus 15:21, understand בהלּל ויּענוּ of the alternative singing of two choirs, one of which sang, “Praise the Lord, for He is good;” and the other responded, “And His mercy endureth for ever.” In the present passage, however, there is no decided allusion to responsive singing; hence (with Bertheau) we take יענוּ in the sense of, “They sang to the Lord with hymns of thanksgiving.” Probably they sang such songs as Ps 106-107, or Ps 118, which commence with an invitation to praise the Lord because He is good, etc. All the people, moreover, raised a loud shout of joy. גּדולה תּרוּעה is repeated in Ezra 3:13 by השּׂמחה תּרוּעת . הוּסד על , on account of the founding, of the foundation-laying, of the house of the Lord. הוּסד as in 2 Chronicles 3:3.

Ezra 3:12

But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the people, the old men who had seen (also) the former temple, at the foundation of this house before their eyes (i.e., when they saw the foundation of this house laid), wept with a loud voice. Solomon's temple was destroyed b.c. 588, and the foundation of the subsequent temple laid b.c. 535 or 534: hence the older men among those present at the latter event might possibly have seen the former house; indeed, some (according to Hagg. Ezra 2:2) were still living in the second year of Darius Hystaspis who had beheld the glory of the earlier building. Upon these aged men, the miserable circumstances under which the foundations of the new temple were laid produced so overwhelming an impression, that they broke into loud weeping. בּיסדו is connected by its accents with the words preceding: the former temple in its foundation, i.e., in its stability. But this can scarcely be correct. For not only does no noun יסד , foundation, occur further on; but even the following words, “of this house before their eyes,” if severed from בּיסדו , have no meaning. Hence (with Aben Ezra, Cler., Berth., and others) we connect בּיסדו with the parenthetical sentence following, “when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes;” and then the suffix of the infinitive יסדו expressly refers to the object following, as is sometimes the case in Hebrew, e.g., 2 Chronicles 26:14; Ezra 9:1, and mostly in Chaldee; comp. Ew. §209, c , “But many were in rejoicing and joy to raise their voice,” i.e., many so joyed and rejoiced that they shouted aloud.

Ezra 3:13

And the people could not discern (distinguish) the loud cry of joy in the midst of (beside) the loud weeping of the people; for the people rejoiced with loud rejoicings, and the sound was heard afar off. The meaning is not, that the people could not hear the loud weeping of the older priests, Levites, and heads of the people, because it was overpowered by the loud rejoicings of the multitude. The verse, on the contrary, contains a statement that among the people also (the assembly exclusive of priests, Levites, and chiefs) a shout of joy and a voice of weeping arose; but that the shouting for joy of the multitude was so loud, that the sounds of rejoicing and weeping could not be distinguished from each other. הכּיר , with the acc. and ל , to perceive something in the presence of (along with) another, i.e., to distinguish one thing from another. “The people could not discern” means: Among the multitude the cry of joy could not be distinguished from the noise of weeping. למרחוק עד as 2 Chronicles 26:15.