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Ezra 6:19 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

19 And the children H1121 of the captivity H1473 kept H6213 the passover H6453 upon the fourteenth H702 H6240 day of the first H7223 month. H2320

Cross Reference

Exodus 12:6-36 STRONG

And ye shall keep H4931 it up until the fourteenth H702 H6240 day H3117 of the same month: H2320 and the whole H3605 assembly H6951 of the congregation H5712 of Israel H3478 shall kill H7819 it in H996 the evening. H6153 And they shall take H3947 of the blood, H1818 and strike H5414 it on the two H8147 side posts H4201 and on the upper door post H4947 of the houses, H1004 wherein they shall eat H398 it. And they shall eat H398 the flesh H1320 in that night, H3915 roast H6748 with fire, H784 and unleavened bread; H4682 and with bitter H4844 herbs they shall eat H398 it. Eat H398 not of it raw, H4995 nor sodden H1310 H1311 at all with water, H4325 but roast H6748 with fire; H784 his head H7218 with his legs, H3767 and with the purtenance H7130 thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain H3498 until the morning; H1242 and that which remaineth H3498 of it until the morning H1242 ye shall burn H8313 with fire. H784 And thus H3602 shall ye eat H398 it; with your loins H4975 girded, H2296 your shoes H5275 on your feet, H7272 and your staff H4731 in your hand; H3027 and ye shall eat H398 it in haste: H2649 it is the LORD'S H3068 passover. H6453 For I will pass H5674 through the land H776 of Egypt H4714 this night, H3915 and will smite H5221 all the firstborn H1060 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 both man H120 and beast; H929 and against all the gods H430 of Egypt H4714 I will execute H6213 judgment: H8201 I am the LORD. H3068 And the blood H1818 shall be to you for a token H226 upon the houses H1004 where ye are: and when I see H7200 the blood, H1818 I will pass H6452 over you, and the plague H5063 shall not be upon you to destroy H4889 you, when I smite H5221 the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 And this day H3117 shall be unto you for a memorial; H2146 and ye shall keep H2287 it a feast H2282 to the LORD H3068 throughout your generations; H1755 ye shall keep it a feast H2287 by an ordinance H2708 for ever. H5769 Seven H7651 days H3117 shall ye eat H398 unleavened bread; H4682 even H389 the first H7223 day H3117 ye shall put away H7673 leaven H7603 out of your houses: H1004 for whosoever eateth H398 leavened bread H2557 from the first H7223 day H3117 until the seventh H7637 day, H3117 that soul H5315 shall be cut H3772 off from Israel. H3478 And in the first H7223 day H3117 there shall be an holy H6944 convocation, H4744 and in the seventh H7637 day H3117 there shall be an holy H6944 convocation H4744 to you; no manner of work H4399 shall be done H6213 in them, save H389 that which every man H5315 must eat, H398 that only may be done H6213 of you. And ye shall observe H8104 the feast of unleavened bread; H4682 for in this selfsame H6106 day H3117 have I brought H3318 your armies H6635 out of the land H776 of Egypt: H4714 therefore shall ye observe H8104 this day H3117 in your generations H1755 by an ordinance H2708 for ever. H5769 In the first H7223 month, on the fourteenth H6240 H702 day H3117 of the month H2320 at even, H6153 ye shall eat H398 unleavened bread, H4682 until the one H259 and twentieth H6242 day H3117 of the month H2320 at even. H6153 Seven H7651 days H3117 shall there be no leaven H7603 found H4672 in your houses: H1004 for whosoever eateth H398 that which is leavened, H2556 even that soul H5315 shall be cut off H3772 from the congregation H5712 of Israel, H3478 whether he be a stranger, H1616 or born H249 in the land. H776 Ye shall eat H398 nothing leavened; H2556 in all your habitations H4186 shall ye eat H398 unleavened bread. H4682 Then Moses H4872 called H7121 for all the elders H2205 of Israel, H3478 and said H559 unto them, Draw out H4900 and take H3947 you a lamb H6629 according to your families, H4940 and kill H7819 the passover. H6453 And ye shall take H3947 a bunch H92 of hyssop, H231 and dip H2881 it in the blood H1818 that is in the bason, H5592 and strike H5060 the lintel H4947 and the two H8147 side posts H4201 with the blood H1818 that is in the bason; H5592 and none H376 of you shall go out H3318 at the door H6607 of his house H1004 until the morning. H1242 For the LORD H3068 will pass through H5674 to smite H5062 the Egyptians; H4714 and when he seeth H7200 the blood H1818 upon the lintel, H4947 and on the two H8147 side posts, H4201 the LORD H3068 will pass over H6452 the door, H6607 and will not suffer H5414 the destroyer H7843 to come H935 in unto your houses H1004 to smite H5062 you. And ye shall observe H8104 this thing H1697 for an ordinance H2706 to thee and to thy sons H1121 for H5704 ever. H5769 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come H935 to the land H776 which the LORD H3068 will give H5414 you, according as he hath promised, H1696 that ye shall keep H8104 this service. H5656 And it shall come to pass, when your children H1121 shall say H559 unto you, What mean ye by this service? H5656 That ye shall say, H559 It is the sacrifice H2077 of the LORD'S H3068 passover, H6453 who passed H6452 over the houses H1004 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 in Egypt, H4714 when he smote H5062 the Egyptians, H4714 and delivered H5337 our houses. H1004 And the people H5971 bowed the head H6915 and worshipped. H7812 And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 went away, H3212 and did H6213 as the LORD H3068 had commanded H6680 Moses H4872 and Aaron, H175 so did H6213 they. And it came to pass, that at midnight H2677 H3915 the LORD H3068 smote H5221 all the firstborn H1060 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 from the firstborn H1060 of Pharaoh H6547 that sat H3427 on his throne H3678 unto the firstborn H1060 of the captive H7628 that was in the dungeon; H1004 H953 and all the firstborn H1060 of cattle. H929 And Pharaoh H6547 rose up H6965 in the night, H3915 he, and all his servants, H5650 and all the Egyptians; H4714 and there was a great H1419 cry H6818 in Egypt; H4714 for there was not a house H1004 where there was not one dead. H4191 And he called H7121 for Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 by night, H3915 and said, H559 Rise up, H6965 and get you forth H3318 from among H8432 my people, H5971 both ye and the children H1121 of Israel; H3478 and go, H3212 serve H5647 the LORD, H3068 as ye have said. H1696 Also take H3947 your flocks H6629 and your herds, H1241 as ye have said, H1696 and be gone; H3212 and bless H1288 me also. And the Egyptians H4714 were urgent H2388 upon the people, H5971 that they might send H7971 them out of the land H776 in haste; H4116 for they said, H559 We be all dead H4191 men. And the people H5971 took H5375 their dough H1217 before it was leavened, H2556 their kneadingtroughs H4863 being bound up H6887 in their clothes H8071 upon their shoulders. H7926 And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 did H6213 according to the word H1697 of Moses; H4872 and they borrowed H7592 of the Egyptians H4714 jewels H3627 of silver, H3701 and jewels H3627 of gold, H2091 and raiment: H8071 And the LORD H3068 gave H5414 the people H5971 favour H2580 in the sight H5869 of the Egyptians, H4714 so that they lent H7592 unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled H5337 the Egyptians. H4714

Joshua 5:10 STRONG

And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 encamped H2583 in Gilgal, H1537 and kept H6213 the passover H6453 on the fourteenth H702 H6240 day H3117 of the month H2320 at even H6153 in the plains H6160 of Jericho. H3405

2 Chronicles 30:1-27 STRONG

And Hezekiah H3169 sent H7971 to all Israel H3478 and Judah, H3063 and wrote H3789 letters H107 also to Ephraim H669 and Manasseh, H4519 that they should come H935 to the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 at Jerusalem, H3389 to keep H6213 the passover H6453 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel. H3478 For the king H4428 had taken counsel, H3289 and his princes, H8269 and all the congregation H6951 in Jerusalem, H3389 to keep H6213 the passover H6453 in the second H8145 month. H2320 For they could H3201 not keep H6213 it at that time, H6256 because the priests H3548 had not sanctified H6942 themselves sufficiently, H4078 H1767 neither had the people H5971 gathered themselves together H622 to Jerusalem. H3389 And the thing H1697 pleased H3474 H5869 the king H4428 and all the congregation. H6951 So they established H5975 a decree H1697 to make proclamation H5674 H6963 throughout all Israel, H3478 from Beersheba H884 even to Dan, H1835 that they should come H935 to keep H6213 the passover H6453 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 at Jerusalem: H3389 for they had not done H6213 it of a long H7230 time in such sort as it was written. H3789 So the posts H7323 went H3212 with the letters H107 from H3027 the king H4428 and his princes H8269 throughout all Israel H3478 and Judah, H3063 and according to the commandment H4687 of the king, H4428 saying, H559 Ye children H1121 of Israel, H3478 turn again H7725 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Abraham, H85 Isaac, H3327 and Israel, H3478 and he will return H7725 to the remnant H7604 of you, that are escaped H6413 out of the hand H3709 of the kings H4428 of Assyria. H804 And be not ye like your fathers, H1 and like your brethren, H251 which trespassed H4603 against the LORD H3068 God H430 of their fathers, H1 who therefore gave them up H5414 to desolation, H8047 as ye see. H7200 Now be ye not stiffnecked, H7185 H6203 as your fathers H1 were, but yield H5414 yourselves H3027 unto the LORD, H3068 and enter H935 into his sanctuary, H4720 which he hath sanctified H6942 for ever: H5769 and serve H5647 the LORD H3068 your God, H430 that the fierceness H2740 of his wrath H639 may turn away H7725 from you. For if ye turn again H7725 unto the LORD, H3068 your brethren H251 and your children H1121 shall find compassion H7356 before H6440 them that lead them captive, H7617 so that they shall come again H7725 into this land: H776 for the LORD H3068 your God H430 is gracious H2587 and merciful, H7349 and will not turn away H5493 his face H6440 from you, if ye return H7725 unto him. So the posts H7323 passed H5674 from city H5892 to city H5892 through the country H776 of Ephraim H669 and Manasseh H4519 even unto Zebulun: H2074 but they laughed them to scorn, H7832 and mocked H3932 them. Nevertheless divers H582 of Asher H836 and Manasseh H4519 and of Zebulun H2074 humbled H3665 themselves, and came H935 to Jerusalem. H3389 Also in Judah H3063 the hand H3027 of God H430 was to give H5414 them one H259 heart H3820 to do H6213 the commandment H4687 of the king H4428 and of the princes, H8269 by the word H1697 of the LORD. H3068 And there assembled H622 at Jerusalem H3389 much H7227 people H5971 to keep H6213 the feast H2282 of unleavened bread H4682 in the second H8145 month, H2320 a very H3966 great H7230 congregation. H6951 And they arose H6965 and took away H5493 the altars H4196 that were in Jerusalem, H3389 and all the altars for incense H6999 took they away, H5493 and cast H7993 them into the brook H5158 Kidron. H6939 Then they killed H7819 the passover H6453 on the fourteenth H702 H6240 day of the second H8145 month: H2320 and the priests H3548 and the Levites H3881 were ashamed, H3637 and sanctified H6942 themselves, and brought in H935 the burnt offerings H5930 into the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068 And they stood H5975 in their place H5977 after their manner, H4941 according to the law H8451 of Moses H4872 the man H376 of God: H430 the priests H3548 sprinkled H2236 the blood, H1818 which they received of the hand H3027 of the Levites. H3881 For there were many H7227 in the congregation H6951 that were not sanctified: H6942 therefore the Levites H3881 had the charge of the killing H7821 of the passovers H6453 for every one that was not clean, H2889 to sanctify H6942 them unto the LORD. H3068 For a multitude H4768 of the people, H5971 even many H7227 of Ephraim, H669 and Manasseh, H4519 Issachar, H3485 and Zebulun, H2074 had not H3808 cleansed H2891 themselves, yet did they eat H398 the passover H6453 otherwise than it was written. H3789 But Hezekiah H3169 prayed H6419 for them, saying, H559 The good H2896 LORD H3068 pardon H3722 every one That prepareth H3559 his heart H3824 to seek H1875 God, H430 the LORD H3068 God H430 of his fathers, H1 though he be not cleansed according to the purification H2893 of the sanctuary. H6944 And the LORD H3068 hearkened H8085 to Hezekiah, H3169 and healed H7495 the people. H5971 And the children H1121 of Israel H3478 that were present H4672 at Jerusalem H3389 kept H6213 the feast H2282 of unleavened bread H4682 seven H7651 days H3117 with great H1419 gladness: H8057 and the Levites H3881 and the priests H3548 praised H1984 the LORD H3068 day H3117 by day, H3117 singing with loud H5797 instruments H3627 unto the LORD. H3068 And Hezekiah H3169 spake H1696 comfortably H3820 unto all the Levites H3881 that taught H7919 the good H2896 knowledge H7922 of the LORD: H3068 and they did eat H398 throughout the feast H4150 seven H7651 days, H3117 offering H2076 peace H8002 offerings, H2077 and making confession H3034 to the LORD H3068 God H430 of their fathers. H1 And the whole assembly H6951 took counsel H3289 to keep H6213 other H312 seven H7651 days: H3117 and they kept H6213 other seven H7651 days H3117 with gladness. H8057 For Hezekiah H2396 king H4428 of Judah H3063 did give H7311 to the congregation H6951 a thousand H505 bullocks H6499 and seven H7651 thousand H505 sheep; H6629 and the princes H8269 gave H7311 to the congregation H6951 a thousand H505 bullocks H6499 and ten H6235 thousand H505 sheep: H6629 and a great number H7230 of priests H3548 sanctified H6942 themselves. And all the congregation H6951 of Judah, H3063 with the priests H3548 and the Levites, H3881 and all the congregation H6951 that came out H935 of Israel, H3478 and the strangers H1616 that came out H935 of the land H776 of Israel, H3478 and that dwelt H3427 in Judah, H3063 rejoiced. H8055 So there was great H1419 joy H8057 in Jerusalem: H3389 for since the time H3117 of Solomon H8010 the son H1121 of David H1732 king H4428 of Israel H3478 there was not the like in Jerusalem. H3389 Then the priests H3548 the Levites H3881 arose H6965 and blessed H1288 the people: H5971 and their voice H6963 was heard, H8085 and their prayer H8605 came H935 up to his holy H6944 dwelling place, H4583 even unto heaven. H8064

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Ezra 6

Commentary on Ezra 6 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-12

The decision of Darius. - Ezra 6:1-5. At the command of Darius, search was made in the archives of the royal treasury; and in the fortress of Achmetha in Media, was found the roll in which was recorded the edict published by Cyrus, concerning the building of the temple at Jerusalem.

Ezra 6:1

Search was made in the house of the books where also the treasures were deposited in Babylon. מהחתין , partic. Aphel of נחת ; see Ezra 5:15.

Ezra 6:2-4

“And there was found at Achmetha, in the fortress that is in the land of Media, a roll; and thus was it recorded therein.” In Babylon itself the document sought for was not found; though, probably the search there made, led to the discovery of a statement that documents pertaining to the time of Cyrus were preserved in the fortress of Achmetha, where the record in question was subsequently discovered. אחמתא , the capital of Great Media - τὰ Εκβάτανα , Judith 1:1, 14, or Ἀγβάτανα (Herod. i. 98) - built by Dejokes, was the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings, and situate in the neighbourhood of the modern Hamadan. Achmetha is probably the Old-Median or Old-Persian pronunciation of the name, the letters אחם on Sassanidian coins being explained as denoting this city (Mordtmann in the Zeitschrift der deutsch morgenl. Gesellschaft , viii. p. 14). The citadel of Ecbatana probably contained also the royal palace and the official buildings. For בּגוּהּ is found in some MSS and editions בּגוּהּ ; but Norzi and J. H. Mich. have Pathach under ו as the better authorized reading. דּכרונה , stat. emph . of דּכרון , memorandum , ὑπόμνημα , a record of anything memorable. The contents of this document follow, Ezra 6:3-5. First, the proclamation of King Cyrus in the first year of his reign: “The house of God at Jerusalem, let this house be built as a place where sacrifices are offered.” The meaning of the words following is doubtful. We translate מסובלין ואשּׁוחי : and let them raise up its foundations, i.e., its foundations are to be again raised up, restored. אשּׁין , foundations ( Ezra 4:12); מסובלין , part. Poel of סבל , to carry, to raise (not to be raised). סבל often stands for the Hebrew נשׂא , to carry, to raise up, to erect; compare the Samaritan translation of Genesis 13:10 : וסבל את עגין , he lifted up his eyes. סובל אשּׁין analogous with מוסדי ד קומם , Isaiah 58:12, and signifies to erect buildings upon the foundations.

(Note: The Vulgate, following a rabbinical explanation, has ponant fundamenta supportantia, which is here unsuitable. The conjecture of Bertheau, who labours, by all sorts of critical combinations of the letters in the words מסובלין ואשּׁוחי , to produce the text תמנים מאה אמין אשוהי , “its foundation length 180 cubits,” is as needless as it is mistaken. The interpretation of the words in the lxx, καὶ ἔθηκεν ἔπαρμα , and Pseudo-Ezra 6, διὰ πυρός ἐνδελεχους , are nothing else than unmeaning suppositions.)

Expositors are divided as to the dimensions of the new temple, “its height 60 cubits, and its breadth 60 cubits,” Antiq . xi. 4. 6; while Solomon's temple was but 30 cubits high, and, without the side-buildings, only 20 cubits broad. We nevertheless consider the statements correct, and the text incorrupt, and explain the absence of the measure of length simply by the fact that, as far as length was concerned, the old and new temples were of equal dimensions. Solomon's temple, measured externally, inclusive of the porch and the additional building at the hinder part, was about 100 cubits long (see the ground plan in my bibl. Archaeol . Table II. fig. 1). To correspond with this length, the new temple was, according to the desire of Cyrus, to be both higher and broader, viz., 60 cubits high, and as many wide, - measurements which certainly apply to external dimensions. Zerubbabel's temple, concerning the structure of which we have no further particulars, was externally of this height and breadth. This may be inferred from the speech of King Herod in Joseph. Ant . xv. 11. 1, in which this tyrant, who desired to be famous for the magnificence of his buildings, endeavoured to gain the favour of the people for the rebuilding of the temple, which he was contemplating, by the remark that the temple built by their forefathers, on their return from the Babylonian captivity, was 60 cubits too low, - Solomon's temple having been double that height (sc. according to the height given in 2 Chronicles 3:4, 120 cubits) - and from the fact that Herod made his temple 100 or 120 cubits high. Hence the temple of Zerubbabel, measured externally, must have been 60 cubits high; and consequently we need not diminish the breadth of 60 cubits, also given in this verse, by alterations of the text, because Herod's temple was likewise of this width, but must understand the given dimensions to relate to external height and breadth. For in Herod's temple the holy places were but 60 cubits high and 20 wide; the holy place, 40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high; the holy of holies, 20 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high. And we may assume that the dimensions of Zerubbabel's temple preserved the same proportions, with perhaps the modification, that the internal height did not amount to 60 cubits, - an upper storey being placed above the holy place and the holy of holies, as in Herod's temple; which would make the internal height of these places amount to only about 30 or 40 cubits.

(Note: While we acknowledge it possible that the holy and most holy places, measured within, may have been only 40 cubits high, we cannot admit the objection of H. Merz, in Herzog's Realencycl. xv. p. 513, that 20 cubits of internal breadth is an inconceivable proportion to 60 cubits, this being the actual proportion in Herod's temple, as Merz himself states, p. 516, without finding it in this instance ”inconceivable.”)

In like manner must the 60 cubits of breadth be so divided, that the 5 cubits internal breadth of the side-buildings of Solomon's temple must be enlarged to 10, which, allowing 5 cubits of thickness for the walls, would make the entire building 60 cubits wide (5 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 10 + 5).

(Note: The conjecture of Merz in his above-cited article, and of Bertheau, that the dimensions of Zerubbabel's temple were double those of Solomon's, - viz. the holy and most holy places 40 cubits high and 40 wide, the upper chambers 20 cubits high, the side-chambers each 10 cubits high, and the whole building 120 cubits long, - must be rejected as erroneous, by the consideration that Herod's temple was only the length of Solomon's, viz., 100 cubits, of which the holy of holies took up 20, the holy place 40, the porch 10, the additional building behind 10, and the four walls 20. For Herod would by no means have diminished the length of his building 20, or properly 40 cubits. We also see, from the above-named dimensions, that the 60 cubits broad cannot be understood of internal breadth.)

The statement in Ezra 6:4, “three layers of great stones, and a layer of new timber,” is obscure. נדבּך means row, layer, and stands in the Targums for the Hebrew טוּר , “used of a layer of bricks;” see Gesen. Thes . p. 311, and Levy, chald. Wörterbuch , ii. p. 93. גּלל אבן , stone of rolling, one that is rolled and cannot be carried, i.e., a great building stone. חדת , novus , as an epithet to אע , is remarkable, it being self-evident that new wood is generally used for a new building. The lxx translates εἷς , reading the word חדה (Ezra 6:3). This statement involuntarily recalls the notice, 1 Kings 6:36, that Solomon built the inner court, ארזים כּרתת וטוּר גזית טוּרי שׁלשׁה ; hence Merz expresses the supposition that “this is certainly a fragment, forming the conclusion of the whole design of the building, which, like that in 1 Kings 6:36, ends with the porch and the walls of the fore-court,” Thus much only is certain, that the words are not to be understood, as by Fritzsche on 1 Esdr. 6:25, as stating that the temple walls were built of “three layers of large stones, upon which was one layer of beams,” and therefore were not massive; such kind of building never being practised in the East in old times. “And let the expenses be given out of the king's house.” This is more precisely stated in Ezra 6:8 of the royal revenues on this side the river. נפקא the expense (from נפק , Aphel, to expend), therefore the cost of building.

Ezra 6:5

“And also let the vessels ... be restored, and brought again to the temple at Jerusalem, to their place, and (thou) shalt place them in the house of God.” On the matter of this verse, comp. Ezra 1:7 and Ezra 5:14. The sing. יהך (comp. Ezra 5:5) is distributive: it (each vessel) to its place. ותחת (comp. אחת Ezra 5:15) cannot, according to the sense, be third pers. fem. (neutr.), but only second pers. imperf. Aphel: thou shalt place. None but Sheshbazzar can be addressed (Ezra 5:15), though he is not named in Ezra 6:3. The historian is evidently not giving the contents of the document word for word, but only its essential matter; hence he infers the address to Sheshbazzar from the answer of the Jewish elders (Ezra 5:15). Perhaps it was also remarked in the document, that Coresh caused the sacred vessels to be delivered to Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1:8).

Ezra 6:6-12

Acting upon the discovered edict, Darius warned the governor and royal officials on this side the Euphrates, not to hinder the building of the house of God at Jerusalem. On the contrary, they were to promote it by furnishing what was necessary for the work, and paying the expenses of the building out of the royal revenues to the elders of the Jews (Ezra 6:6-8). They were also to provide for the worship of God in this temple such animals as the priests should require for sacrifice (Ezra 6:9, Ezra 6:10), under pain of severe punishment for transgressing this command as also for any injury done to the temple (Ezra 6:11, Ezra 6:12). This decree was undoubtedly communicated to the governor in the form of a written answer to his inquiries (Ezra 6:13). Without, however, expressly stating this to be the case, as Ezra 6:1 and Ezra 4:17 would lead us to expect, the historian gives us in Ezra 6:6. the actual contents of the royal edict, and that in the form of a direct injunction to the governor and his associates on this side the river: “Now Tatnai, governor, ... be ye far from thence.” The suffix וּכנותהון , and their associates, is indeed unsuitable to the form of an address, of which Tatnai and Shethar-Boznai are the subjects; the narrator, however, in using it, had in mind the title or introduction of the royal letter. On this matter, comp. Ezra 5:6. רחק and רחיק , to be far from, figuratively to keep from anything, e.g., from good, Psalms 53:2. מן־תּמּה , from thence, from Jerusalem; in other words, trouble yourselves no longer, as, according to Ezra 5:3, you have done about what is being done there.

Ezra 6:7

“Let the work of the house of God alone.” שׁבק with an accusative, to leave anything, to let it go on without hindrance. “Let the Pechah of the Jews (Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel) and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.” The ל to לשׂבי introduces a second subject with special emphasis: And as far as regards the elders of the Jews, i.e., the Pechah, and especially the elders.

Ezra 6:8

“And a decree is (hereby) made by me, what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, i.e., how you shall behave towards them ( עם עבד = עם עשׂה , Genesis 24:12.), to build this house, i.e., that this house may be built: namely, ( ו expl.) of the royal moneys, of the custom ( מדּה , see remarks on Ezra 4:13) on this side the river, let expenses (the cost of building) be punctually given to these men, that there be no hindrance.” לבטּלא דּי־לא , that there be no cessation or leisure from work, i.e., that the work is not to be discontinued. On the construction of the לא with the following infinitive, comp. Daniel 6:9. The Vulgate renders the sense correctly by ne impediatur opus .

Ezra 6:9

“And what is needful, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings of the God of leaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests at Jerusalem (i.e., as the priests shall require for the service of God), let it be given them day by day without fail.” מה is joined with the plur. fem. of the partic. חשׁחן , and is defined by the enumeration which follows. משׁח , properly the anointing, then oil as the means of anointing. On להוא and להון , see remarks on Ezra 4:12. שׁלוּ דּי־לא , that there be no failure.

Ezra 6:10

The end the king had in view in all this follows: “That they (the priests) may offer sacrifices well-pleasing to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.” ניחוחין (comp. Daniel 2:46) are sacrifices agreeable to God, ניחוחין ריח (Leviticus 1:9, Leviticus 1:13, and elsewhere), i.e., sacrifices pleasing to God. Cyrus had commanded the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, because he acknowledged the God of Israel to be the God of heaven, who had given him the kingdoms of the earth (Ezra 1:2). Darius was treading in his footsteps by also owning the God of the Jews as the God of heaven, and desiring that the blessing of this God might rest upon himself and his dynasty. Such an acknowledgment it was possible for the Persian kings to make without a renunciation of their polytheism. They could honour Jahve as a mighty, nay, as the mightiest God of heaven, without being unfaithful to the gods of their fathers; while the Jews could also, in the interest of their own welfare, pray and offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord for the life of the king to whom God had caused them to be subject (comp. Jeremiah 29:7). Accordingly we find that in after times sacrifices were regularly offered for the king on appointed days: comp. 1 Macc. 7:33, 12:11; 2 Macc. 3:35, 13:23; Joseph. Antiq . xii. 2. 5, and elsewhere.

Ezra 6:11

To inculcate obedience to his command, Darius threatens to punish its transgression with death: “If any one alters this command, let a beam be torn from his house, and let him be fastened hanging thereon.” To alter a command means to transgress or abolish it. אע , a piece of wood, a beam. זקיף , raised on high, is in Syriac the usual word for crucified, and is to be so understood here. מחא , to strike, with על , strike upon, fasten to, nail to. This kind of capital punishment was customary among the Assyrians (Diod. Sic. ii. 1), the ancient Persians, and many other nations, but seems to have been executed in different manners among different people. Among the Assyrians it generally consisted in the impalement of the delinquent upon a sharp strong wooden post; comp. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon , p. 355, and Nineveh and its Remains , p. 379, with the illustration fig. 58. According to Herod. iii. 159, Darius impaled as many as 3000 Babylonians after the capture of their city ( ἀνεσκολόπισε ). Crucifixion proper, however, i.e., nailing to a cross, also occurred among the Persians; it was, however, practised by nailing the body of the criminal to a cross after decapitation; see the passages from Herodotus in Brissonii de regio Persarum princip . l. ii. c. 215. “And let his house be made a dunghill.” See remarks on Daniel 2:5 and 2 Kings 10:27.

Ezra 6:12

Finally, Darius adds the threat: “The God who has caused His name to dwell there, destroy every king and (every) people that shall stretch forth the hand to alter (this command), to destroy this house of God at Jerusalem.” The expression, “the God who has caused His name to dwell there,” is indeed specifically Israelitish (comp. Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 14:23; Jeremiah 7:12; Nehemiah 1:9), and therefore undoubtedly originated with the Jewish historian; but the matter itself, the wish that God Himself would destroy him who should injure His temple, recalls the close of the inscription of Bisitun, wherein the judgments of Ahuramazda are imprecated upon him who should dare to injure the image and inscription, and his blessing invoked upon him who should respect them (Berth.).


Verses 13-18

The execution of the royal decree, the completion of the building, and the dedication of the new temple. - Ezra 6:13 Tatnai and his associate diligently executed the commands of Darius. “Because Darius the king sent (i.e., despatched to them the letter, whose contents have just been given, Ezra 6:6), they speedily acted accordingly in the manner stated” ( כּנמא ).

Ezra 6:14

The elders of the Jews, moreover, built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah, who thereby effected the resumption of the work, and promised them success. ב is used of the rule by which, or manner in which anything is done. “They built and finished (the building) according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artachshasta, kings of Persia.” The naming of Artachshasta presents some difficulty; for since it is impossible to conceive that a predecessor of Darius is intended by a name which follows the name of that monarch, none but Artaxerxes Longimanus can be meant, and he did not reign till long after the completion of the temple. Cleric. and J. H. Mich. explain the mention of his name by the consideration that Artaxerxes, by his edict (Ezra 7:15, Ezra 7:21), contributed to the maintenance, though not to the building, of the temple.

(Note: “ Nam etsi ,” remarks Calovius in J. H. Mich., adnotatt. uber. ad h. l., “ non ad structuram templi conduxerit proprie edictum Artaxerxis, quae Darii secundo anno incepta et sexto absoluta fuit , Ezra 6:15 ad ornamenta tamen et additamenta eam spectasse dubium non est: quae ab ipso, ceu rege post Cyrum et Darium erga Judaeos Persarum omnium benignissimo, profecta hic celebratur .” Similarly but more briefly explained by Clericus.)

It may in this instance be questionable whether the name ארתחשׁשׁתא was added by the author of the Chaldee section, or by Ezra when he introduced this into his book. We believe the latter to be the correct view, because the Chaldee section, to judge by the אמרנא , Ezra 5:4, was composed by one who lived contemporaneously with the building of the temple, while from the date of the completion of the temple to the seventh year of Artaxerxes fifty-seven years elapsed.

Ezra 6:15

And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar (the twelfth month), which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. שׁיציא , according to the Keri שׁיצי , with the א dropped, is the Shaphel of יצא , to bring a thing to an end, to finish it. The form שׁיציא is not a participle pass. formed from the Shaphel (Gesen.), for this would be משׁיציא , but a Hebraized passive form of the Shaphel in the meaning of the Targumistic Ishtaphal, like חיתיוּ , Daniel 3:13, and חיתית , Daniel 6:18, with the active היתיו , Daniel 6:17. In the Targums שׁיצי has mostly an active, and only in a few passages the intransitive meaning, to end, to be at the end; comp. Levy, chald. Wörterbuch, s.v.

(Note: Instead of the “ third day,” which the lxx also has, in accordance with the Hebrew text, 1 Esdr. 7:5 gives the three-and-twentieth day of the month Adar, - a statement which Bertheau arbitrarily insists upon regarding as the original reading, because “the view that the compiler altered the third into the twenty-third day, because it seemed to him more fitting to assume an eight days' celebration of the dedication (comp. 1 Kings 8:60; 2 Chronicles 29:18), and to fill up therewith also the eight last days of the year, is rather far-fetched.” Such a view, however, would be entirely consistent with the whole spirit of 1 Esdras.)

Ezra 6:16-17

The sons of Israel, more exactly the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. חנכּה עבד = the Hebrew חנכּה עשׂה , to celebrate the dedication (2 Chronicles 7:9). בּחדוה , Hebrew בּשׂמחה ; see Nehemiah 8:10. They brought for the dedication a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs as burnt-offerings, and twelve he-goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, because the temple was intended for the entire covenant people, whose return to the Lord and to the land of their fathers, according to the predictions of the prophets, was hoped for (comp. e.g., Ezekiel 37:15., Jeremiah 31:27.), not, as older expositors thought, because certain families of the ten tribes, who had before settled in Judah, were also among those who returned (J. H. Mich. ad h. l .).

Ezra 6:18

At the same time, the priests and Levites were appointed, according to their classes and divisions, to the service of the temple, that they might henceforth fulfil their office, each class in its week ( 2 Chronicles 23:4; 2 Kings 11:9). והקימוּ corresponds with the Hebrew ויּעמידוּ , Ezra 3:8, and elsewhere. As Bertheau justly remarks, “The services of public worship, which after the completion of the temple were to be performed by the priests and Levites, according to ancient ordinance, are here spoken of.” With these words the Chaldee section closes.


Verses 19-22

Celebration of the feast of the passover, and of the feast of unleavened bread , in the year following the dedication, as an historical testimony to the fact that the worship of God with its festivals was regularly carried on in the new temple.

Ezra 6:19-20

The feast of the passover, on the fourteenth day of the first month, took place only a few weeks after the dedication of the temple. The reason given in Ezra 6:20 - for the priests and Levites had purified themselves without exception ( כּאחד , like Ezra 3:9); they were all clean, and they killed the passover for all the sons of the captivity (i.e., the laity who had returned from exile), and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves - has in this connection the meaning: Then the congregation celebrated the passover, and they were able to keep and to eat the passover, because the priests had purified themselves that they might be qualified for performing the office incumbent upon them of sprinkling the blood; and the Levites were also clean, that they might be able to kill the lambs for the whole congregation (comp. the remarks on 2 Chronicles 30:17, etc., and 2 Chronicles 35:11, 2 Chronicles 35:14). From the days of Josiah, it seems to have been customary for the Levites to take the place of the heads of families (Exodus 12:6, etc.) in slaughtering the passover lambs for the whole community, both priesthood and laity: for the laity, that no person who was unclean might kill the paschal lamb; for the priests, that their labours might be lightened, the sprinkling of blood and the offering of sacrifices occupying them far into the night (2 Chronicles 35:11, 2 Chronicles 35:14-15). And this custom was followed at this time also. The priests are called אחיהם , brethren of the Levites, as in 2 Chronicles 29:34; 2 Chronicles 35:15.

Ezra 6:21

Thus the sons of Israel who had returned from captivity, and all that had separated themselves unto them from the uncleanness of the heathen of the country to seek Jahve the God of Israel, could eat the passover. הארץ גּויי = הארץ עמּי , Ezra 10:2, Ezra 10:11, are the heathen races dwelling in Palestine. The expression is not essentially different from הארצות עמּי , Ezra 9:1., Ezra 3:3, and is only distinguishable therefrom, inasmuch as the latter appellation includes not merely the heathen inhabitants of Palestine, but also the heathen of other lands, as the Moabites, Ammonites, Egyptians, etc. (Ezra 9:1.). Those who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the heathen to them (the Jews) to seek Jahve, are not proselytes from heathenism (Aben Ezra, Rashi, Clericus, and others), but Israelites, who had till now lived in Palestine, and mingled with the heathen inhabitants of the land. They were descended from those Israelites whom the kings of Assyria and Babylon had not carried away from the realms of Israel and Judah, and who with respect to religion had combined heathenism and the worship of Jahve (2 Kings 17:32, etc.), and thus defiled themselves with heathen impurity, but who now, after the erection of the temple, joined themselves to the new community, for the purpose of worshipping with them the God of their fathers in His temple, according to the law of Moses. For, as Bertheau rightly remarks, “in the days of Ezra the princes of the new community complain that the laity, the priests, and Levites do not separate from the people of the lands (Ezra 9:1); reference is made to the dangers which threaten the Israelites, because they dwell in the holy land among the unclean (Ezra 9:10). To separate from the uncleanness of the nations means to renounce intermarriage and other connection with them. Ezra 10:2, Ezra 10:10. They are Israelites who are summoned, Ezra 10:11, to separate from the peoples of the land; the seed of Israel is, in Nehemiah 9:2, separated from the sons of the stranger, and in Nehemiah 10:29 they who separate from them are evidently Israelites, for, when they bind themselves to walk according to the law of God, they are said to join their brethren, i.e., their fellow-countrymen.” Hence in this passage also we cannot but regard those who separated themselves as Israelites, dissolving their connection with the heathen for the sake of the God of Israel.

Ezra 6:22

Hereupon they kept the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned to them (i.e., had made them joyful by turning to them) the heart of the king of Assyria. With regard to the expression, comp. 2 Chronicles 20:27; Nehemiah 12:43. The king of Assur is the Persian king Darius, who as ruler of the former realm of Assyria is thus designated. The turning of this king's heart to them consisted in this, that their hands were strengthened for the work of the house of God, i.e., that through the goodwill of the king they were enabled to complete the building of their temple, and to restore the worship of the God of Israel. On בּ ידיהם חזּק , comp. 1 Samuel 23:19.