Ezra 3:7

Preparations for Rebuilding the Temple

3:7 So they provided money ¹  for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon ²  and Tyre, ³  so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport ⁴  at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ⁵  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ⁶  King David of Israel. ⁷ 

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ⁸  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ⁹  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ¹⁰  from the time ¹¹  of King Esarhaddon ¹²  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ¹³ 

Ezra 4:23

4:23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ¹⁴  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ¹⁵ 

Ezra 5:8

5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, ¹⁶  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

Ezra 5:14

5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace ¹⁷  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ¹⁸  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ¹⁹  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ²⁰  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ²¹  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ²²  feet, ²³ 

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ²⁴  who reaches out ²⁵  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ²⁶  Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ²⁷  of the king of Assyria ²⁸  toward them, so that he assisted ²⁹  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

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¹ tn Heb “silver.”

² map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

³ map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁴ tn Heb “to the sea”

⁵ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

⁶ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

⁷ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

⁸ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

⁹ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

¹⁰ tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran MS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

¹¹ tn Heb “days.”

¹² sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

¹³ sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.

¹⁴ tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”

¹⁵ tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.

¹⁶ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

¹⁷ tn Or “temple.”

¹⁸ tn Aram “they were given.”

¹⁹ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

²⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²¹ tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

²² tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “twenty cubits” here, a measurement probably derived from dimensions given elsewhere for Solomon’s temple. According to 1 Kgs 6:2 the dimensions of the Solomonic temple were as follows: length, 60 cubits; width, 20 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Since one would expect the dimensions cited in Ezra 6:3 to correspond to those of Solomon’s temple, it is odd that no dimension for length is provided. The Syriac has apparently harmonized the width dimension provided here (“twenty cubits”) to that given in 1 Kgs 6:2.

²³ tn Aram “Its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

²⁴ tn Aram “people.”

²⁵ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

²⁶ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

²⁷ tn Heb “heart.”

²⁸ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

²⁹ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”