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Ezra Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
Ezra
3:1 And when the
seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities,
the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
YLT And the seventh month cometh, and the sons of Israel [are] in the
cities, and the people are gathered, as one men, unto Jerusalem.
And when the seventh month was come
The month Tisri, which answers to part of September and October; or when it
"was approaching" F16,
for before it was actually come some following things were done, the people
met, and an altar was built; for on the first day of it sacrifices were
offered, ( Ezra 3:6 ) ,
and the children of Israel were in the cities;
their respective cities, settling their domestic affairs:
the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem;
the thing was universal, and done with as much dispatch as if only one man was
concerned; and it seems to denote as if they were under a divine impulse, and
came together without any consultation, or knowledge of each other's designs,
and without summons.
FOOTNOTES:
F16 (egyw) "cum
appropinquaret", Piscator.
Ezra
3:2 Then
Jeshua the son of Jozadak[a] and his
brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren,
arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it,
as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
YLT And rise doth Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests,
and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and they build the altar of
the God of Israel, to cause to ascend upon it burnt-offerings, as it is written
in the law of Moses, the man of God.
Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak
Who was the high priest, and the proper person to give the lead in the
following work:
and his brethren the priests;
the common priests, very fit to join him, and assist him in it:
and Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel;
the prince and governor of Judah, whose presence was necessary to give
countenance to the work, and animate to it:
and his brethren;
the princes and heads of the people, particularly those mentioned ( Ezra
2:2 )
and builded the altar of the God of Israel;
the altar of burnt offering, gave orders for the building of it, and directions
about it:
to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of
Moses the man of God;
or prophet of God, as the Syriac version; see ( Leviticus 1:1-17 ) .
Ezra
3:3 Though fear had
come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar
on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both
the morning and evening burnt offerings.
YLT And they establish the altar on its bases, because of the fear
upon them of the peoples of the lands, and he causeth burnt-offerings to ascend
upon it to Jehovah, burnt-offerings for the morning and for the evening.
And they set the altar upon his bases
Which might remain of the old altar; or the meaning is, that it was fixed and
settled on the same spot where it stood before:
for fear was upon them, because of the people of those countries;
and therefore they hastened to erect an altar, and offer sacrifices to the
Lord, in hope that he would appear for them, and help them against their
enemies; or rather, as some render the words F17
"though fear was upon them" yet they were not deterred from the work,
worship, and service of God:
and they offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, even burnt
offerings, morning and evening;
the daily sacrifice, as directed to ( Exodus 29:38 Exodus 29:39 ) .
FOOTNOTES:
F17 (yk) "quamvis",
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Patrick.
Ezra
3:4 They
also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered
the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.
YLT And they make the feast of the booths as it is written, and the
burnt-offering of the day daily in number according to the ordinance, the
matter of a day in its day;
They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written
According to the rules prescribed for the observation of it in ( Leviticus 23:34-42 ) this began on the fifteenth
day of the seventh month:
and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the
custom, as the duty of every day required;
for on all the eight days of the feast there was a certain number of sacrifices
fixed for every day; and exactly according to the law concerning them did they
offer them at this time; see ( Numbers 29:12-38 ) .
Ezra
3:5 Afterwards
they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons
and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated,
and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord.
YLT and after this a continual burnt-offering, and for new moons, and
for all appointed seasons of Jehovah that are sanctified; and for every one who
is willingly offering a willing-offering to Jehovah.
And afterwards offered the continual burnt offering
Not after the feast of tabernacles, as if they then began to offer the daily
sacrifice; for that they did as soon as the altar was set up, and on the first
day of the month, ( Ezra 3:3 Ezra
3:6 ) , rather the sense is, that after the daily burnt offering of
the morning, they offered the other sacrifices peculiar to the several days of
the feast of tabernacles; they never neglected that, yea, always began with it;
all the rest were after it, and so on other festivals:
both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the Lord that
were consecrated;
to the service of the Lord, and the honour of his name, as every first day of
the month, and every other appointed festival, they offered the sacrifices
appropriate to each; but not to the neglect of that sacrifice, and always after
it:
and of everyone that willingly offered a freewill offering unto
the Lord;
these they were careful also to offer in their proper time.
Ezra
3:6 From
the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the
foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid.
YLT From the first day of the seventh month they have begun to cause
burnt-offerings to ascend to Jehovah, and the temple of Jehovah hath not been
founded,
From the first of the seventh month began they to offer burnt
offerings unto the Lord
And which day was not only a new moon, but a grand festival, the feast of
blowing of trumpets, ( Leviticus 23:24 Leviticus 23:25 ) , and no doubt but they
observed the tenth day of this month, with all the rites of it, which was the
day of atonement, ( Leviticus 23:27-32 ) ,
but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid;
they began first with sacrifices, that having thereby given thanks to God for
their return to their own land, and for all the benefits they enjoyed, and made
atonement for their sins in a typical way, they might be the more prepared and
fit for the work of building the temple; or, "though the foundation"
of it was not laid F26,
yet they offered the above sacrifices.
FOOTNOTES:
F26 Etsi, Michaelis.
Ezra
3:7 They
also gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to
the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to the sea, to
Joppa, according to the permission which they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
YLT and they give money to
hewers and to artificers, and food, and drink, and oil to Zidonians and to
Tyrians, to bring in cedar-trees from Lebanon unto the sea of Joppa, according
to the permission of Cyrus king of Persia concerning them.
They gave money also to the masons, and to the carpenters
To buy stone and timber with for the building of the temple:
and meat and drink and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre;
which were more agreeable to them than money, because there was not plenty of
such things in their country, as in the land of Israel:
to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa;
as they did at the first building of the temple by Solomon; they cut down
cedars at Lebanon, which belonged to them, and sent them by sea to Joppa, the
nearest seaport to Jerusalem, about forty miles from it: see ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ) ,
according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia;
for Tyre and Zidon being under his dominion as well as Judea, he not only gave
leave to the Jews to get cedar wood from Lebanon, but gave orders to the
Zidonians and Tyrians to furnish them with it, paying a valuable consideration
for it; and so some F1
render the word, "according to the commandment of Cyrus".
FOOTNOTES:
F1 (Nwyvrk) "juxta praeceptum",
Vatablus; "juxta quod praeceperat", V. L. So Ben Melech.
Ezra
3:8 Now in the
second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at
Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak,[b] and the
rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come
out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites
from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord.
YLT
And in the second year
of their coming in unto the house of God, to Jerusalem, in the second month,
began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the remnant
of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those coming from the
captivity to Jerusalem, and they appoint the Levites from a son of twenty years
and upward, to overlook the work of the house of Jehovah.
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at
Jerusalem
The place where it formerly stood; the Jews seem to have set out from Babylon,
in the spring of the preceding year, as it was now of this; which to Jerusalem
was a journey of about four months, as Ezra performed it, ( Ezra
7:9 ) , but might take up longer time for such a body of people to
do it in, being larger than that with him; wherefore, after they had visited
their respective cities, and settled their affairs there, they came to
Jerusalem on the seventh month, or September, and kept the feast of
tabernacles, and then they returned to their cities again, the winter season
being an improper time to begin the building of the temple; having given money
to workmen to purchase materials with, and no doubt left a sufficient number to
clear away the rubbish, and get things ready by the returning spring to set
about the work:
in the second month;
the mouth Ijar, as Jarchi observes, answering to part of April and May, having,
as may be supposed, kept the passover the month before:
began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of
Jozadak:
the prince, and the high priest:
and the remnant of their brethren, the priests and Levites, and
all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem;
whose names and numbers are given in the preceding chapter:
and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upwards to set
forward the work of the house of the Lord;
to put men to work upon it, and direct them what to do, and urge them to attend
closely to it; ever since David's time the Levites were employed at twenty
years of age, when before not till thirty, or twenty five; see ( 1 Chronicles 23:24 ) .
Ezra
3:9 Then Jeshua with
his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah,[c] arose as
one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with
their sons and their brethren the Levites.
YLT And Jeshua standeth,
[and] his sons, and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah together,
to overlook those doing the work in the house of God; the sons of Henadad,
[and] their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Then stood Jeshua, with his sons
Not Jeshua the high priest before mentioned, but Jeshua the Levite, ( Ezra
2:40 ) ,
and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah,
together;
the same with Hodaviah, ( Ezra
2:40 )
to set forward the workmen in the house of God;
to give them orders to begin and lay the foundation, and hasten and animate
them to it:
the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the
Levites:
two of this man's sons are mentioned in ( Nehemiah 3:18 Nehemiah 3:24 ) ( 10:9 ) .
Ezra
3:10 When the
builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests
stood[d] in their
apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to
praise the Lord,
according to the ordinance of David king of Israel.
YLT And those building have
founded the temple of Jehovah, and they appoint the priests, clothed, with
trumpets, and the Levites, sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah, by
means of [the instruments of] David king of Israel.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the
Lord The masons, whose work it was, ( Ezra
3:7 )
they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets;
these were set in a proper place by the prince and the high priest, in their
priestly garments, with trumpets in their hands to blow with, as the foundation
was laying:
and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the
Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel;
these were instruments of brass, and made a tinkling sound, and were by the
order of David; and the persons that made use of them; and the songs of praise
they were played upon unto; all by his appointment, as well as harps and
psalteries, which might now be used, though not expressed; see ( 1 Chronicles 15:16 ) ( 25:1 ) . So the Messenians, when the walls of
their city were raised by Epaminondas, and their houses and temples erected,
attended it with sacrifices and prayer, and with piping and singing F2.
FOOTNOTES:
F2 Pausan. Messenica, sive, l. 4. p. 368.
Ezra
3:11 And they sang
responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord:
“For He is
good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.”[e] Then all
the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the
foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
YLT And they respond in
praising and in giving thanks to Jehovah, for good, for to the age His kindness
[is] over Israel, and all the people have shouted -- a great shout -- in giving
praise to Jehovah, because the house of Jehovah hath been founded.
And they sang together by course
They sang by turns in responses, and answered one another, as the word
signifies; when one company had performed their part, another took theirs:
in praising and giving thanks to the Lord;
for returning them to their own land, and giving them opportunity, ability, and
will, to set about the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord, and restoring the
pure worship of God;
because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel;
which words are often repeated in ( Psalms 136:1-26 ) and which might be the psalm
the Levites now sung by responses:
and all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised
the Lord;
to express their joy, in the best manner they could, on this solemn occasion:
because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid;
which gave them hope the temple in due time would be rebuilt, and the service
of it restored; see ( Job 38:6 Job
38:7 ) .
Ezra
3:12 But many of the
priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had
seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this
temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy,
YLT And many of the priests,
and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the aged men who had seen the
first house -- in this house being founded before their eyes -- are weeping
with a loud voice, and many with a shout, in joy, lifting up the voice;
But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers,
who were ancient men
Seventy or eighty years of age:
that had seen the first house;
the temple built by Solomon, as they very well might, since then it had been
destroyed but fifty two years; for the seventy years captivity are to be
reckoned from the fourth of Jehoiakim, when it began, and which was eighteen
years before the destruction of the temple; the beginning of the next clause,
when in the foundation,
according to the Hebrew accents, is to be connected with this,
that had seen the first house;
not when first founded, for that was five hundred years ago, but in "its
foundation"; they saw it standing upon its foundation, in all its glory,
and so the Septuagint version; and we may read on, when
this house was before their eyes, wept with a loud voice;
seeing what it was like to be by the foundation now laid, and was in their
sight as nothing in comparison of the former; see ( Haggai
2:3 ) but Aben Ezra connects this clause as we do,
when the foundation of this house was laid;
not but that the dimensions of this house strictly taken were as large as the
former: see ( Ezra 6:3 Ezra
6:4 ) , but not the courts and appendages to it: besides, what might
affect them, there was no likelihood of its being so richly decorated with gold
and silver as the former temple, and many things would be wanting in it, as the
Urim and Thummim
and many shouted aloud for joy;
of the younger sort, who had never seen the grandeur of the first temple, and
were highly delighted with the beginning of this, and the hope of seeing it finished.
Ezra
3:13 so that the
people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the
weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound
was heard afar off.
YLT and the people are not
discerning the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the
people, for the people are shouting -- a great shout -- and the noise hath been
heard unto a distance.
So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy
from the noise of the weeping of the people
That is, not clearly and distinctly, they were so mixed and confounded
together, and made such a jarring and discord:
for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard
afar off;
the shouting being of young people, whose voice was strongest, and they the
most numerous, the noise of shouting prevailed over the noise of weeping; and
it was heard further, and at a distance appeared more distinctly to be the
noise of shouting, that of weeping not reaching so far; though Jarchi is of
opinion that the noise of weeping was heard further than the noise of shouting,
which is not likely.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
NKJV Footnotes:
a.
Ezra 3:2 Spelled Jehozadak
in 1 Chronicles 6:14
b.
Ezra 3:8 Spelled Jehozadak
in 1 Chronicles 6:14
c.Ezra 3:9 Or Hodaviah
(compare 2:40)
d.
Ezra 3:10
Following Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text reads they stationed
the priests.
e.
Ezra 3:11 Compare Psalm 136:1