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Ezra Chapter Three

 

Ezra 3 Outlines

1.Worship Restored at Jerusalem (v.1~7)

2.Restoration of the Temple Begins (v. 8~13)

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