Ezra 6:2

2 and there was found at Achm'ta, in the palace which is in the province of Media, a scroll on which was written the following: "Memorandum:

Ezra 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 6:2

And there was found at Achmetha
Which Jarchi and Aben Ezra take to be the name of a vessel in which letters and writings were put for safety; but it was no doubt the name of a place; the Vulgate Latin version has it Ecbatana; and so Josephus ^F19; which was the name of a city in Media, where the kings of that country had their residence in the summer time ^F20; for it has its name from heat ^F21; the Persian kings dwelt at Shushan in the winter, and at Ecbatana in the summer {w}; hence they are compared by Aelian ^F24 to cranes, birds of passage, because of their going to and from the above places:

in the palace that is in the province of the Medes,
here was found

a roll;
which was the decree of Cyrus, which perhaps he took with him when he went thither:

and therein was a record thus written;
as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 4. sect. 6.
F20 Curtius, l. 5. c. 8. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 6.
F21 Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 618.
F23 Athen. Deipnosophist, l. 12. c. 1.
F24 De Animal. l. 3. c. 13.

Ezra 6:2 In-Context

1 Daryavesh the king issued an order; and search was made in the archives building, where treasures were stored in Bavel;

2 and there was found at Achm'ta, in the palace which is in the province of Media, a scroll on which was written the following: "Memorandum:

3 "In the first year of Koresh the king, Koresh the king issued this decree: 'Concerning the house of God in Yerushalayim, let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offer sacrifices; and let its foundations be firmly laid. Its height is to be ninety feet and its breadth ninety feet,

4 with three rows of large stones and one row of new timber. The expenses are to be charged to the king's treasury.

5 Also let the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which N'vukhadnetzar removed from the temple at Yerushalayim and brought to Bavel, be restored and returned to the temple in Yerushalayim, each item to its place; and you are to put them in the house of God.'