Ezra 6:4

4 with three layers of cut^[a] stones and one of timber.^[b] The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.

Ezra 6:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 6:4

With three rows of great stones
Which Jarchi interprets of the walls of it, and these stones of marble; and so Ben Melech:

and a row of new timber;
of cedar wood upon the rows of stone, see ( 1 Kings 6:36 ) or for the lining and wainscoting the walls:

and let the expenses be given out of the king's house;
treasury, or exchequer; but it does not appear that this part of the decree was observed, at least hitherto; but the Jews built at their own expense, and perhaps did not exactly observe the directions given as to the dimensions of the house.

Ezra 6:4 In-Context

2 But it was in the fortress of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found with this record written on it:

3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its [original] foundations be retained. Its height is to be 90 feet and its width 90 feet,

4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timber. The cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.

5 The gold and silver articles of God's house that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon must also be returned. They are to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem, where they belong, and put into the house of God.

6 Therefore, you must stay away from that place, Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues, the officials in the region.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or huge
• [b]. 1 Kgs 6:36