Ezra 3:10

10 Now when the builders had ¹laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD ²according to the directions of King David of Israel.

Ezra 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 3:10

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Pausan. Messenica, sive, l. 4. p. 368.

Ezra 3:10 In-Context

8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who came from the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites from twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the LORD .

9 Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God.

10 Now when the builders had laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD , the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD according to the directions of King David of Israel.

11 They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD , saying, "For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever." And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

12 Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,

Cross References

• 1. Zechariah 4:6-10
• 2. 1 Chronicles 6:31; 1 Chronicles 25:1

Footnotes

• [a]. So with the Gr and some mss; M.T. "they set the priests"
• [b]. Lit "hands"