Ezra 3:6

6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD . This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD ’s Temple.

Ezra 3:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 3:6

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 3:6 In-Context

4 They celebrated the Festival of Shelters as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burnt offerings specified for each day of the festival.

5 They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the LORD . The people also gave voluntary offerings to the LORD .

6 Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burnt offerings to the LORD . This was even before they had started to lay the foundation of the LORD ’s Temple.

7 Then the people hired masons and carpenters and bought cedar logs from the people of Tyre and Sidon, paying them with food, wine, and olive oil. The logs were brought down from the Lebanon mountains and floated along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa, for King Cyrus had given permission for this.

8 The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The work force was made up of everyone who had returned from exile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the LORD ’s Temple.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew On the first day of the seventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in September or October. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.