Ezra 5:1-11

Temple Work Resumed

1 When the prophets, ¹Haggai the prophet and ²Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them,

2 then ³Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and ⁴the prophets of God were with them supporting them.

3 At that time ⁵Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, "⁶Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?"

4 ⁷Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building.

5 But ⁸the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a written reply be returned concerning it.

Adversaries Write to Darius

6 This is the copy of the letter which ⁹Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues ¹⁰the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king.

7 They sent a report to him in which it was written thus: "To Darius the king, all peace.

8 "Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is being built with huge stones, and beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is going on with great care and is succeeding in their hands.

9 "Then we asked those elders and said to them thus, 'Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?'

10 "We also asked them their names so as to inform you, and that we might write down the names of the men who were at their head.

11 "Thus they answered * us, saying, 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, ¹¹which a great king of Israel built and finished.

Ezra 5:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 5

This chapter relates, how that the people of the Jews were stirred up by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah to set about the building of the temple again, notwithstanding the orders to the contrary from the deputy governors of the king of Persia; nor could the present ones cause them to cease from it; though it must be owned they behaved towards them in a better manner than the former ones did, Ezr 5:1-5, and who, upon the answers received from the Jews, wrote a letter to Darius, to know the truth of things; and in which they seem to state fairly the case of the Jews, as they had it from them, so far as they understood it, Ezr 5:6-17.

\\son of Iddo\\ The grandson of Iddo; for he was the son of Berechiah, Zec 1:1,

\\prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name\\ \\of the God of Israel\\; this they both did in the second year of Darius; the one began in the sixth month, and the other in the eighth month of the year, Hag 1:1, Zec 1:1, even "unto them"; or "against them", as De Dieu; reproving them for their sloth and neglect of building the temple, when they were careful enough to raise up goodly houses for themselves to dwell in; and for being intimidated by the command of the king of Persia, which only forbid the building of the city, that is, the walls of it, but not the temple any more than their own houses; and besides, there was now a new king, from whom they had not so much to fear. 20094-950306-0810-Ezr5.2

Cross References

• 1. Haggai 1:1
• 2. Zechariah 1:1
• 3. Ezra 3:2; Haggai 1:12; Zechariah 4:6-9
• 4. Ezra 6:14; Haggai 2:4; Zechariah 3:1
• 5. Ezra 6:6, 13
• 6. Ezra 1:3; Ezra 5:9
• 7. Ezra 5:10
• 8. Ezra 7:6, 28
• 9. Ezra 5:3
• 10. Ezra 4:9
• 11. 1 Kings 6:1, 38

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. Euphrates River, and so throughout the ch
• [b]. Lit "house," and so in vv 9, 11, 12
• [c]. Lit "timber is"
• [d]. Lit "returned us the word"