Esdras 5:8

8 Sea notorio al rey, que fuimos á la provincia de Judea, á la casa del gran Dios, la cual se edifica de piedra de mármol; y los maderos son puestos en las paredes, y la obra se hace apriesa, y prospera en sus manos.

Esdras 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 5:8

Be it known unto the king
This seems to have been the usual form of beginning a letter to a king in those days, ( Ezra 4:12 ) that we went into the province of Judea; which from a kingdom was reduced to a province, and was become a part of the Babylonian, now Persian, monarchy, see ( Ezra 2:1 ) to the house of the great God; as the Jews called the Lord their God; and even the Heathens had a notion that there was one supreme God, though they worshipped inferior ones; and some had a notion that Jehovah the God of the Jews was he:

which is builded with great stones;
marble stones; as Jarchi ^F17, stones of rolling, as it may be rendered; which, according to Aben Ezra, were so large and heavy, that they could not be carried, but were obliged to roll them:

and timber is laid in the walls,
cedar wood, as Aben Ezra interprets it, for beams, for flooring and raftering; or rather, is put upon the walls, for the lining and wainscoting of them, which was done with cedar wood:

and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands;
and, unless timely prevented, will soon be finished.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 So David de Pomis, Tzemach David, fol. 15. 3.

Esdras 5:8 In-Context

6 Traslado de la carta que Tatnai, capitán de la parte allá del río, y Sethar-boznai, y sus compañeros los Apharsachêos, que estaban á la parte allá del río, enviaron al rey Darío.

7 Enviáronle carta, y de esta manera estaba escrito en ella. Al rey Darío toda paz.

8 Sea notorio al rey, que fuimos á la provincia de Judea, á la casa del gran Dios, la cual se edifica de piedra de mármol; y los maderos son puestos en las paredes, y la obra se hace apriesa, y prospera en sus manos.

9 Entonces preguntamos á los ancianos, diciéndoles así: ¿Quién os dió mandameinto para edificar esta casa, y para restablecer estos muros?

10 Y también les preguntamos sus nombres para hacértelo saber, para escribir te los nombres de los varones que estaban por cabezas de ellos.