Ezra 6:4

4 and set they three orders of stones unpolished, and so the orders of new wood. And costs thereto should be given of the king's house. (and build they the walls out of three rows, or three layers, of unpolished stones, and one row, or one layer, of new timber. And let its costs, or its expenses, be paid out of the king's 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 And one book was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, and such a sentence of the king was written therein. (But one book was found in the city of Achmetha, in the province of Media, in the castle there, and this statement about the king was written in it;)
3 In the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king deemed, or ordained, that the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, should be builded (again) in the place where they offer(ed) sacrifices, and that they set (a) foundament supporting the height of sixty cubits, and the length of sixty cubits, (In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus ordained that the House of God, which was in Jerusalem, should be rebuilt in the place where they had offered sacrifices, and that they lay a foundation to support a height of sixty cubits, and a length of sixty cubits,)
4 and set they three orders of stones unpolished, and so the orders of new wood. And costs thereto should be given of the king's house. (and build they the walls out of three rows, or three layers, of unpolished stones, and one row, or one layer, of new timber. And let its costs, or its expenses, be paid out of the king's treasury.)
5 But also the golden and silveren vessels of God's temple, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple of Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon, be they yielded, and borne again into the temple of Jerusalem, and into their place, which vessels also be set in the temple of God. (And also let the gold and the silver vessels from the Temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be given back, and returned to the Temple in Jerusalem, to be put again in their proper place in the Temple of God.)
6 Now therefore Tatnai, duke of the country that is beyond the flood, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, (the) Apharsachites, which be beyond the flood, depart ye far (away) from them; (And so now Tatnai, the governor of the province that is west of the Euphrates River, and Shetharboznai, and your counsellors, or your officials, the Apharsachites, who also live there in the province west of the Euphrates River, should go far away from these people, that is, they should leave them alone;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.