Ezra 6:1

The Decree of Darius

1 Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.

Ezra 6:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 6:1

Then Darius the king made a decree
To make inquiry after the edict of Cyrus, to search the public records for it:

and search was made in the house of the rolls;
or "books" ^F18, in a public library or museum:

where the treasures were laid up in Babylon;
where things of worth and value were reposited; not only gold, silver, jewels, and precious stones, and things rare and curious, but all sorts of writings relating to the monarchy, and the dominions belonging to it; but it seems it could not be found here, and therefore the king ordered search to be made elsewhere.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F18 (ayrpo tybb) , (en taiv biblioyhkaiv) , Sept. "in bibliotheca", V. L. "in bibliotheca librorum", Tigurine version; "in domo librorum", Pagninus, Montanus.

Ezra 6:1 In-Context

1 Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.

2 And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:

3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,

4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.

5 Furthermore, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, must also be returned to the temple in Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.