Ezra 6:4

4 with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king.

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 But it was in Ecbatana in the province of Media, in the citadel, that a certain scroll had written on it, "A record.

3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued forth a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem. Let the house be built, the place where sacrifices are offered and let its foundations be raised. Its height [shall be] sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,

4 with three layers of great stones and a layer of timber. Let the new expenses be paid from the house of the king.

5 Also, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia, be returned and brought to the temple in Jerusalem to its place. Put them in the house of God."

6 "Now then, Tattenai governor of [the province] Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates, the envoys who are in [the province] Beyond the River--keep far away from there.