Ezra 5:11

11 This is what they told us: "We are servants of the God of the heavens and the earth. We are rebuilding The Temple that was built a long time ago. A great king of Israel built it, the entire structure.

Ezra 5:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 5:11

And thus they returned us answer
To the purpose and in the manner following:

saying, we are the servants of the God of heaven and earth;
signifying that they were doing his work, in obedience to his will, and to whom they were accountable:

and build the house that was builded these many years ago;
even five hundred years ago, or thereabout; so that they were not erecting a building where there was none before, but were rebuilding what was in ruins:

which a great king of Israel builded and set up;
King Solomon, who was a great king for wisdom, honour, riches, peace, prosperity, and extent of his kingdom.

Ezra 5:11 In-Context

9 We asked the leaders, "Who issued you the permit to rebuild this Temple and restore it to use?"

10 We also asked for their names so we could pass them on to you and have a record of the men at the head of the construction work.

11 This is what they told us: "We are servants of the God of the heavens and the earth. We are rebuilding The Temple that was built a long time ago. A great king of Israel built it, the entire structure.

12 But our ancestors made the God of the heavens really angry and he turned them over to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who knocked this Temple down and took the people to Babylon in exile.

13 "But when Cyrus became king of Babylon, in his first year he issued a building permit to rebuild this Temple of God.