Ezra 3:6

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to bring burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not yet been laid.

Ezra 3:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 3:6

From the first of the seventh month began they to offer
burnt offerings unto the Lord
And which day was not only a new moon, but a grand festival, the feast of blowing of trumpets, ( Leviticus 23:24 Leviticus 23:25 ) , and no doubt but they observed the tenth day of this month, with all the rites of it, which was the day of atonement, ( Leviticus 23:27-32 ) ,

but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid;
they began first with sacrifices, that having thereby given thanks to God for their return to their own land, and for all the benefits they enjoyed, and made atonement for their sins in a typical way, they might be the more prepared and fit for the work of building the temple; or, "though the foundation" of it was not laid ^F26, yet they offered the above sacrifices.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F26 Etsi, Michaelis.

Ezra 3:6 In-Context

4 Then, to obey what was written, they celebrated the Feast of Shelters. They offered the right number of sacrifices for each day of the festival.

5 After the Feast of Shelters, they had regular sacrifices every day, as well as sacrifices for the New Moon and all the festivals commanded by the Lord. Also there were special offerings brought as gifts to the Lord.

6 On the first day of the seventh month they began to bring burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not yet been laid.

7 Then they gave money to the bricklayers and carpenters. They also gave food, wine, and oil to the cities of Sidon and Tyre so they would float cedar logs from Lebanon to the seacoast town of Joppa. Cyrus king of Persia had given permission for this.

8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, their fellow priests and Levites, and all who had returned from captivity to Jerusalem began to work. They chose Levites twenty years old and older to be in charge of the building of the Temple of the Lord.