Ezra 5:12-17

12 But after that our fathers provoked the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the Chaldean, king of Babylon, and he destroyed this house, and carried the people captive to Babylon.

13 And in the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be built.

14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nabuchodonosor brought out from the house that was in Jerusalem, and carried them into the temple of the king, them did king Cyrus bring out from the temple of the king, and gave them to Sabanasar the treasurer, who was over the treasurer;

15 and said to him, Take all the vessels, and go, put them in the house that is in Jerusalem in their place.

16 Then that Sabanazar came, and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem: and from that time even until now it has been building, and has not been finished.

17 And now, if it good to the king, lest search be made in the treasure-house of the king at Babylon, that thou mayest know that a decree was made by king Cyrus to build that house of God that was in Jerusalem, and let the king send to us when he has learnt concerning this .

Ezra 5:12-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 5

This chapter relates, how that the people of the Jews were stirred up by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah to set about the building of the temple again, notwithstanding the orders to the contrary from the deputy governors of the king of Persia; nor could the present ones cause them to cease from it; though it must be owned they behaved towards them in a better manner than the former ones did, Ezr 5:1-5, and who, upon the answers received from the Jews, wrote a letter to Darius, to know the truth of things; and in which they seem to state fairly the case of the Jews, as they had it from them, so far as they understood it, Ezr 5:6-17.

\\son of Iddo\\ The grandson of Iddo; for he was the son of Berechiah, Zec 1:1,

\\prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name\\ \\of the God of Israel\\; this they both did in the second year of Darius; the one began in the sixth month, and the other in the eighth month of the year, Hag 1:1, Zec 1:1, even "unto them"; or "against them", as De Dieu; reproving them for their sloth and neglect of building the temple, when they were careful enough to raise up goodly houses for themselves to dwell in; and for being intimidated by the command of the king of Persia, which only forbid the building of the city, that is, the walls of it, but not the temple any more than their own houses; and besides, there was now a new king, from whom they had not so much to fear. 20094-950306-0810-Ezr5.2