Ezra 6:13-18

Temple is Dedicated and Completed

13 Then Tattenai the governor of the [province] Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates consequently did with diligence what Darius the king ordered.

14 So the elders of the Jews were building and prospering, through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building by the command of the God of Israel and by the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.

15 This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

16 And the {Israelites}, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the {returned exiles} celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

17 And they offered during the dedication of this house of God one hundred young bulls, two hundred young rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering for Israel [according to] the number of the tribes of Israel.

18 Then they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their sections for the work of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

Ezra 6:13-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 6

Darius, on receiving the letter from his officers in Samaria, searched for the decree of Cyrus, and found it, and which he confirmed, Ezr 6:1-7 and made a fresh decree, and ordered expenses to be given out of his tribute for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices of it; and that whosoever altered it should be hanged on the timber of his own house, and imprecated a curse on those that should destroy the house of God, Ezr 6:8-12 upon which the building went on, and was finished, Ezr 6:13-15 and the temple was dedicated to God in a solemn manner, Ezr 6:16-18, and the passover was kept by all the people, Ezr 6:19-22.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [b]. Literally "sons of the exile"