Ezra 5:1

Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo,.... The grandson of Iddo; for he was the son of Berechiah, Zechariah 1:1, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and

Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

EZRA CHAPTER 5 Zerubbabel, being encouraged by Haggai and Zechariah the prophets, setteth forward the work, 2. Their adversaries oppose them again, . Their letter to Darius concerning this matter, . Zechariah the son of Iddo, i.e. Iddo’ s grandchild; for he was the son of Berechiah. In the name of the God of Israel; commanding them from God to return to the work of building the temple, with promise of his favour and assistance.

Ezra 5:1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that [were] in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, [even] unto them.Ver. 1. Then the prophets] He that is now called a prophet was previously called a seer, 1 Samuel 9:9, because his eyes were enlightened, Numbers 24:3, and he saw visions of God, Ezekiel 1:1 Daniel 1:17, prophets they were afterwards called, that is, interpreters of God’ s will by his command: Exodus 7:1, "Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet," that is, thine interpreter. By the mouth of these holy prophets God spake to his people in all ages, Luke 1:70. Yet not without some intermissions of prophecy, as the Church complaineth, Psalms 74:9, till that Cathimath Chazon (as the Jews call it), the sealing up of prophecy, which they place between the prophet Malachi and John Baptist, who was more than a prophet. The original word, Nabi, signifieth one that, from the inward counsel of God, uttereth oracles. Haggai the prophet] Who was not an angel incarnate, as Origen and Jerome held; but a young saint (as Epiphanius describeth him), and might therefore well be an old angel, if he lived to be old: Iuvenis admodum ex Babylone profectus est Hierosolymam, &c. An exceedingly young man left from Babylon for Jerusalem. (Epiph. lib. de Proph. Vit.). See more of him, Haggai 1:1. And Zechariah the son of Iddo] That is, of "Berechiah the son of Iddo," Zechariah 1:1, These two God sent within two months of each other, in the eighteenth year of the people’ s return out of Babylon; which happened to be in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, in 520 BC. according to Ussher’ s Chronology. Christ usually sent his prophets and apostles by couples, for mutual comfort, and greater confirmation. Prophesied unto the Jews] Who had brought a judgment of sore famine upon themselves by their slackness and backwardness to rebuild the house of God, Haggai 1:4; Haggai 1:6; and learn, of the heathen historian, to prefer God’ s interest before thine own, or else to look for his curse, τατου Yεουπρεσβυτεραητατωνανθρωπων (Herodot.). For he is a great King, and stands upon his seniority, Malachi 1:14; he will have us first to seek his kingdom, Matthew 6:33, and to give unto God the things that are God’ s, or we shall hear of him, to our small comfort, Matthew 22:21. In the name of the God of Israel] Who both authorized and enabled them. God sendeth none whom he gifteth not. The apostles also were ambassadors in the same name, 2 Corinthians 5:20, and so colleagues to the prophets, Luke 10:16, see 1 Peter 1:12; angels admiring the matter of their embassy, and their happy harmony. Even unto them] Who yet were very little amended by their seventy years’ captivity.

V. (1-2) Now occurs the intervention of the two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, whose testimonies and predictions should at this point be read. They reveal a state of apathy which Ezra does not allude to; such a state of things, in fact, as would have thwarted the whole design of Providence had it not been changed. Hence the abrupt return of the spirit of prophecy, some of the last utterances of which provoked or “stirred up “—as Cyrus had been stirred up—the spirit of the two leaders and of the heads of the families.

CHAPTER V Haggai and Zechariah the prophets encourage Zerubbabel and Jeshua to proceed with the building of the temple, 1, 2. Tatnai, the governor of the provinces on this side the Euphrates, and his companions, inquire by what authority they do this, 3-5. They write to Darius; a copy of the letter, 6-16. They request to know how they are to proceed, 17. NOTES ON CHAP. V Verse 1. Haggai - and Zechariah] These are the same whose writings we have among the twelve minor prophets. The son of Iddo] That is, the grandson of Iddo; for Zechariah was the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo. See his prophecy, Zechariah 1:1.

Chap. Ezra 5:1-2. The Voice of the Prophets and the National Revival1. Then the prophets] R.V. Now the prophets. The beginning of a new paragraph, cf. Ezra 1:1, Ezra 2:1, Ezra 3:8, Ezra 4:1. Haggai the prophet] After ‘the prophets’, immediately preceding, this designation seems superfluous. But a comparison with chap. Ezra 6:14, Haggai 1:1, shows that the phrase was commonly attached to Haggai’s name. The short extant book of Haggai’s prophecy combines reproof for the neglect with encouragement for the renewal of the work on the Temple. The book preserves prophecies uttered in the second year of Darius, (1) on the first day of the sixth month (Ezra 1:1), (2) on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Ezra 2:1), (3) on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Ezra 2:10). Zechariah the son of Iddo] cf. Ezra 6:14. In Zechariah 1:1; Zechariah 1:7 he is called ‘Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo the prophet’. An ‘Iddo’ is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:4 among the heads of priestly families that returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua: again in Nehemiah 12:16 we find a Zechariah mentioned as the son of Iddo and the head of a priestly house, in the days of Nehemiah. Zechariah was probably the grandson of Iddo, and in the genealogies called in preference ‘the son of Iddo’ rather than ‘the son of Berechiah’, either on account of his father’s early death, or because the name of ‘Zechariah the son of Berechiah’ would have been liable to confusion with ‘Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah’ (Isaiah 8:2). In the same way Laban is called the son of Nahor, not of Bethuel (cf. Genesis 24:47; Genesis 29:5), Jehu the son of Nimshi, not of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 9:14; 2 Kings 9:20), because the grandfather was the better known and the reputed founder of the house. Zechariah must have been a very young man (cf. Zechariah 2:4) when he began to prophesy, if (which is hardly likely) he was still alive in the time of Nehemiah (445 b.c.). The date given to the first prophecy in his book is the eighth month of the second year of king Darius (Zechariah 1:1). Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem] i.e. as distinguished from the Jews that were in the Captivity in Babylon. in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them] R.V. in the name of the God of Israel prophesied they unto them. R.V. marg. in the name of the God of Israel which was upon them. The words ‘unto’ or ‘upon them’ close the verse strangely. The R.V. text expresses with greater distinctness the rendering of the A.V. ‘unto them’. The rendering of the R.V. margin ‘which was upon them’ (i.e. the name of the God of Israel) although a harsh condensed expression, seems preferable. It is not at first sight evident who are intended by ‘upon them’.

Haggai and Zechariah stirred up Zerubbabel and Joshua Ezra 5:2; Haggai 1:14, and warned the people against neglecting the building of the temple, in order to give themselves to the beautifying of

THE OF THE TEMPLE RESUMED, Ezra 5:1-2. 1. Haggai… Zechariah — These prophets were contemporary, and both were probably among those exiles who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel.