Ezra 6

Darius searches the royal records and finds Cyrus’s original order to rebuild the temple. He confirms it, pays for the work from the royal treasury, and warns anyone who would interfere. The temple is finished and dedicated with great joy, and the returned exiles keep the Passover.

Ezra 6:1

The Jews’ enemies had challenged their right to build. Darius answered by ordering a search of the official records. The Persian kings kept careful files, and God used that habit to defend His people’s cause.

BSA: archives (“house of the rolls, library”): These were the royal storerooms of written scrolls, where decrees were kept for later checking.

Hebrew: בֵּית סִפְרַיָּא (beit sifrayya, H1005) — “house of the books or scrolls.” The Aramaic simply says ‘house of the scrolls.’ The Jews’ case was settled by a written record, not by argument.

Ezra 6:2

The decree was not in Babylon but in the fortress of Ecbatana, in Media. It was probably a summer residence of the Persian kings. A short note of Cyrus’s order had been filed there all along, waiting for this moment.

BSA: Memorandum (“a written record, a note”): It was a brief official note recording what the king had decided.

Hebrew: דִּכְרוֹנָה (dikhrona, H1799) — “a record, a memorandum.” The word comes from the idea of remembering. A forgotten paper was brought back to memory at just the right time.

Ezra 6:3-4

Cyrus’s order, in his first year, said the temple was to be rebuilt as a place of sacrifice, with its foundations firmly laid. The dimensions were large. The walls used three courses of stone and one of timber, and the royal treasury would pay.

BSA: rebuilt (“restored, reconstructed”): The aim was to restore the worship of the God of Israel in the place He had chosen.

See also: Ezra 1:1-4.

Ezra 6:5

Cyrus also ordered the temple’s gold and silver vessels, carried off by Nebuchadnezzar, to be returned. They had been taken as trophies. Now they go back to the house of God where they belong.

BSA: returned (“restored, brought back”): What had been taken away in judgment is given back in mercy.

See also: Ezra 1:7-8.

Ezra 6:6-7

Darius now speaks directly to Tattenai and his fellow officials, who had opposed the Jews. His order is blunt: stay away. The Jewish governor and elders are to rebuild the house of God on its original site.

BSA: alone (“undisturbed, without interference”): The builders are to work in peace, with no meddling from those who had questioned them.

Ezra 6:8

Darius does more than protect the work. He orders that its full cost be paid from the taxes collected in Tattenai’s own provinces. The very officials who obstructed the builders must now fund them.

BSA: hindered (“obstructed, delayed, ceased”): Nothing was to slow the work or stop it for lack of money.

Ezra 6:9-10

Darius also supplies the animals, grain, salt, wine and oil for the daily sacrifices, as the priests request. He asks that they pray for him and his sons. A pagan king ends up supporting the worship of the God of heaven.

BSA: sacrifices (“of sweet savors, pleasing aromas”): Offerings were pictured as rising to God as a fragrance that pleases Him.

Hebrew: נִיחוֹחִין (nichochin, H5208) — “pleasing, soothing fragrances.” The word is related to the idea of rest. The sacrifice is pictured as a calming, welcome aroma before God.

See also: Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

Ezra 6:11

Darius adds a harsh penalty for anyone who changes his order. A beam would be torn from the offender’s house and used to execute him, and his home would become a ruin. It reflects the severe justice of ancient kings.

BSA: impaled (“smitten, struck”): The Aramaic leans on the idea of being struck down on the raised beam. rubble (“dunghill, waste heap”): His house would be reduced to a place of shame and refuse.

Ezra 6:12

Darius closes with a prayer that God, who made His Name dwell in Jerusalem, would overthrow any king or nation that harms the temple. He then restates that the decree must be carried out with diligence.

BSA: dwell (“to reside, to rest”): God had chosen to place His Name there, so the temple was the place where He made Himself known. diligence (“care, eagerness, speed”): Darius wants the order carried out promptly and thoroughly.

Hebrew: שַׁכִּן (shakkin, H7932) — “caused to dwell, made to settle.” This is the same root behind the later word for God’s dwelling presence. Even a Persian decree speaks of God settling His Name among His people.

See also: Deuteronomy 12:5; 1 Kings 8:29.

Ezra 6:13

Tattenai and his colleagues obey at once. The men who had challenged the Jews now carry out the king’s command in full. God can turn the opposition of rulers into help for His work.

BSA: diligently (“with all diligence, eagerly”): They did not obey grudgingly but carried the order out thoroughly.

See also: Proverbs 21:1.

Ezra 6:14

The elders kept building, and the work prospered through the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. Their messages had stirred the people to restart. Their work was done by God’s command and by the decrees of Persian kings, and the verse sets both side by side.

BSA: prophesying (“inspired teaching, speaking God’s message”): The prophets spoke what God gave them, and their words put heart into the builders. prospered (“advanced, succeeded”): The work moved forward steadily instead of stalling again.

Hebrew: בִּנְבוּאַת (binevuat, H5017) — “by the prophesying of.” The building is said to prosper ‘by’ the prophetic word. Their success came from hearing and obeying God’s message.

See also: Haggai 1:14; Zechariah 4:9.

Ezra 6:15

The temple was finished on the third day of Adar, in Darius’s sixth year. Adar was the last month of the Hebrew year. After years of delay, the work reached its end.

BSA: completed (“finished, brought to an end”): The long and often interrupted work was brought to a full finish.

Ezra 6:16

All the people joined the dedication: priests, Levites and the rest of the returned exiles. They did not treat the day as a mere ceremony. They celebrated with joy.

BSA: dedication (“consecration, setting apart”): The house was formally set apart for God’s use alone. joy (“rejoicing, delight”): The gladness was genuine and shared by everyone.

Hebrew: חֲנֻכַּת (chanukkat, H2597) — “dedication of.” It is the same word family as Hanukkah, the later festival of dedication. It means setting something apart for its purpose.

Ezra 6:17

The dedication offerings were large: a hundred bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs. Twelve male goats were also offered as a sin offering, one for each tribe. The returned exiles, though few, saw themselves as all Israel, and they knew that sin had to be dealt with before worship.

BSA: sin offering (“atonement, sacrifice for wrongdoing”): Before celebrating, the people first sought cleansing for wrongdoing.

See also: Ezra 8:35.

Ezra 6:18

The priests and Levites were assigned to their service in their proper divisions, as the Book of Moses directed. The renewed temple was to be run according to God’s written word, not by improvised arrangements.

BSA: service (“work, worship, ministry”): Their duties were ordered ministry for God, not a casual routine.

See also: 1 Chronicles 24:1.

Ezra 6:19

The first Passover in the new temple was kept on the fourteenth day of the first month, the day Moses’ law set. This feast recalled God’s rescue from Egypt, and it fitted a people who had just come home from another captivity.

BSA: Passover (“a Jewish festival commemorating liberation”): The feast kept alive the memory of God’s rescue, now freshly meaningful after the return from exile.

See also: Exodus 12:6.

Ezra 6:20

The priests and Levites purified themselves first, so that all of them were ceremonially clean. Then the Levites slaughtered the Passover lambs for everyone, including the priests and themselves. Those who served others made sure they were ready first.

BSA: purified (“made themselves ceremonially clean, become tahor”): They prepared themselves before handling the sacred meal for others.

Hebrew: הִטַּהֲרוּ (hittaharu, H2891) — “they purified themselves.” The Hebrew form shows they cleansed themselves. Their cleanness was their own prepared act.

Ezra 6:21

The returned exiles ate the Passover along with others who had broken away from the uncleanness of the surrounding peoples in order to seek the LORD. Belonging to the feast meant turning from pagan ways and turning toward God.

BSA: separated (“set apart, divided”): They made a clear break from the impure practices around them. seek (“search for, ask”): Their separation had a positive purpose: to look for God Himself.

Hebrew: הַנִּבְדָּל (hanivdal, H914) — “the one who separated himself.” It describes a person who deliberately cuts himself off from one thing in order to join another. They broke away so that they could draw near to the LORD.

See also: Ezra 9:1.

Ezra 6:22

They kept the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy. The writer says the LORD Himself gave the joy and moved the Persian king, here called king of Assyria, to support the work. The gladness and the help both came from God.

BSA: joyful (“rejoice, be glad”): Their gladness was something God gave them, not something they worked up. strengthen (“give courage, empower”): The king’s favor put fresh strength into their hands for the work.

See also: Nehemiah 8:10.