Ezra 6

Chap. VI. Ver. 1—22. Darius confirms the decree of Cyrus: the temple is finished and dedicated, and its worship re-established.—" The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord: as the rivers of waters he turneth it whithersoever he pleaseth.” ((Proverbs 21:1).) The heart of Darius was turned therefore in favour of the Jews. Having ordered the decree of Cyrus to be sought for, on being found it is confirmed; and orders are issued to Tatnai and the king’s other servants, by no means to impede the work, but to forward it; and even to furnish the necessary expenses from the royal treasury, with also cattle and meat-offerings for the sacrifices. And the decree closes (as we suppose was customary) with denouncing the most dreadful punishment on all who neglected to obey it.

The building now proceeded rapidly, and the house was finished and dedicated in the sixth year of king Darius. The feast of dedication was kept with the sacrifice of 100 bullocks, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and 12 he-goats, for a sin-offering, according to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. This feast was followed by the Passover observed in due time, and with the proper rites of purification. ‘And the children of Israel, which were come out of captivity, and all such [proselytes] as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the Lord God of Israel, did eat, and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

Thus it is, that the sacred writers attribute to God all their comforts and their blessings, even though a heathen were the instrument. But the Lord had made them joyful, not only in turning toward them the heart of the king of Assyria; but many of the people had been won by their prudent and religious conduct to become proselytes to the God of Israel, and “had separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land.” No man is either religious or irreligious for himself only: our example will either benefit or injure those around us.

Notes on the verses

Chap. VI. Ver. 1. House of the rolls—The most ancient books, it is well known, were rolls of parchment, or papyrus, &c,—Laid up.—From this phrase it should seem that these records were, for greater security, deposited under Ver. 2. At Achmetha.—{It was situated in a mountainous region at the foot of mount Orontes, or Jasonius, according to Ammianus, on the southern confines of Media and Persia, and, according to Pliny, 750 miles from Seleucia the Great, 20 miles from the Caspian passes, 450 miles from Susa, and the same from Gaze Atropatene. ‘The building of the city is ascribed to Semiramis by Diodorus, but to Deioces by Eusebius and Herodotus, who states that it was surrounded by seven walls, strong, and ample, built in circles one within another, rising each above each by the height of their respective battlements; each being distinguished by a different colour—the first white, the second black, the third purple, the fourth blue, the fifth orange, the sixth plated with silver, and the seventh with gold.

The largest of these was nearly the extent of Athens, i.e. 200 furlongs, according to Dion Chrysostom, but Diodorus Siculus states the circumference of Ecbatana to be 250 furlongs. Within the inner circle stood the royal palace and the royal treasury; so much celebrated for its splendour and riches by Polybius. It is highly probable, as D’Anville and Major Rennel suppose, that the present Hamadan, whose ruins attest its former splendour, occupies the site of Ecbatana. It is situated in Al Gebal, at the foot of the lofty mountain Alwend, about eighty leagues from Ispahan, and also from Bagdad. ]—Bagster.: Ver. 3. The breadth threescore cubits.—This is three times the width of Solomon’s temple; but Cyrus was probably misinformed, for it is generally believed it was built no larger than the former.: Ver.

10. Pray for the king.—One motive for toleration with the heathen was, that they might have the prayers of persons of all religions. Ver. 11. Let him be hanged thereon.—Or, more literally, “taken away;” - he was to be executed, and his house made a dunghill, or heap of rubbish. Ver. 14. Artazerres.—[This was Artaxerxes, the third son and successor of Xerxes, surnamed Longimanus, or in Persian “Ardsheer, the long-handed;” so called, according to the Greeks, from the extraordinary length of his hands, but according to the Easterns, from the extent of his dominions. He ascended the Persian throne A. M. 3540, B.C. 464, and reigned forty-one years; he is said to have been the most handsome person of his age, and to have been a prince of a very mild and generous disposition.

}—Bagster,