Prophetic Courage and the Resumed Rebuilding of the Temple

Ezr 5:6-8 In Ezr 5:6-17 follows the letter which the royal officials sent to the king. Ezr 5:6 and Ezr 5:7 form the introduction to this document, and correspond with Ezr 5:8-11 in Ezra 4. Copy of the letter (comp. Ezr 4:11) which Tatnai, etc. , sent. The senders of the letter are, besides Tatnai, Shethar-Boznai and his companions the Apharsachites, the same called Ezr 4:9 the Apharsathchites, who perhaps, as a race specially devoted to the Persian king, took a prominent position among the settlers in Syria, and may have formed the royal garrison.

After this general announcement of the letter, follows the more precise statement: They sent the matter to him; and in it was written, To King Darius, much peace. פּתגּן here is not command, but matter; see above. כלּא, its totality, is unconnected with, yet dependent on שׁלמא: peace in all things, in every respect. The letter itself begins with a simple representation of the state of affairs (Ezr 5:8): “We went into the province of Judaea, to the house of the great God (for so might Persian officials speak of the God of Israel, after what they had learned from the elders of Judah of the edict of Cyrus), and it is being built with freestone, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work is being diligently carried on, and is prospering under their hands.

” The placing of wood in the walls refers to building beams into the wall for flooring; for the building was not so far advanced as to make it possible that this should be said of covering the walls with wainscotting. The word אספּרנא here, and Ezr 6:8, Ezr 6:12-13; Ezr 7:17, Ezr 7:21, Ezr 7:26, is of Aryan origin, and is explained by Haug in Ew. Janro . v. p.

154, from the Old-Persian us - parna , to mean: carefully or exactly finished-a meaning which suits all these passages.

Ezr 5:6-8 In Ezr 5:6-17 follows the letter which the royal officials sent to the king. Ezr 5:6 and Ezr 5:7 form the introduction to this document, and correspond with Ezr 5:8-11 in Ezra 4. Copy of the letter (comp. Ezr 4:11) which Tatnai, etc. , sent. The senders of the letter are, besides Tatnai, Shethar-Boznai and his companions the Apharsachites, the same called Ezr 4:9 the Apharsathchites, who perhaps, as a race specially devoted to the Persian king, took a prominent position among the settlers in Syria, and may have formed the royal garrison.

After this general announcement of the letter, follows the more precise statement: They sent the matter to him; and in it was written, To King Darius, much peace. פּתגּן here is not command, but matter; see above. כלּא, its totality, is unconnected with, yet dependent on שׁלמא: peace in all things, in every respect. The letter itself begins with a simple representation of the state of affairs (Ezr 5:8): “We went into the province of Judaea, to the house of the great God (for so might Persian officials speak of the God of Israel, after what they had learned from the elders of Judah of the edict of Cyrus), and it is being built with freestone, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work is being diligently carried on, and is prospering under their hands.

” The placing of wood in the walls refers to building beams into the wall for flooring; for the building was not so far advanced as to make it possible that this should be said of covering the walls with wainscotting. The word אספּרנא here, and Ezr 6:8, Ezr 6:12-13; Ezr 7:17, Ezr 7:21, Ezr 7:26, is of Aryan origin, and is explained by Haug in Ew. Janro . v. p.

154, from the Old-Persian us - parna , to mean: carefully or exactly finished-a meaning which suits all these passages.

Ezr 5:6-8 In Ezr 5:6-17 follows the letter which the royal officials sent to the king. Ezr 5:6 and Ezr 5:7 form the introduction to this document, and correspond with Ezr 5:8-11 in Ezra 4. Copy of the letter (comp. Ezr 4:11) which Tatnai, etc. , sent. The senders of the letter are, besides Tatnai, Shethar-Boznai and his companions the Apharsachites, the same called Ezr 4:9 the Apharsathchites, who perhaps, as a race specially devoted to the Persian king, took a prominent position among the settlers in Syria, and may have formed the royal garrison.

After this general announcement of the letter, follows the more precise statement: They sent the matter to him; and in it was written, To King Darius, much peace. פּתגּן here is not command, but matter; see above. כלּא, its totality, is unconnected with, yet dependent on שׁלמא: peace in all things, in every respect. The letter itself begins with a simple representation of the state of affairs (Ezr 5:8): “We went into the province of Judaea, to the house of the great God (for so might Persian officials speak of the God of Israel, after what they had learned from the elders of Judah of the edict of Cyrus), and it is being built with freestone, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work is being diligently carried on, and is prospering under their hands.

” The placing of wood in the walls refers to building beams into the wall for flooring; for the building was not so far advanced as to make it possible that this should be said of covering the walls with wainscotting. The word אספּרנא here, and Ezr 6:8, Ezr 6:12-13; Ezr 7:17, Ezr 7:21, Ezr 7:26, is of Aryan origin, and is explained by Haug in Ew. Janro . v. p.

154, from the Old-Persian us - parna , to mean: carefully or exactly finished-a meaning which suits all these passages.

Ezr 5:9-10 Hereupon the royal officials asked the elders of the Jews who had commanded them to build, and inquired concerning their names, that they might write to the king the names of the leading men (see the remark on 3 and 41). בראשׁהם דּי does not mean, who are at the head of them: but, who act in the capacity of heads.

Ezr 5:9-10 Hereupon the royal officials asked the elders of the Jews who had commanded them to build, and inquired concerning their names, that they might write to the king the names of the leading men (see the remark on 3 and 41). בראשׁהם דּי does not mean, who are at the head of them: but, who act in the capacity of heads.

Ezr 5:11 The answer of the elders of the Jews. They returned us answer in the following manner (לממר = לאמר): “We are His, the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house which was built many years ago; and a great king of Israel built and completed it.” דּנה מקּדמת, of before this, i.e., before the present; to which is added the more precise definition: many years (accusative of time), i.e., many years before the present time.

Ezr 5:12 For this reason (להן), because (מן־דּי = מאשׁר, e. g. , Isa 43:4) our fathers provoked the God of heaven, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he (Nebuch.) destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. For כּסדּיא the Keri requires כּסדּאה, the ordinary form of the absolute state of the noun in ai .

סתר, Pael, in the sense of destroy, appears only here in biblical Chaldee, but more frequently in the Targums. עמּה, its people, would refer to the town of Jerusalem; but Norzi and J. H. Mich. have עמּהּ, and the Masora expressly says that the word is to be written without Mappik, and is therefore the stat. emphat . for עמּא.

Ezr 5:13-14 In the first year, however, of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus made a decree, etc.; comp. Ezr 1:3. The infin. לבנא like Ezr 5:3. - On Ezr 5:14 and Ezr 5:15, comp. Ezr 1:7-11. ויחיבוּ, praeter. pass. of Peal; they were given to one Sheshbazzar, (is) his name, i.e., to one of the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made pechah. Zerubbabel is also called פּחה, Hag 1:1, Hag 1:14, and elsewhere.

Ezr 5:13-14 In the first year, however, of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus made a decree, etc.; comp. Ezr 1:3. The infin. לבנא like Ezr 5:3. - On Ezr 5:14 and Ezr 5:15, comp. Ezr 1:7-11. ויחיבוּ, praeter. pass. of Peal; they were given to one Sheshbazzar, (is) his name, i.e., to one of the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made pechah. Zerubbabel is also called פּחה, Hag 1:1, Hag 1:14, and elsewhere.

Ezr 5:15 Take these vessels, go forth, place them in the temple. For אלּה the Keri reads אל, according to 1Ch 20:8. אחת is imperat. Aphel of נחת. The three imperatives succeed each other without any copula in this rapid form of expression. The last sentence, ”and let the house of God be built in its place,” i.e., be rebuilt in its former place, gives the reason for the command to deposit the vessels in the temple at Jerusalem, i.e., in the house of God, which is to be rebuilt in its former place.

Ezr 5:16 In virtue of this command of Cyrus, this Sheshbazzar came (from Babylon to Jerusalem), and laid then the foundations of the house of God, and from that time till now it has been building, and is not (yet) finished. שׁלים, part. pass. of שׁלם, often used in the Targums and in Syriac for the Hebrew תּמם; hence in Dan 5:26 the Aphel, in the meaning of to finish, and Eze 7:19, to restore.

This statement does not exclude the cessation from building from the last year of Cyrus to the second of Darius, narrated Ezra 4-6:7, as Bertheau and others suppose, but only leaves the unmentioned circumstance which had been the cause of the delay. If the section Ezra 4:6-23 does not refer to the building of the temple, then neither is a “forcible interruption” of the building spoken of in Ezra 4; but it is only said that the adversaries frustrated the purpose of the Jews to rebuild the temple till the time of Darius, and weakened the hands of the people, so that the work of the house of God ceased.

Ezr 5:17 After thus representing the state of affairs, the royal officials request Darius to cause a search to be made among the archives of the kingdom, as to whether a decree made by Cyrus for the erection of the temple at Jerusalem was to be found therein, and then to communicate to them his decision concerning the matter. “And if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the king’s treasure-house there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king.

” על טב הן, like the Hebrew על טּוב אם, Est 1:19, for which in older Hebrew לו טּוב, Deu 23:17, or בּעינים טוב, Gen 19:8; Jdg 10:15, and elsewhere, is used. גּזיּא בּית, house of the treasure, more definitely called, Ezr 6:1, house of the rolls, where also the royal treasures were deposited. Hence it is obvious that important documents and writings were preserved in the royal treasury.

תּמּה, there, is explained by ”which at Babylon. ” רעוּת, chald. voluntas , comp. Ezr 7:18. Concerning the behaviour of these officials Brentius well remarks: vides differentiam inter calumniatores et bonos ac probos viros. Una eademque causa erat aedificii templi, unus idemque populus Judaeorum; attamen hujus populi causa aliter refertur ab impiis calumniatoribus, aliter a bonis viris.

The decision of Darius. - Ezr 6:1-5. At the command of Darius, search was made in the archives of the royal treasury; and in the fortress of Achmetha in Media, was found the roll in which was recorded the edict published by Cyrus, concerning the building of the temple at Jerusalem.

Ezr 6:1 Search was made in the house of the books where also the treasures were deposited in Babylon. מהחתין, partic. Aphel of נחת; see Ezr 5:15.

Ezr 6:2-4 “And there was found at Achmetha, in the fortress that is in the land of Media, a roll; and thus was it recorded therein. ” In Babylon itself the document sought for was not found; though, probably the search there made, led to the discovery of a statement that documents pertaining to the time of Cyrus were preserved in the fortress of Achmetha, where the record in question was subsequently discovered.

אחמתא, the capital of Great Media - τὰ Εκβάτανα, Judith 1:1, 14, or Ἀγβάτανα (Herod. i. 98) - built by Dejokes, was the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings, and situate in the neighbourhood of the modern Hamadan. Achmetha is probably the Old-Median or Old-Persian pronunciation of the name, the letters אחם on Sassanidian coins being explained as denoting this city (Mordtmann in the Zeitschrift der deutsch morgenl.

Gesellschaft , viii. p. 14). The citadel of Ecbatana probably contained also the royal palace and the official buildings. For בּגוּהּ is found in some MSS and editions בּגוּהּ; but Norzi and J. H. Mich. have Pathach under ו as the better authorized reading. דּכרונה, stat. emph . of דּכרון, memorandum , ὑπόμνημα, a record of anything memorable. The contents of this document follow, Ezr 6:3-5.

First, the proclamation of King Cyrus in the first year of his reign: “The house of God at Jerusalem, let this house be built as a place where sacrifices are offered. ” The meaning of the words following is doubtful. We translate מסובלין ואשּׁוחי: and let them raise up its foundations, i. e. , its foundations are to be again raised up, restored. אשּׁין, foundations (Ezr 4:12); מסובלין, part.

Poel of סבל, to carry, to raise (not to be raised). סבל often stands for the Hebrew נשׂא, to carry, to raise up, to erect; compare the Samaritan translation of Gen 13:10 : וסבל את עגין, he lifted up his eyes. סובל אשּׁין analogous with מוסדי ד קומם, Isa 58:12, and signifies to erect buildings upon the foundations. Expositors are divided as to the dimensions of the new temple, “its height 60 cubits, and its breadth 60 cubits,” Antiq .

xi. 4. 6; while Solomon’s temple was but 30 cubits high, and, without the side-buildings, only 20 cubits broad. We nevertheless consider the statements correct, and the text incorrupt, and explain the absence of the measure of length simply by the fact that, as far as length was concerned, the old and new temples were of equal dimensions. Solomon’s temple, measured externally, inclusive of the porch and the additional building at the hinder part, was about 100 cubits long (see the ground plan in my bibl.

Archaeol . Table II. fig. 1). To correspond with this length, the new temple was, according to the desire of Cyrus, to be both higher and broader, viz. , 60 cubits high, and as many wide, - measurements which certainly apply to external dimensions. Zerubbabel’s temple, concerning the structure of which we have no further particulars, was externally of this height and breadth.

This may be inferred from the speech of King Herod in Joseph. Ant . xv. 11. 1, in which this tyrant, who desired to be famous for the magnificence of his buildings, endeavoured to gain the favour of the people for the rebuilding of the temple, which he was contemplating, by the remark that the temple built by their forefathers, on their return from the Babylonian captivity, was 60 cubits too low, - Solomon’s temple having been double that height (sc.

according to the height given in 2Ch 3:4, 120 cubits) - and from the fact that Herod made his temple 100 or 120 cubits high. Hence the temple of Zerubbabel, measured externally, must have been 60 cubits high; and consequently we need not diminish the breadth of 60 cubits, also given in this verse, by alterations of the text, because Herod’s temple was likewise of this width, but must understand the given dimensions to relate to external height and breadth.

For in Herod’s temple the holy places were but 60 cubits high and 20 wide; the holy place, 40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high; the holy of holies, 20 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high. And we may assume that the dimensions of Zerubbabel’s temple preserved the same proportions, with perhaps the modification, that the internal height did not amount to 60 cubits, - an upper storey being placed above the holy place and the holy of holies, as in Herod’s temple; which would make the internal height of these places amount to only about 30 or 40 cubits.

In like manner must the 60 cubits of breadth be so divided, that the 5 cubits internal breadth of the side-buildings of Solomon’s temple must be enlarged to 10, which, allowing 5 cubits of thickness for the walls, would make the entire building 60 cubits wide (5 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 10 + 5). The statement in Ezr 6:4, “three layers of great stones, and a layer of new timber,” is obscure.

נדבּך means row, layer, and stands in the Targums for the Hebrew טוּר, “used of a layer of bricks;” see Gesen. Thes . p. 311, and Levy, chald. Wörterbuch , ii. p. 93. גּלל אבן, stone of rolling, one that is rolled and cannot be carried, i. e. , a great building stone. חדת, novus , as an epithet to אע, is remarkable, it being self-evident that new wood is generally used for a new building.

The lxx translates εἷς, reading the word חדה (Ezr 6:3). This statement involuntarily recalls the notice, 1Ki 6:36, that Solomon built the inner court, ארזים כּרתת וטוּר גזית טוּרי שׁלשׁה; hence Merz expresses the supposition that “this is certainly a fragment, forming the conclusion of the whole design of the building, which, like that in 1Ki 6:36, ends with the porch and the walls of the fore-court,” Thus much only is certain, that the words are not to be understood, as by Fritzsche on 1 Esdr.

6:25, as stating that the temple walls were built of “three layers of large stones, upon which was one layer of beams,” and therefore were not massive; such kind of building never being practised in the East in old times. “And let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. ” This is more precisely stated in Ezr 6:8 of the royal revenues on this side the river.

נפקא the expense (from נפק, Aphel, to expend), therefore the cost of building.

Ezr 6:2-4 “And there was found at Achmetha, in the fortress that is in the land of Media, a roll; and thus was it recorded therein. ” In Babylon itself the document sought for was not found; though, probably the search there made, led to the discovery of a statement that documents pertaining to the time of Cyrus were preserved in the fortress of Achmetha, where the record in question was subsequently discovered.

אחמתא, the capital of Great Media - τὰ Εκβάτανα, Judith 1:1, 14, or Ἀγβάτανα (Herod. i. 98) - built by Dejokes, was the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings, and situate in the neighbourhood of the modern Hamadan. Achmetha is probably the Old-Median or Old-Persian pronunciation of the name, the letters אחם on Sassanidian coins being explained as denoting this city (Mordtmann in the Zeitschrift der deutsch morgenl.

Gesellschaft , viii. p. 14). The citadel of Ecbatana probably contained also the royal palace and the official buildings. For בּגוּהּ is found in some MSS and editions בּגוּהּ; but Norzi and J. H. Mich. have Pathach under ו as the better authorized reading. דּכרונה, stat. emph . of דּכרון, memorandum , ὑπόμνημα, a record of anything memorable. The contents of this document follow, Ezr 6:3-5.

First, the proclamation of King Cyrus in the first year of his reign: “The house of God at Jerusalem, let this house be built as a place where sacrifices are offered. ” The meaning of the words following is doubtful. We translate מסובלין ואשּׁוחי: and let them raise up its foundations, i. e. , its foundations are to be again raised up, restored. אשּׁין, foundations (Ezr 4:12); מסובלין, part.

Poel of סבל, to carry, to raise (not to be raised). סבל often stands for the Hebrew נשׂא, to carry, to raise up, to erect; compare the Samaritan translation of Gen 13:10 : וסבל את עגין, he lifted up his eyes. סובל אשּׁין analogous with מוסדי ד קומם, Isa 58:12, and signifies to erect buildings upon the foundations. Expositors are divided as to the dimensions of the new temple, “its height 60 cubits, and its breadth 60 cubits,” Antiq .

xi. 4. 6; while Solomon’s temple was but 30 cubits high, and, without the side-buildings, only 20 cubits broad. We nevertheless consider the statements correct, and the text incorrupt, and explain the absence of the measure of length simply by the fact that, as far as length was concerned, the old and new temples were of equal dimensions. Solomon’s temple, measured externally, inclusive of the porch and the additional building at the hinder part, was about 100 cubits long (see the ground plan in my bibl.

Archaeol . Table II. fig. 1). To correspond with this length, the new temple was, according to the desire of Cyrus, to be both higher and broader, viz. , 60 cubits high, and as many wide, - measurements which certainly apply to external dimensions. Zerubbabel’s temple, concerning the structure of which we have no further particulars, was externally of this height and breadth.

This may be inferred from the speech of King Herod in Joseph. Ant . xv. 11. 1, in which this tyrant, who desired to be famous for the magnificence of his buildings, endeavoured to gain the favour of the people for the rebuilding of the temple, which he was contemplating, by the remark that the temple built by their forefathers, on their return from the Babylonian captivity, was 60 cubits too low, - Solomon’s temple having been double that height (sc.

according to the height given in 2Ch 3:4, 120 cubits) - and from the fact that Herod made his temple 100 or 120 cubits high. Hence the temple of Zerubbabel, measured externally, must have been 60 cubits high; and consequently we need not diminish the breadth of 60 cubits, also given in this verse, by alterations of the text, because Herod’s temple was likewise of this width, but must understand the given dimensions to relate to external height and breadth.

For in Herod’s temple the holy places were but 60 cubits high and 20 wide; the holy place, 40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high; the holy of holies, 20 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high. And we may assume that the dimensions of Zerubbabel’s temple preserved the same proportions, with perhaps the modification, that the internal height did not amount to 60 cubits, - an upper storey being placed above the holy place and the holy of holies, as in Herod’s temple; which would make the internal height of these places amount to only about 30 or 40 cubits.

In like manner must the 60 cubits of breadth be so divided, that the 5 cubits internal breadth of the side-buildings of Solomon’s temple must be enlarged to 10, which, allowing 5 cubits of thickness for the walls, would make the entire building 60 cubits wide (5 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 10 + 5). The statement in Ezr 6:4, “three layers of great stones, and a layer of new timber,” is obscure.

נדבּך means row, layer, and stands in the Targums for the Hebrew טוּר, “used of a layer of bricks;” see Gesen. Thes . p. 311, and Levy, chald. Wörterbuch , ii. p. 93. גּלל אבן, stone of rolling, one that is rolled and cannot be carried, i. e. , a great building stone. חדת, novus , as an epithet to אע, is remarkable, it being self-evident that new wood is generally used for a new building.

The lxx translates εἷς, reading the word חדה (Ezr 6:3). This statement involuntarily recalls the notice, 1Ki 6:36, that Solomon built the inner court, ארזים כּרתת וטוּר גזית טוּרי שׁלשׁה; hence Merz expresses the supposition that “this is certainly a fragment, forming the conclusion of the whole design of the building, which, like that in 1Ki 6:36, ends with the porch and the walls of the fore-court,” Thus much only is certain, that the words are not to be understood, as by Fritzsche on 1 Esdr.

6:25, as stating that the temple walls were built of “three layers of large stones, upon which was one layer of beams,” and therefore were not massive; such kind of building never being practised in the East in old times. “And let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. ” This is more precisely stated in Ezr 6:8 of the royal revenues on this side the river.

נפקא the expense (from נפק, Aphel, to expend), therefore the cost of building.

Ezr 6:2-4 “And there was found at Achmetha, in the fortress that is in the land of Media, a roll; and thus was it recorded therein. ” In Babylon itself the document sought for was not found; though, probably the search there made, led to the discovery of a statement that documents pertaining to the time of Cyrus were preserved in the fortress of Achmetha, where the record in question was subsequently discovered.

אחמתא, the capital of Great Media - τὰ Εκβάτανα, Judith 1:1, 14, or Ἀγβάτανα (Herod. i. 98) - built by Dejokes, was the summer residence of the Persian and Parthian kings, and situate in the neighbourhood of the modern Hamadan. Achmetha is probably the Old-Median or Old-Persian pronunciation of the name, the letters אחם on Sassanidian coins being explained as denoting this city (Mordtmann in the Zeitschrift der deutsch morgenl.

Gesellschaft , viii. p. 14). The citadel of Ecbatana probably contained also the royal palace and the official buildings. For בּגוּהּ is found in some MSS and editions בּגוּהּ; but Norzi and J. H. Mich. have Pathach under ו as the better authorized reading. דּכרונה, stat. emph . of דּכרון, memorandum , ὑπόμνημα, a record of anything memorable. The contents of this document follow, Ezr 6:3-5.

First, the proclamation of King Cyrus in the first year of his reign: “The house of God at Jerusalem, let this house be built as a place where sacrifices are offered. ” The meaning of the words following is doubtful. We translate מסובלין ואשּׁוחי: and let them raise up its foundations, i. e. , its foundations are to be again raised up, restored. אשּׁין, foundations (Ezr 4:12); מסובלין, part.

Poel of סבל, to carry, to raise (not to be raised). סבל often stands for the Hebrew נשׂא, to carry, to raise up, to erect; compare the Samaritan translation of Gen 13:10 : וסבל את עגין, he lifted up his eyes. סובל אשּׁין analogous with מוסדי ד קומם, Isa 58:12, and signifies to erect buildings upon the foundations. Expositors are divided as to the dimensions of the new temple, “its height 60 cubits, and its breadth 60 cubits,” Antiq .

xi. 4. 6; while Solomon’s temple was but 30 cubits high, and, without the side-buildings, only 20 cubits broad. We nevertheless consider the statements correct, and the text incorrupt, and explain the absence of the measure of length simply by the fact that, as far as length was concerned, the old and new temples were of equal dimensions. Solomon’s temple, measured externally, inclusive of the porch and the additional building at the hinder part, was about 100 cubits long (see the ground plan in my bibl.

Archaeol . Table II. fig. 1). To correspond with this length, the new temple was, according to the desire of Cyrus, to be both higher and broader, viz. , 60 cubits high, and as many wide, - measurements which certainly apply to external dimensions. Zerubbabel’s temple, concerning the structure of which we have no further particulars, was externally of this height and breadth.

This may be inferred from the speech of King Herod in Joseph. Ant . xv. 11. 1, in which this tyrant, who desired to be famous for the magnificence of his buildings, endeavoured to gain the favour of the people for the rebuilding of the temple, which he was contemplating, by the remark that the temple built by their forefathers, on their return from the Babylonian captivity, was 60 cubits too low, - Solomon’s temple having been double that height (sc.

according to the height given in 2Ch 3:4, 120 cubits) - and from the fact that Herod made his temple 100 or 120 cubits high. Hence the temple of Zerubbabel, measured externally, must have been 60 cubits high; and consequently we need not diminish the breadth of 60 cubits, also given in this verse, by alterations of the text, because Herod’s temple was likewise of this width, but must understand the given dimensions to relate to external height and breadth.

For in Herod’s temple the holy places were but 60 cubits high and 20 wide; the holy place, 40 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high; the holy of holies, 20 cubits long, 20 wide, and 60 high. And we may assume that the dimensions of Zerubbabel’s temple preserved the same proportions, with perhaps the modification, that the internal height did not amount to 60 cubits, - an upper storey being placed above the holy place and the holy of holies, as in Herod’s temple; which would make the internal height of these places amount to only about 30 or 40 cubits.

In like manner must the 60 cubits of breadth be so divided, that the 5 cubits internal breadth of the side-buildings of Solomon’s temple must be enlarged to 10, which, allowing 5 cubits of thickness for the walls, would make the entire building 60 cubits wide (5 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 5 + 10 + 5). The statement in Ezr 6:4, “three layers of great stones, and a layer of new timber,” is obscure.

נדבּך means row, layer, and stands in the Targums for the Hebrew טוּר, “used of a layer of bricks;” see Gesen. Thes . p. 311, and Levy, chald. Wörterbuch , ii. p. 93. גּלל אבן, stone of rolling, one that is rolled and cannot be carried, i. e. , a great building stone. חדת, novus , as an epithet to אע, is remarkable, it being self-evident that new wood is generally used for a new building.

The lxx translates εἷς, reading the word חדה (Ezr 6:3). This statement involuntarily recalls the notice, 1Ki 6:36, that Solomon built the inner court, ארזים כּרתת וטוּר גזית טוּרי שׁלשׁה; hence Merz expresses the supposition that “this is certainly a fragment, forming the conclusion of the whole design of the building, which, like that in 1Ki 6:36, ends with the porch and the walls of the fore-court,” Thus much only is certain, that the words are not to be understood, as by Fritzsche on 1 Esdr.

6:25, as stating that the temple walls were built of “three layers of large stones, upon which was one layer of beams,” and therefore were not massive; such kind of building never being practised in the East in old times. “And let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. ” This is more precisely stated in Ezr 6:8 of the royal revenues on this side the river.

נפקא the expense (from נפק, Aphel, to expend), therefore the cost of building.