Ezra 3:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezra 3:7
They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
money
כֶ֔סֶףKhe.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
masons
לַחֹצְבִ֖יםla.cho.tze.Vim
H2672
to cut or carve (wood · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
carpenters
וְלֶחָרָשִׁ֑יםve.le.cha.ra.Shim
H2796
a fabricator or any material · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
meat
וּמַאֲכָ֨לu.ma.'a.Khal
H3978
an eatable (includ. provender · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
drink
וּמִשְׁתֶּ֜הu.mish.Teh
H4960
drink · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
oil
וָשֶׁ֗מֶןva.She.men
H8081
grease · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Zidon
לַצִּֽדֹנִים֙la.tzi.do.Nim
H6722
a Tsidonian or inhabitant of Tsidon · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
Tyre
וְלַצֹּרִ֔יםve.la.tzo.Rim
H6876
a Tsorite or inhabitant of Tsor (i.e. Syrian) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
bring
לְהָבִיא֩le.ha.Vi'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
cedar
אֲרָזִ֤ים'a.ra.Zim
H730
a cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
trees
עֲצֵ֨י'a.Tzei
H6086
a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Lebanon
הַלְּבָנוֹן֙ha.le.va.nOn
H3844
Lebanon · definite article + proper noun, a place name
sea
יָ֣םyam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular construct
Joppa
יָפ֔וֹאya.Fo'
H3305
Japho · proper noun, a place name
grant
כְּרִשְׁי֛וֹןke.rish.Yon
H7558
a permit · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Cyrus
כּ֥וֹרֶשׁKo.resh
H3566
Koresh (or Cyrus) · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh-
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Persia
פָּרַ֖סpa.Ras
H6539
Paras (i.e. Persia) · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 5:6 Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I giv…
Acts 9:36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alm…
Acts 12:20 And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamb…
1 Kings 5:9-11 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint…
2 Kings 12:11-12 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they lai…
2 Kings 22:5-6 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to th…
2 Chronicles 2:10-16 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures…
2 Chronicles 24:12-13 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 3:1-7
Here is, I. A general assembly of the returned Israelites at Jerusalem, in the seventh month, Ezr 3:1. We may suppose that they came from Babylon in the spring, and must allow at least four months for the journey, for so long Ezra and his company were in coming, Ezr 7:9. The seventh month therefore soon came, in which many of the feasts of the Lord were to be solemnized; and then they gathered themselves together by agreement among themselves, rather than by the command of authority, to Jerusalem. Though they had newly come to their cities, and had their hands full of business there, to provide necessaries for themselves and their families, which might have excused them from attending on God…
They gave . . . meat . . . drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon--They opened negotiations with the Tyrians for workmen, as well as for timber, on the same terms and with the same views as Solomon had done (Kg1 5:11; Ch2 2:15-16).
Adam Clarke on Ezra 3:7
They gave money also - They copied the conduct of Solomon while he was building his temple; see Kg1 5:11. He employed the Tyrians, gave them meat and drink, etc.; and this permission they now had from Cyrus.
John Gill on Ezra 3:7
They gave money also to the masons, and to the carpenters,.... To buy stone and timber with for the building of the temple:
and meat and drink and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre; which were more agreeable to them than money, because there was not plenty of such things in their country, as in the land of Israel:
to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa; as they did at the first building of the temple by Solomon; they cut down cedars at Lebanon, which belonged to them, and sent them by sea to Joppa, the nearest seaport to Jerusalem, about forty miles from it: see 2 Chronicles 2:16,
according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia; for Tyre and Zidon bei…
However, they gave money to the stonecutters and the builders, etc. The stonecutters are hewers of stones. Hence it is written in the book of Chronicles: And David commanded that all proselytes from the land of Israel be assembled, and appointed some of them as stonecutters to cut stones (II Chron. XXXII). Builders are those who make cement for binding stones from gypsum or lime. Hence another translation for stonecutters and builders is hewers of stones and craftsmen. Therefore, note the pious ingenuity of the people, that sparing no expense, from what was necessary for them, and from what they lived on, they either bought materials for the building of the temple or hired workers. Joppa, however, is a maritime city of Palestine, about forty miles from Jerusalem. But Sidon and Tyre were the most noble cities of Phoenicia, having Mount Lebanon nearby. Hence, the children of the exile, obtaining their aid, asked for cedar wood to be cut for them from Lebanon and transported by rafts through the sea to Joppa, from where they could again carry it by land to Jerusalem for the work of the temple, which is established to have been done in the same order at the first construction of the temple. And because Solomon, with royal power, obtained whatever he desired from his friend King Hiram without any labor. But now exiles, returning home after many years, since they did not have the power of the kingdom, obtained all that the desired work required by means of payment. In a spiritual sense, the stonecutters in the building of the house of God are those who, by teaching or reproving, shape the hearts of their neighbors; whom, when they teach to stand steadfast among the partakers of the same grace, they fit them as hewing stones to be neatly joined. For as a square, whichever way you turn it, it will stand. And the mind of the elect, while it remains unmoved among all the adversities or prosperities of the world, demonstrates that it possesses the form of invincible virtue. In this sense, it is also described that Noah's ark was made of squared timbers (Gen. VI). For the same Church, which the temple made of stone signifies, also the ark made of timbers represented. The same was also shown by the tabernacle composed of boards and curtains (Exod. XXXVI). Builders, however, are in the house of the Lord, the same holy preachers who, while they bind those whom they…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Building — Among the Jews was suited to the climate and conditions of the country. They probably adopted the kind of architecture for their dwellings which they found already existing when they entered Canaan…
Cedar — (Heb. e’rez, Gr. kedros, Lat. cedrus), a tree very frequently mentioned in Scripture. It was stately (Ezek. 31:3-5), long-branched (Ps. 80:10; 92:12; Ezek. 31:6-9), odoriferous (Cant. 4:11; Hos.…
Cyrus — (Heb. Ko’resh), the celebrated “King of Persia” (Elam) who was conqueror of Babylon, and issued the decree of liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1, 2). He was the son of Cambyses, the prince of Persia,…
Japho — Beauty, a sea-port in Dan (Josh. 19:46); called Joppa (q.v.) in 2 Chr. 2:16; Ezra 3:7; Jonah 1:3; and in New Testament.
Joppa — Beauty, a town in the portion of Dan (Josh. 19:46; A.V., “Japho”), on a sandy promontory between Caesarea and Gaza, and at a distance of 30 miles north-west from Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest…
Lebanon — White, “the white mountain of Syria,” is the loftiest and most celebrated mountain range in Syria. It is a branch running southward from the Caucasus, and at its lower end forking into two parallel…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Cedar · .In rebuilding the temple — .In rebuilding the temple
Cedar, The · Extensive commerce in — Extensive commerce in
Joppa · Exports from — Exports from
Lebanon · Furnished: Wood for second temple — Furnished: Wood for second temple
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 3:1-7
The building of the altar, the restoration of the daily sacrifice, and the celebration of the feast of tabernacles. - Ezr 3:1 When the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. The year is not stated, but the year in which they returned from Babylon is intended, as appears from Ezr 3:8, which tells us that the foundations of the temple were laid in the second month of the second year of their return. The words, "and the children of Israel were in the cities," are a circumstantial clause referring to Ezr 2:70, and serving to elucidate what follows. From the cities, in which each had settled in his ow…
Tyre and Sidon: Few tall and straight trees grew in the dry climate of Judah, and those that had grown in Israel had already been cut down. Therefore, skilled laborers were hired in countries that had tall trees (see also 1 Chr 22:1-5; 2 Chr 2:7-16).
Rashi on Ezra 3:7
to the Zidonians and to the Tyrians the people of Tyre and Zidon, who were the artisans who built the Temple.
to the sea of Jaffa By way of the sea they would bring them.
according to the sanction of Heb. כְּרִשְׁיוֹן as the sanction of the king was upon them to build the Temple. כְּרִשְׁיוֹן is an expression of permission (רְשּׁוּת) derived from רשּׁה ; since from אבה to want, he says [i.e., derives] אֶבְיוֹן, a needy person; and from צבה, to desire, צִבְיוֹן, desire; and from חזה to see, חִזָיוֹן, a vision; and from רעה, רַעְיוֹן, thought; from חבה, חֶבְיוֹן, hiding; and from רשּׁה, he says רְשּׁוּת, permission; like from, ענה, עֱנוּת, affliction; and from שּׁבה, שְּׁבוּת,captivity; and…
Sea, The · Seas mentioned in scripture: Sea of Joppa or sea of the Philistines — Seas mentioned in scripture: Sea of Joppa or sea of the Philistines
Sidon · temple — temple
Sidonians, The · Supplied the Jews with timber — Supplied the Jews with timber
Temple, The Second · Materials for building procured from Tyre and Sidon — Materials for building procured from Tyre and Sidon
Tyre · Supplied: Timber for rebuilding the temple and city — Supplied: Timber for rebuilding the temple and city
Zerubbabel · from — from
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
