Ezra 3:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezra 3:9
Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
to stand · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jeshua
יֵשׁ֡וּעַye.Shu.a'
H3442
Jeshua · proper noun, a man's name
sons
בָּנָ֣יוba.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
brethren
וְ֠אֶחָיוVe.'e.chav
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Kadmiel
קַדְמִיאֵ֨לkad.mi.'El
H6934
Kadmiel · proper noun, a man's name
sons
וּבָנָ֤יוu.va.Nav
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sons
בְּנֵֽיbe.nei-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
house
בְּבֵ֣יתbe.Veit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
God
הָאֱלֹהִ֑יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
sons
בְּנֵי֙be.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Henadad
חֵֽנָדָ֔דche.na.Dad
H2582
Chenadad · proper noun, a man's name
sons
בְּנֵיהֶ֥םbe.nei.Hem
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
brethren
וַאֲחֵיהֶ֖םva.'a.chei.Hem
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Levites
הַלְוִיִּֽםhal.vi.Yim
H3881
a Levite or descendant of Levi · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
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
Ezra 2:40 The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four.
Ezra 3:8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and J…
Nehemiah 7:43 The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 3:8–end
There was no dispute among the returned Jews whether they should build the temple or no; that was immediately resolved on, and that it should be done with all speed; what comfort could they take in their own land if they had not that token of God's presence with them and the record of his name among them? We have here therefore an account of the beginning of that good work. Observe,
I. When it was begun-in the second month of the second year, as soon as ever the season of the year would permit (Ezr 3:8), and when they had ended the solemnities of the passover. They took little more than half a year for making preparation of the ground and materials; so much were their hearts upon it. Note, W…
Jeshua with his sons--not the high priest, but a Levite (Ezr 2:40). To these, as probably distinguished for their mechanical skill and taste, the duty of acting as overseers was particularly committed.
Adam Clarke on Ezra 3:8
In the second year - The previous time had been employed in clearing the ground, felling timber, hewing stones, and transporting them to the place, and making other necessary preparations for the commencement of the building.
John Gill on Ezra 3:9
Then stood Jeshua, with his sons,.... Not Jeshua the high priest before mentioned, but Jeshua the Levite, Ezra 2:40,
and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together; the same with Hodaviah, Ezra 2:40
to set forward the workmen in the house of God; to give them orders to begin and lay the foundation, and hasten and animate them to it:
the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites: two of this man's sons are mentioned in Nehemiah 3:18.
Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 3:8–end
The foundation of the temple laid. - Ezr 3:8 In the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, i.e., after their arrival at Jerusalem on their return from Babylon, in the second month, began Zerubbabel and Joshua to appoint the Levites from twenty years old and upwards to the oversight of the work (the building) of the house of the Lord. That is to say, the work of building was taken in hand. Whether this second year of the return coincides with the second year of the rule of Cyrus, so that the foundations of the temple were laid, as Theophil. Antioch. ad Autolic. lib. 3, according to Berosus, relates, in the second year of Cyrus, cannot be determined. For nothing more is…
The Church Fathers
And Joshua stood and his sons, etc. In this place, Joshua does not refer to the son of Josedek, the high priest, but to one of the Levites, of whom it had been foretold that they would be appointed from twenty years old and above to attend to the work of the Lord, among whom were also Kadmiel and the sons of Henadad, who were recorded as having taken heed of the same work, along with their sons and brothers; indeed, earlier in the catalogue of the people of Israel, these, after the priests, are the first Levites mentioned by name. "The Levites," he says, "the sons of Joshua, and Kadmiel of the sons of Hodaviah, seventy-four" (Ezra 2). From both passages it can be gathered that they were chiefs and patriarchs of the Levites of that time. Here, the sons of Judah are rightly interspersed among the Levites, who together took care in restoring the temple of the Lord; and these, on account of the same agreement in piety, are remembered as having stood as one. For this is the order of virtue previously mentioned, always to be imitated by us, that each person in their own way may build up the holy Church, all the ranks dedicated to God, and the devotion of the entire people. And it is to be noted and more frequently remembered how much good was bestowed upon the people by the evil of captivity; from which being freed, they are all shown to have given such great attention to heavenly services as never before. But even today, it has benefited many who had lived negligently in the peace of the Church to suddenly err and fall into some sins, while after their fall, being lifted up by penance, they began to serve the Lord more diligently; and those who seemed sluggish and slothful in standing innocent, when reminded by their accidental fall, girded themselves more vigorously for their own protection against all the snares of the ancient enemy; so that those who had previously offended by neglecting their own life, afterwards even cared for the safety of their brothers along with their own rise. Therefore, all the people returning from Babylon to Jerusalem took care for restoring the temple, but especially the Levites and the sons of Judah, namely because of the priestly and royal dignity of the holy Church. For the royal and especially the priestly tribe builds the temple; because undoubtedly all those who form the hearts of the faithful, either by teaching or by good…
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
Henadad — Favour of Hadad, the name of a Levite after the Captivity (Ezra 3:9).
Jeshua — (1.) Head of the ninth priestly order (Ezra 2:36); called also Jeshuah (1 Chr. 24:11). (2.) A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to distribute offerings in the priestly cities (2 Chr. 31:15). (3.) Ezra…
Kadmiel — Before God; i.e., his servant, one of the Levites who returned with Zerubbabel from the Captivity (Neh. 9:4; 10:9; 12:8).
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…
Henadad · A Levite — A Levite
Jeshua · .Rebuilt the temple — .Rebuilt the temple
Kadmiel · 1. A Levite — 1. A Levite
Music · The Jews used: At laying foundation of temple — The Jews used: At laying foundation of temple
Temple, The Second · Solemnities connected with laying the foundation of — Solemnities connected with laying the foundation of
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).
In midspring, the dry season was beginning and workers would not have to contend with mud. • The second year after they arrived was probably 536 BC. The delay in rebuilding reflects the time it took to get wood from Lebanon to Jerusalem. • The work force was made up of everyone: This showed the spirit of unity among the returned exiles. Putting the Levites . . . in charge ensured that the work was done according to God’s specifications.
Rashi on Ezra 3:9
And Jeshua...stood They stood and recited the song together around the ones who did the work of the foundation of the Temple.
