In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;
as card. one · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
year
בִּשְׁנַ֨תbish.Nat
H8140
a year (as a revolution of time) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Cyrus
לְכ֣וֹרֶשׁle.Kho.resh
H3567
Koresh (or Cyrus) · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
king
מַלְכָּ֗אmal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Cyrus
כּ֣וֹרֶשׁKo.resh
H3567
Koresh (or Cyrus) · proper noun, a man's name
king
מַלְכָּא֮mal.Ka'
H4430
a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
made
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
2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD sti…
Revelation 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs.…
Deuteronomy 12:5-6 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek…
1 Kings 6:2-3 And the house which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and th…
2 Chronicles 2:6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an…
2 Chronicles 3:3-4 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure w…
Ezra 5:13-15 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
Psalms 122:4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 6:1-12
We have here, I. The decree of Cyrus for the building of the temple repeated. To this the Samaritans referred because the Jews pleaded it, and perhaps hoped it would not be found, and then their plea would be over-ruled and a stop put to their work. Search was ordered to be made for it among the records; for, it seems, the tribes had not taken care to provide themselves with an authentic copy of it, which might have stood them in good stead, but they must appeal to the original. It was looked for in Babylon (Ezr 6:1), where Cyrus was when he signed it. But, when it was not found there, Darius did not make that a pretence to conclude that therefore there was no such decree, and thereupon to g…
Achmetha--long supposed to be the capital of Greater Media (the Ecbatana of classical, the Hamadan of modern times), [is] at the foot of the Elwund range of hills, where, for its coolness and salubrity, Cyrus and his successors on the Persian throne established their summer residence. There was another city, however, of this name, the Ecbatana of Atropatene, and the most ancient capital of northern Media, and recently identified by COLONEL RAWLINSON in the remarkable ruins of Takht-i-Soleiman. Yet as everything tends to show the attachment of Cyrus to his native city, the Atropatenian Ecbatana, rather than to the stronger capital of Greater Media, COLONEL RAWLINSON is inclined to think that…
The height thereof threescore cubits - This was much larger than the temple of Solomon. This was sixty cubits high, and sixty cubits broad; whereas Solomon's was only twenty cubits broad, and thirty cubits high.
John Gill on Ezra 6:3
In the first year of Cyrus the king; the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be builded,.... See Ezra 1:1,
the place where they offered sacrifices; to God in times past, ever since it was built by Solomon:
and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; so as to bear and support the building erected on them, as the word signifies:
the height thereof sixty cubits; which were thirty more than the height of Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 6:2 though sixty less than the height of the porch, which was one hundred and twenty, 2 Chronicles 3:4 and which some take to be the height of the whole house; and hence it may be observed what Herod said (y…
The Church Fathers
And as for laying the supporting foundations, etc., it is not for us to explain; because neither in the earlier building of the temple nor in the later one is any of these measurements or such work found. Hence it is inferred that Cyrus uttered this of his own accord, and noted the measurement or order of the work as seemed appropriate to him; inasmuch as the temple, as the Words of the Days recount, in the first measure, that is, within the inner walls, had sixty cubits of length, twenty cubits of width. Furthermore, as the history of Kings writes, the height was up to the upper chambers thirty cubits; then another thirty cubits up to the upper chamber, as the height of the porticoes ascended, as Josephus testifies (Antiq. VIII, 3); then another sixty up to the top of the roof; that is, altogether one hundred twenty cubits, as the Words of the Days teach. But how does he say that three courses of uncut stones are to be laid, and thus the courses of new wood, when the whole temple was lined inside with cedar? unless perhaps it was the custom of the Persians to build temples in a varied work such that there were three courses of stones along the walls, and the fourth of crafted wood: and he also thought that this should be done in the same way in the temple of Jerusalem. Or perhaps it should be understood that he spoke of the court of the priests, which was made around the temple in a circle, had three courses of polished stones, and a fourth of cedar wood, and it was up to the chest height of those standing by; or certainly the house of the Lord, which was in front of the temple, about which the Scripture, when the palace of King Solomon was being built, thus recounts: He also made the greater court roundabout of three courses of hewn stones, and one course of hewn cedar, and likewise in the inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house (1 Kings VII).
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
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,…
Medes, Media — (middle land). Media lay northwest of Persia proper, south and southwest of the Caspian Sea, east of Armenia and Assyria, west and northwest of the great salt desert of Iran. Its greatest length was…
Persia — An ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern…
Temple — First used of the tabernacle, which is called “the temple of the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:9). In the New Testament the word is used figuratively of Christ’s human body (John 2:19, 21). Believers are called…
Cities · Built: On solid foundations — Built: On solid foundations
Foundation · Described as: Strongly laid — Described as: Strongly laid
House · .Foundations of stone — .Foundations of stone
Kings · Should: Promote the interests of the Church — Should: Promote the interests of the Church
Temple, The Second · Built on the site of the first temple — Built on the site of the first temple
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).
שָׂ֣ם
sam
H7761
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
decree
טְעֵם֒te.'Em
H2942
properly · noun, common both genders singular absolute
house
בֵּיתbeit-
H1005
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common both genders singular construct
God
אֱלָהָ֤א'e.la.Ha'
H426
God · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Jerusalem
בִֽירוּשְׁלֶם֙vi.ru.she.Lem
H3390
Jerusalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
house
בַּיְתָ֣אbay.Ta'
H1005
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
builded
יִתְבְּנֵ֔אyit.be.Ne'
H1124
to build · verb, imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
place
אֲתַר֙'a.Tar
H870
a place · noun, common both genders singular absolute
offered
דָבְחִ֣יןda.ve.Chin
H1684
to sacrifice (an animal) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
sacrifices
דִּבְחִ֔יןdiv.Chin
H1685
a sacrifice · noun, common masculine plural absolute
foundations
וְאֻשּׁ֖וֹהִיve.'u.Sho.hi
H787
a foundation · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
laid
מְסֽוֹבְלִ֑יןme.sov.Lin
H5446
to erect · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
height
רוּמֵהּ֙ru.Meh
H7314
(literally) altitude · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
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…
This decree is recorded in Ezra 1:2-4. • The Temple’s height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet: The emendations given in the NLT textual note would make these measurements match those of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kgs 6:2, 17, 20). But the larger measurements given here might represent the maximum size that the Persians would fund.
Rashi on Ezra 6:3
the House of God in Jerusalem regarding the House of God in Jerusalem; what should be with it? “The House should be built.”
a place where they offer up sacrifices which is a place where they offer up sacrifices.
and its walls should be founded Aram. וְאֻשּׁוֹהִי. And its walls should be founded, like (4:12): “and its walls (וְאֻשַּׁיָא) they have joined.”
its height sixty cubits the height of the House was sixty cubits, and sixty cubits was its width.
