Ezra 3: The altar rebuilt, and a foundation laid with praise and weeping
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
In the seventh month the people gather at Jerusalem, and Jeshua and Zerubbabel with their brothers build the altar and offer burnt offerings, though the foundation of Yahweh's temple is not yet laid. In the second year after they came to the house of God, in the second month, the work begins, and when the builders lay the foundation the priests and Levites praise Yahweh. Many shout for joy, and many of the old men who had seen the first house weep, so that the noise is heard far away.
Who is speaking?
No one speaks for God in this chapter, and none of it is in gold. It is all told by the narrator, except that in verse 11 a line of praise is sung: "For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel." God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
In plain English: When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in their cities, the people gathered together as one man at Jerusalem.
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2Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his relatives, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
In plain English: Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his relatives (literally: his brothers), and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
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3In spite of their fear because of the peoples of the surrounding lands, they set the altar on its base; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
In plain English: They set the altar on its base, though (or: for, because) fear of the peoples of the lands was on them. And they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, burnt offerings in the morning and in the evening.
The Hebrew words: The verse opens with two words that the WEB turns into "In spite of their fear". They are ki and emah. The dictionary says ki is "very widely used" and gives emah as "fright". The Hebrew then says the fright was on them "from the peoples of the lands". The word "surrounding" in the WEB is not one of the Hebrew words of this verse.
How it is translated: The word ki is in 3,910 verses of the Bible. The WEB says "for" in 2,538 of them, "because" in 536 and "though" in 60. "In spite of" is the WEB's wording for this word in this verse only, and in Ezra "for" is in 17 of the 21 verses that have ki.
What changes: With "for" or "because", the verse reads: they set the altar on its base, for fear of the peoples of the lands was on them, so the fear is the reason they did it. With the WEB's "in spite of", they set it there although they were afraid. The Hebrew word allows both, and the verse does not say which.
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4They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required;
In plain English: They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the burnt offerings of each day by number, by the ordinance, as the duty of each day required.
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5and afterward the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the new moons, of all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and of everyone who willingly offered a free will offering to Yahweh.
In plain English: After that came the regular burnt offering (the one offered every day), the offerings of the new moons, those of all Yahweh's set feasts that were made holy, and those of everyone who gave a free will offering (a gift given willingly) to Yahweh.
6From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was not yet laid.
In plain English: From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh. But the foundation of Yahweh's temple had not yet been laid.
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7They also gave money to the masons and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.
In plain English: They gave money to the masons and to the carpenters (or: craftsmen). They gave food, drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar wood from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, as Cyrus king of Persia had allowed them (the WEB says: according to the grant they had from Cyrus).
The Hebrew word: "Grant" is rishyon, which the dictionary gives as "a permit".
How it is translated: The word is in this verse only, and the WEB says "grant" there.
What changes: With the dictionary's word the verse reads "according to the permit they had from Cyrus king of Persia". The verse does not say what the permit said. Cyrus's own words about building the house of Yahweh are in .
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8Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh’s house.
In plain English: In the second year after they came to God's house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who had come from the captivity to Jerusalem began the work. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and up, to oversee the work of Yahweh's house.
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9Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together to have the oversight of the workmen in God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
In plain English: Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to oversee the workmen in God's house. So did the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
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10When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh’s temple, they set the priests in their vestments with trumpets, with the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
In plain English: When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh's temple, they set the priests in their robes with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, as David king of Israel had directed (literally: on the hands of David).
The Hebrew word: "According to the directions of David" is, word for word, "on the hands of David". The word for "hand" is yad, which the dictionary gives as "a hand", with the sense of "power, means, direction".
How it is translated: The word is in 17 verses of Ezra. The WEB says "hand" or "hands" in 15 of them and "directions" in 1, which is this verse.
What changes: With the word for word reading the verse says they stood "on the hands of David king of Israel". The verse does not spell out what that means. The WEB reads it as his directions.
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11They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.
In plain English: They sang to one another (or: answered), praising and giving thanks to Yahweh: "For he is good, for his loving kindness toward Israel lasts forever." All the people gave a great shout as they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh's house had been laid.
The Hebrew word: "They sang to one another" is one Hebrew word, anah. The dictionary gives it as "properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce". The words "to one another" are not in the Hebrew of this verse.
How it is translated: The word is in 316 verses of the Bible. The WEB says a form of "answer" in 265 of them and a form of "sing" in 7.
What changes: With "answered", the verse says they answered with praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, and then gives the words they said. With the WEB's "sang", they sang them. The verse does not say whether they took turns.
Good to know: The words "loving kindness endures forever" are in 42 verses of the WEB, 34 of them in the Psalms (for example ). The other 8 are , , , , , , and this verse.
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12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,
In plain English: But many of the priests, the Levites and the heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes. Many others shouted aloud for joy,
The Hebrew words: "Heads of fathers' households" is, word for word, "heads of the fathers": rosh for "head" and av for "father". The word "households" is not a separate Hebrew word here.
How it is translated: The word rosh is in 13 verses of Ezra. The WEB says a form of "head" in 9 of them. In others, such as and , it says "chief".
What changes: With the word for word reading the verse names "the heads of the fathers", with the word "households" left out. The verse does not say more about who they were.
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13so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far away.
In plain English: so that the people could not tell the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the people's weeping. For the people shouted a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
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