Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
7. First steps taken towards the Rebuilding of the Temple
the masons ] The stone for the Temple was excavated from the hill on which Jerusalem stood.
It is possible that the word rendered ‘masons’ may include the rougher workmen for both stone and wood, i.e. quarrymen and wood cutters, while the word rendered ‘carpenters’ may mean the skilled artificers for working up the wood and stone.
meat ] The old English expression for ‘something to eat’. Cf. Luk 24:41, ‘Have ye here any meat?’ (R.V. ‘anything to eat?’).
oil ] One of the necessities of life for the inhabitants of a hot country, applied externally: classed here with meat and drink, and apparently also in Psa 23:5; Psa 104:15; Mic 6:15.
Solomon hired workmen from Tyre and Sidon and paid them in the same way, when the first Temple was erected. It is noteworthy that whereas 1Ki 5:11 states that Solomon gave Hiram’s household wheat and oil, we are told in 2Ch 2:10 that he promised to give Hiram’s servants ‘wheat and barley and wine and oil’. On this occasion similar payment in kind was given a heavy tax upon the resources of the young community to the Zidonians and Tyrians, engaged in felling trees on Lebanon and floating them to Joppa.
from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa ] R.V. from Lebanon to the sea, unto Joppa. The mountain of Lebanon from which cedars were obtained and sent into every country far and near (e.g. 2Sa 5:11; 2Sa 7:2 ; 1Ki 5:6; 1Ch 14:1, &c.). Cf. Jer 22:23, ‘O inhabitant of Lebanon that makest thy nest in the cedars’.
The Tyrian workmen conveyed the trunks of cedar-trees from the hills to the nearest coast and then floated them in enormous rafts as far as Joppa, the nearest seaport to Jerusalem. Compare 2Ch 2:16, ‘And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa (marg. Heb. Japho); and thou shalt carry it to Jerusalem.’
‘To the sea of Joppa’, the A.V. rendering, preferred by some, is most unnatural.
Joppa the modern Jaffa was included in the tribe of Dan (Jos 19:46), but was never taken from the Philistines. Famous from the story of Jonah. In the Grco-Syrian period largely occupied by Jews, and included within Jewish territory by Jonathan and Simon, the brothers of Judas the Maccabee (see 1Ma 10:75 ). Peter at Joppa restored Tabitha (Act 9:36-43), and was summoned thence by Cornelius (Act 10:5). Now a small seaport, but of considerable importance. With certain improvements to the harbour it would become an important place. Distance 30 miles from Jerusalem.
according to the grant that they had &c.] The ‘grant’ or permit seems to be the probable rendering of the Hebrew word, which does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament.
of Cyrus king of Persia ] What is the grant referred to? It appears from Herodotus (iii. 34; see Rawlinson’s note on Herod. iii. 19) that Cyrus was not master of Phnicia, and was not therefore in a position to give a grant to the Jews to obtain cedar from Lebanon. Nor is it probable that the ‘grant’ means royal permission to enter into treaty with the Tyrians and Zidonians.
We must understand the word quite generally. The action of the Jews in procuring wood and stone and hiring workmen was in accordance with the wish of Cyrus, under whose favour they had undertaken the task of rebuilding the Temple.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
According to the grant – i. e., in accordance with the permission granted them by Cyrus to rebuild their temple Ezr 1:1-4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. They gave money also] They copied the conduct of Solomon while he was building his temple; see 1Kg 5:11. He employed the Tyrians, gave them meat and drink, c. and this permission they now had from Cyrus.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
7. They gave . . . meat . . . drink,and oil, unto them of ZidonThey opened negotiations with theTyrians for workmen, as well as for timber, on the same terms andwith the same views as Solomon had done (1Ki 5:11;2Ch 2:15; 2Ch 2:16).
Ezr3:8-13. THE FOUNDATIONOF THE TEMPLE LAID.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 2Ch 2:16,
according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia; for Tyre and Zidon being under his dominion as well as Judea, he not only gave leave to the Jews to get cedar wood from Lebanon, but gave orders to the Zidonians and Tyrians to furnish them with it, paying a valuable consideration for it; and so some a render the word, “according to the commandment of Cyrus”.
a “juxta praeceptum”, Vatablus; “juxta quod praeceperat”, V. L. So Ben Melech.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) They gave money.Their own workmen were paid in money; the Phoenicians, as in Solomons days (1 Kings 5; 2 Chronicles 2), were paid in kind. This illustrates and is illustrated by Act. 12:20.
The sea of Joppa.The Jewish port to which the cedar-trees were sent by sea, and thence thirty-five miles inland to Jerusalem.
The grant.The authority of Cyrus over Phnicia seems not to have been doubtful.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. They gave money also The feast of tabernacles was made also an occasion of contributing to the fund necessary to rebuild the temple.
Cedar trees from Lebanon The same kind of wood, from the same place Solomon had used in the first temple. 1Ki 5:6 ; 1Ki 5:9.
To the sea of Joppa Or, to the sea at Joppa. The transportation was to be done as in the time of Solomon. See note on 1Ki 5:9.
According to the grant of Cyrus All Syria and Phoenicia was subject to Cyrus, and this grant had doubtless been given to gratify the Jews in their desire to have the second temple built as nearly as possible after the manner of the first one.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The assistance they obtained from Tyre and Zidon in building the temple, suggests to us once more how the Lord had a continued reference to the poor Gentiles of the earth. They shall have somewhat to do with Jesus even before they know the Lord Jesus, or are conscious of their want of him. For the Lord Jehovah, our Father, had given the ends of the earth to his dear Son from the moment he set him up as King in Zion. This the Lord Jesus assured the church of when he said, I will declare the decree. Psa 2:6-8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ezr 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.
Ver. 7. They gave money also unto the masons and carpenters ] Who usually get it and eat it, laying up little; their life is called the life of their hands, because maintained by the labour of their hands, Isa 57:10 ; Isa 57:14 ; day wages they must have, or they cannot subsist; and these good Jews spared for no cost, but gave money out of the bag freely to these workmen. Idolaters care not what cost they cast away upon their dumb idols: Drum alienum dotant, so some read that text, Psa 16:4 . The Turkish stately mosques, and Popish Basilicae, stuffed with vowed presents and memories, as they call them, are things known to all. When the famous artificer Phidias advised the Athenians to make the statue of Minerva rather of marble than of ivory, 1. Because more durable, this passed with allowance; 2. Because less chargeable, this they abhorred, and bade him say no more of such a matter.
And meat, and drink, and oil
To bring cedar trees
To the sea of Joppa
According to the grant
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), to emphasize each detail.
carpenters = artificers.
bring cedar trees. Compare 1Ki 5:6. 2Ch 2:8, 2Ch 2:10.
Joppa. Compare Jos 19:46. Act 9:35, Act 9:43. Jon 1:3.
grant. Occurs only here.
Of = from. Genitive of Origin. See App-17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
gave money: 2Ki 12:11, 2Ki 12:12, 2Ki 22:5, 2Ki 22:6, 2Ch 24:12, 2Ch 24:13
carpenters: or, workmen
meat: 1Ki 5:6, 1Ki 5:9-11, 2Ch 2:10-15, Eze 27:17, Act 12:20
Joppa: Joppa, now Jaffa or Yaffa, one of the most ancient sea-ports in the world, is situated in a fine plain on the shore of the Mediterranean, between Jamnia south and Caesarea of Palestine north, 150 stadia from Antipatris, according to Josephus, 30 miles south of Caesarea, 12 miles north of Ashdod, 9 miles west of Ramla, and 40 miles west of Jerusalem, according to modern authorities; and in lat. 32 degrees 50 minutes long. 65 degrees 40 minutes according to Ptolemy. It is still a considerable town, containing about 4,000 or 5,000 souls, and occupying a circular eminence close to the seaside, with a citadel on the summit; the bottom of the hill being surrounded by a wall 12 or 14 feet high, and two or three feet thick. The environs are occupied by extensive gardens. 2Ch 2:16, Jon 1:3, Act 9:36, Act 10:5, Act 10:6
according: Ezr 6:3-5
Reciprocal: 1Ch 14:1 – and timber 1Ch 22:2 – masons 1Ch 22:4 – cedar trees 2Ch 34:10 – in the hand Dan 10:1 – Cyrus Hag 1:8 – to
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 3:7. Meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon and Tyre The inhabitants of those towns wanted provisions more than money, as appears by the history of Solomons building, 1Ki 5:10. To bring cedar- trees from Lebanon Tyre and Zidon now, as of old, furnished them with workmen, and Lebanon with timber, orders for both which they had from Cyrus. What God calls us to we may depend upon his providence to furnish us with.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 3:7-13. The Laying of the Temple Foundation and the Joy of the People.
Ezr 3:7. masons . . . carpenters: those referred to were the men who hewed the stone from the quarries and those who prepared the rough stone thus obtained.them of Zidon . . . them of Tyre: as in the case of the first Temple, see 1Ki 5:6-11.according . . . Persia: see Ezr 1:2; the Lebanon range belonged now to the kings of Persia.
Ezr 3:8. in the second year . . . in the second month: i.e. as the text stands, the second year of the return, 536 B.C., which was also the second month of the year (according to the Chroniclers mode of reckoning); the second month was lyar (= approximately May). But, according to the contemporary prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the beginning of the building of the Temple took place in the sixth month of the second year of Darius I, i.e. the month Elul (= approximately October) 520 (see Hag 1:1; Hag 1:15, cf. Hag 2:10; Hag 2:15; Hag 2:18, Zec 1:1, Zec 1:7-9), while in Ezr 4:24 it is said that owing to the obstruction of the people of the land the building of the Temple had to cease, and was not taken up again until the second year of Darius; in this verse, as well as in the one before us, the Chroniclers chronology is at fault, the text here also being corrupt. Battens reconstruction of Ezr 3:8-10 a, being in part supported by the Greek Ezra, is to be commended, viz.: And in the second year of Darius, in the sixth month, Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Josadak, and their brethren, and the priests, the Levites, and all (others) who had come in from the captivity to Jerusalem, began and laid the foundation of the house of God. On the first day of the second month of the second year of their coming to Judah and Jerusalem, then they appointed the Levites of twenty years and upward for the work on the house of Yahweh; then arose Jeshua and Bani and Ahijah and Kadmiel, the sons of Hodaviah and the sons of Henadad, their sons and their brothers, all the Levites doing the work on the house of God, and the builders were erecting the Temple of Yahweh. As Batten explains, the dates are given with the particularity characteristic of the time, as in Hag., first by the kings reign, and then by the sojourn in Jerusalem. That two dates were in the original is suggested by the separation of the year and month by several intervening words. For further justification of the reconstruction, see Battens notes.
Ezr 3:8. from twenty years old and upwards: the law as to the age when the Levites might begin their work in the sanctuary varied; in Num 8:24 f. it is twenty-five years, in Num 4:3; Num 4:23; Num 4:30; Num 4:35, thirty, which is also the age given in 1Ch 23:3, while in 1Ch 23:24 of the same chapter it is twenty.
Ezr 3:9. the sons of Judah . . . the Levites: the text is corrupt, read as above. In Ezr 2:40 the Levites are enumerated as the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel and the children of Hodaviah, but in Neh 10:9 the children of Henadad are added.
Ezr 3:10. they set the priests: read the priests stood with a number of Heb. MSS, the LXX and Vulgate; cf. also the Greek Ezra 5:59.in their apparel: cf. 2Ch 5:12.with trumpets: cf. Num 10:8*; a straight metallic tube, quite unlike the curved rams horn (1Ch 15:24*). Regarding their use in the worship of the Temple they were, as a rule, only used for the purpose of giving signals at certain times during the service; in 2Ch 5:11-13, however, it is stated that the trumpets accompanied the singing: this was not the general rule, though in later times it appears to have become more usual to employ trumpets in the worship itself (cf. 1Ma 4:40; 1Ma 5:33).cymbals: made of brass according to 1Ch 15:19.after the order of David: the Chronicler traces all these arrangements back to David although the Temple did not exist in his day; he was following the traditional belief (cf. 2Ch 29:25-30).
Ezr 3:11. they sang one to another: i.e. they sang antiphonally; for the words of praise which follow cf. Psa 106:1; Psa 136:1, 1Ch 16:34, 2Ch 5:13; 2Ch 7:3.
Ezr 3:12. that had seen the first house: cf. Hag 2:3.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The reconstruction of the temple foundation 3:7-9
As Solomon had done, these Jews contracted with the Phoenicians to the north to supply wood for the temple (cf. 2Ch 2:16). The people needed several months of preparations before actual construction began on the site in 536 B.C. It commenced about 70 years after the first group of exiles had departed for Babylon in 605 B.C. Extensive foundation repair work was necessary because the temple stood on a hilltop and because Babylonian destruction had been extensive.
Under the Mosaic Law, Levites began their service at age 25 (Num 8:24). The Mosaic Law did not allow them to carry the tabernacle until they were 30 (Num 4:3). David had allowed Levites to begin some service at age 20 (1Ch 23:24; 1Ch 23:27). Zerubbabel and Jeshua also allowed them to begin working on the reconstruction project at age 20 (Ezr 3:8).