Haggai and Zechariah stirred up Zerubbabel and Joshua Ezra 5:2; Haggai 1:14, and warned the people against neglecting the building of the temple, in order to give themselves to the beautifying of their own houses (see Haggai 1:4, Haggai 1:9). Zechariah was the son of Berechiah, and grandson of Iddo... [ Continue Reading ]
BEGAN TO BUILD - i. e., “made a second beginning” - recommenced the uncompleted work. HELPING THEM - By infusing zeal into the people (see Haggai 1:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
GOVERNOR ON THIS SIDE THE RIVER - Compare Ezra 4:10 note. Tatnai was apparently satrap of Syria, which included the whole tract west of the Euphrates from Cilicia to the borders of Egypt. Zerubbabel must have been, to some extent, under his authority. WHO HATH COMMANDED YOU TO BUILD? - There was no... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID WE - The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions have “Then said they,” which brings this verse into exact accordance with Ezra 5:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
Apharsachites, like Apharsites, and Apharsathchites Ezra 4:9, are thought by some to be forms of the word “Persians,” which is applied here generally to the foreign settlers in Samaria. (Others identify the first and the third names with the “Paretaceni,” a people on the Medo-Persian border.)... [ Continue Reading ]
GREAT STONES - literally, as in the margin; i. e., stones so large that they were rolled along, not carried. Others translate “polished stones.”... [ Continue Reading ]
SINCE THAT TIME EVEN UNTIL NOW - Sixteen years - from 536 B.C. to 520 B.C. The adversaries of the Jews here overstep the truth; since, in point of fact, the work had been suspended for a while Ezra 4:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THERE BE SEARCH MADE ... AT BABYLON - They perhaps doubted whether proof of the decree of Cyrus remained in the archives. The Pseudo-Smerdis had had the records in his power for seven months; and, when he reversed the policy of his predecessors, might have been expected to destroy their edicts.... [ Continue Reading ]