Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Ezra 3:13

in Ezra 3

The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. And the sound was heard from afar.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

so 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 afar off.

KJV

So 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 afar off.

This verse in Ezra 3

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Could not discern - The mixture of sorrow and joy here, is a representation of this world. In heaven all are singing and none sighing; in hell all are wailing, and none rejoicing: but here on earth we can scarce discern the shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping, let us learn to rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

This site's exposition

had seen the first house

on Ezra 3:12-13

Many of the priests, Levites and chief fathers were old enough to have seen the first house, and they weep with a loud voice at a foundation their memory measures against Solomon's temple, while others shout aloud for joy at a house finally begun. The two sounds run together until the people cannot discern the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping, one great noise heard far off carrying grief and hope at once. Haggai later speaks to these same old men directly, asking who is left that saw this house in her first glory and how it looks now by comparison, so a prophet answers the very tears this verse records.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

And the people did not recognize Those listeners did not recognize the voice of the shout of joy, because of the voice of the people’s weeping, for the rejoicing people were shouting with a great shout, and the voice of weeping was heard farther and farther away.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezra 3:13:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאֵ֣יןand not

    veeinH369789 times

  • הָעָ֗םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • מַכִּירִים֙[were] recognizing

    makirimH5234

  • ק֚וֹל[the] sound of

    kolH6963506 times

  • תְּרוּעַ֣ת[the] shout of

    teruatH864336 times

  • הַשִּׂמְחָ֔ה<the> happiness

    hasimchahH805794 times

  • לְק֖וֹלto [the] sound of

    lekolH6963506 times

  • בְּכִ֣י[the] weeping of

    bekhiH1065

  • הָעָ֑םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH35884482 times

  • הָעָ֗םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • מְרִיעִים֙[were] shouting

    meriimH7321

  • תְּרוּעָ֣הa shout of joy

    teruahH864336 times

  • גְדוֹלָ֔הgreat

    gedolahH1419526 times

  • וְהַקּ֥וֹלand the sound

    vehakolH6963506 times

  • נִשְׁמַ֖עit was heard

    nishma'H80851159 times

  • עַד־to

    ʾad-H57041261 times

  • לְמֵרָחֽוֹק׃ פ<to> from a distance

    lemerachokH7350

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 5:11

    But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever shout for joy. May You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

    it leads to

    • Romans 8:28

      And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

    • Revelation 19:1–7

      After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!

    • Psalms 68:3

      But the righteous will be glad and rejoice before God; they will celebrate with joy.

    • Psalms 40:16

      May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, “The LORD be magnified!”

    • 1 Corinthians 2:9

      Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

  • Through

    1 Kings 1:45

    Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there with rejoicing that rings out in the city. That is the noise you hear.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 1:40

      All the people followed him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth was split by the sound.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 4:5

    When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that it shook the ground.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 6:5

      And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all…

    • Job 20:5

      the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Ezra

The Rebuilding of the Temple Is Begun — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Rebuilding of the Temple Is Begun — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.