Ezra 6:1
in Ezra 6Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
KJV
Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
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This verse in Ezra 6
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThen King Darius commanded, etc. Josephus (Antiq. XI, 3) mentioned the name of the place where these letters of Cyrus were found thus: And a book was found in Ecbatana in a constructed tower, in the region of Media. Moreover, another translation has it thus: …
This site's exposition
the house of the rolls
on Ezra 6:1-2
Darius orders the archive searched, and the roll does not turn up in Babylon but at Achmetha in Media, the summer residence of the Persian kings where records travelled with the court. Cyrus's decree had lain filed for years, safe from the same officials who now doubt it exists. Matthew Henry reads the discovery as providence: the record was hidden from ill will yet came to light on its own schedule. The empire's own paperwork ends up vindicating the very people some in that empire wanted stopped.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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 give judgment against the Jews; but it is probable, having himself heard that such a decree was certainly made, he ordered the rolls in other places to be searched, and at length it was found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes,
A decree - To search the rolls in Babylon, where search was first made; but not finding the edict there, they searched in Achmetha, or Ecbatana, and found it.
Then Darius the king made a decree,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A “house of the rolls” was discovered at Koyunjik, the ancient Nineveh, in 1850 - a set of chambers, i. e., in the palace devoted exclusively to the storing of public documents. These were in baked clay, and covered the floor to the depth of more than a foot. Such a “house” was probably that at Babylon.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well-defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
In the house of the rolls - בית ספריא beith siphraiya, the house of the books, the king’s library. This is the first time we hear of a library.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בֵּאדַ֛יִן | bedayin | <in> then | H116 → | 57 times |
| דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁ | dareyavesh | Darius | H1868 → | 15 times |
| מַלְכָּ֖א | malka' | king the | H4430 → | 180 times |
| שָׂ֣ם | sam | he made | H7761 → | 26 times |
| טְעֵ֑ם | teem | a decree | H2942 → | 28 times |
| וּבַקַּ֣רוּ׀ | uvakaru | and they searched | H1240 → | 5 times |
| בְּבֵ֣ית | beveit | in [the] house | H1005 → | 44 times |
| סִפְרַיָּ֗א | sifraiya' | books the | H5609 → | 5 times |
| דִּ֧י | di | where | H1768 → | 345 times |
| גִנְזַיָּ֛א | ginzaiya' | treasures the | H1596 → | 3 times |
| מְהַחֲתִ֥ין | mehachatin | [were] deposited | H5182 → | 6 times |
| תַּמָּ֖ה | tamah | there | H8536 → | 4 times |
| בְּבָבֶֽל׃ | bevavel | in Babylon | H895 → | 25 times |
בֵּאדַ֛יִן<in> then
bedayinH116 →57 times
דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁDarius
dareyaveshH1868 →15 times
מַלְכָּ֖אking the
malka'H4430 →180 times
שָׂ֣םhe made
samH7761 →26 times
טְעֵ֑םa decree
teemH2942 →28 times
וּבַקַּ֣רוּ׀and they searched
uvakaruH1240 →5 times
בְּבֵ֣יתin [the] house
beveitH1005 →44 times
סִפְרַיָּ֗אbooks the
sifraiya'H5609 →5 times
דִּ֧יwhere
diH1768 →345 times
גִנְזַיָּ֛אtreasures the
ginzaiya'H1596 →3 times
מְהַחֲתִ֥ין[were] deposited
mehachatinH5182 →6 times
תַּמָּ֖הthere
tamahH8536 →4 times
בְּבָבֶֽל׃in Babylon
bevavelH895 →25 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 40:7Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll:
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:7–9
Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll: I have come to do Your will, O God.’”
- Luke 24:44
Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets,…
- John 5:39
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
- Luke 24:27
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
- Hebrews 10:7–9
Through
Proverbs 25:2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
- Romans 11:33–34
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Job 11:7–8
Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Job 38:4
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
- Deuteronomy 29:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Ezra
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.