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Ezra 6:14

in Ezra 6

So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the elders of the Jews builded and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

KJV

And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

This verse in Ezra 6

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

And they built and constructed, etc. He says Artaxerxes, who reigned after Darius, during whose time Ezra ascended from Babylon to Jerusalem. However, it is questioned how it is said that, by order not only of Cyrus and Darius but also Artaxerxes, the house of …

This site's exposition

so they did speedily

on Ezra 6:13-15

Tatnai and his companions obey speedily, exactly as Darius sent, and the delay that once stopped the work becomes the channel that funds it. Verse 14 names the true cause behind the king's paperwork: the elders builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, the narrative anchor for both prophetic books. Wesley reads the same verse against any thought that Darius acted from mere kindness, tracing the success instead to God, who by his prophets required the work and then moved a pagan king's heart to fund it. The house is finished on the third day of Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, four years after the decree that restarted the work.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Through the prophesying - This is a seasonable intimation that this great and unexpected success was not to be ascribed to chance, or to the kindness or good humour of Darius, but unto God only, who by his prophets had required and encouraged them to proceed in the work, and by his mighty power disposed Darius's heart to such kind and noble purposes.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

According to the commandment of the God of Israel - He first gave the order, and stirred up the hearts of the following Persian kings to second that order. Of Cyrus - This sovereign gave his orders for the rebuilding of the temple about A.M. 3468. And Darius - Darius Hystaspes confirmed the above orders, A. M. 3485. And Artaxerxes - Artaxerxes Longimanus sent Ezra to Judea with new privileges, A.M. 3547. With the permission of the same king, Nehemiah came to Judea in 3550. The writer recapitulates the different sovereigns who favored the Jews after the Babylonish captivity.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

on Ezra 6:13-15

Then Tatnai . . . did speedily--A concurrence of favorable events is mentioned as accelerating the restoration of the temple and infusing a new spirit and energy into the workmen, who now labored with unabating assiduity till it was brought to a completion. Its foundation was laid in April, 536 B.C.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וְשָׂבֵ֤יand [the] elders of

    vesaveiH78685 times

  • יְהוּדָיֵא֙Jews the

    yehudaye'H306210 times

  • בָּנַ֣יִן[were] building

    banayinH112422 times

  • וּמַצְלְחִ֔יןand prospering

    umatzlechinH6744

  • בִּנְבוּאַת֙by [the] prophesying of

    binvuatH5017

  • חַגַּ֣יHaggai

    chagaiH2292

  • נְבִיָּ֔אprophet the

    neviah'H50294 times

  • וּזְכַרְיָ֖הand Zechariah

    uzekharyahH214843 times

  • בַּר־[the] son of

    bar-H124719 times

  • עִדּ֑וֹאIddo

    ido'H5714

  • וּבְנ֣וֹand they built

    uvenoH112422 times

  • וְשַׁכְלִ֗לוּand they finished

    veshakhliluH36357 times

  • מִן־according to

    min-H4481109 times

  • טַ֙עַם֙[the] decree of

    taamH294228 times

  • אֱלָ֣הּ[the] God of

    ʾelahH42695 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH34798 times

  • וּמִטְּעֵם֙and according to [the] decree of

    umiteemH294228 times

  • כּ֣וֹרֶשׁCyrus

    koreshH35678 times

  • וְדָרְיָ֔וֶשׁand Darius

    vedareyaveshH186815 times

  • וְאַרְתַּחְשַׁ֖שְׂתְּאand Artaxerxes

    veartachshaste'H78315 times

  • מֶ֥לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4430180 times

  • פָּרָֽס׃Persia

    parasH6540

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

    Ezra 7:1

    Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 2:1

      Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad…

    • 1 Chronicles 6:4–14

      Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas was the father of Abishua,

    • Ezra 7:21

      I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers west of the Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it must be provided…

    • 2 Kings 22:4

      “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

    • Ezra 7:12

      Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.

  • Through

    Ezra 4:24

    Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

    it leads to

    • Haggai 1:15

      on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.

  • Through

    Ezra 5:13

    In his first year, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

    it leads to

    • Ezra 1:1–8

      In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout…

    • Isaiah 44:28

      who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Ezra

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.