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Ezra 6:20

in Ezra 6

All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure: and they killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

KJV

For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.

This verse in Ezra 6

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The Levites were purified together - They were all ready at one time to observe the proper rites and ceremonies, and had no need of having a second passover, which was appointed by the law for those who had been accidentally defiled, or were at a distance from the tabernacle. See 2Ch 30:3.

This site's exposition

On the fourteenth day of the first month

on Ezra 6:19-20

With the Passover the Aramaic of the Persian correspondence that has run since Ezra 4:8 gives way here to Hebrew. The exiles keep the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, the day the law commands. All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean.

This site's exposition

had purified themselves

Clarke notes that the priests and Levites were all clean at one time, so the exiles needed no second Passover. He points to 2 Chronicles 30:3, where Hezekiah kept the Passover in the second month after too few priests had consecrated themselves. Hezekiah's priests were ashamed; these priests were ready.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Search was ordered to be made for it among the records; for, it seems, the tribes had not taken care to provide themselves with an authentic copy of it, which might have stood them in good stead, but they must appeal to the original. It was looked for in Babylon (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Some render, “And the priests were purified; and the Levites, as one man, were all of them pure.” A contrast is drawn between the universal purity of the Levites and the merely general purity of the priests 2Ch 29:34; 2Ch 30:3, which made it fitting that the former should undertake the slaughter of all the Paschal lambs, even of those which the priests were to consume. In later times the ordinary practice was for each head of a family to kill for himself.

The words behind it

15 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.

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • הִֽטַּהֲר֞וּthey had purified themselves

    hitaharuH2891 →

  • הַכֹּהֲנִ֧יםthe priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • וְהַלְוִיִּ֛םand the Levites

    vehalviyimH3881 →291 times

  • כְּאֶחָ֖דas one

    keechadH259 →971 times

  • כֻּלָּ֣םall of them

    kulamH3605 →5413 times

  • טְהוֹרִ֑ים[were] pure

    tehorimH2889 →

  • וַיִּשְׁחֲט֤וּand they slaughtered

    vaiyishchatuH7819 →

  • הַפֶּ֙סַח֙the passover

    hapesachH6453 →

  • לְכָל־for all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • בְּנֵ֣י[the] children of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • הַגּוֹלָ֔הthe exile

    hagolahH1473 →43 times

  • וְלַאֲחֵיהֶ֥םand for brothers their

    velaacheihemH251 →630 times

  • הַכֹּהֲנִ֖יםthe priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • וְלָהֶֽם׃and for <the> themselves

    velahem

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

    Hebrews 7:27

    Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 9:28

      so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

    • Hebrews 9:12

      He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

    • Hebrews 9:14

      how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

    • Hebrews 10:6–12

      In burnt offerings and sin offerings You took no delight.

    • Ephesians 5:2

      and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

  • Through

    Exodus 12:21

    Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb.

    it leads to

    • Exodus 12:3

      Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 29:34

    However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had been consecrated. For the Levites had…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 35:11

      And they slaughtered the Passover lambs, while the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them and the Levites skinned the animals.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 35:11

    And they slaughtered the Passover lambs, while the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them and the Levites skinned the animals.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 29:34

      However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had been consecrated. For the Levites had…

Where this verse is studied

About Ezra

Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Berean Standard Bible, 2 Chronicles 30; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.