Ezra 3:8

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezra 3:8

Ezra 3:8. In the second month began Zerubbabel, &c. The building of the temple was begun as soon as ever the season of the year would permit, and as soon as they had ended the solemnities of the passover. They took little more than half a year for preparing the ground and materials; so much were their hearts upon the work. And Jeshua, and their brethren the priests and Levites, &c. Then the work of God is likely to go on well when magistrates, ministers, and people are zealously... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ezra 3:1-13

3:1-6:22 THE TEMPLE REBUILTWork begins (3:1-13)Non-Jewish people living in and around Jerusalem were not pleased at the return of the Jews to the area. The Jews were understandably afraid, and wanted to ensure God’s protection by carrying out their religious duties faithfully. The mid-year festival season was approaching (see Leviticus 23:23-43), so the Jews quickly built an altar on which to offer their sacrifices. This marked the recommencement of regular sacrifices and festivals according to... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ezra 3:8

God. Hebrew. Elohim. (with Art.) the [true] God. App-4 . set forward = oversee. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ezra 3:8

THE FIRST LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION"Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity into Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of Jehovah. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ezra 3:8

8. appointed the Levites . . . to set forward the work—that is, to act as overseers of the workmen, and to direct and animate the laborers in the various departments. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezra 3:7-9

The reconstruction of the temple foundation 3:7-9As Solomon had done, these Jews contracted with the Phoenicians to the north to supply wood for the temple (cf. 2 Chronicles 2:16). The people needed several months of preparations before actual construction began on the site in 536 B.C. It commenced about 70 years after the first group of exiles had departed for Babylon in 605 B.C. Extensive foundation repair work was necessary because the temple stood on a hilltop and because Babylonian... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Ezra 3:1-13

The Refounding of the Temple1. The seventh month] i.e. Sept.-Oct. of (probably) 537 b.c.2. Jeshua] called in Haggai 1:1; ’Joshua.’ His father Jozadak had been carried into exile by Nebuchadnezzar (1 Chronicles 6:15). Son of Shealtiel] In 1 Chronicles 3:19; Zerubbabel is called the son of Pedaiah, the brother of Shealtiel (Salathiel). The discrepancy may be explained by the suppositions (a) that he was the real son of Pedaiah and the legal son of Shealtiel (Pedaiah having married Shealtiel’s... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Ezra 3:8

(8) In the second year.—The second year of Cyrus, B.C. 537, was their second year in the holy place.In the second month.—Zif, chosen apparently because it was the same month in which Solomon laid the first foundation (1 Kings 6:0).Appointed the Levites, from twenty years.—Their appointment to superintend, and their specified age, are in strict harmony with the original ordinances of David (1 Chronicles 23:0). read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Ezra 3:1-13

The Altar and the Temple Ezra 3:2 ; Ezra 3:6 In the opening chapters of this book of Ezra we are among the Jews who have come back from Babylon. God has restored the exiles to their country; and their feet stand in Jerusalem again. But the ravages of war and the silent attacks of time have played strange havoc with the beloved city. It was then that they set to work to restore Jerusalem. God breathed an enthusiasm upon the people. And it was then that they built the altar of the Lord, for the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Ezra 3:1-13

0THE NEW TEMPLEEzra 2:68-70; Ezra 3:1-13UNLIKE the historian of the exodus from Egypt, our chronicler gives no account of adventures of the pilgrims on the road to Palestine, although much of their way led them through a wild and difficult country. So huge a caravan as that which accompanied Zerubbabel must have taken several months to cover the eight hundred miles between Babylon and Jerusalem; for even Ezra with his smaller company spent four months on their journey. {Ezra 7:8-9} A dreary... read more

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