John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezra 5:9
Then asked we those elders ,.... The elders of the province of Judea; the chief men of it: who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls ? see Ezra 5:3 . read more
Ezra 5:9-12 Niv
John Gill
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezra 5:10
We asked their names also ,.... The names of the elders, those that set men about this work: to certify that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them ; take the names of them in writing, that they might with certainty acquaint the king who they were, and that if it was necessary they might be called to an account for what they were doing. read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezra 5:11
And thus they returned us answer ,.... To the purpose and in the manner following: saying, we are the servants of the God of heaven and earth ; signifying that they were doing his work, in obedience to his will, and to whom they were accountable: and build the house that was builded these many years ago ; even five hundred years ago, or thereabout; so that they were not erecting a building where there was none before, but were rebuilding what was in ruins: which a great king of... read more
John Gill
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezra 5:12
But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath ,.... By their idolatries; which accounts for it how it was that they who were the servants of the great God of heaven and earth, and this temple built for the honour of his name, were not preserved by him; but they were carried captive, and this house left desolate: it was for their sins for which he (God) gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried... read more
Adam Clarke
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezra 5:11
We are the servants of the God of heaven - How simple, plain, and ingenuous is this confession! They were the servants of the God of heaven. How came they then into bondage! Why, they provoked the God of heaven - repeatedly sinned against him, and then he gave them into the hands of their enemies. read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 5:3-17
Opposition revived. We have in these verses a twofold account of two different things. In Ezra 5:3 , Ezra 5:4 , in the first place, we have the historian's account of the revived opposition called out by the revival of the work of temple-building on the part of the Jews. In Ezra 5:6-10 we have an almost identical but slightly fuller account of the same matter in the letter sent by the opponents themselves to Darius. In Ezra 5:5 , in the next place, we have the historian's account... read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 5:3-17
Wisdom in trial. Hardly had the Jews recommenced their work, when they again found themselves subjected to a— I. TRIAL OF FAITH . "At the same time," etc. ( Ezra 5:3 ). Again their unfriendly neighbours came to the attack. They challenged their right to build up the walls: "Who hath commanded you to build?" "By whose authority do ye these things?" The names of the leading men were demanded ( Ezra 5:4 ), with a view of sending them on to the Persian court. Pressure was... read more
Spence, H. D. M., etc.
The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 5:6-17
The letter to Darius. The occasion of this letter was the resumption of the work of rebuilding the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem after an interval of sixteen years. The authors of it are Tatnai, the governor, probably of all the provinces west of the Euphrates, and Shethar-boznai, who may have been the scribe or secretary associated with him, as Shimshai was with Rehum (see Ezra 4:8 ). Or possibly Shethar-boznai was the leading man of the Apharsachites; for these are mentioned as more... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezra 5:3-17
We have here, I. The cognizance which their neighbours soon took of the reviving of this good work. A jealous eye, it seems, they had upon them, and no sooner did the Spirit of God stir up the friends of the temple to appear for it than the evil spirit stirred up its enemies to appear against it. While the people built and ceiled their own houses their enemies gave them no molestation (Hag. 1:4), though the king's order was to put a stop to the building of the city (Ezra 4:21); but when they... read more