Advanced Commentary
Texts -- Ezra 5:16-17 (NET)
Pericope
NET
- Ezr 5:1-17 -- Tattenai Appeals to Darius
Bible Dictionary
-
Zerubbabel
[ebd] the seed of Babylon, the son of Salathiel or Shealtiel (Hag. 1:1; Zorobabel, Matt. 1:12); called also the son of Pedaiah (1 Chr. 3:17-19), i.e., according to a frequent usage of the word "son;" the grandson or the nephew of ...
[nave] ZERUBBABEL, called also Sheshbazzar. Directs the rebuilding of the altar and temple after his return from captivity in Babylon, Ezra 3:2-8; 4:2, 3; 5:2, 14-16; Hag. 1:12-14. Leads the emancipated Jews back from Babylon, Ezra...
-
CYRUS
[ebd] (Heb. Ko'resh), the celebrated "King of Persia" (Elam) who was conqueror of Babylon, and issued the decree of liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1, 2). He was the son of Cambyses, the prince of Persia, and was born about B.C. 59...
[smith] (the sun), the founder of the Persian empire --see (2 Chronicles 36:22,23; Daniel 6:28; 10:1,13) --was, according to the common legend, the son of Cambyses, a Persian of the royal family of the Achaemenidae. When he grew u...
-
Darius
[nave] DARIUS 1. The Mede, king of Persia, Dan. 5:31; 6; 9:1. 2. King of Persia. Emancipates the Jews, Ezra 5; 6; Hag. 1:1, 15; Zech. 1:1. 3. The Persian, Neh. 12:22.
-
Joshua
[nave] JOSHUA 1. Called also Jehoshua, and Jehoshuah, and Oshea. Son of Nun, Num. 13:8; 1 Chr. 7:27. Intimately associated with Moses, Ex. 24:13; 32:17; 33:11. A religious zealot, Num. 11:28. Sent with others to view the promise...
-
Chaldee language
[ebd] employed by the sacred writers in certain portions of the Old Testament, viz., Dan. 2:4-7, 28; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Gen. 31:46; Jer. 10:11. It is the Aramaic dialect, as it is sometimes called, as distinguished from the H...
-
Israel
[nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...
-
EPISTLE
[isbe] EPISTLE - e-pis'-'-l (epistole, "a letter," "epistle"; from epistello, "to send to"): 1. New Testament Epistles 2. Distinctive Characteristics 3. Letter-Writing in Antiquity 4. Letters in the Old Testament 5. Letters in the ...
-
Temple, the Second
[ebd] After the return from captivity, under Zerubbabel (q.v.) and the high priest Jeshua, arrangements were almost immediately made to reorganize the long-desolated kingdom. The body of pilgrims, forming a band of 42,360, includi...
-
Temple
[nave] TEMPLE. Solomon's Called also Temple of the Lord, 2 Kin. 11:10; Holy Temple, Psa. 79:1; Holy House, 1 Chr. 29:3; House of God, 1 Chr. 29:2; 2 Chr. 23:9; House of the Lord, 2 Chr. 23:5, 12; Jer. 28:5; Father's House, John 2...
-
Zechariah
[ebd] Jehovah is renowned or remembered. (1.) A prophet of Judah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Like Ezekiel, he was of priestly extraction. He describes himself (1:1) as "the son of Berechiah." In Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 h...
-
Sheshbazzar
[nave] SHESHBAZZAR, a name given, apparently, to Zerubbabel, Ezra 1:8, 11; 5:14, 16. See: Zerubbabel.
-
King
[nave] KING Called King of kings, Ezra 7:12; Ezek. 26:7; Dan. 2:37. Divinely authorized, Deut. 17:15; 1 Sam. 9:16, 17; 16:12; 1 Chr. 22:10; 2 Chr. 2:11, 12; Prov. 8:15; Dan. 2:21, 37; 4:17; 5:20; Hos. 8:4; 13:11. How chosen: By d...
-
Persia
[nave] PERSIA An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Esth. 1:1; Dan. 6:1. Government of, restricted by constitutional limitations, Esth. 8:8; Dan. 6:8-12. Municipal gov...
-
Storehouses
[nave] STOREHOUSES Of kings, 2 Kin. 20:13; 1 Chr. 27:25; 2 Chr. 32:27, 28; Ezra 1:7, 8; Esth. 3:9. Records preserved in, Ezra 5:17; 6:1. Treasurers in charge of, Ezra 7:20, 21. Heathen temples used for, Dan. 1:2. Tabernacle use...
-
LIBRARIES
[isbe] LIBRARIES - li'-bra-riz, li'-brer-iz: 1. The Bible a Library 2. Mythological and Apocryphal Libraries 3. Libraries for the Dead 4. Memory Libraries 5. Prehistoric and Primitive Libraries 6. Mesopotamian Period 7. Patriarchal...
-
Treasure houses
[ebd] the houses or magazines built for the safe keeping of treasure and valuable articles of any kind (Ezra 5:17; 7:20; Neh. 10:38; Dan. 1:2).
-
HAGGAI
[isbe] HAGGAI - hag'-a-i, hag'-a-i (chaggay, an adjective formed from chagh, "feast"): 1. Name: The word "Haggai" may mean "festal," the prophet having been born perhaps on a festival day; compare the Roman name "Festus." Hebrew pr...
-
JERUSALEM, 4
[isbe] JERUSALEM, 4 - IX. History. Pre-Israelite period.--The beginnings of Jerusalem are long before recorded history: at various points in the neighborhood, e.g. at el Bukei`a to the Southwest, and at the northern extremity of th...
-
Foundation
[nave] FOUNDATION Deut. 32:22; Josh. 6:26; 1 Sam. 2:8; 2 Sam. 22:8, 16; 1 Kin. 5:17; 6:37; 7:9; 16:34; 2 Chr. 3:3; 8:16; 23:5; Ezra 3:3, 10; 4:12; 5:16; 6:3; Job 4:19; 22:16; 38:4; Psa. 11:3; 18:7, 15; 82:5; 87:1; 89:14; 97:2; 102:...
Arts
Resources/Books
Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)
-
The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
-
Due to the ancient tradition that the same writer composed both parts of the book (chapters 1-6 and 7-10), many scholars believe Ezra produced all of it.5A passage in the Talmud credits Ezra with the authorship of Ezra-Nehemi...
-
The earliest historical reference in Ezra is to the decree of Cyrus that he issued in his first year on the throne (1:1), 538 B.C.12The latest historical reference was just prior to Nehemiah's first trip to Jerusalem (4:21-23...
-
I. The first return under Sheshbazzar chs. 1-6A. The return from Babylon chs. 1-21. The edict of Cyrus and its consequences ch. 12. The exiles who returned ch. 2B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3-61. The beginning of cons...
-
"This whole section (Ezra 1-6) emphasizes God's sovereignty and his providence; God works in history to fulfill his will."15
-
"It is not strange according to the Semitic style to start a book with a waw["And"or "Now"], especially when the author intended to write a continuation of the history of his people. He connects the history which he wants to ...
-
Often warring armies in the ancient Near East carried images of their gods into battle to help secure victory (cf. 2 Sam. 5:21; 1 Chron. 14:12). When one army defeated the other the victors would take the images of their defe...
-
The Assyrian government encouraged its residents to move to Israel and to settle there after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. This was official government policy during the reigns of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon ...
-
"When he [the writer] discussed the problems of the building of the temple in 4:1-5, it reminded him of later similar troubles with the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and so 4:6-23 has been inserted, almost parenthetica...
-
Artaxerxes was the successor of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who ruled the Persian Empire from 464 to 424 B.C.73Clearly the incident reported in these verses took place long after the temple was complete. It really involved the attempt...
-
In contrast to Rehum and Shimshai's letter to Artaxerxes (4:11-16), Tattenai's letter to Darius was fair and objective. He did not want to stop the Jews' project. He only wanted to know if Cyrus had really given permission fo...
-
Compared with the dedication of the first temple this one was very modest. Solomon had offered more than 200 times as many animals.96The Jews offered one sin offering, which involved slaying a goat, for each of the 12 tribes ...
-
"These things"(v. 1) refers to the events of the first return that the writer described in chapters 1-6.Ezra's genealogy (vv. 1-5) shows that he was a man of importance whom his fellow Jews would have respected. He was a desc...
-
The Book of Ezra records two major Jewish returns to the Promised Land from Babylon.The first of these took place in 537 B.C. under the leadership of Sheshbazzar and then Zerubbabel. About 50,000 Jews returned, rebuilt the te...
-
The events of the Book of Esther took place during the Persian period of ancient history (539-331 B.C.) and during the reign of King Ahasuerus in particular (486-464 B.C.).Chronology of the Book of Esther483Ahasuerus' militar...
-
5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
-
The Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, including Solomon's temple, in 586 B.C. and took most of the Jews captive to Babylon. There the Israelites could not practice their formal worship ...
-
4:8-9 Another word from the Lord also came to Zechariah about Zerubbabel. This appears to be another oracle that the writer inserted here because it is appropriate at this point. He promised that as Zerubbabel had laid the fo...
-
Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...
