Ezra 6
1 Darius, finding the decree of Cyrus, makes a new decree for the advancement of the building.
13 By the help of Tatnai and Shethar-boznai, according to the decree, the temple is finished.
16 The feast of the dedication is kept;
19 and the passover.
searched <01240> [and search.]
archives <05609> [rolls. Chal. books.]
deposited <05182> [laid up. Chal. made to descend.]
Ecbatana <0307> [at Achmetha. or, at Ecbatana, or, in a coffer.]
[achmta <\\See definition 0712\\>,] probably from the Persian [chm,] {kham,} "a house for a summer residence," with a prefix, [a,] {aleph,} and the Chaldee termination [ta,] {tha,} most likely denotes Ecbatana, as the Vulgate and Josephus read, the summer residence of the Persian monarchs. It was situated in a mountainous region at the foot of mount Orontes, or Jasonius, according to Ammianus, on the southern confines of Media and Persia, and according to Pliny, 750 miles from Seleucia the Great, 20 miles from the Caspian passes, 450 miles from Susa, and the same from Gaz‘ Atropatene, and in lat. 37 degrees 45 min., long. 88 degrees, according to Ptolemy. The building of the city is ascribed to Semiramis by Diodorus, but to Deioces by Eusebius, (in Chron. 1.1,) and Herodotus, who states that it was surrounded by seven walls, strong and ample, built in circles one within another, rising each above each by the height of their respective battlements; each being distinguished by a different colour, the first white, the second black, the third purple, the fourth blue, the fifth orange, the sixth plated with silver, and the seventh with gold. The largest of these was nearly the extent of Athens, i.e., 200 furlongs, according to Dion Chrysostom; but Diodorus Siculus states the circumference of Ecbatana to be 250 furlongs. Within the inner circle stood the king's palace and the royal treasury, so much celebrated for its splendour and riches by Polybius. It is highly probable, as D'Anville and Major Rennel suppose, that the present Hamadan, whose ruins attest its former splendour, occupies the site of Ecbatana. It is situated in Al Gebal, at the foot of the lofty mountain Alwend, about 80 leagues from Ispahan, and also from Bagdad.
first year <08140 02298> [the first year.]
place <0870> [the place.]
height <07314> [the height.]
three layers ....... layer <05073 08532> [three rows.]
expense <05313> [the expenses.]
gold <01722> [the golden.]
Nebuchadnezzar <05020> [which Nebuchadnezzar.]
carried to ...... brought <02987 01946> [brought. Chal. go.]
Tattenai <08674> [Tatnai.]
colleagues <03675> [your companions. Chal. their societies.]
stay far <01934 07352> [be ye far.]
work on <05673> [Let the work.]
I ... hereby issue orders <07761 02942 04481> [I make a decree. Chal. by me a decree is made. the king's.]
interruption of the work <0989> [hindered. Chal. made to cease.]
oxen <08450 01123> [young bullocks.]
lambs <0563> [lambs.]
wheat <02591> [wheat.]
salt <04416> [salt.]
be given <01934 03052> [let it be given.]
incense <05208> [sweet savours. Chal. rest.]
praying <06739> [pray.]
anyone <03606> [whosoever.]
beam <0636> [timber.]
impaled <04223> [hanged. Chal. destroyed. his house.]
name <08036> [caused.]
overthrow ................ destroy <04049 02255> [destroy.]
I Darius <0576 01868> [I Darius.]
precision <0629> [speed.]
Tattenai <08674> [Tatnai.]
acted <03660 05648> [so they did.]
elders <07868> [And the elders.]
prophesying <05017> [through.]
brought ... to completion by <03635 04481> [finished it.]
by ............ command <04481 02942> [according.]
command .......... command <02941 02942> [commandment. Chal. decree. Cyrus.]
Artaxerxes <0783> [Artaxerxes.]
This was Artaxerxes, the third son and successor of Xerxes, surnamed [Makrocheir,] or Longimanus, or in Persian, {Ardsheer deeraz dest,} "Ardsheer the long-handed;" so called, according to the Greeks, from the extra-ordinary length of his hands, but according to the Easterners, from the extent of his dominions. He ascended the Persian throne, A.M. 3540, B.C. 464, and reigned forty-one years. He is said to have been the most handsome person of his age, and to have been a prince of a very mild and generous disposition.
Adar <0144> [A.M. 3489. B.C. 515. Adar.]
people ............. exiles <01123> [the children.]
[children of the captivity. Chal. sons of the transportation.]
dedication <02597> [the dedication.]
joy <02305> [with joy.]
Having set up the worship of God in this dedication, they took care to keep it up, and made the book of Moses their rule, to which they had an eye in this establishment. Though the temple service could not now be performed with so much pomp and plenty as formerly, because of their poverty, yet no doubt it was performed with as much purity and close adherence to the Divine institutions as ever. No beauty is like the beauty of holiness.
offered <07127> [offered.]
sin <02402> [a sin offering.]
number <04510> [according to.]
Though the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, with the priests and Levites, formed the bulk of the people, yet many from the other tribes had returned with them from captivity.
priests <03549> [the priests.]
in accord with <03792> [as it is written. Chal. according to the writing.]
<01121> [the children.]
observed <06213> [kept.]
purified ..... one <0259 02891> [purified together.]
sacrificed <07819> [killed.]
separating <0914> [all such.]
ate <0398> [did eat.]
Feast <02282> [the feast.]
changed <05437> [turned.]
king <04428> [the king.]
Darius, as reigning over the country of Assyria, is here called "the king of Assyria."
