Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ¹  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ²  – were weeping loudly, ³  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

Mazmur 126:5

126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ⁴ 

[3:12]  ¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

[3:12]  ² sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

[3:12]  ³ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[126:5]  ⁴ sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.