Ezra 6:8-18

6:8 “I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹  6:9 Whatever is needed – whether oxen or rams or lambs or burnt offerings for the God of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by ²  the priests who are in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without any neglect, 6:10 so that they may be offering incense to the God of heaven and may be praying for the good fortune of the king and his family. ³ 

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ⁴  on it, and his house is to be reduced ⁵  to a rubbish heap ⁶  for this indiscretion. ⁷  6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ⁸  who reaches out ⁹  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

The Temple Is Finally Dedicated

6:13 Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly – with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions. ¹⁰  6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ¹¹  Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ¹²  year of the reign of King Darius.

6:16 The people ¹³  of Israel – the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles ¹⁴  – observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. 6:17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 6:18 They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, ¹⁵  in accord with ¹⁶  the book of Moses.

[6:8]  ¹ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ² tn Aram “according to the word of.”

[6:10]  ³ tn Aram “for the life of the king and his sons.”

[6:11]  ⁴ sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Aram “made.”

[6:11]  ⁶ tn Aram “a dunghill.”

[6:11]  ⁷ tn Aram “for this.”

[6:12]  ⁸ tn Aram “people.”

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

[6:13]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “sent.”

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

[6:15]  ¹² sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Aram “sons of.”

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “sons of the exile.”

[6:18]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:18]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “according to the writing of.”