Resource > Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable) >
Ezra >
Exposition >
I. THE FIRST RETURN UNDER SHESHBAZZAR chs. 1--6 >
B. The Rebuilding of the Temple chs. 3-6 >
2. The opposition to construction ch. 4 >
The reference in this verse to work stopping indicates that at this point the writer returned to the opposition he had been describing earlier (vv. 1-5). Verses 6-23 are parenthetical. They record later events and simply illustrate the continuing antagonism of Israel's enemies in the years that followed the main event in view in this chapter.83
Work on the temple ceased in 536 B.C., as the writer noted here. The workers had only completed the foundation. Construction did not recommence until 520 B.C., 16 years later.
