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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:1-5
A faithful ministry in the Church. I. THAT IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIVINE NAME. "In the name of the God of Israel" (Ezra 5:1). 1. It advances in the Divine Name. These two prophets came to Israel in the name of God; a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:1
Zechariah the son of Iddo. Really the grandson (Zechariah 1:1). But Bere-chiah, his father, probably died while he was a child, and, being brought up by Iddo, he was called "the son of Iddo. Prophesied unto the Jews. Th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:2
Then rose up Zerubbabel … and Jeshua. Haggai's preaching was especially addressed to these two leaders (Haggai 1:1), and their spirit was especially "stirred up" (Haggai 1:14) by his preaching. The prophets of God—Hagga…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:3-17
Wisdom in trial. Hardly had the Jews recommenced their work, when they again found themselves subjected to a— I. TRIAL OF FAITH. "At the same time," etc. (Ezra 5:3). Again their unfriendly neighbours came to the attack.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:3-17
EXPOSITION RENEWAL OF OPPOSITION ON THE PART OF THE NEIGHBOURING HEATHEN. LETTER WRITTEN BY THEM AND SENT TO DARIUS (Ezra 5:3-17). Once more opposition showed itself. Tatnai, a high officer, called "governor on this sid…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:3
Tatnai, governor on this side the river. The title given to Tatnai is the same which is assigned to Zerubbabel, both in Ezra 6:7 and in Haggai (Haggai 1:1, Haggai 1:14, etc.), viz; pechah, which is a somewhat vague term…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:3-17
Opposition revived. We have in these verses a twofold account of two different things. In Ezra 5:3, Ezra 5:4, in the first place, we have the historian's account of the revived opposition called out by the revival of th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:3-5
The eye of God. The "people of the land" procured authority from the Persian king to stop the rebuilding of the city and wall of Jerusalem, and used it to stop the rebuilding of the temple as well. After an interval of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:4
Then said we unto them. It is impossible that the existing text can be sound here. Ezra must have written, "Then said they to them." Tatnai and Shethar-boznai followed up their first question by a second, "What are the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:5
The eye of their God was upon the elders. "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous" (Psalms 34:15) with a jealous watchfulness, which never for a moment slackens. "He withdraweth not his eyes from them" (Job 36:7).…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:5
The providence of God over the Church. I. THAT THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD EXERCISES A STRICT WATCH OVER THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH (Ezra 5:5). As soon as the Israelites commenced to build the temple their enemies began to tro…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:6-17
The letter to Darius. The occasion of this letter was the resumption of the work of rebuilding the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem after an interval of sixteen years. The authors of it are Tatnai, the governor, probably…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:6
The Apharsachites recall the "Apharsites" and the "Apharsathchites" of Ezra 4:9. Possibly all the three forms are provincial variants of the more correct Parsaya, which appears in Daniel (Daniel 6:28) as the Chaldaean e…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:8
We went into the province of Judaea. It has been supposed, on the strength of a doubtful passage in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:7), that Tatnai ordinarily resided at Jernsalem. But this expression indicates the contrary. Most…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:11-17
Things a Church should understand concerning itself. I. THAT IT IS ENGAGED IN THE SERVICE OF HEAVEN. "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth" (Ezra 5:11). 1. An exalted service. It is the service of God. 2.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:11
We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. Instead of doing as they were requested, and giving in a long list of names and titles of office, the elders merge their individuality in this general phrase; as thoug…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:12
Our fathers provoked the God of heaven unto wrath. Mainly by their long series of idolatries, with the moral abominations that those idolatries involved—the sacrifice of children by their own parents, the licentious rit…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:13
In the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon. Recent discoveries of contract tablets have shown that at Babylon Cyrus bore the title of "king of Babylon" from the date of his conquest of the city. The same title was p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:14
The vessels also of gold and silver. See Ezra 1:7-11. On the great importance attached to these vessels, see the comment on Ezra 1:7. So long as they remained at Babylon they were a tangible evidence of the conquest, a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:15
Let the house of God be builded in his place. i.e. upon the old holy site—the place where Abraham offered his son Isaac, in a figure (Hebrews 11:17-19), where the angel stood and stayed the pestilence in David s time (2…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:16
Since that time even until now hath it been in building. It is not quite clear whether these words are part of the answer given by the Jews to Tatnai, which he reports to Darius (see Ezra 5:11), or Tatnai's own statemen…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 5:17
Let there be search made in the king's treasure house. The Vulgate has "in the king's library;" and this, though not the literal rendering, is probably what was intended by Tatuai. Libraries or record chambers were atta…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 7:1-10
PART II. SECOND RETURN OF THE ISRAELITES FROM CAPTIVITY UNDER EZRA. 1. DECREE OF ARTAXERXES, AND RETURN UNDER EZRA, WITH THE NUMBERS OF THOSE WHO RETURNED, AND THE NAMES OF THE CHIEF MEN. EXPOSITION FIFTY-SEVEN years af…
The Pulpit Commentary on Ezra 7:1-5
THE GENEALOGY OF EZRA (Ezra 7:1-5). It is plain that this genealogy is incomplete. It gives no more than sixteen generations between Ezra and Aaron, whereas the number of generations between Zerubbabel and Nashon, princ…