Ezra 5:8

Ezr 5:8 Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.

Ver. 8. To the house of the great God] So they style him, because the Pews called and counted him so. The Lord your God, saith Moses, is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, &c., Deu 10:17. He is Fortissimus Maximus, Most strong and most great. as Tremelius there renders it: yea, he is a degree above the superlative. Not only is God great, as here; greater, Job 33:12; greatest, Psa 95:3; but greatness itself, Psa 145:3, and to him all other gods (whether deputed or reputed) are but deastri, deunculi, dii minorum gentium, petty deities, poor businesses.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 5:8. To the house of the great God — Whom the Jews account the great God, the God of gods, esteeming all others to be but little, or rather false gods. And, indeed, thus far the greater part of the Samaritans agreed with them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:8 the great God: This title was a Persian way of referring to an important high deity; it does not indicate that the provincial authorities believed in Israel’s God. • Following the pattern of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kgs 6:36), after every three rows of prepared stones, a layer of timber was laid in its walls (see Ezra 6:4) to reduce potential damage from earthquakes.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, masonry.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones--literally, "stones of rolling"; that is, stones of such extraordinary size that they could not be carried--they had to be rolled or dragged along the ground.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. With great stones] They are making a very strong and a very costly building.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) To the house of the great God.—A solemn tribute to the God of the Jews, which, however, the decree of Cyrus enables us to understand in this official document. Tatnai probably dwelt at Damascus, and when he went to Jerusalem was deeply impressed. But he only gives a statement of the progress which he observed in the Temple. “The walls here are the walls within the Temple, not the city walls.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. the province of Judea] R.V. the province of Judah. On ‘the province’ see Ezr_2:1. The A.V. gives the title ‘Judea’, which belongs to a later time, as the name of a country inhabited by the Jews. It occurs first in the Apocrypha (Tob_1:18; 1Ma_3:34; 2Ma_1:10, &c.). ‘Judah’ occurs frequently in Ezra, e.g. Ezr_4:6, Ezr_5:1. The LXX. gives εἰς τὴν Ἰονδαίαν χώραν: the Vulgate ‘ad Judæam provinciam’.

to the house of the great God] The governor uses terms of great reverence towards the God of the Jews. In consequence some have called in question the genuineness of this letter. But there is in reality nothing unusual in the use of such expressions by Eastern potentates with reference to the gods of a conquered or subject country.

with great stones] Literally ‘stones of rolling’. Stone, that is to say, too large for ordinary transport and requiring to be moved on rollers. The immense size of the stones used in the construction of the temples in early days is an unending source of amazement, e.g. Baalbec.

The LXX. renders by ‘chosen stones’ 1Es_6:9, by ‘polished stones very precious’: misunderstanding the original. Such adjectives applied to the foundations of the Temple were perhaps before the mind of the Apostle when he employs the metaphor of the building, cf. 1Pe_2:4-7 (Isa_28:16). Vulg. ‘lapide impolito’.

timber is laid in the walls] i.e. beams or joists for supporting floor or roof. Some suggest party-walls, for the division of chambers.

goeth fast on] R.V. goeth on with diligence. ‘With diligence’, a Persian word ‘osparna’ (used also Ezr_6:8; Ezr_6:12-13, Ezr_7:17; Ezr_7:21; Ezr_7:26) which denotes care and attention as well as energy.

in their hands] referring to the Jews, implied in the words ‘the province of Judah’.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Be it known unto the king,.... This seems to have been the usual form of beginning a letter to a king in those days, Ezr 4:12 that we went into the province of Judea; which from a kingdom was reduced to a province, and was become a part of the Babylonian, now Persian, monarchy, see Ezr 2:1 to the house of the great God; as the Jews called the Lord their God; and even the Heathens had a notion that there was one supreme God, though they worshipped inferior ones; and some had a notion that Jehovah the God of the Jews was he:

which is builded with great stones; marble stones; as Jarchi (q), stones of rolling, as it may be rendered; which, according to Aben Ezra, were so large and heavy, that they could not be carried, but were obliged to roll them:

and timber is laid in the walls, cedar wood, as Aben Ezra interprets it, for beams, for flooring and raftering; or rather, is put upon the walls, for the lining and wainscoting of them, which was done with cedar wood:

and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands; and, unless timely prevented, will soon be finished.

(q) So David de Pomis, Tzemach David, fol. 15. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Great stones - literally, as in the margin; i. e., stones so large that they were rolled along, not carried. Others translate “polished stones.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Unpolished. Protestants, "great." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "to be rolled." See Vitruv. x. 6. Septuagint, "choice stones." Kimchi, &c., "marble." (Calmet) --- 3 Esdras, "polished and precious stones." (Haydock) --- Yet the Vulgate seems more conformable to chap. vi. 4., and Aggeus ii. 2. (Menochius) (Ribera) --- Walls, every fourth course, 3 Kings vi. 36. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The great God; whom the Jews account the great God, the God of gods, esteeming all others to be but little and false gods.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

We went into the province of Judaea. It has been supposed (Pusey"s "Daniel," p. 571), on the strength of a doubtful passage in Nehemiah, (Neh_3:7) that Tatnai ordinarily resided at Jernsalem. But this expression indicates the contrary. Most probably the satrap of Syria held his court at Damascus. The house of the great God is a remarkable expression in the mouth of a heathen. It has some parallels, e.g. the expressions of Cyrus in Ezr_1:2, Ezr_1:3, and of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan_2:47 and Dan_3:29; but they were persons who had been brought to the knowledge that Jehovah was the one true God, under very peculiar and miraculous circumstances. Tatnai, on the other hand, represents the mere ordinary Persian official; and his acknowledgment of the God of the Jews as "the great God" must be held to indicate the general belief of the Persians on the subject. (see the comment on Ezr_1:2) Which is builded. Rather, "being builded." With great stones. Literally, "stones of rolling," which is commonly explained as stones so large that they had to be rolled along the ground. But the squared stones used in building neither were, nor could be, rolled; they are always represented as dragged, generally on a rough sledge. And it is not at all probable that in the "day of small things" (Zec_4:10) the Jews were building with very large stones. The LXX translate "choice stones;" the Vulgate "unpolished" or "rough stone." Some of the Jewish expositors suggest "marble." And timber is laid. A good deal of timber had been employed in the old temple, but chiefly for the floors of chambers, (1Ki_6:10) for the internal lining of the walls (ibid. vers. 9, 15), and probably for the roofing. In the new temple, timber seems to have been employed also as the main material of the party-walls. Here again we have a trace of the economy necessary in the "day of small things."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Great God - And indeed, thus far the greater part of the Samaritans agreed with them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

great stones

Chald. stones of rolling.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

The letter from Tattenai to the king that began in Esra 5:7 continues.

timbers

wood for building

Who gave you a decree

"Who gave you permission"

translationWords

Judah

house of God

stone

elder

decree

name

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Let it be known to the king Let it be a known thing to the king.

that we went that we went to the land of the province of Judea, to the House of the great God.

and it is built And it, the House, is built.

marble Aram. גְּלָּל (marmre in Old French), marble.

and wood is laid in the walls And wood is placed in the walls to reinforce the building in order that it endure for a long time.

was done quickly Aram. אָסְפַּרְנָא מִתְעַבְדָה, was done quickly.

אָסְפַּרְנָא is (espleytosement in Old French), rapidly.

and they succeeded at it Aram. וּמַצְלַח בְּיֶדְהם. And this work was successful in their hands.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.