Ezra 6:11

Ezr 6:11 Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.

Ver. 11. Let timber be pulled down from his house] 1. Let his house be pulled down for a penalty. The Popish Council of Toulouse called together against the Albigenses (those ancient Protestants) made this cruel constitution, We decree that that house, wherein is found a heretic, be pulled down to the ground. 2. Let that timber be set up for a gibbet, and let him be hanged thereon Chaldee, destroyed. Compare that of the apostle, 1Co 3:17, If any man destroy the temple of God (which temple ye are), him shall God destroy; and let those look to it who turn it into a den of thieves, into a brothel house, slaughter house, pest house of noisome lusts, qui podicem ex ore faciunt, by their unsavoury speeches, and spoil themselves worse than by tumbling in an out house.

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.

6:11-12 Those who violate this decree: Inscriptions and official decrees often included curses on those who opposed the will of the king (cp. Dan 2:5).

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

whosoever shall alter this word--The warning was specially directed against the turbulent and fanatical Samaritans. The extremely favorable purport of this edict was no doubt owing in some measure to the influence of Cyrus, of whom Darius entertained a high admiration, and whose two daughters he had married. But it proceeded still more from the deep impressions made even on the idolatrous people of that country and that age, as to the being and providence of the God of Israel.

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 11. Let timber be pulled down] Whether this refers to the punishment of hanging and gibbeting of whipping at a post, or of empaling, is not quite clear. In China they tie culprits to posts; and the executioner cuts them open while alive, takes out their bowels, &c. Empaling thrusting a sharp stake through the body till it comes out at the side of the neck, or hanging, seems to be intended here.

Let his house be made a dunghill] Let it be reduced to ruins, and never more used, except for the most sordid and unclean purposes.

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

(11) Alter this word seems to mean “violate this command,” since the alteration of a decree was a thing unheard of.

Hanged is literally crucified. Among the Persians crucifixion was generally the nailing of a body to a cross after decapitation; among the Assyrians it was transfixion or impalement. Here the “being set up” refers of course to the man, and not to the beam.

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

11. The penalty.

Also I have made a decree] The same words as in Ezr_6:8, Ezr_4:19.

whosoever shall alter] See especially Dan_6:15. The word ‘alter’ here probably includes infringement of the decree as well as alteration of its terms.

let timber be pulled down] R.V. let a beam be pulled out, more correctly. The beams of the man’s own house should be the instruments of execution.

and being set up, let him be hanged thereon] R.V. let him be lifted up and fastened thereon. The subject of both words is the malefactor. The punishment here referred to is probably that of impalement, to which allusion is frequently made in Assyrian and Persian inscriptions. It may indeed be a form of crucifixion, such as is also implied in Gen_40:19 and Est_2:23. The passages in Num_25:4; Deu_21:22-23; Jos_8:29, where this frightful form of punishment is spoken of, seem to show that among the Israelites the victims were often first executed, and that the corpses were then hung upon a tree till nightfall. The Hebrew and Aramaic word for ‘lift up’ which is used in a perfectly general sense for elevation of any sort, e.g. Psa_145:14; Psa_146:8, and Targum of Psa_93:3, Jer_3:2, was applied technically to execution by impalement or crucifixion, as in the Targum of Est_7:10. This double meaning of the word may illustrate the Saviour’s word ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth’ (Joh_12:32).

and let his house be made a dunghill for this] See 2Ki_10:27; Dan_2:5; Dan_3:29. A repulsive metaphor for shameful overthrow, cf. 1Ki_14:10; Job_20:7; Zep_1:17.

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.

And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there,.... Whose name is not only called upon there, and that called by his name; but who grants his presence, and causes his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, to dwell there, as in Solomon's temple, which Darius had some knowledge of:

destroy all kings and people; let them be who they will, high or low:

that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God, which is at Jerusalem; this he said to deter from hindering the building of it now, and from attempting to destroy it hereafter:

I Darius have made a decree, let it be done with speed; be carried immediately into execution, especially with respect to the disbursement for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices of it.

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

Being set up, let him be hanged thereon - Rather, “let him be lifted up and crucified upon it.” Crucifixion was the most common form of capital punishment among the Persians.

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

Nailed. Protestants, "hanged." Septuagint, "covered with wounds, or fastened on it." (Haydock) --- Some think that the criminal was to be scourged. (De Dieu) --- "Let him be hanged on the wood, which shall stand upright, after his house shall have been demolished." (Vatable) --- Such was the custom of the Persians. (Grotius) --- Aman perished on the gallows, which he had erected in his own house for Mardocheus, Esther vii. 9. --- Confiscated. Protestants, "be made a dunghill for this." (Haydock) (Syriac, &c.) --- We find some examples of such a treatment, 4 Kings x. 27., and Daniel iii. 5., and ix. 6. The effects of those who were condemned to die, in Persia, were generally confiscated, Esther iii. 13., and viii. 11., and ix. 14.

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).

11. Let him be hanged thereon — Or, fastened thereon, that is, crucified, or impaled, a mode of execution common among many ancient nations.

See note on Est_2:23.

Let his house be made a dunghill — A proverbial saying, indicating that the houses were to be reduced to ruinous heaps, and made receptacles for all manner of filth.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whoever shall alter this word. Rather, "this edict." To alter the terms of a royal decree would in any country be a heinous offence. In Persia, where the monarch was absolute, and where decrees were regarded as "altering not", (Dan_6:8, Dan_6:12) it was a crime of the deepest dye. Hence the severity of the punishment threatened. The punishment has been explained as crucifixion, impalement, and "whipping at a post;" but there seems to be no real doubt that crucifixion is intended. Great criminals were almost always crucified by the Persians (see Brisson, "De Regno Persarum," 2. pp. 327-329; and comp. "Behist. Inscr.," col. 2. par. 14; col. 3. par. 8). Let his house be made a dunghill Some render be confiscated," but wrongly. The best Hebraists agree with our translators.

The practice of concluding important documents with maledictions was common to the Persians, with the Assyrians, Babylonians, and others (see "Records of the Past," vol. 1. pp. 53, 105, 126; vol. 5. p. 26; vol. 7. pp. 19, 20, 56; vol. 9. pp. 35, 36, 95, 100 107, etc.).

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

General Information:

This continues the record of King Cyrus's command that the Jews rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem, which began in Esra 6:3.

a beam must be pulled from his house and he must be impaled on it. His house must then be turned into a rubbish heap

This can be translated in active form. AT: "I command my officials to pull a beam from his house and impale him on it. They are then to turn his house into a rubbish heap" (See: Active or Passive)

beam

a long, sturdy piece of wood, supporting the roof of a house

impaled

pierced through

who lifts a hand to change ... or to destroy

Lifting the hand represents trying or daring to do something. AT: "who tries to change ... or to destroy" or "who dares to change ... or to destroy" (See: Metonymy)

to change this decree

The abstract noun "decree" can be expressed with the phrase "what I have decreed." AT: "to change what I have decreed" or "to say that I have decreed something else" (See: Abstract Nouns)

translationWords

decree

God

Darius

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

And an order is issued by me And a command is issued by me, along with the issue of a word regarding any person who disobeys this word.

shall be torn Aram. יִתְנְסַח. The beams of his house shall be destroyed. יִתְנְסַח is like (Deut. 28:63): “and you shall be uprooted (וְנִסַחְתֶּם) from the land.”

and a gallows upon which to place him And a gallows upon which to hang him shall be [raised up] high, so that he be hanged upon the gallows.

and his house shall be made a dungheap and his house shall be made a dungheap because of this.

נְוָלוּ connotes filth and excrement.

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.