Ezra 6:8

Ezr 6:8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, [even] of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.

Ver. 8. Moreover I make a decree] So did some of the heathen emperors for the persecuted Christians, Charles V for the Lutherans (at the motion of Albertus, archbishop of Mentz, and Ludovicus, palatine of Rhine), and Henry III of France for the Protestants; which yet was but sorrily observed though sworn to. It is written by an Italian (no stranger to the court of Rome) that their proverb is, Mercatorum est, non regum stare iuramentis, that it is for merchants, and not for kings, to keep to their oaths.

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_6:8-11

Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews.

The Scriptural warrant for an established Church

Look at this history, and consider candidly the great principles involved in these facts. Consider--

I. Who these men were who issued these decrees concerning the building, and concerning the supplies of the house of God at Jerusalem. They were Gentile kings.

II. What it was that these kings ordered. They ordered--

1. The building of the house, and that the expenses incurred thereby should be taken from the kings treasury.

2. The supply of the house, with every item of all the details necessary for carrying out the worship of God--rams, and lambs, and bullocks, and wheat, and wine, and oil, and salt, according to the appointment of the priests.

3. They assigned certain reasons why this should be done.

(1) That sacrifices of sweet savour might be offered to the God of Heaven.

(2) That prayer might be made for the life of the king and his sons.

(3) That wrath might not come upon the kings realm, implying that, if they did not do this, the realm incurred the wrath of God.

4. They insisted upon all this by imposing a heavy penalty upon any recusant subject. The penalty in the decree of Darius was death; the penalty in the decree of Artaxerxes was varying, according to the discretion of the executive magistracy, whether unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment; but in each case, there was a penalty for non-payment.

III. The parties addressed in the decree, and included amongst the contributors. These were not the people only who approved of, and could enjoy the worship of the house, but they included also the adversaries, who did not approve of--who could not enjoy--and who would not join in the worship of the house; yet, although they did not approve, although they would not join in the worship of that house, they were compelled by the kings decree to contribute to the expense of building, and to the continued supply of the materials of that worship. And remember all this was done by those kings, according to the commandment and in harmony with the revealed will of the Lord God of Israel. (H. MNeile, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 6:8-9. That of the king’s goods, forthwith expenses be given — That the work might not be stopped for want of money to carry it on, he orders certain sums to be paid them out of his own revenue. And that which they have need of both young bullocks, &c. — He orders that they should be supplied with every thing they wanted for maintaining the sacrifices at the temple, when it should be built, both for burnt-offerings and meat- offerings. Let it be given them day by day — That the morning and evening sacrifices might not fail to be offered every day.

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

6:8 You must pay the full construction costs: This command fulfilled God’s promise through Haggai (Hag 2:7).

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

For lack of money.

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

of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river . . . expenses be given unto these men--The decree granted them the privilege of drawing from his provincial treasury of Syria, to the amount of whatever they required for the furthering of the work and providing sacrifice for the service of the temple, that the priests might daily pray for the health of the king and the prosperity of the empire.

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

(8) Moreover.—I also make my decree.

Of the king’s goods.—From the tribute collected to be sent to Persia sums were previously to be deducted.

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

8. The injunction; official support, (a) money for the building.

I make a decree] cf. Ezr_6:11, Ezr_4:19, Ezr_7:13.

of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river] The king addressing the governor of the whole country W. of the Euphrates refers to that portion of the territorial tribute which the governor would remit to the king’s treasury, the greater portion being reserved for his own use and for satrapial administration.

goods] So the LXX. ‘possessions’ (ἀπὸ ὑπαρχόντων): Vulgate ‘treasury’ (arcâ). The Aramaic word occurs again in Ezr_7:26.

The royal contribution lays no burden upon the rest of the satrapy. It literally fulfilled the edict of Cyrus: it was ‘given out of the king’s house’ (Ezr_6:4) when it was paid out of the royal share in the tribute.

forthwith expences be given] R.V. expenses be given with all diligence, ‘with all diligence’ (A.V. ‘forthwith’), see note on chap. Ezr_5:8. LXX. ἐπιμελῶς.

that they be not hindered] According to this translation, the words depend upon the previous clause. So also Vulg. ‘ne impediatur opus’. The verb occurs in Ezr_4:21; Ezr_4:23. Here the hindrance apprehended seems rather to be to the execution of the royal command than to the activity of the Jews. It is probable that we should rather render ‘which is not to be neglected’, a short abrupt clause denoting the urgency of the royal rescript, an instance of the idiom found also in Dan_6:15 ‘no decree … may be changed’ (lit. a decree … not to change). The first part of the injunction relating to the payment will then conclude with a peremptory command for the order to be carried out, just as the second part relating to material for the sacrifices concludes with a demand for unremitting regularity in their supply (Ezr_6:12).

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 that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven,.... All which were used for burnt offerings, see Lev 1:2

wheat, salt, wine, and oil; "wheat", or "fine flour", for the "minchah" or meat offering; "salt", for every offering; "wine", for the drink offerings; and "oil", to be put upon the meat offerings, see Lev 2:1,

according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; for the daily sacrifice, and the meat and drink offerings which attended it, Exo 29:38.

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

Hindered. Thus Darius trod in the footsteps, or perhaps exceeded the liberality of Cyrus. (Haydock)

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).

From proceeding in their work for want of money.

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

Moreover, I make a decree. Literally, "By me too is a decree made." The decree of Cyrus is not enough. I add to it, and require you

(1) to pay the wages of the workmen employed out of the royal revenue, and

(2) to supply the temple perpetually with all that is needed for the regular sacrifices (see ver. 9). What ye shall do to the elders. Not, "Lest ye do anything to the elders" (LXX); much less, "What must be done by the elders" (Vulg.); but, as in the A. V, "What ye shall do to them how ye shall act towards them. Of the tribute beyond the river forthwith expences be given to these men. The Persian satraps had to collect from their provinces a certain fixed sum as the royal tribute, and had to remit this sum annually to the court. Darius orders that the expenses of the men employed on the temple shall be paid by the satrap of Syria out of the royal tribute of his province, and only the balance remitted. Thus no additional burthen was laid upon the taxpayers.

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.

Funds from the king's tribute beyond the River will be used to pay these men

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Use funds from the king's tribute beyond the river to pay these men" (See: Active or Passive)

Funds from the king's tribute beyond the River

"The king's tribute" refers to taxes that people pay the king. AT: "Money from the taxes that you collect for the king from the people beyond the river" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Whatever is needed

This can be translated in active form. AT: "Whatever they need" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

king

tribute

cow

ewe

lamb

burnt offering

heaven

command

priest

pray

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 from me shall be issued an order And from me this command will go forth.

regarding what you shall do regarding that building, the work that you shall do with these elders of the Jews to build the House of the Holy One, blessed be He.

and from the king’s property And from the king’s property they shall make ths building.

from the taxes of the other side of the river from the taxes of the other side of the river, which belong to the king. taxes Aram. מִדַּת, tax, like (4:13): “the king’s due (מִנְדָּה), the head tax, or the meal tax.” quickly Aram. אָסְפַּרְנָא. The building shall quickly be built; esploytosemant in Old French.

The expenses shall be given The expenses shall be given to these men so that they should not idle from their work.

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.