Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Darius at his own expense, in accordance with the decree of Cyrus, completes the temple, which in the sixth year is consecrated with great rejoicing of the people and many victims; then the Passover is celebrated for seven days.
Vulgate Text: 1 Esdrae 6:1-22
1. Then King Darius issued a decree, and search was made in the archives of the library that were deposited in Babylon. 2. And a scroll was found at Ecbatana, the fortress in the province of Media, and the following memorandum was written in it: 3. In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree: Let the house of God be rebuilt in Jerusalem, in the place where sacrifices are offered, and let its foundations be laid, bearing a height of sixty cubits and a width of sixty cubits, 4. with three courses of hewn stone and one course of new timber, and let the expenses be paid from the royal treasury. 5. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple in Jerusalem, each to its place, and be deposited in the house of God. 6. Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates the governors who are in the province beyond the River, keep away from there. 7. Let the work on this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8. Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these men promptly from the royal revenue, from the tribute of the province beyond the River, that the work may not be interrupted. 9. And whatever is needed — young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the rite of the priests in Jerusalem — let it be given to them day by day without fail, 10. that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11. Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. 12. May the God who has caused His name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I, Darius, make a decree; let it be done with all diligence. 13. Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15. and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. 16. And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17. They offered at the dedication of this house of God one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 19. On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. 20. For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21. It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by everyone who had separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to join them, to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.
Verse 2: At Ecbatana
2. At Ecbatana — In Hebrew, Achmata; for the letters beth and mem are both labial, and therefore are often interchanged, with one substituted for the other.
In the province of Media — In Hebrew, Madai, that is, Media; the kingdom of the Medes, which had already been subjugated by the Persians and reduced to a province.
Verse 3: A Height of Sixty Cubits
3. A height of sixty cubits — The former temple of Solomon was twice as high, being 120 cubits tall; but Cyrus did not want this new one built so high, lest the Jews make a fortress out of it and rebel.
And a width of sixty cubits — By "width" here he means extension, whether in length or in breadth. So says the Chaldean text; for it forbids the temple to extend in any direction beyond 60 cubits. Hence Lyranus says: "width" here means "length" — for the length of the temple, that is, of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was 60 cubits, while the actual width was twenty. So says Ribera, Book I of On the Temple, chapter XXVII.
Verse 5: They Were Placed in the Temple
5. They were placed in the temple — that is, they are to be placed in the temple being built. The Septuagint reads: "that they may be placed." Better, and more properly: "they have been placed in the temple," that is, in the treasury of the temple, as I said at chapter V, verse 15. For Darius is reporting that the decree of Cyrus has already been carried out. Cyrus had commanded that the vessels be returned to the temple; Darius now reports that they have been returned, in accordance with his command.
Verse 14: By Decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes
14. They built, etc., by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes. — Refer this not to the building of the temple itself, namely the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies — for that was completed in the sixth year of Darius, verse 15 — but to the completion of the courtyards and ornaments of the temple, and to the prospering of the offerings, gifts, and celebrations of the temple. For these were completed under Artaxerxes. Again, the construction of the temple itself was completed under Darius, while the city of Jerusalem was completed under Artaxerxes.
You ask: Who was this Artaxerxes mentioned here and in chapter VII and following? Some think it was Xerxes, for he was the son of Darius Hystaspes and succeeded him in the kingdom. For there seems to be no reason why Ezra would have omitted Xerxes and skipped from the grandfather Darius to his grandson Artaxerxes Longimanus — especially since this Xerxes was most famous, being the one who led 1,100,000 soldiers into battle against the Greeks, covered the land with his troops and the sea with his fleets, and was therefore first the terror of Greece, but soon its laughingstock, when defeated he was compelled to flee almost alone. Hence Daniel specifically described Xerxes in chapter XI, verse 1. Moreover, Xerxes was very well-disposed toward the Jews, as Josephus reports, Book XI of the Antiquities, chapter V; hence he seems to have promoted the building of the temple. Finally, Ezra, already clearly very old, does not seem after the time of Xerxes to have been fit for so arduous an embassy to Jerusalem as described in chapter VII, verse 6. Hence Josephus says that Ezra, an old man, died under Xerxes not long after reforming the commonwealth. Therefore this book of the deeds of Ezra closes with this reformation.
But others more probably hold that this Artaxerxes was Longimanus, the son of Xerxes. First, because it is not Xerxes but Longimanus who is properly called Artaxerxes by all historians. Second, the same is clear from the continuity of this history with the history of Nehemiah, which was originally one book with this book of Ezra. For the one called Artaxerxes here, who in chapter VII in the seventh year of his reign sent Ezra to Jerusalem, is the same one who, according to Nehemiah chapter II, verse 5, also sent Nehemiah in the twentieth year of his reign. And the one who sent Nehemiah was Longimanus, as will be clear there. The reason Ezra omitted Xerxes is that he, wholly occupied with the Greek war, did not think about the Jews and the temple, nor did he contribute any assistance to them in this matter. Moreover, Josephus confuses Xerxes with Artaxerxes, for he assigns 28 years to Xerxes, although it is certain he reigned only twenty years; therefore the remaining eight years should be given to Artaxerxes. Regarding the name "Artaxerxes" I spoke at chapter IV, verse 6, to which add that "Artaxerxes" in Hebrew and Chaldean is written Artachsasta, which in Hebrew means "fervor of joy," says Pagninus, from ratach, meaning "to boil and seethe," and sas meaning "to rejoice." Or it means "light hastening to set," derived from or, meaning "light," and chas, meaning "to hasten," and sach, meaning "to set." Finally, the reason why Artaxerxes was so benevolent toward the Jews was Esther, whom many think was his wife; and therefore Haman was hanged by his order, and Mordecai was exalted. But I shall examine this in the proem to Esther.
Verse 15: The Month of Adar
15. The month of Adar — This is the twelfth and last month of the Hebrews, which corresponds partly to our February and partly to March.
Which is the sixth year of King Darius. — Therefore in the sixth year of Darius the inner part of the temple, which was properly called "the temple" and which only priests were permitted to enter, was completed. But in the ninth year of Darius all the parts of the temple, both interior and exterior — that is, the courtyards, porticoes, and other ornaments of the temple — were completed. So say Josephus, Ribera, Pererius, and others.
Verse 20: As One
20. As one — that is, with unanimous consent, as if all had been one man, having one and the same heart and mind.
Verse 21: Separated from the Uncleanness of the Gentiles
21. Who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the Gentiles — Those who, having abandoned paganism and become proselytes, had been initiated into Judaism through circumcision.
Verse 22: The Heart of the King of Assyria
22. And He had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them — This is Darius king of Persia, who is called "king of Assyria" because the Assyrians, formerly lords and monarchs of all things, as well as the Babylonians subdued by Cyrus, were now subject to the Persian monarchy and to Darius.