Commentaria in I Esdrae
Chapter 5. Synopsis of the Chapter
The prophets Aggeus and Zacharias exhort the Jews to resume the building of the temple; concerning which the prefects of King Darius consult him whether it please him.
1. Now the prophets, Aggeus and Zacharias the son of Addo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Juda and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel. 2. Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel and Josue the son of Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem: and with them the prophets of God helping them. 3. At the same time came to them Thathanai, who was governor beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors: and spoke thus to them: Who hath given you counsel to build this house, and to repair its walls? 4. To whom we answered, what were the names of the men that were the authors of that building. 5. But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and they could not hinder them: and it was agreed that the matter should be referred to Darius, and then they would satisfy against that accusation. 6. The copy of the letter which Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the Apharsachites, who were beyond the river, sent to king Darius. 7. The word which they sent him, was thus written: To Darius the king, all peace. 8. Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is built with unhewn stone, and the timber is laid in the walls: and that work is carefully carried on, and prospereth in their hands. 9. We therefore asked those ancients, and said to them thus: Who gave you power to build this house, and to repair these walls? 10. But we also asked them their names, that we might give thee notice: and we have written the names of the men who are chief among them. 11. And they answered us in this manner, saying: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we build the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and set up. 12. But after our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he delivered them into the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, the Chaldean: and he destroyed this house, and carried the people captives to Babylon. 13. But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king gave a decree that this house of God should be built. 14. For the vessels also of the temple of God, of gold and silver, which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and had carried them into the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one named Sassabasar, whom he also made governor, 15. and he said to him: Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the temple, which is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place. 16. Then that Sassabasar came, and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem: and from that time until now it is in building, and is not yet completed. 17. Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let him search in the king’s library, which is in Babylon, whether it be so ordered by king Cyrus, that the house of God should be built in Jerusalem: and let him send us the king’s pleasure concerning this matter.
1. Zacharias the son of Addo.—“Son,” that is, grandson, as is plain from Zacharias 1:1. For the Hebrews call any descendants sons, as is plain from Matthew 1:1; Judith 8:4, and elsewhere.
5. But the eye of their God—as if to say: It was a work of divine providence, grace and favour (of which a kindly eye, with which God looked upon the Jews, is a sign and symbol) towards the Jews that he himself put it into the mind of the Prefect Thathanai not to hinder the building of the temple and the city, although he had not yet consulted Darius, indeed to write to Darius in a manner favourable to the Jews, and that Darius, on reading his letters, should grant that the temple be restored. For none of their enemies opposed the Jews, and Darius was benevolent towards the Jews through the work of Zorobabel, who was a courtier of Darius, as I said. A like phrase
Note: Holy Scripture gives God eyes, ears, arms, feet, not truly and properly, as the Anthropomorphites wished, who held that God has a body (which Tertullian also seems to have thought, though Pamelius excuses him), as St. Epiphanius and St. Augustine testify in their account of that heresy; but metaphorically, to accommodate itself to human capacity, and to signify the attributes of God through human actions and members, namely by eyes, that he sees all things; by ears, that he hears all things; by arms, that he can do all things; by feet, that he is supremely stable, constant and eternal. So St. Eucherius, On Spiritual Formulas, chapter 3.
11. A great king of Israel—great in wisdom, wealth, empire, fame and glory, namely Solomon.
15. Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the temple, which is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built.—This is a hysteron proteron, or preposterous order: for the house of God, or temple, had first to be built before the vessels taken away by the Chaldeans could be put back in it: so Cajetan. Or certainly by the temple understand the place, and the treasury near the temple, already burnt: for in this the vessels and gifts of the temple were put and kept.
of treasures, or of the royal treasury, where was the library not of philosophers but of books, and an archive of writings chiefly pertaining to wealth, expenses (e.g. those which Cyrus had made for the temple, chapter 6:8), the census and monetary matters. So Vatablus. In the same place likewise were kept the authentic copies of laws and royal decrees.