Commentaria in I Esdrae
Chapter 6. Synopsis of the Chapter
Darius at his own expense, according to the decree of Cyrus, finishes the temple, which in the sixth year, amid great joy of the people and with many victims, is consecrated: soon the Pasch is celebrated for seven days.
1. Then Darius the king commanded: and they searched in the library of the books, that were laid up in Babylon: 2. and there was found at Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, one book, and such a record was written therein: 3. In the first year of king Cyrus, Cyrus the king made a decree that the house of God should be built in Jerusalem, in the place where they offer victims; and that they should lay foundations that may support a height of sixty cubits, and the breadth of sixty cubits, 4. with three rows of rough stones, and so also three rows of new wood: and the charges shall be given out of the king’s house. 5. Moreover the vessels of the temple of God, of gold and silver, which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and carried them into Babylon, shall be restored, and carried again to the temple in Jerusalem, to their place, which also were put in the temple of God. 6. Now therefore Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, depart far from them, 7. and suffer the temple of God to be built by the governor of the Jews, and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its place. 8. Moreover it is decreed by me what must be done by those ancients of the Jews, that the house of God may be built: that is, that of the king’s chest, that is, of the tribute which is paid out of the country beyond the river, the charges be carefully given to those men, lest the work be hindered. 9. And if there be need, calves also, and lambs, and kids for a holocaust to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine and oil, according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, let it be given them every day, that there be no complaint in any thing. 10. And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. 11. It is decreed therefore by me, that if any man shall change this commandment, a beam shall be taken out of his house, and set up, and he shall be fastened on it, and his house shall be confiscated. 12. And may the God, who hath caused his name to dwell there, destroy all kingdoms and people that shall put forth their hand to resist and to destroy that house of God, which is in Jerusalem. I Darius have made this decree, which I will have diligently fulfilled. 13. Then Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors, according to what king Darius had commanded, so did diligently execute. 14. And the ancients of the Jews built, and prospered according to the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo: and they built and finished by the commandment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of the Persians. 15. And they finished this house on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of king Darius. 16. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house of God with joy. 17. And they offered for the dedication of the house of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve he-goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18. And they set the priests in their orders, and the Levites in their courses, over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 19. And the children of the captivity kept the phase on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20. For the priests and the Levites were purified as one man: all were clean to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 21. And the children of Israel that were returned from the captivity, and all that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations of the land to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat, 22. and they kept the solemnity of the Azymes seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assur to them, to help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord the God of Israel.
2. At Ecbatana.—In Hebrew, in Achmata; for the letters beth and mem are labials, and therefore are often interchanged, and one is substituted for the other.
In Media.—In Hebrew, Madai, that is, Media; or the kingdom of the Medes, which had already been subjugated by the Persians and reduced to a province,
3. The height of sixty cubits.—The former temple of Solomon was twice as high, for it was 120 cubits high; but Cyrus ordered this new one to be built so low lest the Jews should make a fortress of it and rebel.
And the breadth of sixty cubits.—By breadth he here takes extension, whether it be in length or in width. So the Chaldee; for he forbids the temple to be extended in any direction beyond 60 cubits. Hence Lyranus: Breadth, he says, that is, length; for the length of the temple, that is, of the Holy in building the temple, and of the Holy of Holies, was 60 cubits; the breadth, however, twenty. So Ribera, book 1 On the Temple, chapter 27.
5. Were put in the temple—that is, are to be put. The Septuagint: that they may be put. Better, properly “were put in the temple,” that is, in the treasury of the temple, as I said, chapter 5, verse 15. For Darius relates that the edict of Cyrus was already fulfilled. For Cyrus had commanded the vessels to be put back in the temple: Darius now relates that they have been put back, according to his command.
14. They built, etc., by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes.—Refer this not to the building of the temple in itself, namely of the Holy and Holy of Holies; for this was finished in the sixth year of Darius, verse 15, but to the completion of the courts and ornaments of the temple, and to the prosperity of the offerings, gifts and solemnities of the temple: for these were completed under Artaxerxes. Again, the building of the temple was completed under Darius, but of the city of Jerusalem under Artaxerxes.
You will ask: Who was this Artaxerxes, of whom here and in chapter 7 and the following? Some think he is Xerxes; for he was the son of Darius Hystaspes and succeeded him in the kingdom. Nor does a reason appear why Esdras should have omitted Xerxes, and by a leap pass from the grandfather Darius to the grandson Artaxerxes Longimanus; especially since this Xerxes was most celebrated, as one who led eleven hundred thousand soldiers into battle against the Greeks, and strewed the lands with his troops and the seas with his fleets, and so was at first the terror of Greece, but soon its laughing-stock, when, defeated, he was forced to flee almost alone. Hence Daniel described Xerxes specially, chapter 11, verse 2. Add: Xerxes was very well disposed to the Jews, as Josephus relates, book 11 of the Antiquities, chapter 5, wherefore he himself seems to have promoted the building of the temple. Finally, Esdras, now quite advanced in years and an old man, does not seem to have been fit, after the times of Xerxes, for so arduous a mission to Jerusalem, of which chapter 7, verse 6. Hence Josephus says that Esdras died an old man under Xerxes, not long after the commonwealth was reformed. Wherefore this book of the deeds of Esdras closes with this reformation.
But others generally and more probably hold that this Artaxerxes is Longimanus, the son of Xerxes: first, because not Xerxes but Longimanus is properly called Artaxerxes by all historians; secondly, the same is clear from the continuation of this history with the history of Nehemias, which was formerly one book with this of Esdras. For he who is here called Artaxerxes, and who in chapter 7, in the seventh year of his reign, sent Esdras to Jerusalem, is said in Nehemias 2:5 to have sent Nehemias in the twentieth year of his reign: but he who sent Nehemias was Longimanus, as will be plain there. The reason why Esdras omitted Xerxes is that he, wholly occupied with the Grecian war, thought not of the Jews and the temple, nor what help he gave them toward it. Moreover Josephus confuses Xerxes with Artaxerxes, for he gives Xerxes 28 years, whereas it is certain he reigned only twenty years; wherefore the remaining eight years are to be given to Artaxerxes. Of the name “Artaxerxes” I spoke in chapter 4, verse 6, to which add that “Artaxerxes” in Hebrew and Chaldaic is called Artachsasta, which in Hebrew is the same as fervour of joy, says Pagninus, from ratach, that is, to boil and bubble, and sas, to rejoice. Or it is the same as “to place light in haste,” and so is derived from or, that is, light, and chas, that is, to hasten, and sach, that is, to place. Finally, the cause why Artaxerxes was so benevolent to the Jews was Esther, whom many think to have been his wife; and therefore Aman was hanged by him, but Mardochai exalted. But this I shall examine in the proem to Esther.
15. The month of Adar.—This is the twelfth month and the last of the Hebrews, which corresponds partly to our February, partly to March.
Which is the sixth year of king Darius.—In the sixth year of Darius, therefore, the inner part of the temple, which was properly called the “temple,” because only priests might enter it, was finished; but in the ninth year of Darius all the parts of the temple, both inner and outer, namely courts, porches, and the other ornaments of the temple, were finished. So Josephus, Pererius and others.
20. As one man—namely with unanimous consent, as if all had been one man, having one and the same heart and mind.
21. That had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations.— Who, having left Gentilism and become proselytes, had been initiated into Judaism by circumcision.
22. And had turned the heart of the king of Assur to them.— This is Darius king of the Persians, who is called “king of Assur” because the Assyrians, formerly lords and monarchs of affairs, like the Babylonians, subdued by Cyrus, were now subject to the monarchy of the Persians and to Darius.