z-A People ſa called, ſent hither asa Colony. As for the other people mentioned ch-p+ 4. 9. they ſeem ro have had a greater power with Rehum and Shimſhai than with theſe new Officers, who made choiſe of other Companions. 4 Whereby: the Fare diſtinguithed from thoſe 'of their Brethren, who yet conrinued 1a ther Native Couns try beyond-rhe, River. and were not tranſplanted hicher.
7 They ſent alecter unto him F wherein was writ- ten thus ; Unto Darius'the king, all peace.
8: Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judza, to' the houſe of the great God z, | $Chald. which is built: wich f great ſtones and timber 1s laid 1n | Sour of therwalls; and this: work goeth faſt on, and proſpereth IS o in their hands. | 2 |
5 Whom+the Jews account the great God, the God of gods,
eſteeming all others to be bur little and falſe gods. | ' 9 Then asked:we thoſe elders, and faid unto them ” _ - thus, Who commanded you to buily this houſe, and to make up theſe walls” | E-
1> We asked their names alſo, to certifie thee, that
+ ChzW.z4 the mitt whereof.
place them in the houſe of God.
_ recited ) and net Darixs's; whick decs not begin vill the next verſe,
palace, that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, ang therein a8 a record thus written; |
c Here the Kings anſwer may ſeen: to begin, and this followiag accovnt: Fe ſends to theny, and after that Jays down bis coms= mands-. d The Royal Ciry of the-Medes and Perſians.
3 In the firſt year of Cyrus the king, the ſame Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the houſe of God at ar Fravay Let the houſe be built, the place where they offered Sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be ſtrongly laid; the hejght thereof threeſcore cubits,
and the breadth thereof cthreeſcore cubits e :
e He- did not command them to make it ſo large, for he left the or- dering of the proportions of the Building ro their $kill and choices but he reſtrained them that they ſhould make it nolarger; Ieſtthe ſhould hereafter make uſe of it to other purpoſes againſt himſelf: But thoſe proportions differ much from thoſe of Solomon's Temple, which was bur Thirty cubires high, only the Porch was 12@ Cubits high, and but 20 Cubits in breadth. Either therfore Solomons Cubits were facred Cudits, which were Jarger than the other, and theſe vere but common Cubits. Or, the 60 Cubirs of heighth are meant only of the Porch, which he would nor have to be fo high and mage nificent as that of Solomons” was, leſt rhey ſhould be puffed. up with it, and by degrees arriveat their former height and infolence. And the werd rendred brcadth. may be, and is by-ſome readred more generally, the e::tenſion, or amplitude, or rhe length of it ;-it be« ing improbable that the King ſhould give orders about the breadth, end nene about the length of it. | 4 With three rows of great ſtones,and a row of new timber f: and: let the expences be given out of the kings” houſe,
F As S:lomon's Temple was built, 1 Kivgs 6. 36. Whereof Darixs
was informed by ſome of the Jews, whoalto defiredthat it might be dene in this manner. ES?
5 And alſo let the golden and filver veſſels of the houſe of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out
of the temple which 7s at Jeruſalem, and brought unto Babylon, be reſtored g, and F brought again urico the'; q4,1q remple which is at Jeruſalem, every one to his place ; and gu,
g To Sheſhbazzar : For this is part of Cyrus's Decree ( which is
we migat: wie the names of the men that were the} chi2t of them.”
s Now
Chap. vi:
1]:
'S
"Chap. VI. EB ZE
6 Now therefore Tatnai, govertiour beyond the ri- f chalde ver, Shethar-hoznai, and | your companions the Aph- _ Joie rfachites which are vented the river, be ye far from of thence h: | | h i. e. From hindering or diſcouraging the work. 7 Let the work of this houſe of God alone; let the governour of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, | build this houſe of God in his pl.ce. _. f Chald. 8 Moreover, Þ I make a decree, what ye ſhall do to apy 4 the elders of the Jews, for the building of this houle of "14, God: that of the kings goods, even of the tribuce be- yond the river, forthwith expences be given unto theſe Chalds Then, that they be not Tf hindred 5, | mad 7 ; From proce ding in thr. work for want of money. alt 9 And that which they have need of, both -young bullocks, and ratris, and lambs, for the burnt-offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, ſalt, wine and oil, accor- ding to the appointment of the prieſts which je at Jeru- falem, let it 4
{Chald., Jo That chey may offer + ſacrifices of ſweer favours
ſotjs unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the |
o"0s king, and of his ſons. -
alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his f Chald. houſe, and being ſet up, + 1:t him be hatiged thereon, _— and let his houſe be made a dunghill for this.
4 12 And the God that hath cauſed his name todwell there, deſtroy all kings and people that ſhall pur to their hand, to alter and to deſtroy this houſe o* God
which js at Jeruſalem: I Darius-have made adecree, ler
it be done with ſpeed. | | 13 Then Tatnai, goverhour op this fide the river, . Sherhar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had ſent, ſo they did ſpeedily. 14 And the elders of the Jews built, and they proſpe- red through the propecying of Haggai the prophet, and
Zechariah the fon of Iddo &; and they buile and finiſh-
ed zt, according to the commandment of the God of
Iſrael, and according to the F commandment of Cyrus,
and Darius, and Artaxerxes /, kings of Perſia, .
k This is a ſeaſonable intimation, that this great and unexpeQed - ſucceſs was not to be aſcrived to chance,nor to the kindneſs or good humour of Darius, bur unco God only, who by his Prophets had
required and encouraged them to proceed in the work, and by his mighty p>wer diſpoſed Darius Heart to ſuch kind ard noble Pur-
| chald. igrie,
—
e given them day by day without fail.
it Alſo I have made a decree, that whoſoever fhall | 5
: ready fcribe & in the law of Moſes, which the LORD
R M£. Chap. VL |}
#7, e, Of the King of Ferfie, which was now King of 4712 al.v [
or Emperor of that vaſt and famous Afyrian-Empire: which ws _
firſt ſubdued by the King of. Babylon. who therefore is ſomewhere ©
Called rhe Aſſyrian ; and for the ſame reaſon the Perſian Monarch 1s *
here.ſo called emphatically, ro nore. the great Power and Gr olnets