Ezra 6:3

Ezra 6:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;
• New International Version (NIV)In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,
• English Standard Version (ESV)In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits,
• New King James Version (NKJV)In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits,

Context of Ezra 6:3

1King Darius told his officers to look in the books in the royal library. That was in Babylon, in the place where they stored important things. 2But it was in the region of Media that they found a scroll about the temple in Jerusalem. It was stored in a strong building in Ecbatana. This is what the scroll said: ‘This is an important note. King Cyrus gave a command about God's temple in Jerusalem, in the first year that he ruled in Babylon. He said: “The Jews must build their temple as a place where they can offer sacrifices to their God. They must build it on its foundations. They must make it 30 metres wide and 30 metres high. 4They must build the walls with three rows of big stones, and then a row of wooden beams. They should take money from the king's palace to pay for the work. 5We will give back to them the silver and gold things that belong in their God's temple. King Nebuchadnezzar took them from the temple in Jerusalem and he brought them here to Babylon. Now they must return to the place where they belong, in God's house in Jerusalem.”

Ezra 6:3 word by word

בִּשְׁנַ֨ת חֲדָ֜ה לְכ֣וֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּ֗א כּ֣וֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּא֮ שָׂ֣ם טְעֵם֒ בֵּית־אֱלָהָ֤א בִֽירוּשְׁלֶם֙ בַּיְתָ֣א יִתְבְּנֵ֔א אֲתַר֙ דִּֽי־דָבְחִ֣ין דִּבְחִ֔ין וְאֻשּׁ֖וֹהִי מְסֽוֹבְלִ֑ין רוּמֵהּ֙ אַמִּ֣ין שִׁתִּ֔ין פְּתָיֵ֖הּ אַמִּ֥ין שִׁתִּֽין׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• In the firstחַדchad · oneH2298
• yearשְׁנָהshenâh · yearH8140
• of Cyrusכּ֫וֹרֶשׁkôresh · CyrusH3567
• the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4430
• madeשׂוּםώûm · to set: makeH7761
• a decreeטְעֵםţe‛êm · commandH2942
• the houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · houseH1005
• of Godאֱלָהּ'ĕlâhh · godH426
• at Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlêm · JerusalemH3390
• be buildedבְּנָהbenâ' benâh · to buildH1124
• the placeאֲתַר'ăthar · placeH870
• where they offeredדְּבַחdebach · to sacrificeH1684
• sacrificesדְּבַחdebach · sacrificeH1685
• and let the foundationsאֹשׁ'ôsh · foundationH787
• thereof be strongly laidסְבַלsebal · to bearH5446
• the heightרוּםrûm · heightH7314
• thereof threescoreשִׁתִּיןshittîyn · sixtyH8361
• cubitsאַמָּה'ammâh · cubitH521
• the breadthפְּתָיpethay · breadthH6613

Cross-references for Ezra 6:3

• Ezra 1:1In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind. King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true. The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
• Ezra 5:13But later, King Cyrus of Babylon commanded that we must build God's temple again. He said this in the first year that he was king.
• 2 Chronicles 36:22In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind. King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true. The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
• Deuteronomy 12:5The Lord will choose one place from the land where all your tribes live. That is the place where people must go to worship him. That is his special home.
• 2 Chronicles 2:6I know that nobody can really build a house for our God. The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is not big enough to contain him. So I certainly cannot build a place for him to live in, but it will be a place where we can offer sacrifices to him.
• Psalms 122:4Israel's tribes who belong to the Lord go up there. They go there to thank the Lord, as he has commanded them.
• 1 Kings 6:2The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 27 metres long. It was 9 metres wide. It was 13.5 metres high.
• 2 Chronicles 3:3The foundation for God's temple was 27 metres long and 9 metres wide. (They measured it in cubits.)
• Ezekiel 41:13Then the man measured the outside of the temple building. It was 50 metres long. He measured from the back of the temple across the open space to the back wall of the large building. That was also 50 metres.
• Revelation 21:16The shape of the city was a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with his stick. It was 12,000 stadia (2,400 kilometres) long. It was as wide and as high as it was long.

Commentaries on Ezra 6:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The height thereof threescore cubits - This was much larger than the temple of Solomon. This was sixty cubits high, and sixty cubits broad; whereas Solomon's was only twenty cubits broad, and thirty cubits high.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3It is difficult to reconcile the dimentions here with expressions in Zechariah Zechariah 4:10, Haggai Haggai 2:3, and even Ezra Ezra 3:12, which imply that the second temple was smaller than the first (compare 1 Kings 6:2). Perhaps the dimensions here are those which Cyrus required the Jews not to exceed.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3This decree is recorded in Ezra 1:2–4. The temple will be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide. The changes suggested in the New Living Translation note would align these measurements with Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:2, 17, 20). However, the larger measurements here might show the maximum size the Persians would finance.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-121. Darius the king--This was Darius Hystaspes. Great and interesting light has been thrown on the history of this monarch and the transaction of his reign, by the decipherment of the cuneatic inscriptions on the rocks at Behistun. in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon--An idea of the form of this Babylonian register house, as well as the manner of preserving public records within its repositories, can be obtained from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezra 6:3

• Church and State
• Cyrus
• House
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Liberality
• Persia
• Rulers
• Temple

In the dictionaries

• Cyrus
• God
• Jerusalem
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• House of God
• Chaldee language
• Pure
• Temple, the Second
• Aramaic; Aramaic Language
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Ezra 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings