X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
Ezra 6
King Darius finds Cyrus's decree in the archives and orders the work to continue at royal expense. The house is finished in the sixth year of Darius and dedicated with joy, and the returned exiles keep the Passover.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
See it in the Labs
- Temples Side by SideTemples Side by SideOpen
- Temples Side by SideThe Second Temple (Zerubbabel's) · Temples Side by SideOpen
- Temples Side by SideStacked on one spot · Temples Side by SideOpen
- Temples Side by SideWalk from one into the next · Temples Side by SideOpen
- The Bible Time MapCyrus lets the exiles return · The Bible Time MapOpen
- The Bible Time MapThe second temple finished · The Bible Time MapOpen
- The Feast of TabernaclesJerusalem in Nehemiah 8 · The Feast of TabernaclesOpen
- Jerusalem Through the AgesDestruction and return · Jerusalem Through the AgesOpen
- Jerusalem Through the AgesThe Second Temple (Zerubbabel's) · Jerusalem Through the AgesOpen
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Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
Cyrus's decree: ? × 60 × 60 cubits. “The height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits”; no length is given. Whether this is what was built is debated.
- Strongly supported
Ezra dates its completion to the sixth year of Darius; Haggai compares it with the first house.
- Strongly supported
Ezra 6:3: 60 cubits high and 60 wide, and no length: KJV and the 和合本 both read "the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits" / 「殿高六十肘、寬六十肘」, with no length. Solomon's house was 60 long, 20 wide and 30 high (1 Kings 6:2). Barnes and the Cambridge Bible note the missing length, the Cambridge Bible doubting whether the text is sound; Matthew Poole reads the figures as a limit Cyrus set; Gill compares the height with the porch's 120.
- Plausible
How big was the Second Temple? It was built to the decree: 60 high and 60 wide. Herod said it was 60 cubits lower than Solomon's, which Josephus gives as 120.
Josephus, who repeats the decree and Herod's speech.
- Speculative
The house as drawn: 60 × 20 × 30 cubits. Drawn on Solomon's plan, “in his place” on the old foundations; one reading among several.