Passage

Ezra 6.3-5

Book: Ezra · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. 2. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and therein was thus written for a record:

3. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be builded, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; 4. with three courses of great stones, and a course of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house. 5. And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to its place; and thou shalt put them in the house of God.

Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, be ye far from thence: 7. let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. (Ezra 6:1-7, ASV)

WEB

Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched. 2. A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written for a record:

3. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid; with its height sixty cubits, and its width sixty cubits; 4. with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. 5. Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s house.

Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there. 7. Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. (Ezra 6:1-7, WEB)

KJV

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. ^{rolls: Chaldee, books} ^{laid up: Chaldee, made to descend} 2. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: ^{Achmetha: or, Ecbatana, or, in a coffer}

3. 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; 4. With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house: 5. And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God. ^{brought again: Chaldee, go}

Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence: ^{your: Chaldee, their societies} 7. Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. (Ezra 6:1-7, KJV)

YLT

Then Darius the king made a decree, and they sought in the house of the books of the treasuries placed there in Babylon, 2. and there hath been found at Achmetha, in a palace that [is] in the province of Media, a roll, and a record thus written within it [is]:

3. 'In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king hath made a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: the house let be builded in the place where they are sacrificing sacrifices, and its foundations strongly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits; 4. three rows of rolled stones, and a row of new wood, and the outlay let be given out of the king's house. 5. 'And also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, let be given back, and go to the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, [each] to its place, and put [them] down in the house of God.

'Now, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, the Apharsachites, who [are] beyond the river, be ye far from hence; 7. let alone the work of this house of God, let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God on its place. (Ezra 6:1-7, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the record of Cyrus's decree, quoted in the decree of Darius (Ezra 6:1-12)
Audience: the royal archives, and through Darius's letter, Tattenai and his companions (Ezra 6:6)
Location: the roll was found "at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media" (Ezra 6:2)
Time period: the decree dates from "the first year of Cyrus the king" (c. 538 BC); it was found under Darius, c. 520 BC

Theological reading

The record found in the archive confirms what the elders claimed (Ezra 5:13-17). Cyrus decreed "let the house be builded, the place where they offer sacrifices," with "the expenses ... given out of the king's house," and ordered the gold and silver vessels "restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to its place" (Ezra 6:3-5).

This is the second form of the Cyrus decree in the book. The Hebrew proclamation of Ezra 1:2-4 is addressed to the people; this Aramaic memorandum is an administrative record with measurements and funding. The codex sets it beside the Persian policy recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.

God's purpose is carried by a filed document. Darius then adds his own protection of "the God that hath caused his name to dwell there" (Ezra 6:12), language drawn from Deuteronomy's "place which Jehovah your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there" (Deuteronomy 12:11). A pagan king's decree speaks of the temple in Israel's own covenant terms.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Concepts:

Cyrus Cylinder

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.