เอสรา 6:16 วิจารณ์

How solemnly the foundation of the temple was laid we read in Ezr 3:1-13. How slowly the building went on, and with how much difficulty, we found in ch. 4 and 5. But how gloriously the topstone was at length brought forth with shoutings we find in this chapter; and even we, at this distance of time, when we read of it, may cry, "Grace, grace to it." As for God, his work is perfect; it may be slow work, but it will be sure work. We have here, I. A recital of the decree of Cyrus for the building of the temple (Ezr 6:1-5). II. The enforcing of that decree by a new order from Darius for the perfecting of that work (Ezr 6:6-12). III. The finishing of it thereupon (Ezr 6:13-15). IV. The solemn dedication of it when it was built (Ezr 6:16-18), and the handselling of it (as I may say) with the celebration of the passover (Ezr 6:19-22). And now we may say that in Judah and Jerusalem things went well, very well.

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 6 Darius, on receiving the letter from his officers in Samaria, searched for the decree of Cyrus, and found it, and which he confirmed, Ezr 6:1 and made a fresh decree, and ordered expenses to be given out of his tribute for the building of the temple, and for the sacrifices of it; and that whosoever altered it should be hanged on the timber of his own house, and imprecated a curse on those that should destroy the house of God, Ezr 6:8 upon which the building went on, and was finished, Ezr 6:13 and the temple was dedicated to God in a solemn manner, Ezr 6:16, and the passover was kept by all the people, Ezr 6:19.

And offered, at the dedication of this house of God, an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs,.... Hecatombs of various sorts, which were always reckoned grand sacrifices, even among Heathens, of which Homer sometimes speaks; some of these were for burnt offerings, and others peace offerings, by way of thankfulness to God for the finishing of the temple; part of which belonging to the offerers, they feasted upon it with great gladness of heart: and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel; for though the ten tribes were carried captive by Shalmaneser, yet, as before observed, there were some of them that remained in the land, and others that went and returned with the two tribes; and therefore a sin offering was made for them all, for the typical expiation of guilt contracted since they had been in an Heathen land, and, temple service had ceased.

Now the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, etc. The sons of the captivity rightly rejoice that they are worthy to both cast off the yoke of captivity and to build the house of God, which was destroyed. They offer a great number of sacrifices in the dedication of His house as devout servants to God. They also offer sacrifices for the sin of all Israel, not only for those who could be present, but also for those who were still placed in Babylon or in other provinces, living among enemies outside the promised land. They pray to God to be merciful to them as well and to protect them from evils among the enemies or to bring them back to the desired homeland. Because the rebuilding of the house after their captivity, as often said, signifies the correction of those who have strayed from the path of truth through sin after having initially started it, the well-restored temple is rightly dedicated by the priests and Levites and the other sons of the captivity in joy. For when those who have sinned are corrected, there is great joy in heaven before the angels of God (Luke XV). There is joy also for the teachers who have labored for the salvation of the erring; and for all those who have migrated from Babylon, that is, the confusion of sins, to the height of virtues—the promised land in thought and deed. Therefore, both the priests and Levites and all the people rejoice in the dedication of the restored house of the Lord because all orders of the holy Church must rejoice together in the reconciliation through penance of those who have sinned. They offer sacrifices in this dedication when they render thanks to God for the conversion of the erring, when many, seeing their devout life to God, also gird themselves to works of greater virtues, not wanting to be slothful in good works, in which they had remained more innocent, by sinning less. This can equally be understood of those who have recently come to faith, to receive the sacraments of Christ, that many who were advanced in the faith often emulate the more fervent zeal of the newcomers and follow their examples in good works. Not only do the priests, Levites, and the people offer sacrifices for the dedication of the house of the Lord which they had renovated, but also for the sin of all Israel. For just as it is fitting to favor the good deeds of those who are with us, and to make their good deeds our own by imitation, so it is necessary with diligent care to pray to the Lord for the state of the whole Church which is scattered throughout the world, according to the example of the Lord’s prayer; in which no one asks for daily bread, or for the forgiveness of sins, or to be delivered from temptation and evil, only for himself, but rather for all who have the same Father in heaven. Likewise, after the temple has been built, dedication follows when the total number of the elect shall at the end of the world reach the grace of heavenly rewards. Many acceptable sacrifices to God are offered in this dedication; those, indeed, of which the same house of God, that is, the holy Church, rebuilt through the glory of immortality after the long captivity of mortal distress, sings to its Creator and Redeemer, saying: "You have broken my bonds, I will sacrifice an offering of praise to You" (Psalm 115). And since the same sacrifice of praise is to be offered to God, not only for the gifts of virtues given, but also for the purged and removed stains of vices: correctly, after bulls, rams, and lambs were offered in the dedication of the temple, goats are also said to have been slaughtered for the sin of all Israel; for the grace of God, which confers the benefits of virtues, also removes the iniquity of sins. No Pelagian has a place in the house of God, who persuades that by the freedom of his own will he can either be freed from evils or confirmed in good. Indeed, goats for sin are offered in this life when the elect of supreme piety supplicate to be freed from sins. They are also offered in the future when the same ones give thanks because, by the grace of God, they have been freed from sins; and therefore, they will sing the mercies of the Lord forever (Psalm 100); for they will never forget that they were once miserable and have been made blessed by His gift.

Darius orders search to be made for the edict of Cyrus, Ezr 6:1. It is found at Achmetha, Ezr 6:2. A transcript of this edict, Ezr 6:3-5. Darius confirms it, Ezr 6:6-12. Tatnai encourages the Jews to proceed; and they finish the temple in the sixth year of Darius, Ezr 6:13-15. They dedicate the temple, Ezr 6:16-18; keep the Passover, Ezr 6:19-21, and the feast of unleavened bread, Ezr 6:22.

DARIUS' DECREE FOR ADVANCING THE BUILDING. (Ezr 6:1-12) 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 discoveries at Nineveh. Two small chambers were discovered in the palace of Koyunjik, which, from the fragments found in them, MR. LAYARD considers "as a house of the rolls." After reminding his readers that the historical records and public documents of the Assyrians were kept on tablets and cylinders of baked clay, many specimens of which have been found, he goes on to say, "The chambers I am describing appear to have been a depository in the palace of Nineveh for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them; some entire, but the greater part broken into many fragments, probably by the falling in of the upper part of the building. They were of different sizes; the largest tablets were flat, and measured about nine inches by six and a half inches; the smaller were slightly convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well-defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass. These documents appear to be of various kinds. The documents that have thus been discovered in the house of rolls' at Nineveh probably exceed all that have yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt, and when the innumerable fragments are put together and transcribed, the publication of these records will be of the greatest importance to the history of the ancient world" [Nineveh and Babylon].

FEASTS OF THE DEDICATION. (Ezr 6:16-18) the children of Israel . . . kept the dedication . . . with joy--The ceremonial was gone through with demonstrations of the liveliest joy. The aged who had wept at the laying of the foundation [Ezr 3:12] were most, if not all of them, now dead; and all rejoiced at the completion of this national undertaking.