เอสรา 6:21 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 the children of Israel ate, etc. Therefore, the Passover was sacrificed for all the children of the exile, all the children of Israel ate, not only those who had returned from captivity, but also all who had previously been situated elsewhere, who had at that time purified themselves from the defilements of the people of the land to come to them. This can also be rightly understood of the proselytes, who, though naturally Gentile, were converted to the people of God, having received circumcision and being purified by legal sacrifices, so that they too were worthy of participating in the saving sacrifice. And it is to be noted that he calls the people of the land those who serve the defilers; so that by contrast, he might teach that the people of heaven are those who, being separated from them, serve the Lord in unity and chastity, and celebrate his solemnities with a sincere heart. Nowhere else, unless I am mistaken, is the same people of Israel found to have existed with such devotion with the priests and Levites, their teachers that is, since they came out of Egypt through Moses; but this devotion was made by divine chastisement, for when they were delivered to be afflicted by their enemies for their sins, afflicted by adversities, they were turned away from sins by repentance; by the merit of repentance and conversion, they were freed from their enemies: and being destined to serve God better, they were called back to their own homeland. But up to this point, we often see even those who have frequently defiled the temple of their body by sinning, and thereby have been taken captive by the devil, returning to the Lord through repentance. And rightly so, with greater diligence than they were accustomed to before, they have striven in good works to prepare again in themselves a dwelling place for their Creator. It is to be noted indeed that Solomon first completed the temple in the greatest peace of his kingdom, in a very short time, with no one contradicting in any way; but now, having been destroyed on account of sins, the children of the exile, with great contrition of heart, labored in a long work, often delayed by the enemies, and finally, divinely aided, restored it. For it is easy indeed for anyone converted to faith and recognition of the truth, to renounce the devil and confess the living and true God, to receive the sacraments of Christ; and being initiated by these, to become His temple in remission of all sins, and to keep the received innocence of life with accompanying grace. But it is of great labor for anyone who, having received the sacraments of faith, contemptuously sins, to recover their former dignity; for to such a one, cleansing cannot easily be given again through the water of baptism, but the sin tainted must be washed out with the long labor of repentance, with copious flows of tears, with the more stringent efforts of continence, by whose cleansing the very habits of vices also resist like an enemy crowd of Samaritans; the more difficult to overcome, the longer they have possessed the land of the heart devoid of virtue. It can also be said that therefore, particularly with the house of God rebuilt and dedicated, remembrance is made of the Passover, since none would doubt that people of such religion would want to celebrate the Passover in its due time; so that it might mystically be insinuated that this is the sum of all perfection, when, having transcended all the desires and allurements of the world, we always with entire intention of mind ponder the entrance into another life. For Passover is interpreted as passing, having its name from this, that either the children of Israel in it, through the sacrifice of the lamb, passed from Egyptian slavery to the joys of freedom, or the spotless Lamb Himself, that is, the Lord Christ, sacrificed for our redemption, passed from this world to the Father. Which we also imitate, when we pass from base pleasures to seek heavenly things. Indeed, we perfectly perform this when, released from the prison of the flesh, we enter the heavenly kingdom. To which sense apt is what follows:

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.

And all such as had separated themselves - These were the proselytes who had embraced the Jewish religion by having mingled with the Jews in their captivity. This proves that there the poor captives had so acted according to the principles of their religion, that the heathens saw it, and walked in the light of the Lord with them. A good example is very persuasive; and particularly so when founded on pure principles.

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].

AND OF THE PASSOVER. (Ezr 6:19-22) all such as had separated themselves . . . from the filthiness of the heathen of the land--that is, who had given satisfactory evidence of being true proselytes by not only renouncing the impure worship of idolatry, but by undergoing the rite of circumcision, a condition indispensable to a participation of the passover.