Ezra 3

This chapter belongs to the opening section of the Book of Ezra. Following the list of returnees in Ezra 2, it describes how the returned exiles reestablished worship and began work on the temple.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 In the seventh month the people gather in Jerusalem. Although they fear the surrounding peoples, Jeshua and Zerubbabel set up the altar on its former site and offer burnt offerings on it morning and evening.
• Verses 4–6 The people keep the Feast of Tabernacles as prescribed and present the continual burnt offerings, the festival burnt offerings, and freewill offerings. Although burnt offerings were offered from the first day of the seventh month, the foundation of the temple had not yet been laid.
• Verse 7 They pay the masons and carpenters and give food and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, and in accordance with the decree of Cyrus they arrange for cedar from Lebanon to be brought by sea to Joppa.
• Verses 8–9 In the second month of the second year after their return, the work begins. Levites twenty years old and upward are appointed to oversee the work.
• Verses 10–11 When the foundation is laid, the priests with trumpets and the sons of Asaph with cymbals sing responsively in praise, after the ordinance of David.
• Verses 12–13 The old men who had seen the first temple weep aloud, while others shout for joy. The two sounds could not be distinguished from each other.

Key Verses

• Ezra 3:3 "And they set the altar upon his bases … and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening" — This shows that the altar and the sacrifices were restored before the temple itself.
• Ezra 3:11 "Because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel" — This echoes the confession repeated in Psalm 136 and elsewhere.
• Ezra 3:12 — The joy of restoration and grief over the loss of former glory appear side by side.

People and Places

• Zerubbabel: The son of Shealtiel, a leader from the line of David who led the returned community.
• Jeshua: A priest, the son of Jozadak. In Haggai and Zechariah he appears as Joshua the high priest.
• Sons of Asaph: A Levitical family responsible for temple music since the time of David.
• Kadmiel and Henadad: Levitical families who supervised the work.
• Cyrus: The king of Persia who permitted the return and the building of the temple.
• Jerusalem: The site of the temple.
• Sidon and Tyre: Port cities on the Mediterranean coast that supplied the timber.
• Joppa: The port where the timber was unloaded.

Points for Reflection

• Ezra 5:16 records that Sheshbazzar laid the foundation of the temple, while Haggai 2:18 identifies the second year of King Darius as the time the foundation was laid. Interpretations therefore differ on how the foundation work in chapter 3 relates to the work that was halted after Ezra 4 and later resumed.
• The weeping of the old men is read in connection with Haggai 2:3.
• The New Testament speaks of the temple as the body of Christ (John 2:21) or as the community of believers (1 Corinthians 3:16). Some readers apply this chapter from these perspectives.

In the Korean Church

Verse 3, in which the altar is built first, is frequently cited in sermons emphasizing "the restoration of worship." Verses 10–13 are reportedly sometimes read in worship services connected with church building projects.