Synopsis of the Chapter
Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel the Leader, returning to Jerusalem with the people, build an altar, offer sacrifice on it, celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and lay the foundations of the new temple.
Verse 1: When the Seventh Month Had Come ¶
1. When the seventh month had come — Called Tishri in Hebrew, which corresponds partly to our September and partly to October. For the Hebrews used lunar months, each defined by one lunation. Hence it seems that the Jews departed from Babylon at the beginning of spring, in the first year of Cyrus, and after four months of travel arrived in Jerusalem in July, and immediately erected an altar and prepared themselves for the Feast of Tabernacles and the other celebrations of the seventh month. Similarly, Ezra in the seventh year of Artaxerxes departed from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, as we shall hear in chapter VII, verse 1.
Verse 2: Joshua the Son of Jozadak Arose ¶
2. Then Joshua (or Jesus) the son of Jozadak arose (who, after his father Jozadak had died, had succeeded him in the high priesthood, and was Ezra's nephew through his brother — for Ezra was the brother of Jozadak) — and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, son of Jeconiah, who after the death of his grandfather and father had succeeded to the leadership of the people. These two therefore were the leaders of the people returning to Jerusalem: Joshua in ecclesiastical matters, Zerubbabel in civil affairs.
Verse 4: The Feast of Tabernacles ¶
4. And they celebrated the feast (that is, they observed the Feast of Tabernacles, or Scenopegia, on the 15th day of the seventh month for seven days) and offered the daily burnt offerings in order according to the commandment, the proper number for each day — meaning: They offered every day throughout the entire octave of the feast as many victims, of whatever kind and with whatever rite, as God had prescribed in Numbers XXIX.
Verse 5: The Regular Burnt Offering ¶
5. And afterward the regular burnt offering — about which I commented on Numbers XXVIII, 3.
Verse 8: In the Second Year of Their Coming ¶
8. In the second year of their coming to the temple (to the place where the temple, now burned by the Chaldeans, had stood) of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, they began — to rebuild the temple.
Verse 10: The Builders Laid the Foundation of the Temple ¶
10. When the builders had laid the foundation of the temple (that is, when the foundations of the temple had been laid) to praise God according to the ordinance of David — that is, through the works of David, namely through the Psalms composed by David and through the musical instruments fittingly instituted by him for singing the praises of God in the temple.
Verse 11: The Foundation of the Temple Had Been Laid ¶
11. Because the foundation of the temple had been laid — that is, because the foundations of the temple had already been laid, but the walls had not yet been erected, as is clear from what follows.
Verse 12: They Wept with a Loud Voice ¶
12. They wept with a loud voice — because the foundations of the new temple did not correspond to the greatness and majesty of the former temple, and because they beheld its ruins all around. Yet at the same time they rejoiced at the rebuilding of the new temple, at their return to their fatherland, at the benevolence of Cyrus, and especially that God, who had formerly been angry, was now reconciled to them. Therefore this weeping was mingled with joy, and the voices of those weeping and those exulting blended together in a harmony mixed with lamentation and rejoicing.