Ezra 3:6

THE TRUE WORSHIP RESTORED; THEY PLANNED TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE

"From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt-offerings unto Jehovah: but the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid. They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil unto them of Sidon, and unto them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, unto Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia."

There was never any doubt that the returnees would rebuild the temple, which they would do as soon as possible. They wasted no time in raising money for that purpose.

"The grant they had of Cyrus" (Ezra 3:7). "The full terms of this grant are found in Ezra 6:3-5."[7] "The Lebanon range of mountains where those wonderful cedar trees grew belonged, at this point in history, to the kings of Persia."[8]

A number of dependable scholars have mentioned "corruptions" in the text of this chapter. Keil stated that, "This text cannot be regarded as authoritative";[9] and Oesterley stated, with regard to both Ezra 3:8 and Ezra 3:9 that, "The text here is corrupt."[10] In spite of this, the basic truth of what is here proclaimed is unimpeachable; and the alleged "corruptions" do not change that. Furthermore, we believe that the allegations regarding a corrupt text are related to the false assumption of scholars that "laying the foundation" occurred only one time. We reject that as unreasonable. How do men know that it was not done twice, once at the very beginning, during the reign of Cyrus, and many years later under Darius I?