Catholic Commentary on Ezra 6

"The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius." (Ezra 6:15)

The Temple Completed

Darius orders the archives searched and Cyrus's original decree is found in Ecbatana. He issues a new decree: do not interfere with the Temple construction; let the governor and his officials stay away. Furthermore, from the royal treasury let everything needed for the sacrifices be provided for the priests in Jerusalem. Anyone who alters this decree is to have a beam pulled from their house and to be impaled on it. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The Israelites celebrate the dedication with joy. They offer 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 male lambs, and 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel. They celebrate the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month. The returned exiles and all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours ate the Passover together.

The Catechism identifies the completion and dedication of the Second Temple as the culmination of the restoration narrative: the community has rebuilt the house of God's name (CCC 583).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Temple that was stopped by official letters was completed because the original decree was found in the archives. Every purpose of God has a decree in the archives that supersedes every subsequent interference. When the work is stopped, search the archives. The original word stands.

Prayer

Lord God, your original decree stands. Every interference and every letter of opposition cannot override what you decreed from the beginning. Let the Temple be completed in our generation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

6
The Decree of Darius
1 Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon. 2 And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it:
 
Memorandum:
 
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem:
 
Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,* 6:3 The house was to be approximately 90 feet or 27.4 meters in height and width; Syriac (see also 1 Kings 6:2) It is to be sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 4 with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
 
5 Furthermore, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, must also be returned to the temple in Jerusalem and deposited in the house of God.
 
6 Therefore Darius decreed:
 
To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates,† 6:6 Aramaic governor beyond the River; similarly in verses 8 and 13 Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region:
 
You must stay away from that place! 7 Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.
 
8 I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God:
 
The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered. 9 Whatever is needed-young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem-must be given to them daily without fail. 10 Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.
 
11 I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense.‡ 6:11 Literally shall be made a dunghill because of this 12 May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem.
 
I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.
The Temple Completed
 
13 In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed. 14 So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo.
 
They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar,§ 6:15 Adar is the twelfth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of February and March. in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Dedication of the Temple
 
16 Then the people of Israel-the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles-celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.
 
17 For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.
 
18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.
The Returned Exiles Keep the Passover
 
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover. 20 All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean.
 
And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves. 21 The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples * 6:21 Or nations of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.
 
22 For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread † 6:22 That is, the seven-day period after the Passover during which no leaven may be eaten; see Exodus 12:14-20. with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

*6:3 6:3 The house was to be approximately 90 feet or 27.4 meters in height and width; Syriac (see also 1 Kings 6:2) It is to be sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

†6:6 6:6 Aramaic governor beyond the River; similarly in verses 8 and 13

‡6:11 6:11 Literally shall be made a dunghill because of this

§6:15 6:15 Adar is the twelfth month of the Hebrew lunar calendar, usually occurring within the months of February and March.

*6:21 6:21 Or nations

†6:22 6:22 That is, the seven-day period after the Passover during which no leaven may be eaten; see Exodus 12:14-20.

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