Ezra 6:13-15

Ezra 6:13-15

[13] Then  Tatnai,  governor  on this side  the river,  Shetharboznai,  and their companions,  according  to that which Darius  the king  had sent,  so  they did  speedily.  [14] And the elders  of the Jews  builded,  and they prospered  through the prophesying  of Haggai  the prophet  and Zechariah  the son  of Iddo.  And they builded,  and finished  it, according  to the commandment  of the God  of Israel,  and according to the commandment  of Cyrus,  and Darius,  and Artaxerxes  king  of Persia.  [15] And this  house  was finished  on  the third  day  of the month  Adar,  which was  in the sixth  year  of the reign  of Darius  the king. 

What does Ezra 6:13-15 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Several factors resulted in the completion of the temple, which the writer brought together in Ezra 6:14. The reference to Artaxerxes ( Ezra 6:14; cf. Ezra 4:7-23) does not mean that he had a part in completing the temple. As noted previously, he was the king who later supported the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. That action served to make the temple secure. He also contributed to the temple treasury ( Ezra 7:15-16; Ezra 7:21). Consequently, mention of him was appropriate at this point.
"The most powerful word on earth at that time was the decree of a Persian king, but silently and mysteriously the king was being directed by an even more powerful divine word." [1]
The builders finished the temple on Adar3 (in late February), 515 B.C. This was about four and one-half years after Haggai and Zechariah had gotten the builders moving again (in520 B.C.). It was about21years after the Jews had laid the foundation (in536 B.C.), and about23years after Cyrus had issued his decree allowing the Jews to return to Palestine (in538 B.C.). It was70 years after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple (586 B.C.). Thus, God fulfilled Jeremiah"s prophecy that the captivity would last70 years ( Jeremiah 25:11; Jeremiah 29:10). Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple down in the fifth month of586 B.C. ( 2 Kings 25:8-9), and the restoration Jews reopened it in the twelfth month of515 B.C. Solomon"s temple had stood for almost400 years, but the second temple lasted longer, about585 years, until Titus destroyed it in A.D70.