Then work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Parallel Translations
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Then work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
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Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
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Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Ezra 4:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Haggai 1:15 in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
- Ezra 5:5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they didn’t make them cease, until the matter should come to Darius, and an answer should be returned by letter concerning it.
- Ezra 6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched.
- Nehemiah 6:3 I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I can’t come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you?”
- Nehemiah 6:9 For they all would have made us afraid, saying, “Their hands will be weakened from the work, that it not be done.” But now, strengthen my hands.
- Job 20:5 that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
- 1 Thessalonians 2:18 because we wanted to come to you—indeed, I, Paul, once and again—but Satan hindered us.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Not altogether for the Prophets exhorted them to continue,…
Not altogether for the Prophets exhorted them to continue, but they used less diligence because of the troubles.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ezr 4:24 Then ceased the work of the house…
Ezr 4:24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which [is] at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ver. 24. Then ceased the work of the house of God] And now the adversaries have got the ball on the foot, thinking to carry the game before them; but "the triumphing of the wicked is short," Job 20:5, and that they prosper at all in their designs it is non ad exitium, sed ad exercitium Sanctorum, not for the ruin of the Church, but for the exercise of the faith and patience of God’s people.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Then ceased the work of the house of God;…
Then ceased the work of the house of God; for they neither could nor might proceed in that work against their king’s prohibition, without a special command from the King of heaven, which they had, Ezr 5:1,2.
Darius king of Persia, to wit, Darius the son of Hystaspes, successor of Cambyses; not, as some would have it, Darius Nothus, the son of Artaxerxes Longimanus, who was not emperor till above one hundred years after Cyrus, and consequently from the beginning of the building of the temple to the finishing of it must be about one hundred and thirty years, which is not credible to any one that considers,
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1. That the same Zerubbabel did both lay the foundations and finish the work, Zec 4:9.
2. That some of the same persons who saw the finishing of this second house, had seen the glory of the first house, Hag 2:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Darius - Darius the son of Hystaspes, successor of…
Darius - Darius the son of Hystaspes, successor of Cambyses.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 24. So it ceased unto the second year…
Verse 24. So it ceased unto the second year of - Darius] They had begun in the first year of Cyrus, B.C. 536, to go up to Jerusalem, and they were obliged to desist from the building B.C. 522; and thus they continued till the second year of Darius, B.C. 519. See the chronology in the margin [Hag 1:1 (note) and Zec 1:1 (note)] and the following chapter [Ezr 5].
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ezr 4:24. Then ceased the work of the house…
Ezr 4:24. Then ceased the work of the house of God — For they neither could nor might proceed in that work against their king’s prohibition, without a special command from the King of heaven, which, however, they afterward received. But even then they were cold and indifferent about it, and were accordingly reproved by the Prophets Haggai and Zec 5:1, compared with Hag 1:2. So that the work, in a great measure, stood still until the second year of the reign of Darius — This, as was intimated on Ezr 4:6, was Darius the son of Hystaspis, successor of Cambyses; not, as some would have it, Darius Nothus, the son of Artaxerxes Longimanus: for he was not emperor till above one hundred years after Cyrus, and, if he had been the Darius here intended, there must consequently have been about one hundred and thirty years from the beginning of the building of the temple to the finishing of it; which is not credible to any one that considers, 1st, That the same Zerubbabel did both lay the foundation, and finish the work, Zec 4:9. 2d, That some of the same persons who saw the finishing of this second house; had seen the glory of the first house, Hag 2:3.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain It ceased - The stoppage of the building by…
It ceased - The stoppage of the building by the Pseudo-Smerdis is in complete harmony with his character. He was a Magus, devoted to the Magian elemental worship, and opposed to belief in a personal god. His religion did not approve of temples; and as he persecuted the Zoroastrian so would he naturally be hostile to the Jewish faith. The building was resumed in the second year of Darius (520 B.C.), and was only interrupted for about two years; since the Pseudo-Smerdis reigned less than one year.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain House. They went beyond the order, which only forbade…
House. They went beyond the order, which only forbade the building of the city, ver. 21. --- Darius, the year of the world 3485. (Calmet) --- He was the son of Hystaspes, (St. Jerome) and not Nothus, the sixth from Cyrus, as Sulpitius and Scalinger believe. (Tirinus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Then ceased the work of the house of God--It…
Then ceased the work of the house of God--It was this occurrence that first gave rise to the strong religious antipathy between the Jews and the Samaritans, which was afterwards greatly aggravated by the erection of a rival temple on Mount Gerizim.
Next: Ezra Chapter 5
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 24. Then ceased — That is, as the evident…
24. Then ceased — That is, as the evident connexion with the preceding section shows, when these enemies, by authority from the king, forcibly obliged them to stop work on the temple. This verse shows that the Artaxerxes of Ezr_4:23 cannot be the same as the one mentioned Ezr_6:14; Ezr_7:1, but is a king who preceded Darius.
Unto the second year of… Darius — Artaxerxes, the pseudo-Smerdis, who issued the edict for the work to cease, was assassinated in less than a year after he began to reign, and Darius Hystaspes immediately took the kingdom, so that the work of rebuilding was not made to cease for more than two years, probably not much more than one. See on Ezr_5:16. This Darius was the son of Hystaspes, and a descendant of the ancient Achaemenian kings. On the death of Cambyses, who died without issue; he was probably the hereditary heir to the throne, and this fact may have had much to do with his daring efforts to slay the Magian usurper. Having obtained the kingdom he instituted a general slaughter of the Magi, apparently aiming at their extermination. He restored the Zoroastrian temples and worship, which the Magian had attempted to destroy, and it was therefore very natural that he should revoke the edict which had caused the rebuilding of the Jewish temple to cease. His genealogy, and the principal acts of the first four years of his reign, are recorded in the celebrated Behistun inscription on the rocks of western Persia. Under him began those great struggles with the West which finally ended in the fall of the Persian empire before the arms of Alexander. “Darius Hystaspes was, next to Cyrus, the greatest of the Persian kings, and he was even superior to Cyrus in some particulars. To him, and him alone, the empire owed its organization. He was a skillful administrator, a good financier, and a wise and far-seeking ruler. Of all the Persian princes he is the only one who can be called ‘many sided.’ He was organizer, general, statesman, administrator, builder, patron of art and literature, all in one. Without him Persia would probably have sunk as rapidly as she rose, and would be known to us only as one of the many meteor powers which have shot athwart the horizon of the East.” — RAWLINSON, Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii, p. 445.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 24. This verse resumes the thread of the narrative,…
24. This verse resumes the thread of the narrative, which was dropped at the close of Ezr_4:5. It must be admitted that the words ‘then ceased’ refer most naturally to Ezr_4:23. The Compiler, who failed to observe that the preceding passage belonged to the generation of Ezra, and not to that of Zerubbabel, carries on the narrative in his own words.
so it ceased, &c.] R.V. and it ceased. The first clause expresses the fact of the cessation, the second its duration and continuance.
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second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia] b.c. 521.
The Samaritans had succeeded only too well in checking the progress of the work. Cyrus occupied in schemes of conquest had little leisure to attend to such matters. The suspicious temperament of Cambyses inclined him to listen to sinister reports. The disturbed condition of the Empire during his reign and that of Gomates, his successor, gave abundant opportunity for petty tyranny and for the withdrawal of state privileges.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (24) The second year.—The record here returns to Ezr_4:5,…
(24) The second year.—The record here returns to Ezr_4:5, with more specific indication of time. The suspension of the general enterprise—called “the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem”—lasted nearly two years. But it must be remembered that the altar was still the centre of a certain amount of worship.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Then ceased the work until the second year of…
Then ceased the work until the second year of the reign of Darius. The interval of compelled inaction was not long. The Pseudo-Smerdis reigned, at the utmost, ten months; after which a revolution occurred, and the throne was occupied by Darius, the son of Hystaspes. If the work was resumed early in this monarch"s second year, the entire period of suspension cannot have much exceeded a year and a half. King of Persia. There is probably no intention of distinguishing the Darius of this book from "Darius the Mede". (Dan_5:31 Dan_6:1) "King of Persia" is appended to his name merely out of respect and honor, as it is to the names of Cyrus, (Dan_1:1, Dan_1:2, Dan_1:8) Artaxerxes I, (Dan_4:7) and Artaxerxes II. (Dan_6:14) Such a superfluous attachment to his name of the style and title of a monarch is common throughout the Old Testament, and generally marks a distinct intention to do the individual honour. (see Gen_41:46; 1Ki_3:1 1Ki_9:11, 16 11:18; 2Ch_36:22, etc.)
HOMILIES BY A. MACKENNAL. Ver. Ezr 4, and are illustrated in the Persian history of the time. There crept over the people a growing indifference to the work; they became unready for the self-denial which it demanded; their spiritual unfitness for it was increased by the presence of the external obstacles: to understand this we must turn to the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. This is the right way to study all history. The issue of events cannot be understood apart from the moral condition of the men who are affected by them; men"s moral condition, again, and their actions are profoundly affected by circumstances. The Divine Providence ordains and permits events; in the use we make of them our character reveals itself, here our responsibility lies. The letter of Artaxerxes effectually prevented the progress of the building: "then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem." No prophet rebuked the people during this period; rebukes of inaction, when activity is impossible, only fret and wear out the soul. There is "a time to keep silence," as well as "a time to speak." With the accession of Darius, work, though it might be arduous, became possible; and then Haggai and Zechariah did not spare their words. God gives us men as well as times and seasons. He gives also men of different qualifications according to different needs: the preacher as well as the workman; him who has insight into the springs of human conduct as well as him who can lend activity. Haggai and Zechariah are henceforth joined with Zerubbabel and Jeshua as builders of the temple. (Ezr_5:2 Ezr_6:14)
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I THE OUTWARD HINDRANCES.
(a) The jealousy of the surrounding heathen. (Ezr_4:1-3) These were the people mentioned in 2Ki_17:24-41, sent to occupy the northern kingdom when the Israelites were carried away into Assyria. They were superstitious, (2Ki_17:26) followers of the lustful and cruel worship, to contend against which the Hebrew nation was raised up (vers. 29 -31). They had no conception of Deity but that of polytheism (vers. 26, 32, 33, 41). It was impossible for the Jews to admit their partnership in building the temple. It would have been treason to the object for which Cyrus had sent them back; it would have been a denial of their own faith; it would have been a new provocation of God. Our age, which understands that truth is one and indivisible, ought to be able to see that not intolerance, but fidelity, prompted their refusal. These people, from whom the leaders of the Jews expected trouble at the first, (Ezr_3:3) and whom they counted "adversaries" (Ezr_4:1) directly opposed them and intrigued against them at the court of Persia.
(b) No direct appeal was made to cyrus to countermand the proclamation which was the charter of the Jews" return. "The law of the Medes and Persians altereth not." But no protection was afforded them. The history of the later years of Cyrus is obscure. "The warlike prince," says Rawlinson, "who conquered the Persian empire did little to organise it." He was pursuing schemes of conquest to the last. The Jews were left in their feebleness to execute his original decree in their favour as best they could.
(c) The troubled history of Cambyses, the Ahasuerus of Ezra, enables us to understand why he too was indifferent to a local quarrel in a distant province. His jealousy of his brother was his first engrossing care. Then came his schemes of conquest, necessitating his absence from his capital; and, finally, the revolution which placed the Pseudo-Smerdis (Artaxerxes) on the throne. We can understand the indecisive character of Ezr_4:6.
(d) The whole character of the Persian rule was changed on the accession of Artaxerxes. A usurper, he had no loyalty to the purpose of Cyrus. A "Magian," he was out of sympathy with the Zoroastrianism of his great predecessor. Appeal was made to political jealousy alone; the history of the Jews had shown they were too strong to be tolerated (vers. 12-16). The appeal was successful: "then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem.
II THE MORAL HINDRANCES. The people were reluctant to resume work when the accession of Darius made it possible. Darius was a second Cyrus; "the greatest of the Persian monarchs." He was a strong man, a conqueror. He knew the need of good government, and organised his empire. He abolished tributary kingships, and placed in every district an officer directly responsible to the supreme authority. Such a man would not tolerate petty local jealousies; he was worthy of trust. Hence Haggai and Zechariah began to urge on the work of building; and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build. Then appeared the old vices of the people, testified against by many a prophet; they were also demoralised by their enforced inaction.
(a) They were dispirited. Haggai urges them "be strong." God is with them: "my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye not." All resources are his, "the silver and the gold? He can make all nations serve them. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former". (Hag_2:1-9) Zechariah"s prophecy glows with encouragement and hope. God loves his people. (Zec_1:14-17 Zec_2:8, Zec_2:10-12) Jeshua and Zerubbabel are his chosen servants (chs. 2., 3.). The prosperity of Jerusalem is assured. (Ezr_8:1-8)
(b) They were worldly. The force of character native to the Jews, diverted from the work of building, had found a channel in agriculture and trade. Some were rich, dwelling in "celled houses"; (Hag_1:4) they were very active. (Hag_1:6) And they were hypocritical, making professed regard for God"s word an excuse for their unreadiness. They had begun too soon; the "seventy years" of Jeremiah were not completed: "the time is not come, the time that the Lord"s house should be built.
(c) They were selfish. The old sins of oppression were rife, (Zec_7:8-10) side by side with sanctimoniousness (vers. 1-7). They were careless of justice and truth. (Ezr_8:16, Ezr_8:17) They were dishonest and perjured (v. 4). These are the very vices that a time of adversity is likely to foster. One of the perils against which we ought to be on our guard when a check is imposed on our prosperity, and we find ourselves unable, for a time, to execute a noble purpose, is that we drop into an altogether lower mood. A few men can mould circumstances; there are more, but still few, who are indifferent to them; most men are profoundly affected by them. Practical lessons:
1. Since circumstances so intimately affect our moral and spiritual life, the sphere of circumstance is a sphere for prayer. "Give me neither poverty nor riches." To limit the use of prayer to personal character is impossible; for among the influences affecting personal character are the order of nature, and the course of events.
2. Let all circumstances be rightly used by us. There are virtues, as well as vices, fostered by special seasons. Prosperity may nourish the generous virtues; a liberal habit acquired in prosperity may help to preserve us from a craven, niggardly spirit in times of care. Adversity may give us an opportunity for patience, meekness, and faith; and, by teaching us to be indifferent to personal ease, may fit us to consecrate returning prosperity to God and our fellows.
3. Our responsibility for the use we make of varying circumstances. These may master us or we may master them. Our ability to read the "signs of the times" is an indication of our moral character. Contrast the Jews" perversion of the "seventy years prophecy (Hag_1:2) with the prophets" quick perception, so soon as the second year of Darius, that here was a man on whom they could rely, and that the time was come to resume work. Compare also our Lord"s solemn denunciations of the Pharisees. (Mat_16:1-4) It is thus, by events working upon and revealing character, that time is preparing our eternity. M.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON.
Ver. Haggai 1. with Ezra 5., we conclude that, under the pressure from without, the first zeal of the liberated captives cooled, and that they allowed themselves to be too much affected by the unfriendliness of their neighbours. If it was really necessary as perhaps it was to lay down their weapons at the first, they might have resumed them much sooner than they did. They permitted nearly two years to pass without venturing to take up that which they laid down. Meantime the first ardour abated, and priests and people, taking their tone from the governor and the high priest, settled down into satisfaction when they should have been filled with eagerness and anxiety. A noble aspiration was rapidly giving way to an ignoble contentment. This is but too frequently recurring a page in the history of human goodness. First an all-consuming ardour, an intensity of heat which promises to shine with utmost brilliance and burn up everything which is impure; then, after a while, the light dies down, the spirit cools, and only a few sparks, with a little smoke, are left. First devotion, which thinks the hours of worship all too short; zeal which longs to multiply its labours; consecration which prefers the post of danger and the field of difficulty. Then languor, laziness, love of ease; the hours of worship are too long; the duties too heavy; the perils too great. The sanctuary is passed by, the vineyard deserted, the enterprise abandoned.
II REPROOF (ver. 1). "Then the prophets prophesied," etc. How vigorously, after the manner of a Hebrew prophet, Haggai reproved and incited Zerubbabel and Jeshua, we may read in both chapters of that book of prophecy. "Is it time for you to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?" is the burden of the Lord which Haggai delivered. These men of God for he was joined by Zechariah must have sought the praise of God rather than that of man; their one care was to be faithful to him in whose name they spoke, and so to "deliver their soul." They did not "prophesy smooth things," but rough, hard, trying things. Not only those whose chief vocation and profession it is to speak for God, but all who fear his name and call themselves his disciples, must be ready, on occasion, to declare the "burden of the Lord," to speak the word which is unpalatable, which wounds and troubles the soul. Sometimes it is our duty, like the Master, to send men away "sorrowful". (Mat_19:22) Sometimes we must receive in grief rather than anger the reproaches of our friends. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
III RECOVERY. "Then rose up Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and began to build" (ver. 2). The Jewish leaders hearkened to the voice of God speaking to them through the prophets, and they regained their lost devotedness. "Then they rose up, and began to build." They heeded the admonitions given, and cheerfully co-operated with those who gave them. They had the wisdom to perceive that they were wrong; they frankly owned it, and they promptly and energetically set themselves to rectify their ways. Here is true manliness as well as wisdom. It is a weak and foolish thing for a man to go on in a false course when he sees that he is in the wrong. There is nothing which more
(1) honours our manhood than to submit at once to the known will of God, whether by pursuing our path, or by returning in our way, or by holding our hand. There is nothing which more
(2) conduces to our own spiritual elevation and dignity. Before honour is humility; if we humble ourselves, when wrong, we begin at once to enter the path which leads to true exaltation. There is nothing which more
(3) conducts to lasting usefulness and joy. If Zerubbabel had rejected the counsel of the Lord, he would certainly have suffered. As it was, he was honoured and enriched of heaven. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 4:24–5:5 Ezra now returns to telling about the building…
4:24–5:5 Ezra now returns to telling about the building of the Temple in 520–515 BC.
4:24 The events of the following verses occurred approximately sixteen years after the events up through 4:5.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.