That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
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Ezra 6:9-10 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there. Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the River, expenses must be given with all diligence to these men, that they not be hindered. That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail; that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. I have also made a decree that whoever alters this message, let a beam be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and fastened on it; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence.
Parallel Translations
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That which they have need of, including young bulls, rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
that they may offer sacrifices of pleasant aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
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And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
Show all 3 translations
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And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savour unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
Cross-references (18)
- Ezra 7:23 (v10) Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath…
- Jeremiah 29:7 (v10) Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have…
- 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (v10) I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men: for kings and all who…
- Genesis 8:21 (v10) Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the…
- Leviticus 1:10 (v9) “ ‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect.
Show all 18 cross-references
- Psalms 50:9-13 (v9) I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens. For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a…
- Ephesians 5:2 (v10) Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Exodus 29:38-42 (v9) “Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. The one lamb you shall offer in the…
- Leviticus 1:3-5 (v9) “ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of…
- Leviticus 1:9 (v10) but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made…
- Leviticus 1:13 (v10) but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering,…
- Leviticus 2:1-16 (v9) “ ‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it, and put…
- Leviticus 9:2 (v9) and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without defect, and offer them before…
- Numbers 15:4-31 (v9) then he who offers his offering shall offer to Yahweh a meal offering of one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hin…
- Numbers 28:1-29 (v9) Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings…
- 1 Chronicles 9:29 (v9) Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the…
- Isaiah 49:23 (v9) Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and…
- Mark 9:49 (v9) For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Ezr 6:9 And that which they have need of,…
Ezr 6:9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which [are] at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:
Ver. 9. Of the God of heaven] Heathens have this notion by nature, that God is the God of heaven, and that there he is, as in his place; howbeit we must not conceive that God is commensurable by any place, since he filleth all places, and is everywhere all-present, totally present wheresoever present; but in heaven is his glory most manifested, and on earth is he alone to be worshipped.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto…
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven,.... Such as will be acceptable to him, Gen 8:21
and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons; prayer being wont to be made at the time of the morning and evening incense; and the Jews used to pray for other people besides themselves, and especially when desired, and particularly for kings and civil magistrates, to whom they were subject, see Jer 29:7, the sons of Darius Hystaspis, for whose life, as well as his own, he would have prayer made, were, according to Herodotus (d), three by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, before he began to reign, the eldest of which was Artobazanes; which sons must be here meant, since this was towards the beginning of his reign; he had afterwards four more by Atossa the daughter of Cyrus, the eldest of which was Xerxes, who succeeded him: many of the Heathens had an high opinion of the God of the Jews, and of their prayers to him for them; even the Emperor Julian (e) styles him the best of all the gods, and desired the Jews to pray to him for the welfare of his kingdom; nor need it seem strange that Darius should desire the same, since he was a devout prince; his father Hystaspes is supposed by some to be the same that was one of the most famous among the Persian Magi, or ministers in sacred things; and Darius himself had so great a veneration for the men of that sacred order, that he commanded that it should be put upon his sepulchral monument, that he was master of the Magi (f); and by his familiarity with the priests of Egypt, and learning their divinity, had the honour, while alive, to have deity ascribed to him (g).
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(d) Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 2. (e) Opera, par. 2. ep. 25. p. 153. (f) Porphyr. de abstinentia, l. 4, c. 16. (g) Diodor. Sic. l. 1. p. 85.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v10 Verse 10. And pray for the life of the…
Verse 10. And pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.] Even heathens believed that offerings made in their behalf to the God of the Jews would be available. And this principle has had considerable influence in certain states where there was even a form of religion established by the law, to induce them to tolerate other forms, that the state might have the benefit of their prayers.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v10 Ezr 6:10. And pray for the life of the…
Ezr 6:10. And pray for the life of the king and his sons — Persuaded that he, whom he once and again reverently calls the God of heaven, was ready to hear and answer his people in all things for which they called upon him, he desires an interest in their prayers for himself and family, and in order that he might obtain it, was kind to them. For though the Jews were not allowed to desire the heathen to pray to their deities for them, because they were forbidden to acknowledge any other gods but one: yet the heathen might with reason ask the Jews to pray to Jehovah for them; because they acknowledged a plurality of gods, and allowed the God of Israel to be really a God, as well as those they themselves worshipped. And the Jews were not prohibited either by reason or revelation from addressing their prayers to God for the heathen, when they were desired by them so to do. What then are we to think of the spirit of those Christians, so called, who hold it unlawful to pray for those whom they denominate heretics, though they are not heathen, but worshippers of the same living and true God, whom they themselves profess to worship? Let them blush when they read this, to think how far the spirit of the Jewish religion excels theirs!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v9 Complaint. Protestants, "without fail," (Haydock) or "delay." (Montanus) (Calmet)
Complaint. Protestants, "without fail," (Haydock) or "delay." (Montanus) (Calmet)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v10 10. Offer sacrifices of sweet savours — Or, offer…
10. Offer sacrifices of sweet savours — Or, offer sweet odours.
The God of heaven — The same respectful and devout Monotheism appears in this letter of Darius as in the proclamation of Cyrus. See note on Ezr_1:2.
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It is interesting to find this same Darius, in his great inscription at Behistun, declaring, “The temples which the Magian had destroyed I rebuilt. The sacred offices of the state, both the religious chants and the worship, I restored to the people which the Magian had deprived them of.” This, doubtless, refers to the state religion of the Persians, which Darius re-established in place of the Magianism which the usurper had sought to revive; but it shows how Darius, like Cyrus, would naturally have a sympathy for the religion of the Jews, and sustain the action of his great predecessor toward them.
Pray for the life of the king — The Persian monarch anticipates, by more than five centuries, the exhortations of an apostle of Christ. Comp. 1Ti_2:1-2.
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 On vv9–10 9. (b) Material for the maintenance of the worship.
9. (b) Material for the maintenance of the worship.
young bullocks, &c.] Cf. Ezr_7:17.
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for the burnt offerings of] R.V. for burnt offerings to. The king is speaking generally of burnt offerings as one chief class of offering, and not particularly of the Levitical system.
wheat, salt, wine, and oil] Cf. Exo_29:40 (flour, oil, wine); Lev_2:1-16 (flour, oil, salt, &c., the meal offering). The king alludes to the other chief class of offering.
according to the appointment] R.V. according to the word, i.e. the priests at Jerusalem were to specify what their system most required.
day by day] See on chap. Ezr_3:4.
without fail] i.e. without intermission. Literally ‘which is to be no intermission’. The LXX. must have had another reading in which the negative was dropped, and a similarly sounding word ‘to ask’ substituted for that rendered ‘fail’. LXX. ‘whatsoever they shall ask’ (ὅ ἐὰν αἰτήσωσιν). The Vulg. ‘lest there be room for complaint in aught’ (ne sit in aliquo querimonia) and 1Es_6:30 ‘without further question’ seem also to have translated the more familiar root.
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 On vv9–10 (9) Both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs.—An accurate…
(9) Both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs.—An accurate account of the provision required for the sacrifices and meat-offerings of the daily service of the Temple: how accurate will be seen by consulting Exodus 29 and Leviticus 2.
Appointment here is simply the word: that is, of direction.
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 On vv9–10 Both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs. These were…
Both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs. These were the chief sacrificial animals of the Jews a lamb being required every morning and evening, two more on the sabbath, seven at each of the great feasts and at the beginning of each mouth, and fourteen on every day during the feast of tabernacles, altogether more than a thousand in the course of the year; and rams and bullocks being joined with the lambs on the more solemn occasions. The only other ordinary sacrificial animal was "a kid of the goats." Wheat, salt, wine, and oil were needed for the "meat offerings" by which every burnt offering was accompanied (Exo_29:40, Exo_29:41; Lev_2:13, etc.) Let it be given them day by day . Since sacrifice was offered every day.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v9 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto…
Ezr_6:9-10
That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven.
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Sacrifice as a rule of supplication unto God
I have made choice of this passage to show that sacrifice was a rite of supplication to God, wherein the supplicant came not with his naked prayer, but presented something unto God whereby to find favour in His sight. The thing presented was a federal gift, consisting of meat and drink, in the tender whereof as a sinner he recognised himself to be his Gods vassal and servant, so by acceptance of the same he was reconciled and restored to His covenant by the atonement and forgiveness of his sins. For as according to the custom of mankind, to receive meat and drink from the hand of another was a sign of amity and friendship, much more to make another partaker of his table, as the sinner was here of Gods, by eating of His oblation: hence those who came to make supplication of the Divine Majesty whom they had offended were wont by this rite to make way for their suit by removing the obstacle of His offence.
1. It is often said of Abraham and Isaac that where they pitched their tents they also built an altar, and there called upon the name of the Lord; but an altar is a place for sacrifice; therefore sacrifice must be a rite whereby they called upon the name of God.
2. The same appears by the speech of Saul (1Sa_13:12), which shows that to offer a burnt-offering was to make supplication (1Sa_7:8-9).
3. This is further proved by Psa_116:13 : I will take the cup of salvation (or drink offering) and call upon the name of the Lord.
4. The same is implied in Mic_6:6 and also in Pro_15:1, where sacrifice and prayer are taken the one for the other.
5. The like may be inferred out of Solomons prayer at the dedication of the temple and the Lords answer thereto. In the prayer no mention is made of sacrifice to be there offered, but only that God would be pleased to hear the prayers that should be made in that place or towards it. Nevertheless, when God appeared to Solomon in the night, He said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sacrifice (2Ch_7:12). From what has been said we can understand in what sense the ancient Church called the Eucharist a sacrifice, and how harmless that notion was, viz., they took this sacrament to have been ordained by Christ to succeed the bloody sacrifices of the law, and to be a means of supplication and address to God, in the New Testament as they were in the Old, by representing the body and blood of Christ unto His Father, according to His appointment. (J. Mede, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v10 6:10 pray for the welfare of the king and…
6:10 pray for the welfare of the king and his sons: In the Cyrus Cylinder (a Persian account of Cyrus’s defeat of Babylon), King Cyrus requests, “May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities ask [the Babylonian gods] Bel and Nebo daily for a long life for me” (see 1:1-4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.