Bible Study Ezra 3
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Ezra 3 · WEB

The Altar Rebuilt; Temple Foundation Laid

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3They set the altar on its base, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the surrounding lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
4They kept the feast of booths, as it is written, and offered the appointed burnt offerings for each day, according to the ordinance, the required number for every day.
5Afterward they offered the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the new moons, and all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and the offerings of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Yahweh.
6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh's temple was not yet laid.
7They gave money to the masons and to the carpenters; and food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and to the people of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea at Jaffa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.
8Now in the second year of their coming to God's house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh's house.
9Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in God's house — the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites.
10When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh's temple, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, according to the directions of David king of Israel.
11They sang one to another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, "for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel." All the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh's house was laid.
12But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy,
13so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far away.
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Summary

The returning exiles first rebuild the altar and restore daily sacrifices and the Feast of Booths — worship before building. In the second year, they lay the temple foundation with a celebration combining Davidic musical worship and the ancient refrain: "His loving kindness endures forever." The sound is extraordinary: the young shout for joy, but old men who remembered Solomon's temple weep — unable to believe this smaller foundation will match the glory of what was lost. Joy and grief are indistinguishable. The noise is heard far away.

Themes

  • Worship restored before the building is complete
  • Courage to begin again despite fear and uncertainty
  • The mingling of grief and joy in genuine restoration

Key verses

  • Ezra 3:11 — “His loving kindness endures forever toward Israel. All the people shouted with a great shout.”
  • Ezra 3:12-13 — “Many wept with a loud voice... many shouted aloud for joy... the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping.”
  • Ezra 3:3 — “They set the altar on its base, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the surrounding lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh.”

Context & background

The seventh month (Tishri, September/October) was the sacred month of the Jewish calendar — Rosh Hashanah (New Year), the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths all fell within it. Rebuilding the altar first, before the temple structure, shows the priority of worship over architecture. Cedar from Lebanon (modern Lebanon) brought to Jaffa (modern Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel) by sea mirrors Solomon's arrangement with Hiram (1 Kings 5). The old men's weeping (v. 12) reflects their memory of Solomon's temple — destroyed 70 years earlier — and their grief that this new foundation seemed so much smaller. The prophet Haggai (Haggai 2:3) explicitly addresses this discouragement: "Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory?"

Cross-references

  • 1 Kings 5:1-11 — Solomon's arrangement for cedar from Lebanon; now repeated here
  • Haggai 2:3-9 — God's encouragement to those discouraged by the smaller temple
  • Hebrews 12:22-24 — The heavenly Jerusalem; all earthly temple-building points toward this
  • Psalm 136 — "His loving kindness endures forever" — the refrain sung at the foundation-laying
  • Zechariah 4:10 — "Who despises the day of small things?" — speaks to those who wept at this small beginning

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What did Jeshua and Zerubbabel build first, before the temple foundation was laid?

  2. Observe

    Why did some people weep loudly when the foundation of the temple was laid?

  3. Interpret

    What does the priority of rebuilding the altar before the temple structure reveal?

  4. Interpret

    What does the indistinguishable mingling of weeping and shouting at the foundation-laying reveal about true restoration?

  5. Apply

    How should we guard against nostalgia for a past "golden age" hindering present obedience?

  6. Apply

    What does the people's willingness to worship despite fear of surrounding peoples teach us?

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