Bible Strands
Ezra 3:8
In the second month of the second year after they had arrived at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the rest of their associates including the priests, the Levites, and all who had returned to Jerusalem from the captivity, began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years of age or older to supervise the construction of the house of the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the priests, Levites, and returned exiles commence temple reconstruction in Jerusalem during the second month of the second year after their arrival. The text records this chronological marker and leadership structure before noting the appointed supervisors.
The words — הַ/שֵּׁנִ֗ית (ha./she.Nit) translates literally as the second, marking the chronological sequence of the return. בֵּ֤ית (beit) denotes the house of God, specifying the exact location of the resumed labor.
The thread — Ezra 4:3 shows the same leaders facing opposition during the same building project. 1 Chronicles 23:4 and Numbers 4:3 establish broader biblical patterns for Levite oversight and age qualifications for temple service.
Why it lands — The text records the organized mobilization of returning exiles under specific leadership before detailing the work's supervision. Readers note how chronological precision and appointed oversight ground the restoration effort in concrete historical and administrative reality.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord.
Cross-references
- Ezra 4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”
- 1 Chronicles 23:4 “Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,
- Numbers 4:3 men from thirty to fifty years old—everyone who is qualified to serve in the work at the Tent of Meeting.
- 1 Chronicles 23:24 These were the descendants of Levi by their families—the heads of families, registered individually by name—those twenty years of age or older who worked in the service of the house of the LORD.