Bible Strands
Ezra 6:14
So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the Jewish elders in Jerusalem during the temple rebuilding project. This occurs immediately after the Persian governor Tattenai executes King Darius’s decree to allow construction to resume.
The words — בָּנַ֣יִן (ba.Na.yin) translates as [were] building, and וּ/מַצְלְחִ֔ין (u./matz.le.Chin) translates as and/ prospering. These verbs state the elders’ simultaneous physical labor and divinely enabled success.
The thread — The project resumes after a long halt (Ezra 4:24) following Cyrus’s initial authorization (Ezra 5:13). The work continues under Darius’s enforcement (Ezra 6:13) and concludes in his sixth year (Ezra 6:15), with Artaxerxes later referenced in Ezra 7:1.
Why it lands — The text states that successful completion of God’s work depends on submitting to both prophetic instruction and established royal authority. It requires obedience to historical commands rather than independent initiative.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Ezra 7:1 Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- Ezra 4:24 Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
- Ezra 5:13 In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.
- Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
- Ezra 6:12 May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.
- 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.
- 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.”
- Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”
- Haggai 1:8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the LORD.
- Haggai 1:12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, as well as all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. So the people feared the LORD.