Ezra 6:19

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records that the returned exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, immediately after the temple altar was restored and priests and Levites were appointed to their divisions. This event occurs at the conclusion of the temple reconstruction narrative, marking the reestablishment of Israel’s liturgical order.

The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יַּעֲשׂ֥וּ (va/i.ya.'a.Su) literally means "they made" or "they did," while הַ/פָּ֑סַח (ha./Pa.sach) denotes "the Passover." Combined with בְנֵי־הַ/גּוֹלָ֖ה (benei ha-golah) for "the children of the exile," the phrase states the exiles' formal execution of the festival.

The thread — This observance echoes the original Passover command in Exodus 12:6 and the post-conquest celebration in Joshua 5:10. It also parallels King Hezekiah’s later nationwide call to restore the feast in 2 Chronicles 30:1.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to note that communal worship depends on strict adherence to appointed dates and ritual cleanliness. It demands acknowledgment that restored worship follows the reorganization of its ministers and the purification of its participants.

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

וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּva/i.ya.'a.Suand/ they celebrated בְנֵי־ve.nei-[the] children of הַגּוֹלָ֖הha./go.Lahthe/ exile אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַפָּ֑סַחha./Pa.sachthe/ passover בְּאַרְבָּעָ֥הbe./'ar.ba.'Ahon/ [day] four-עָשָׂ֖ר'a.Sarteen לַחֹ֥דֶשׁla./Cho.deshof the/ month הָרִאשֽׁוֹן׃ha./ri.Shonthe/ first

King James Version

And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.

Cross-references

Exodus 12:6 You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
Joshua 5:10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover.
2 Chronicles 30:1 Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.