9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
And this is what thou shalt offer upon the altar -- two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer between the two evenings. And with the one lamb a tenth part of wheaten flour mingled with beaten oil, a fourth part of a hin; and a drink-offering, a fourth part of a hin of wine. And the second lamb shalt thou offer between the two evenings; as the oblation in the morning, and as its drink-offering shalt thou offer with this, for a sweet odour, an offering by fire to Jehovah. It shall be a continual burnt-offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before Jehovah, where I will meet with you, to speak there with thee.
If his offering be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall present it a male without blemish: at the entrance of the tent of meeting shall he present it, for his acceptance before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall slaughter the bullock before Jehovah; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood round about on the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
And when any one will present an oblation to Jehovah, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense thereon. And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial thereof on the altar, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. And the remainder of the oblation shall be Aaron's and his sons': [it is] most holy of Jehovah's offerings by fire. And if thou present an offering of an oblation baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. And if thine offering be an oblation [baken] on the pan, it shall be fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil. Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is an oblation. And if thine offering be an oblation [prepared] in the cauldron, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. And thou shalt bring the oblation that is made of these things to Jehovah; and it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take from the oblation a memorial thereof, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. And the remainder of the oblation [shall be] Aaron's and his sons': [it is] most holy of Jehovah's offerings by fire. No oblation which ye shall present to Jehovah shall be made with leaven; for no leaven and no honey shall ye burn [in] any fire-offering to Jehovah. As to the offering of the first-fruits, ye shall present them to Jehovah; but they shall not be offered upon the altar for a sweet odour. And every offering of thine oblation shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thine oblation: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. And if thou present an oblation of thy first-fruits to Jehovah, thou shalt present as the oblation of thy first-fruits green ears of corn roasted in fire, corn beaten out of full ears. And thou shalt put oil on it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is an oblation. And the priest shall burn the memorial thereof, [part] of the beaten corn thereof, and [part] of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: [it is] an offering by fire to Jehovah.
then shall he that presenteth his offering to Jehovah bring as oblation a tenth part of fine flour mingled with a fourth part of a hin of oil; and of wine for a drink-offering shalt thou offer the fourth part of a hin with the burnt-offering, or with the sacrifice, for one lamb. And for a ram thou shalt offer as oblation two tenth parts of fine flour mingled with oil, a third part of a hin, and of wine for a drink-offering shalt thou offer the third part of a hin; for a sweet odour to Jehovah. And when thou offerest a bullock for a burnt-offering, or a sacrifice for the performance of a vow, or for a peace-offering to Jehovah, then shall they present with the bullock as oblation three tenth parts of fine flour mingled with half a hin of oil; and of wine shalt thou present half a hin, for a drink-offering, as an offering by fire, of a sweet odour to Jehovah. Thus shall it be done for one ox, or for one ram, or for a lamb, or for a kid; according to the number that ye offer, so shall ye do to every one according to their number. And all that are born in the land shall do these things thus, in presenting an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah. And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whoever be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah, -- as ye do, so shall he do. As to the congregation, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an everlasting statute throughout your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be, before Jehovah. One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, then it shall be, when ye eat of the bread of the land, that ye shall offer a heave-offering to Jehovah; the first of your dough shall ye offer, a cake, for a heave-offering; as the heave-offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye offer this. Of the first of your dough ye shall give to Jehovah a heave-offering throughout your generations. And if ye sin inadvertently, and do not all these commandments, which Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, all that Jehovah hath commanded you through Moses, from the day that Jehovah gave commandment, and henceforward throughout your generations; then it shall be, if ought be committed by inadvertence [hid] from the eyes of the assembly, that the whole assembly shall offer one young bullock for a burnt-offering, for a sweet odour to Jehovah, and its oblation and its drink-offering according to the ordinance, and one buck of the goats for a sin-offering. And the priest shall make atonement for the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it was a sin of inadvertence, and they have brought before Jehovah their offering, as an offering by fire to Jehovah, and their sin-offering for their [sin of] inadvertence; and it shall be forgiven the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; for with all the people there was [a sin of] inadvertence. And if one soul sin through inadvertence, then he shall present a yearling she-goat for a sin-offering. And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that hath done inadvertently, when he sinneth by inadvertence before Jehovah, to make atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. For him that is born in the land among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them -- there shall be one law for you, for him who doeth anything through inadvertence. But the soul that doeth ought with a high hand, whether born in the land, or a stranger, he reproacheth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. For he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment: that soul shall surely be cut off; his iniquity is upon him.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, my bread for my offerings by fire of sweet odour to me, shall ye take heed to present to me at their set time. And say unto them, This is the offering by fire which ye shall present to Jehovah: two yearling lambs without blemish, day by day, as a continual burnt-offering. The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb thou shalt offer between the two evenings; and a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for an oblation, mingled with beaten oil, a fourth part of a hin: [it is] the continual burnt-offering which was ordained on mount Sinai for a sweet odour, an offering by fire to Jehovah. And the drink-offering thereof shall be a fourth part of a hin for one lamb; in the sanctuary shall the drink-offering of strong drink be poured out to Jehovah. And the second lamb thou shalt offer between the two evenings; [with the] like oblation as that of the morning, and the like drink-offering, shalt thou offer it as an offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah. And on the sabbath day two yearling lambs without blemish, and two tenth parts of fine flour as an oblation, mingled with oil, and the drink-offering thereof: it is the burnt-offering of the sabbath, for each sabbath besides the continual burnt-offering, and its drink-offering. And in the beginnings of your months ye shall present a burnt-offering to Jehovah: two young bullocks, and one ram, seven yearling lambs without blemish. And three tenth parts of fine flour as an oblation, mingled with oil, for one bullock; and two tenth parts of fine flour as an oblation, mingled with oil, for the ram; and a tenth part of fine flour mingled with oil as an oblation for each lamb: [it is] a burnt-offering of a sweet odour, an offering by fire to Jehovah. And their drink-offerings: half a hin of wine for a bullock, and the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb. This is the monthly burnt-offering for each month throughout the months of the year. And a buck of the goats shall be offered, for a sin-offering to Jehovah, besides the continual burnt-offering, and its drink-offering. And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the passover to Jehovah. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do; and ye shall present an offering by fire, a burnt-offering to Jehovah: two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven yearling lambs; they shall be unto you without blemish; and their oblation shall be of fine flour mingled with oil: three tenth parts shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth parts for the ram; one tenth part shalt thou offer for each lamb, of the seven lambs; and a he-goat as a sin-offering, to make atonement for you. Besides the burnt-offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt-offering, shall ye offer this. After this manner ye shall offer daily, seven days, the bread of the offering by fire of a sweet odour to Jehovah; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt-offering, and its drink-offering. And on the seventh day ye shall have a holy convocation; no manner of servile work shall ye do. And on the day of the first-fruits, when ye present a new oblation to Jehovah, after your weeks, ye shall have a holy convocation: no manner of servile work shall ye do. And ye shall present a burnt-offering for a sweet odour to Jehovah: two young bullocks, one ram, seven yearling lambs; and their oblation of fine flour mingled with oil, three tenth parts for one bullock, two tenth parts for the ram, one tenth part for each lamb of the seven lambs;
I will take no bullock out of thy house, [nor] he-goats out of thy folds: For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills; I know all the fowl of the mountains, and the roaming creatures of the field are mine: If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Should I eat the flesh of bulls, and drink the blood of goats?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezra 6
Commentary on Ezra 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Ezr 6:1-12. Darius' Decree for Advancing the Building.
1. Darius the king—This was Darius Hystaspes. Great and interesting light has been thrown on the history of this monarch and the transaction of his reign, by the decipherment of the cuneatic inscriptions on the rocks at Behistun.
in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon—An idea of the form of this Babylonian register house, as well as the manner of preserving public records within its repositories, can be obtained from the discoveries at Nineveh. Two small chambers were discovered in the palace of Koyunjik, which, from the fragments found in them, Mr. Layard considers "as a house of the rolls." After reminding his readers that the historical records and public documents of the Assyrians were kept on tablets and cylinders of baked clay, many specimens of which have been found, he goes on to say, "The chambers I am describing appear to have been a depository in the palace of Nineveh for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them; some entire, but the greater part broken into many fragments, probably by the falling in of the upper part of the building. They were of different sizes; the largest tablets were flat, and measured about nine inches by six and a half inches; the smaller were slightly convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well-defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass. These documents appear to be of various kinds. The documents that have thus been discovered in the house of rolls' at Nineveh probably exceed all that have yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt, and when the innumerable fragments are put together and transcribed, the publication of these records will be of the greatest importance to the history of the ancient world" [Nineveh and Babylon].
2. Achmetha—long supposed to be the capital of Greater Media (the Ecbatana of classical, the Hamadan of modern times), [is] at the foot of the Elwund range of hills, where, for its coolness and salubrity, Cyrus and his successors on the Persian throne established their summer residence. There was another city, however, of this name, the Ecbatana of Atropatene, and the most ancient capital of northern Media, and recently identified by Colonel Rawlinson in the remarkable ruins of Takht-i-Soleiman. Yet as everything tends to show the attachment of Cyrus to his native city, the Atropatenian Ecbatana, rather than to the stronger capital of Greater Media, Colonel Rawlinson is inclined to think that he deposited there, in his fortress, the famous decree relating to the Jews, along with the other records and treasures of his empire [Nineveh and Persepolis].
8-10. of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river … expenses be given unto these men—The decree granted them the privilege of drawing from his provincial treasury of Syria, to the amount of whatever they required for the furthering of the work and providing sacrifice for the service of the temple, that the priests might daily pray for the health of the king and the prosperity of the empire.
11, 12. whosoever shall alter this word—The warning was specially directed against the turbulent and fanatical Samaritans. The extremely favorable purport of this edict was no doubt owing in some measure to the influence of Cyrus, of whom Darius entertained a high admiration, and whose two daughters he had married. But it proceeded still more from the deep impressions made even on the idolatrous people of that country and that age, as to the being and providence of the God of Israel.
Ezr 6:13-15. The Temple Finished.
13-15. Then Tatnai … did speedily—A concurrence of favorable events is mentioned as accelerating the restoration of the temple and infusing a new spirit and energy into the workmen, who now labored with unabating assiduity till it was brought to a completion. Its foundation was laid in April, 536 B.C. (Ezr 3:8-10), and it was completed on February 21, 515 B.C., being twenty-one years after it was begun [Lightfoot].
Ezr 6:16-18. Feasts of the Dedication.
16. the children of Israel … kept the dedication … with joy—The ceremonial was gone through with demonstrations of the liveliest joy. The aged who had wept at the laying of the foundation [Ezr 3:12] were most, if not all of them, now dead; and all rejoiced at the completion of this national undertaking.
17. twelve he-goats—as at the dedication of the tabernacle (Nu 7:87; 8:17).
18. they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses … as it is written in the book of Moses—Although David arranged the priests and Levites in courses according to their families, it was Moses who assigned to the priests and Levites their rights and privileges, their stations and several duties.
Ezr 6:19-22. And of the Passover.
21. all such as had separated themselves … from the filthiness of the heathen of the land—that is, who had given satisfactory evidence of being true proselytes by not only renouncing the impure worship of idolatry, but by undergoing the rite of circumcision, a condition indispensable to a participation of the passover.
22. kept the feast … with joy: for the Lord … turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them—that is, king of the Persian empire, which now included the possessions, and had surpassed the glory, of Assyria. The favorable disposition which Darius had evinced towards the Jews secured them peace and prosperity and the privileges of their own religion during the rest of his reign. The religious joy that so remarkably characterized the celebration of this feast, was testified by expressions of lively gratitude to God, whose overruling power and converting grace had produced so marvellous a change in the hearts of the mighty potentates, and disposed them, pagans though they were, to aid the cause and provide for the worship of the true God.