With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:
Parallel translations
- WEB with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house.
- BSB with three layers of cut stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid from the royal treasury.
- NKJV with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king’s treasury.
- NASB with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. And the cost is to be paid from the royal treasury.
- NLT Every three layers of specially prepared stones will be topped by a layer of timber. All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The decree specified building materials and that costs be paid from the royal treasury. The king himself was to fund God's house.
Overview
Cyrus had ordered the temple built with great stones and timber, with expenses covered by the crown. This royal funding showed extraordinary favor toward God's people. That a pagan king would pay for the Lord's house testifies to God's sovereign rule over rulers and nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Kgs 6:36And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.
- Ps 68:29Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.
- Isa 60:6–10The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
- Isa 49:23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
- Ezra 7:20–23And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure house.
- Rev 12:16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
- Ps 72:10The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
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Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 6:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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