--- title: "Ezra 5 - Study King James Bible with the biblical illustrator" description: "Read Ezra 5 with the biblical illustrator commentary. 1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God o" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5" --- [ Read](/kjv/ezra/5)[ Commentary](/study/ezra/5)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/ezra/5) Audio 1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that *were* in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, *even* unto them. 2 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which *is* at Jerusalem: and with them *were* the prophets of God helping them. 3 ¶ At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall? 4 Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?* 5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this *matter*. 6 ¶ The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which *were* on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king: 7 They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.* 8 Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands.* 9 Then asked we those elders, *and* said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? 10 We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that *were* the chief of them. 11 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. 12 But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. 13 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon *the same* king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. 14 And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that *was* in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto *one*, whose name *was* Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor;* 15 And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that *is* in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. 16 Then came the same Sheshbazzar, *and* laid the foundation of the house of God which *is* in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and *yet* it is not finished. 17 Now therefore, if *it seem* good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which *is* there at Babylon, whether it be *so*, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter. [Ezra 4](/study/ezra/4) [Ezra 6](/study/ezra/6) ## Commentary To verse 1 [Ezra 5:1](/kjv/ezra/5/1); [Ezra 5:9](/kjv/ezra/5/9) *Then the prophets, Haggai.* **The great work resumed** The**best commentary on these verses is the first chapter of Haggai. ** I.**The inciters to the west. **1.**Want of interest in the work is implied. **2.**Obligation to perform the****work is implied. **3.**Exhortations to resume the work were given. ** II.**The leaders in the work. “Then rose up Zerubbabel,” etc. **1.**They resumed the work readily. **2.**They led the work appropriately. “Those that are in places of dignity and power, ought with their dignity to put honour upon and with their power to put life into every good work.” **3.**They led work influentially. The example of those who occupy high stations is-- **(1)** Most conspicuous. **(2)** Most attractive. ** III.**The helpers in the work. “The prophets.” They assisted by their-- **1.**Exhortations to vigorous prosecution of the work. **2.**Assurances of the****presence of God with them. **3.**Promises of future blessings from God to them. ** IV.**The great first cause of the work. “ The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel,” etc. “All holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed” from Him. “I will build My Church,” said our Lord to Peter. All the inspiration, wisdom, etc., of the under-builders come from him. Learn-- **1.**The insidious nature of worldliness. **2.**The value of faithful ministers. **3.**The solemn obligation of men in eminent stations. (*William Jones.*) **Hebrew prophets in unfavourable times** The Hebrew prophets came when the circumstances of society were least favourable. Like painters arising to adorn a dingy city, like poets singing of summer in the winter of discontent, like flowers in the wilderness, like wells in the desert, they brought life and strength and gladness to the helpless and despondent, because they came from God. The literary form of their work reflected the civilisation of their day, but there was on it a light that never shone on sea or shore, and this they knew to be the light of God. We never find a true religious revival springing from the spirit of the age. Such a revival always begins in one or two choice souls--in a Moses, a Samuel, a John the Baptist, a St. Bernard, a Jonathan-Edwards, a Wesley, a Newman. (*W. F. Adeney, M. A.*) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5","name":"Ezra 5 - Study King James Bible with the biblical illustrator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Ezra 5 with the biblical illustrator commentary. 1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God o","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator","name":"the biblical illustrator"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra","name":"Ezra"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/the-biblical-illustrator/ezra/5","name":"5"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```