Глава 6

1–5. Reply message from Darius with a copy of the decree of Cyrus. 6–12. Darius' command to promote the construction of the church and worship. 13–15. Completion of construction. 16–18. Consecration of the church. 19–22. Celebration of Easter. 1Ezra 6:1. Then King Darius gave the command, and they searched for the book depository in Babylon, where the treasures were deposited. 1Ezra 6:2. And one scroll was found in Ecbatana in the palace, which is in the region of Media, and in it it is written like this: “For memory: The decree of Cyrus was obviously sought primarily in Babylon, but was found in Ecbatana. It is possible that it was brought here along with other archive files for safety. It is possible that it was published in Ecbatana, which served as the summer residence of the Persian kings. 1Ezra 6:3. In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus gave a command about the house of God in Jerusalem: let a house be built in the place where sacrifices are made, and let strong foundations be laid for it; its height is sixty cubits, its breadth is sixty cubits; 1Ezra 6:4. there are three large rows of stones, and one row of wood; let the expenses be paid from the royal house. 1Ezra 6:5. And let the vessels of the house of God, gold and silver, which Nebuchadnezzar carried out of the temple of Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, return and go to the temple of Jerusalem, each in his own place, and be placed in the house of God. A copy of Cyrus' decree to the Jews is given. If we compare this version of Cyrus’s decree with the one given in Chapter I, we cannot help but notice some differences between them. To explain this difference, it can be assumed that both versions of the decree were issued at the same time, that the decree placed in Chapter I was assigned to Jews living in different places in Babylonia, and the decree reported in Chapter VI was actually given to Sheshbazzar. In Chapter VI, however, this decree is hardly given in full: from the remark of Art. 2 “for memory” we can conclude that Darius’s message contains only that part of the decree that contained a direct answer to Fafnai’s question. “The height of it is sixty cubits, the breadth of it is sixty cubits.” These instructions from the royal edict are understood by scholars Ewald, Keil, and Schick in the sense of the exact size of the church built by Zerubbabel. Therefore, these scholars believe that the temple of Zerubbabel was larger than the temple of Solomon. But the dimensions of the church defined in the edict were hardly mandatory and had the meaning of an architectural plan that had to be accurately executed. This is evident from the fact that the length of the church is not indicated in the edict. The edict appears to define only the maximum dimensions of the church. “According to the Babylonian policy of that time, the construction of the sanctuary in one form or another had to correspond in general to the people’s life and the recognized rights of the nation. The nation, defeated and dependent, could not build such churches that could eclipse the glory of the main churches of the empire Bel, Nebo, Marduk and other gods Sumir and Akkad... King Cyrus in his decree indicated the maximum of the external greatness that the Jerusalem temple could have” (A. A Olesnitsky, Old Testament Church. pp. 383–386). “There are three rows of large stones, and one row of wood.” From these words of the decree it is clear that Cyrus allows the Jews to build a church according to the model of the former Solomon's temple, and not according to the model of the buildings of Susa and Persepolis. 1Ezra 6:6. So, Tafnai, the governor of the region beyond the river, and Shefar-Boznai, with your comrades Afarsakhei, who are beyond the river, get away from there. “So” - begins the presentation of the command of Darius himself, the basis for which is the decree of Cyrus 1Ezra 6:7. Do not stop working in this house of God; let the Jewish governor and the Jewish elders build this house of God in its place. 1Ezra 6:8. And from me a command is given about how you must assist the elders of those Jews in building that house of God, and namely: from the royal property - from the tax beyond the river - immediately take and give to those people so that the work does not stop; 1Ezra 6:9. and as much as is needed - whether bulls, or rams and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, wine and oil, as the priests of Jerusalem say, let it be given to them day by day without delay, Darius not only confirms the permission given by Cyrus to build the church, but also gives the command to assist the construction from the royal property. At the same time, Darius commands that everything necessary for sacrifices be given out. 1Ezra 6:10. so that they offer a sacrifice pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons. “So that they make a sacrifice pleasing to the God of Heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons.” Such a desire did not contradict the polytheism of the Persian kings. Without betraying their domestic gods, they could honor Jehovah as one of the most powerful gods. On the other hand, the Jews could pray for the life of the king, since they saw in him a ruler appointed by God (cf. Jer 29.7). At a later time, sacrifices were made regularly in the Jerusalem Temple on certain days for the king (cf. 1 Mac 7.33; 1 Mac 12.11; 2 Mac 3.35; 2 Mac 13.23; Jude 12:2, 5). 1Ezra 6:11. I give a command that if any person changes this definition, then the log will be taken out of his house, and he will be lifted up and nailed to it, and his house will be turned into ruins. To encourage compliance with his command, Darius defines severe punishment for “changing” or violating it. “If any person changes this definition, then the log will be taken out of his house and he will be lifted up and nailed to it, and his house will be turned into ruins.” The type of death penalty indicated here was common among the Assyrians (Diodorus Sicil., II, 1), among the ancient Persians and many other peoples. The Persians also practiced real crucifixion (cf. Dan 2.5). 1Ezra 6:12. And God, whose name dwells there, will overthrow every king and people who would stretch out his hand to change this to the harm of this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, gave this command; may it be carried out exactly.” The expression “God, whose name dwells there” (cf. Deut. 12:11, 14:23; Jer 7.12, Neh. 1.9) may not be borrowed from the decree, but belongs to the author himself. But the whole idea expressed in Art. 12, quite in the spirit of the Persian kings. At the end of the Persian Begisgun inscription, the punishment of Agura-Mazda is also called upon for those who decide to destroy the image and inscription. The decree of Darius in the part set forth in Art. 7–12, is considered by some scholars to be fictitious, and the commands contained in it are unreliable. The basis for this opinion is put forward: 1) the Judaistic coloring of the speech in Art. 8–12 in the expressions “house of God”, “God of heaven”, “God whose name dwells there”; 2) and the improbability of such a merciful attitude towards the Jews on the part of Darius. These grounds, however, cannot be considered solid. The above expressions, which appeared perhaps due to the influence of Jewish views on Persian ones, do not contradict, as already noted, the polytheism of the Persian kings. As for Darius's merciful attitude towards the Jews, it is quite understandable if we take into account the difficult circumstances in which Darius found himself in the first years of his reign - namely, strong unrest in the provinces, which could have prompted Darius to win over the Jews. Moreover, Darius's gracious attitude towards the Jewish cult is not anything exceptional. Darius treated the cults of other subject peoples in a similar way. For example, in one found in 1889 near Magnesia of the Gadata inscription Darius says: “Because you do not take into account my attitude towards the gods, for this, if you do not act otherwise, I will make you someday feel the anger to which you caused me, since you attracted the sacred gardeners of Apollo to the quitrent and cultivation of simple land, without recognizing the feelings of my ancestors in relation to the god who spoke to the Persians” (Bertholet, s. 27). Similarly, the Egyptian physician Uzagoras, in one signature about Darius, says the following: “King Darius, may he live forever, commanded me that while he was in Eham, I should go to Egypt and again restore the number of the sacred church scribes and revive everything that had fallen into decay... And the king ordered that all good things be done to them for the diligence with which they performed all their work... The king did this because he knew that such a thing would be the best for the restoration of everything that has fallen into decay, in order to preserve the name of all gods, their churches, their and the order of their holidays forever” Brugsch Ciesch, Aegyptens 1877, s, 748–751). Finally, the authenticity of Darius’ decree is also confirmed by the attitude of this king towards the Greek sanctuaries during his campaign in Greece (Herodotus, History VI, 97). If from Nehemiah 10.33 it is clear that the Jews themselves supplied the material for sacrifices, then this does not contradict the message of Art. 9, because Darius's command to release bulls, rams and lambs from the royal property did not relieve the Jews of the obligation to take care of the victims themselves. 1Ezra 6:13. Then Fafnai, the governor of the region beyond the river, Shefar-Boznai and their comrades - as King Darius commanded, they did exactly that. In addition to art. 13, I. Flavius ​​reports that Tafnai and his comrades joined the elders of the Jews and the leading elders and together with them began to lead the sacred building. The reliability of this message is, of course, difficult to establish. 1Ezra 6:14. And the elders of Judah built and prospered, according to the prophecy of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Adda. And they built and finished it according to the will of the God of Israel and according to the will of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. “And they built it and finished it according to the will of the God of Israel and according to the will of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes kings of Persia.” From the next verse it is clear that the construction was completed already under Darius, before Artaxerxes I took the throne. The editor of the book, however, also attributes to Artaxerxes participation in the construction of the church, probably due to the contributions that Artaxerxes made for the decoration of the church (1Ezra 7.27). 1Ezra 6:15. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The time of the end of the church is called the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of Darius. In 2Ezra 7.5, as the day of the end of the church, the 23rd day of Adar of the same year is called, and in I. Flavius ​​(Jude. Ancient. 11: 4, 7) the 23rd day of Adar of the ninth year. It is difficult to say how this disagreement came about. But the date of 1 Rides deserves preference over others in view of the general strictly historical nature of this book. The latter cannot be asserted either about 2 Rides or about the messages of I. Josephus regarding the Persian period of the history of the Jews. On the day of the completion of the church, apparently, its consecration took place, so that by the beginning of the new year and the holidays falling on this beginning, the church was fully prepared for worship. 1Ezra 6:17. And at the dedication of this house of God they offered one hundred oxen, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve goats as a sin offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. Speaking about the circumstances of the consecration of Solomon's temple, the writer reports that then sacrifices were made that cannot be counted and determined by their multitude (1 Kings 8.5), and that King Solomon offered twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred and twenty thousand small livestock as a peace offering (v. 63). The number of sacrifices at the consecration of the temple of Zerubbabel, indicated in Art. 17, shows how different the time after the exile was from the equal era of Solomon. As can be seen from the same verse, 12 goats were sacrificed for sin, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. This meant that the church was created for the entire people of the covenant, and the hope was expressed for the return to the land of the fathers of all scattered Israel (cf. Eze 37.15–28; Jer 31.27). 1Ezra 6:19. And those who returned from captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, From Art. 19 the writer leaves the Aramaic language and again turns to the Hebrew language. 1Ezra 6:20. because the priests and Levites were cleansed - they were all clean as one; and they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all those who had returned from captivity, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. The practice of Passover preparations described here is very ancient (cf. 2 Chronicles 13.11–14), the Levites ordered Passover lambs both for the priests, who were busy with numerous sacrifices on the eve of Passover, and for the laity, so that no one in a state of uncleanness would commit the slaughter. 1Ezra 6:21. And the children of Israel that returned from their exile, and all that were separated unto them from the uncleanness of the nations of the land, did eat, that they might resort to the Lord God of Israel. On the feast of Easter, as can be seen from Art. 21, not only the Jews who returned from captivity took part, but also all who were separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the earth to them, to resort to the Lord, the God of Israel. By the peoples of the earth (goei haaretz), the writer means either the inhabitants of Palestine, in contrast to the Jews who came from Babylon, or the inhabitants of other countries, for example, Egypt, Moab. The writer could call those separated from the impurity of these peoples, first of all, those who remained in Palestine after the destruction of the ten-tribe kingdom of the Israelites, who had previously mixed with the pagans, and now joined the new community in Jerusalem. It is possible that some pagans also separated from pagan impurity and joined the Jewish community as proselytes. 1Ezra 6:22. And they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, because the Lord had made them glad, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in building the house of the Lord God of Israel. “He turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them.” The Assyrian king here is the Persian king Darius, as the owner of the chosen people of the Assyrian kingdom, memorable in history. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar is also called by this name in 2 Kings 23.29. You might be interested in: