3:1 VA YIGA HA CHODESH HA SHEVIY'I U VENEY YISRA-EL BE ARIM VA YE'ASPHU HA AM KE ISH ECHAD EL YERU-SHALA'IM
וַיִּגַּע הַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בֶּעָרִים {ס} וַיֵּאָסְפוּ הָעָם כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד אֶל יְרוּשָׁלִָם
KJ (King James translation): And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
BN (BibleNet translation): And when the seventh month came, and the Beney Yisra-El were in the cities, {S} the people gathered themselves together as one man in Yeru-Shala'im.
Which calendar are we using? The seventh month today is Tishrey, starting with Rosh ha Shanah, the New Year, marking it as therefore the first month; Mosaic references place the New Year in the spring. The calendar that starts with Tishrey was introduced with the Babylonian exile.
This does not necessarily mean that they had been in the city for seven months - they could have arrived the day or the week or the month before; we are not told.
Once again note the samech break in mid-verse. I usually remove them from the Yehudit, but note them with my comments; but the use of these breaks throughout Ezra is unusual, so I will illustrate it from time to time.
3:2 VA YAKAM YESHU'A BEN YO-TSADAK VE ECHAV HA KOHANIM U ZERU-BAVEL BEN SHE'ALTIY-EL VE ECHAV VA YIVNU ET MIZBACH ELOHEY YISRA-EL LE HA'ALOT ALAV OLOT KA KATUV BE TORAT MOSHEH ISH HA ELOHIM
וַיָּקָם יֵשׁוּעַ בֶּן יוֹצָדָק וְאֶחָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים וּזְרֻבָּבֶל בֶּן שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל וְאֶחָיו וַיִּבְנוּ אֶת מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַעֲלוֹת עָלָיו עֹלוֹת כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים
KJ: Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
BN: Then Yeshu'a ben Yo-Tsadak and his brother-priests stood up, and Zeru-Bavel ben Sh'ealtiy-El, and his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the god(s) of Yisra-El, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Mosheh, the man of Elohim.
YESHU'A: Is this the same man mentioned in the previous chapter?
MIZBACH: Rather than Mizbe'ach, which is then how it is written in the following verse. We see this alternation throughout the Tanach.
Remember that Ezra is recounting events that were already ancient history - Zeru-Bavel went to Yeru-Shala'im in 536 BCE, Ezra almost a hundred years later.
SHE'ALTIY-EL: an EL name, literally the first we have come upon in the long list of names in this book.
ELOHEY YISRA-EL: the gods of Yisra-El, very much still plural.
3:3 VA YACHIYNU HA MIZBE'ACH AL MECHONOTAV KI BE'EYMAH ALEYHEM ME AMEY HA ARATSOT VA YA'AL ALAV OLOT LA YHVH OLOT LA BOKER VE LA AREV
וַיָּכִינוּ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ עַל מְכוֹנֹתָיו כִּי בְּאֵימָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֵעַמֵּי הָאֲרָצוֹת וַיַּעַל עָלָיו עֹלוֹת לַיהוָה עֹלוֹת לַבֹּקֶר וְלָעָרֶב
KJ: And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
BN: And they set the altar upon its bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of the [surrounding] countries, and they offered wave-offerings on it to YHVH, wave-offerings morning and evening.
MECHONOT: we heard about this in the last chapter (verse 68, though the usage was slightly different; today the word infers a machine, but that is unliely to have been the case then).
OLOT: why are these translated as burnt-offerings, which would be KURBANOT. OLOT are normally wave-offerings, with one exception, which we will see in verse 5. And from the next verse we can be even more specific - this is the seventh month after all (verse 1), and after Rosh ha Shanah and Yom Kippur, which they seem to have missed because they have no Temple yet, there comes the festival of Sukot. Their OLOT must have been willow-branches, LULAVIM, waved as we still wave them to this day. The next verse will confirm this.
LA BOKER VE LA AREV: Rather than saying Shacharit and Minchah - the Ma'ariv service in the Temple was clean-up time, with no sacrifices, so this is a new schedule.
LA BOKER VE LA AREV: Rather than saying Shacharit and Minchah - the Ma'ariv service in the Temple was clean-up time, with no sacrifices, so this is a new schedule.
3:4 VA YA'ASU ET CHAG HA SUKOT KA KATUV VE OLAT YOM BE YOM BE MISPAR KE MISHPAT DEVAR YOM BE YOMO
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ אֶת חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת כַּכָּתוּב וְעֹלַת יוֹם בְּיוֹם בְּמִסְפָּר כְּמִשְׁפַּט דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ
KJ: They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
BN: And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily wave-offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required.
Again I question the burnt offerings (see the link to OLOT above). Or was it that, having only arrived that year, and therefore no time to plant... but no, those who were living there would have planted, because they needed food...
King James says "also", but there is no also; keeping Sukot is what is being described from verse 1, and to see how the Lulav would have been waved, click here.
3:5 VE ACHAREY CHEN OLAT TAMID VE LE CHADASHIM U LE CHOL MO'ADEY YHVH HA MEKUDASHIM U LE CHOL MITNADEV NEDAVAH LA YHVH
וְאַחֲרֵיכֵן עֹלַת תָּמִיד וְלֶחֳדָשִׁים וּלְכָל מוֹעֲדֵי יְהוָה הַמְקֻדָּשִׁים וּלְכֹל מִתְנַדֵּב נְדָבָה לַיהוָה
KJ: And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
BN: And after this the daily burnt-offering, and the offerings for the new moon, and for all the appointed seasons of YHVH that were hallowed, and the offerings brought by one who mas making a freewill-offering to YHVH.
OLAT TAMID: The daily burnt offering.
CHADASHIM: interesting and obvious name for it that we no longer useToday, and for the past two millennia, Sukot has been celebrated on the day of the full moon of Tishrey, the 15th, but there is strong evidence from the Talmud, connected with the establishment of fixed liturgy and formal prayer at the time of Gamliel II in Yavneh, that the pilgrim and other festivals were seasonsal rather than calendrical before their time.
3:6 MI YOM ECHAD LA CHODESH HA SHEVIY'I HECHELU LEHA'ALOT OLOT LA YHVH VE HEYCHAL YHVH LO YUSAD
מִיּוֹם אֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי הֵחֵלּוּ לְהַעֲלוֹת עֹלוֹת לַיהוָה וְהֵיכַל יְהוָה לֹא יֻסָּד
KJ: From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
BN: From the first day of the seventh month they began they to offer Olot to YHVH; though the foundation of the Temple of YHVH was not yet laid.
That first day being Rosh ha Shanah. But, as noted above, they were celebrating Sukot, which falls on the 15th - or maybe it didn't then. And maybe this was before the moving of Rosh ha Shanah from the spring, and Sukot was celebrated on the 1st of Tishrey. Or maybe, because it was all terribly new, and the Temple itself unbuilt, and enemies all around likely to try to prevent them (see verse 3), they wanted to get as much in as they could, regardless of law, tradition and convention. Just make something happen so it's fixed in history for all time: we are back in Yeru-Shala'im. We did it!
3:7 VA YITNU CHESEPH LA CHOTSVIM VE LE CHARASHIM U MA'ACHAL U MISHTEH VA SHEMEN LA TSIDONIM VE LA TSURIM LEHAV'I ATSEY ARAZIM MIN HA LEVANON EL YAM YAF'O KE RISHYON KORESH MELECH PARAS ALEYHEM
וַיִּתְּנוּ כֶסֶף לַחֹצְבִים וְלֶחָרָשִׁים וּמַאֲכָל וּמִשְׁתֶּה וָשֶׁמֶן לַצִּדֹנִים וְלַצֹּרִים לְהָבִיא עֲצֵי אֲרָזִים מִן הַלְּבָנוֹן אֶל יָם יָפוֹא כְּרִשְׁיוֹן כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס עֲלֵיהֶם
KJ: They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
BN: They gave money to the woodcutters, and to the carpenters, and food, and drink, and oil, to those of Tsidon, and to those of Tsur, to bring cedar-trees from the Levanon to the sea at Yafo, according to the grant that they had from King Koresh of Paras.
YAFO: usually renderd as Joppa in Christian translations; home of the Jaffa banana and orange today; the port in the south of Tel Aviv which was named for the Tel Aviv in Bav-El where many of the Jews spent the 50-year exile.
TSU... TSIDON: See my notes to Ezra 2:55, which this verse appears to confirm.
KORESH MELECH PARAS: Cyrus king of Persia.
RISHYON: Pronounced as though there were a space between the H and the Y - Rish-Yon, except that it is all one word in the Yehudit, so I have not made what would have been the error of either a hyphen or an apostrophe.
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RISHYON: Pronounced as though there were a space between the H and the Y - Rish-Yon, except that it is all one word in the Yehudit, so I have not made what would have been the error of either a hyphen or an apostrophe.
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3:8 U VA SHANAH HA SHENIT LE VO'AM EL BEIT HA ELOHIM LIYRU-SHALA'IM BA CHODESH HA SHENI HECHELU ZERU-BAVEL BEN SHE'ALTIY-EL VE YESHU'A BEN YO-TSADAK U SHE'AR ACHEYHEM HA KOHANIM VE HA LEVIYIM VE CHOL HA BA'IM ME HASHVI YERU-SHALA'IM VA YA'AMIYDU ET HA LEVIYIM MI BEN ESRIM SHANAH VA MA'LAH LENATSE'ACH AL MEL'ECHET BEIT YHVH
וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְבוֹאָם אֶל בֵּית הָאֱלֹהִים לִירוּשָׁלִַם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי הֵחֵלּוּ זְרֻבָּבֶל בֶּן שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל וְיֵשׁוּעַ בֶּן יוֹצָדָק וּשְׁאָר אֲחֵיהֶם הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם וְכָל הַבָּאִים מֵהַשְּׁבִי יְרוּשָׁלַםִ וַיַּעֲמִידוּ אֶת הַלְוִיִּם מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה לְנַצֵּחַ עַל מְלֶאכֶת בֵּית יְהוָה
KJ: Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.
BN: Now in the second year of their coming to the house of Elohim in Yeru-Shala'im, in the second month, Zeru-Bavel ben She'altiy-El and Yeshu'a ben Yo-Tsadak, and the rest of their brethren the Kohanim and Leviyim, and all of those who had come back from captivity to Yeru-Shala'im, began the work; and they appointed the Leviyim, from twenty years old and upward, to have oversight of the work of the house of YHVH.
Note, for the second time, that both YHVH and Elohim are being used, which puts to death the ancient J/E hypothesis. It is once again clear that the proto-Jewish cult at this time was still polytheistic, with YHVH now the head of the pantheon, and patriarchal Omnideism on its way, but not yet in place.
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3:9 VA YA'AMOD YESHU'A BANAV VE ECHAV KADMI-EL U VANAV BENEY YEHUDAH KE ECHAD LENATSE'ACH AL OSEH HA MEL'ACHAH BE VEIT HA ELOHIM BENEY CHENADAD BENEYHEM VA ACHEYHEM HA LEVIYIM
וַיַּעֲמֹד יֵשׁוּעַ בָּנָיו וְאֶחָיו קַדְמִיאֵל וּבָנָיו בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה כְּאֶחָד לְנַצֵּחַ עַל עֹשֵׂה הַמְּלָאכָה בְּבֵית הָאֱלֹהִים בְּנֵי חֵנָדָד בְּנֵיהֶם וַאֲחֵיהֶם הַלְוִיִּם
KJ: Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
BN: Then Yeshu'a stood alongside his sons and his kinsmen, and Kadmi-El and his kinsmen, the Beney Yehudah, to oversee the workmen in the house of Elohim; {S} the Beney Chenadad also, with their sons and their kinsmen the Leviyim.
BEIT YHVH, BEIT ELOHIM, it keeps changing, and it can't be a mixture of Ephrayimite and Yehudan texts, as the J/E hypothesis insists, because Ephrayim disappeared from history three hundred years before Ezra wrote this.
KADMI-EL: see the link, though there is little to be found there as little is known of him.
CHENADAD: ditto
Note the samech in mid-sentence on this occasion.
3:10 VE YISDU HA BONIM ET HEYCHAL YHVH VA YA'AMIYDU HA KOHANIM MELUBASHIM BA CHATSOTSROT VE HA LEVIYIM BENEY ASAPH BA METSILTAYIM LEHALEL ET YHVH AL YEDEY DAVIYD MELECH YISRA-EL
וְיִסְּדוּ הַבֹּנִים אֶת הֵיכַל יְהוָה וַיַּעֲמִידוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים מְלֻבָּשִׁים בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת וְהַלְוִיִּם בְּנֵי אָסָף בַּמְצִלְתַּיִם לְהַלֵּל אֶת יְהוָה עַל יְדֵי דָּוִיד מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
BN: And when the builders laid the foundation-stone for the Temple of YHVH, they set the Kohanim in their apparel with trumpets, and the Leviyim - specifically the choir and orchestra of the Beney of Asaph - with cymbals, to chant and play the Hallel psalms for YHVH, in the manner of David when he was king in Yisra-El.
HA BONIM: There is a Psalm (118:22) which speaks of HA BONIM, and it is evident that Ezra is deliberately alluding to it, because that Psalm is one of the very Hallel Psalms that are being sung here. Even more allusions and quotations in the next verse confirm that Ezra knows exactly what he is writing.
For the additional information, HA BONIM also gives the name of a major Chalutsic (pioneer) organisation of modern Zionism - my own first kibbutz, Ammiad, was one.
Note the instruments: trumpets and cymbals.
DAVIYD: Note the spelling of David, with that extra Yud, so it can't be Daoud now: a transformation of the understanding of who he was has taken place. A new idea of the Messiah too perhaps?
I have massively elaborated the translation, so that all its nuances are included.
3:11 VA YA'ANU BE HALEL U VE HODOT LA YHVH KI TOV KI LE'OLAM CHASDO AL YISRA-EL VE CHOL HA AM HERIY'U TERU'AH GEDOLAH VE HALEL LA YHVH AL HUSAD BEIT YHVH
וַיַּעֲנוּ בְּהַלֵּל וּבְהוֹדֹת לַיהוָה כִּי טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכָל הָעָם הֵרִיעוּ תְרוּעָה גְדוֹלָה בְהַלֵּל לַיהוָה עַל הוּסַד בֵּית יְהוָה
KJ: And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
BN: And they sang the responsive hymns, praising and giving thanks to YHVH: "for he is good", "for his mercy endures for ever toward Yisra-El." And all the people made an immense noise, like a Rosh ha Shanah teru'ah, when they praised YHVH, because the foundation of the house of YHVH was laid.
YA'ANU: Not communal togetherness, but responsive - the prayer-leader recites the line and the congregations refrains it back at him: standard methodology in much Jewish liturgy, but especially the Psalms.
HERIY'U TERU'AH GEDOLAH: Which is very loud, but not as loud as a Tekiy'a Gedolah would have been! And of course it too alludes to Rosh ha Shanah and Yom Kippur, even if they are not being formally celebrated. But I need to comment how shocked I am, repeatedly, at what is either the incredible ignorance of the supposed scholars, or their wilful and deliberate refusal to know and share what they must surely know. First, as above, this is Hallel - YA'ANU BA HALAL could not be more specific. Second, it is full of quotes, "Ki Tov", "Ki Le'olam chasdo" etc, all from the Hallel Psalms. This is also Chanukat ha Bayit.
samech break
3:12 VE RABIM ME HA KOHANIM VE HA LEVIYIM VE RA'SHEY HA AVOT HA ZEKENIM ASHER RA'U ET HA BAYIT HA RI'SHON BE YASDO ZEH HA BAYIT BE EYNEYHEM BOCHIM BE KOL GADOL VE RABIM BITRU'AH VE SIMCHAH LEHARIM KOL
וְרַבִּים מֵהַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם וְרָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת הַזְּקֵנִים אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ אֶת הַבַּיִת הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּיָסְדוֹ זֶה הַבַּיִת בְּעֵינֵיהֶם בֹּכִים בְּקוֹל גָּדוֹל וְרַבִּים בִּתְרוּעָה בְשִׂמְחָה לְהָרִים קוֹל
KJ: But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
BN: But many of the Kohanim and Leviyim and clan-chiefs, the old men who had seen the first Temple standing on its foundation, wept with a loud voice, when this Temple was before their eyes; and many shouted aloud for joy.
3:13 VE EYN HA AM MAKIYRIM KOL TERU'AT HA SIMCHAH LE KOL BECHI HA AM KI HA AM MERIY'IM TERU'AH GEDOLAH VE HA KOL NISHM'A AD LE MERACHOK
וְאֵין הָעָם מַכִּירִים קוֹל תְּרוּעַת הַשִּׂמְחָה לְקוֹל בְּכִי הָעָם כִּי הָעָם מְרִיעִים תְּרוּעָה גְדוֹלָה וְהַקּוֹל נִשְׁמַע עַד לְמֵרָחוֹק
KJ: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
BN: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted a very loud Teru'ah, and the sound was audible far off.
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