1 EsdrasChapter 5

1 Esdras Chapter 5: Meaning

The Jewish exiles return home, rebuild the altar, and start laying the temple foundation.

Summary

After getting permission from King Darius, the Jewish families packed up and headed back to their homeland. Darius even sent a thousand horsemen to escort them safely. Long lists of families, priests, Levites, singers, and gatekeepers are recorded, everyone who made the journey home. In total, over forty-two thousand people returned, along with thousands of servants and animals.

When they arrived, some of the family heads donated gold and silver to help pay for rebuilding the temple. Then, when the seventh month came, all the people gathered together at the site of the old altar in Jerusalem. Jeshua and Zerubbabel set up the altar and started offering sacrifices to God again, even before the temple was built.

They also celebrated the Festival of Shelters and kept the other regular offerings just as God's law required. In the second year after their return, they officially began rebuilding the Lord's temple. When the foundation was laid, the people worshiped with singing and trumpets. Some older people who remembered the first temple wept with sadness, while others shouted for joy. The noise could be heard from far away.

But trouble came quickly. Neighboring peoples asked to help build, saying they also worshiped God. Zerubbabel and the leaders said no, this was only for Israel to do. Those neighbors then tried to block the work through threats and schemes for the entire rest of King Cyrus's reign, stopping construction for two years.

Historical Context

This chapter covers the return of the Jewish exiles to their homeland around 538–536 BC, after Cyrus the Great gave them permission to go. Tens of thousands of people made the long journey from Babylon back to the land of Judah, a trip of hundreds of miles.

The rebuilding of the altar and the temple foundation was a huge moment for Israel. It showed that the nation was starting over. But opposition from neighboring groups made the work very hard and showed that returning home did not mean everything would be easy.