Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had stirred, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
All Commentaries on Ezra 1:5 Go To Ezra 1
Bede
AD 735
Now the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, assisting them. These matters have been written down in more detail in the books of these prophets - namely, with what words they either themselves rebuked the indolence of those who were too negligent towards the work of the temple or by promising God's help urged them to undertake the work, and with what devotion by their exhortation Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and all the people prepared themselves for the task of building the house of the Tord. And indeed the prophet Haggai begins in this way: In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying, Say to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and to Jesus (Jeshua) the high priest son of Jozadak: 'Thus says the Lord of Hosts: This people says the time has not yet come to build the Lord's house'. And the word of the Lord came to be in the hand of Haggai the prophet, saying: 'Is it a time for you to be living in panelled houses, while this house lies abandoned?' And a little further on: And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the governor of Judah son of Shealtiel, and the spirit of Jesus (Jeshua) son of Jozadak the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people; and they entered and began the work on the house of the Lord of Hosts their God on the twenty-fourth day of the month in the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius. And in the following lines that we mentioned above: 'The glory of this latest house will be greater than the first, 'says the Lord of Hosts. Likewise, Zechariah begins thus: In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah son of Berechiah son of lddo, the prophet? From this title it becomes clearer in what sense Ezra calls this prophet the 'son of Iddo', namely that he was Iddo's grandson; moreover, we should understand that Iddo himself was a noble prophet, so that Zechariah, who was outstanding among the prophets, could properly be called his 'son'. In this context we should note how spirited these prophets were to have ordered the temple to be built, despite the edict of so great a king and despite the Samaritans and all the peoples around them who were obstructing the building of the temple. 'Zerubbabel also, and Jesus (Jeshua), and the people who were with them are shown to have been of no less faith to have obeyed the prophets who were urging them more than the command of the king who was prohibiting them'.
