Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to oversee the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
Read Chapter 3
Basil the Great
AD 379
When Jerusalem was demolished by Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom was destroyed, and no longer were there hereditary successions to the sovereignty as formerly; at that time, moreover, being out of power, the posterity of David were living in captivity. But, when the followers of Salathiel and Zerubbabel returned, they led the people more democratically, transferring the rule henceforth to the priesthood because of the intermingling of the priestly and royal tribes.
[The text] says they came to the temple of God not because they found the temple already built, since, to be sure, it was said earlier that it did not yet have foundations. Rather, “to the temple of God” means to the place of God’s temple—to the work by which they desired to rebuild the temple. And so modern Jews who habitually claim that not the temple walls but only the roof was destroyed by the Chaldeans are mistaken, since Ezra plainly writes that the descendants of the exiles rebuilt the temple from its foundations. However, since it was said above that they came to Jerusalem on the seventh month, and here it is added that “in the second year of their arrival” they began the work of the temple “in the second month,” it is clear that for seven months they prepared the stones, cement, timber and other necessary materials, but when the eighth month began they started to press on at last with their longedfor work: for there were six months in the first year and the seventh in the foll...
When I heard this speech, I tore my cloak and tunic, and pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down in sorrow. Through the sombre garb of a mourner Ezra reveals the inmost anguish of his heart. He tears his clothing, pulls out hair from his head and beard, and sits down in sorrow in order that by such defilement of his body and clothing along with the sadness of his face, he may more swiftly rouse the minds of all to repentance of their own or their brethren's sin.
