Ezra 6:4

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:

American King James Version (AKJV)

With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:

American Standard Version (ASV)

with three courses of great stones, and a course of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

With three lines of great stones and one line of new wood supports; and let the necessary money be given out of the king's store-house;

Webster's Revision

With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:

World English Bible

with three courses of great stones, and a course of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house.

English Revised Version (ERV)

with three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:

Definitions for Ezra 6:4

Let - To hinder or obstruct.

Clarke's Ezra 6:4 Bible Commentary

Three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber - We have noticed this kind of building before, three courses of stones, and then a course of strong balk; and this continued to the square of the building.

And let the expenses be given - Cyrus had ordered wood to be cut at Libanus, and conveyed to Joppa at his expense; but it does not appear that he furnished the other expenses of the building, for we have already seen that the Jews contributed for the defraying of all others. But it appears that he provided at his own expense the sacrifices and offerings for the temple. See Ezra 6:9.

Barnes's Ezra 6:4 Bible Commentary

The word translated "row" occurs only in this passage. Some regard it as a "course," and suppose that after every three courses of stone there followed a course of timber. Others understand three "storeys" of stone, with a fourth "storey" of woodwork on the summit (compare 1 Kings 6:5-6). Others consider that Cyrus intended to limit the thickness of the walls, which were not to exceed a breadth of three rows of stone, with an inner wooden wainscotting.

Let the expenses be given out of the king's house - i. e., "out of the Persian revenue," a portion of the decree which was probably not observed during the later years of Cyrus and during the reign of Cambyses, and hence the burthen fell upon the Jews themselves Ezra 2:68-69.