The next reference to time in the Book of Ezra occurs in Ezra 3:8. Here we are told that the actual construction of the foundation of the Temple or House of God began in the second month of the Jewish calendar. This was about the middle of spring during the second year after the exiles returned to their homeland. The altar of sacrifice was built and was in service, as of the first day of the seventh month, during the first year of the returning exiles to the Province of Judah (Ezra 3:1-7). It seems, therefore, that the construction of the Temple was carefully planned, and nothing was done haphazardly. Offerings to God were considered first, and constructing the House of God came second. Here in Ezra 3:8 the text says the governor, Zerubbabel, and the high priest, Jeshua together with their brethren took charge of planning the building process, by appointing certain men of the Levites as overseers of the actual construction of the Temple.
Remember, according to the Law of Moses, the priests, or sons of Aaron (a Levite) were in authority over the sacrificing process in the Temple. The rest of the families of the tribe of Levi were in authority over the care of the Temple, itself. So, although much of the labor concerning the offerings and care of the Temple could be done by other folks who weren’t of the tribe of Levi, the Levites, which include the family of Aaron (the priests) were in authority over all that concerned the Temple of God.[1] Thus, certain men of the Levites from the age of twenty and upward were chosen to take charge of the process of building the Temple of God.
Admittedly, verse-9 is confusing. Scholars have several interpretations. For example, do the names mentioned represent two, three or four families? I believe three families are mentioned in this verse. First, there is Jeshua (not the high priest; cp. Ezra 2:40) and his sones. Secondly, we have Kadmiel and his sons, and finally, we have the sons of Judah, meaning the royal family (the sons of Zerubbabel). These three families were placed in charge of the building process, according to Ezra 3:9. The mention of the sons of Henadad, I take to be a reference to the three families already mentioned, and it should read something like: “the sons of favor of grace (see the meaning of the name: H2582). In other words, the families of Jeshua, Kadmiel and Judah (Zerubbabel) were favored, in that they were chosen as the overseers of the building process. They, the sons of favor or grace, and their brethren, the Levites were given the responsibility of building the Temple of God.
As soon as the foundation for the Temple of God was laid, production was temporarily halted in order to celebrate the goodness and mercy of God for bringing all this to pass (Ezra 3:10-11). The priests put on their priestly garments, and the sons of Asaph of the tribe of Levi played musical instruments, while the priests and Levites, after the division of 24 courses instituted by David, the king (1Chronicles 23:6), sang together in praise to the Lord.
However, there were among those priest and Levites who shouted for joy old men who had remembered the Temple of God, before it had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and they wept aloud, so that the people who heard the sound of the event from a distance, couldn’t discern the sound of the weeping from the sound of joy and praise (Ezra 3:12-13).
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[1] An exception to this rule is that, according to Jesus, David assumed authority over the Temple and the labor conducted therein (cp. Luke 6:3-4). See also my previous study in the Gospel of Luke: David’s Greater Son!
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