1
Ezr 6:1-12.
英文原文
Ezr 6:1-12.
DARIUS' DECREE FOR ADVANCING THE BUILDING.
1. Darius the king--This was Darius Hystaspes. Great and interesting light has been thrown on the history of this monarch and the transaction of his reign, by the decipherment of the cuneatic inscriptions on the rocks at Behistun.
in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon--An idea of the form of this Babylonian register house, as well as the manner of preserving public records within its repositories, can be obtained from the discoveries at Nineveh. Two small chambers were discovered in the palace of Koyunjik, which, from the fragments found in them, MR. LAYARD considers "as a house of the rolls." After reminding his readers that the historical records and public documents of the Assyrians were kept on tablets and cylinders of baked clay, many specimens of which have been found, he goes on to say, "The chambers I am describing appear to have been a depository in the palace of Nineveh for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them; some entire, but the greater part broken into many fragments, probably by the falling in of the upper part of the building. They were of different sizes; the largest tablets were flat, and measured about nine inches by six and a half inches; the smaller were slightly convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well-defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass. These documents appear to be of various kinds. The documents that have thus been discovered in the house of rolls' at Nineveh probably exceed all that have yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt, and when the innumerable fragments are put together and transcribed, the publication of these records will be of the greatest importance to the history of the ancient world" [Nineveh and Babylon].
2
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2. 亚马他——长久以来被认为是米底亚大国的首都（即古典所记的以克巴坦拿，今日的哈马丹），位于埃尔温德山脉脚下；因气候凉爽宜人，居鲁士及其继位的波斯诸王都将夏宫设于此地。然而另有一座同名之城，即亚特罗帕坦的以克巴坦拿，也是米底亚北部最古的都城，近来被 RAWLINSON 上校考证为位于 Takht-i-Soleiman 的著名废墟。但一切迹象都表明居鲁士偏爱其本城——亚特罗帕坦的以克巴坦拿——胜于米底亚大国那座更为坚固的都城，所以 RAWLINSON 上校认为，居鲁士是将那道关于犹太人的著名诏书连同帝国的其他档案与珍宝，一同存放在该城的堡垒中〔《尼尼微与波斯波利斯》〕。
英文原文
2. Achmetha--long supposed to be the capital of Greater Media (the Ecbatana of classical, the Hamadan of modern times), [is] at the foot of the Elwund range of hills, where, for its coolness and salubrity, Cyrus and his successors on the Persian throne established their summer residence. There was another city, however, of this name, the Ecbatana of Atropatene, and the most ancient capital of northern Media, and recently identified by COLONEL RAWLINSON in the remarkable ruins of Takht-i-Soleiman. Yet as everything tends to show the attachment of Cyrus to his native city, the Atropatenian Ecbatana, rather than to the stronger capital of Greater Media, COLONEL RAWLINSON is inclined to think that he deposited there, in his fortress, the famous decree relating to the Jews, along with the other records and treasures of his empire [Nineveh and Persepolis].
8
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8-10. 从王的钱财，就是从河西的进贡中拨出经费给这些人——诏书准许他们从叙利亚的省库中领取所需款项，以推进工程并为圣殿的事奉预备祭物，使祭司可以每日为王的健康和帝国的昌盛祷告。
英文原文
8-10. of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river . . . expenses be given unto these men--The decree granted them the privilege of drawing from his provincial treasury of Syria, to the amount of whatever they required for the furthering of the work and providing sacrifice for the service of the temple, that the priests might daily pray for the health of the king and the prosperity of the empire.
11
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11, 12. 无论谁更改这道命令——这警告特别针对那些狂暴狂热的撒玛利亚人。这道诏书内容极其有利，无疑一部分是受了居鲁士的影响——大流士对他十分仰慕，且娶了他的两个女儿。但其中更多地出于那时代和那地的偶像之民对以色列神的存在与护理所受的深刻印象。
英文原文
11, 12. whosoever shall alter this word--The warning was specially directed against the turbulent and fanatical Samaritans. The extremely favorable purport of this edict was no doubt owing in some measure to the influence of Cyrus, of whom Darius entertained a high admiration, and whose two daughters he had married. But it proceeded still more from the deep impressions made even on the idolatrous people of that country and that age, as to the being and providence of the God of Israel.
13
Ezr 6:13-15.
Ezr 6:13-15.
圣殿完工
13-15. 于是达乃……速速遵行——文中提到一系列利好事件同时发生，加速了圣殿的重建，为工人们注入了新的精神与活力；他们如今以不懈的勤奋工作，直至大工完成。圣殿地基立于主前536年4月
（Ezr 3:8-10），
完工于主前515年2月21日，自开工之后共二十一年〔LIGHTFOOT〕。
英文原文
Ezr 6:13-15.
THE TEMPLE FINISHED.
13-15. Then Tatnai . . . did speedily--A concurrence of favorable events is mentioned as accelerating the restoration of the temple and infusing a new spirit and energy into the workmen, who now labored with unabating assiduity till it was brought to a completion. Its foundation was laid in April, 536 B.C.
(Ezr 3:8-10),
and it was completed on February 21, 515 B.C., being twenty-one years after it was begun [LIGHTFOOT].
16
Ezr 6:16-18.
Ezr 6:16-18.
奉献之礼
16. 以色列人……守奉献……殿之礼，欢欢喜喜——典礼是在最热烈的欢乐表现中进行的。那些在立地基时哭号的老年人
〔Ezr 3:12〕
大多数甚至全部现已去世；所有人都为这一国家性大工的完成而欢喜。
英文原文
Ezr 6:16-18.
FEASTS OF THE DEDICATION.
16. the children of Israel . . . kept the dedication . . . with joy--The ceremonial was gone through with demonstrations of the liveliest joy. The aged who had wept at the laying of the foundation
[Ezr 3:12]
were most, if not all of them, now dead; and all rejoiced at the completion of this national undertaking.
17
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17. 十二只公山羊——与当年会幕奉献之时相同
（Nu 7:87; 8:17）。
英文原文
17. twelve he-goats--as at the dedication of the tabernacle
(Nu 7:87; 8:17).
18
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18. 他们按班次设祭司，又按次序设利未人……正如摩西书上所写的——虽然大卫是按家族将祭司和利未人分班次，却是摩西为祭司和利未人规定了他们的权利与特权、职位与各项职责。
英文原文
18. they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses . . . as it is written in the book of Moses--Although David arranged the priests and Levites in courses according to their families, it was Moses who assigned to the priests and Levites their rights and privileges, their stations and several duties.
19
Ezr 6:19-22.
Ezr 6:19-22.
以及逾越节
英文原文
Ezr 6:19-22.
AND OF THE PASSOVER.
21
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21. 凡……离绝邻邦各族污秽……的人——即那些不仅弃绝了不洁的偶像崇拜，而且受了吗礼，从而有充分的证据证明自己是真归信者的人；受吗礼是参与逾越节不可或缺的条件。
英文原文
21. all such as had separated themselves . . . from the filthiness of the heathen of the land--that is, who had given satisfactory evidence of being true proselytes by not only renouncing the impure worship of idolatry, but by undergoing the rite of circumcision, a condition indispensable to a participation of the passover.
22
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22. 欢欢喜喜地守节……因为耶和华……使他们转亚述王的心向他们——即波斯帝国之王；波斯如今已包含亚述的领土，其荣耀也已超过亚述。大流士向犹太人所显的恩待，使他们在他在位余下的年日中得享平安兴盛与本国宗教的特权。这次守节如此明显地表现出的宗教欢乐，是以向神活泼感恩的话表达的——正是神护理的大权和改变的恩典，使这些大君王的心产生了如此奇妙的改变，使他们这些本是异教的人肯协助真神的事业，并为真神的敬拜供给需要。
英文原文
22. kept the feast . . . with joy: for the Lord . . . turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them--that is, king of the Persian empire, which now included the possessions, and had surpassed the glory, of Assyria. The favorable disposition which Darius had evinced towards the Jews secured them peace and prosperity and the privileges of their own religion during the rest of his reign. The religious joy that so remarkably characterized the celebration of this feast, was testified by expressions of lively gratitude to God, whose overruling power and converting grace had produced so marvellous a change in the hearts of the mighty potentates, and disposed them, pagans though they were, to aid the cause and provide for the worship of the true God.
Ezr 6:1-12.
大流士下诏促进建殿之工
1. 大流士王——即大流士·希斯塔斯皮斯。由于贝希斯敦崖壁上楔形文字铭文的破译，这位君王及其在位期间事迹的历史已得到极大的、引人入胜的阐明。
在巴比伦藏宝之文书库内——从尼尼微的考古发现中，可以略窥这座巴比伦档案库的形制，以及其中保存公共档案的方式。在库云吉克王宫中发现了两间小室，根据其中所发现的残片，LAYARD 先生认为它们“就是一处文书库”。他先提醒读者，亚述人的历史记录和官方文书保存在烘干的泥版和圆柱上，此类实物已发现甚多，接着又说：“我所描述的这两间屋子，似乎是尼尼微王宫中存放此类文书的库房。从地面起一英尺多高的范围内，全都堆满了这种文书；有的完整，但大部分已碎裂成许多残片，可能是因建筑物上部坍塌所致。它们大小不一；最大的泥版呈扁平状，约九英寸长、六个半英寸宽；较小的略呈凸面，有的不超过一英寸长，上面只有一两行文字。其上的楔形文字大多异常清晰分明，但有些极其细小，几乎不用放大镜便无法辨认。这些文书似属多种性质。在尼尼微这座‘文书库’中如此发现的文献，其数量大概超过埃及纪念碑上迄今所提供的一切；当无数残片被拼合誊录之后，这些文献的刊布对于古代世界的历史将具有极大的重要性”〔《尼尼微与巴比伦》〕。