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
無標題
2. 亞馬他——長久以來被認為是米底亞大國的首都（即古典所記的以克巴坦拿，今日的哈馬丹），位於埃爾溫德山脈腳下；因氣候涼爽宜人，居魯士及其繼位的波斯諸王都將夏宮設於此地。然而另有一座同名之城，即亞特羅帕坦的以克巴坦拿，也是米底亞北部最古的都城，近來被 RAWLINSON 上校考證為位於 Takht-i-Soleiman 的著名廢墟。但一切跡象都表明居魯士偏愛其本城——亞特羅帕坦的以克巴坦拿——勝於米底亞大國那座更為堅固的都城，所以 RAWLINSON 上校認為，居魯士是將那道關於猶太人的著名詔書連同帝國的其他檔案與珍寶，一同存放在該城的堡壘中〔《尼尼微與波斯波利斯》〕。
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
無標題
8-10. 從王的錢財，就是從河西的進貢中撥出經費給這些人——詔書准許他們從敘利亞的省庫中領取所需款項，以推進工程並為聖殿的事奉預備祭物，使祭司可以每日為王的健康和帝國的昌盛禱告。
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
無標題
11, 12. 無論誰更改這道命令——這警告特別針對那些狂暴狂熱的撒瑪利亞人。這道詔書內容極其有利，無疑一部分是受了居魯士的影響——大流士對他十分仰慕，且娶了他的兩個女兒。但其中更多地出於那時代和那地的偶像之民對以色列神的存在與護理所受的深刻印象。
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.
聖殿完工
13-15. 於是達乃……速速遵行——文中提到一系列利好事件同時發生，加速了聖殿的重建，為工人們注入了新的精神與活力；他們如今以不懈的勤奮工作，直至大工完成。聖殿地基立於主前五三六年四月
（Ezr 3:8-10），
完工於主前五一五年二月二十一日，自開工之後共二十一年〔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.
奉獻之禮
16. 以色列人……守奉獻……殿之禮，歡歡喜喜——典禮是在最熱烈的歡樂表現中進行的。那些在立地基時哭號的老年人
〔Ezr 3:12〕
大多數甚至全部現已去世；所有人都為這一國家性大工的完成而歡喜。
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
無標題
17. 十二隻公山羊——與當年會幕奉獻之時相同
（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
無標題
18. 他們按班次設祭司，又按次序設利未人……正如摩西書上所寫的——雖然大衛是按家族將祭司和利未人分班次，卻是摩西為祭司和利未人規定了他们的權利與特權、職位與各項職責。
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.
以及逾越節
英文原文
Ezr 6:19-22.
AND OF THE PASSOVER.
21
無標題
21. 凡……離絕鄰邦各族污穢……的人——即那些不僅棄絕了不潔的偶像崇拜，而且受了割禮，從而有充分的證據證明自己是真歸信者的人；受割禮是參與逾越節不可或缺的條件。
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
無標題
22. 歡歡喜喜地守節……因為耶和華……使他們轉亞述王的心向他們——即波斯帝國之王；波斯如今已包含亞述的領土，其榮耀也已超過亞述。大流士向猶太人所顯的恩待，使他們在他在位餘下的年日中得享平安興盛與本國宗教的特權。這次守節如此明顯地表現出的宗教歡樂，是以向神活潑感恩的話表達的——正是神護理的大權和改變的恩典，使這些大君王的心產生了如此奇妙的改變，使他們這些本是異教的人肯協助真神的事業，並為真神的敬拜供給需要。
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.
大流士下詔促進建殿之工
1. 大流士王——即大流士·希斯塔斯皮斯。由於貝希斯敦崖壁上楔形文字銘文的破譯，這位君王及其在任期間事蹟的歷史已得到極大的、引人入勝的閘明。
在巴比倫藏寶之文書庫內——從尼尼微的考古發現中，可以略窥這座巴比倫檔案庫的形制，以及其中保存公共檔案的方式。在庫雲吉克王宮中發現了兩間小室，根據其中所發現的殘片，LAYARD 先生認為它們「就是一處文書庫」。他先提醒讀者，亞述人的歷史記錄和官方文書保存在烘乾的泥版和圓柱上，此類實物已發現甚多，接著又說：「我所描述的這兩間屋子，似乎是尼尼微王宮中存放此類文書的庫房。從地面起一英尺多高的範圍內，全都堆滿了這種文書；有的完整，但大部分已碎裂成許多殘片，可能是因建築物上部坍塌所致。它們大小不一；最大的泥版呈扁平狀，約九英寸長、六個半英寸寬；較小的略呈凸面，有的不超過一英寸長，上面只有一兩行文字。其上的楔形文字大多異常清晰分明，但有些極其細小，幾乎不用放大鏡便無法辨認。這些文書似屬多種性質。在尼尼微這座『文書庫』中如此發現的文獻，其數量大概超過埃及紀念碑上迄今所提供的一切；當無數殘片被拼合譽錄之後，這些文獻的刊佈對於古代世界的歷史將具有極大的重要性」〔《尼尼微與巴比倫》〕。