John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. Be it known unto the king , etc.] This seems to have been the usual form of beginning a letter to a king in those days, ( Ezra 4:12) that we went into the province of Judea; which from a kingdom was reduced to a province, and was become a part of the Babylonian, now Persian, monarchy, (see Ezra 2:1) to the house of the great God; as the Jews called the Lord their God; and even the Heathens had a notion that there was one supreme God, though they worshipped inferior ones; and some had a notion that Jehovah the God of the Jews was he: which is builded with great stones ; marble stones; as Jarchi f51 , stones of rolling, as it may be rendered; which, according to Aben Ezra, were so large and heavy, that they could not be carried, but were obliged to roll them: and timber is laid in the walls , cedar wood, as Aben Ezra interprets it, for beams, for flooring and raftering; or rather, is put upon the walls, for the lining and wainscoting of them, which was done with cedar wood: and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands ; and, unless timely prevented, will soon be finished.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 3-17 - While employed in God's work, we are under his special protection; his eye is upon us for good. This should keep us to our duty, and encourag us therein, when difficulties are ever so discouraging. The elders of the Jews gave the Samaritans an account of their proceedings. Let u learn hence, with meekness and fear, to give a reason of the hope tha is in us; let us rightly understand, and then readily declare, what we do in God's service, and why we do it. And while in this world, we always shall have to confess, that our sins have provoked the wrath of God. All our sufferings spring from thence, and all our comforts from his unmerited mercy. However the work may seem to be hindered, yet the Lord Jesus Christ is carrying it on, his people are growing unto a holy temple in the Lord, for a habitation of God through the Spirit _________________________________________________
Original Hebrew ידיע3046 להוא1934 למלכא4430 די1768 אזלנא236 ליהוד3061 מדינתא4083 לבית1005 אלהא426 רבא7229 והוא1932 מתבנא1124 אבן69 גלל1560 ואע636 מתשׂם7761 בכתליא3797 ועבידתא5673 דך1791 אספרנא629 מתעבדא5648 ומצלח6744 בידהם׃3028
