Moreover, I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River.
The officials over the province asked Darius to check whether Cyrus really authorised the temple at Jerusalem, and the search found the record. The king's answer went far beyond a "yes": here he orders the province's own tax money to pay the builders, in full and without delay.
An Attack That Backfired
The opponents of the work had written to the king hoping he would stop it. The orders that came back said the opposite, and one writer traces the hand behind them.
Edward DennettDarius acted on this decree. He commanded Tatnai, Shetharboznai and their companions to stop troubling the Jews, and to let them carry on their work in peace. To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries stepped in, Darius did more than confirm the decree of Cyrus. He issued another decree too: the king himself would pay for everything the house of God needed.
Tax Money Turned Around
The first complaint against the Jews had been about money: rebuild the city, and the king loses tax revenue. This decree turns that argument on its head.
Leslie M. GrantDarius issued a decree that taxes owed to the king from his lands west of the river should cover the cost of the building (v. 8). Rehum had argued that once the temple was built, the Jews would stop paying taxes. Darius decreed that the Jews would have tax money paid to them!
"That They Be Not Hindered"
The purpose clause at the end of the verse is the point of the whole arrangement. One writer draws out how far that protection reached while the people stayed in their place of obedience.
Edward DennettGod Himself was the shield of His people while they did His work. While they obeyed His word and counted on Him for strength and defence, no one could hinder them. In this way Satan once more overreached himself. He was used to further the very work he hated. Centuries later the apostle wrote the same thing: "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Phil. 1:12.)
The Work Started Before the Funding Arrived
The order of events matters. The Jews had once stopped the work. Then they took it up again, before any new decree existed.
J. N. DarbyIn stopping the building, Israel was at fault. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is a decree in their favour — and that came through their adversaries' own interference. It is good to trust in God. Blessed be His gracious name!
So the king's money was not what drove the work. Another writer names what the record credits for their progress.
William KellyThe beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they received this fresh decree. The record says the elders of the Jews built and prospered. They prospered not through the king's commandment, but "through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo."
Whose Money, Whose Kingdom
The verse names the fund: the king's tribute from the province. One writer shows what that same tribute cost the people who paid it.
H. L. RossierThis king's tribute (Middah — Ezra 6:8; Ezra 4:20) was demanded of them. Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards. They could not repay the debt. So the land was no longer their own, and they even had to put their children into slavery, with no way to buy them back, because their fields were in their brothers' hands.
A Gentile king paying for God's house also says something about where the nation now stood.
William KellyThis book of Ezra was of the greatest importance. It gives God's own account of the in-between state in which they waited for the Messiah… Meanwhile they are Lo-ammi (not-My-people). They are (not "were") slaves of the Gentile power. Yet Cyrus had proclaimed more than freedom to return. He had also given a charge to build Jehovah's house in Jerusalem, as prophecy had said.
Summary
- Attack. The complaint sent to Darius was meant to stop the temple; God used the enemy's own move to serve His purpose.
- Reversal. The accusers said the Jews would withhold taxes. The king handed tax money to the Jews instead.
- Shield. While they obeyed God and leaned on Him, no one could hinder them. Satan overreached again and pushed on the work he hated.
- Order. Faith built first, while a ban still stood. The decree followed their faith; it did not create it.
- Sobriety. The money came from a Gentile king's tribute. Real kindness — but it marked them as subjects of a foreign power, still waiting for the Messiah.