What Does Ezra 6:14 Mean?
And the gray-haired ones of the Jews built, and they broke through by the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and made it whole, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.THE KEY
The verse’s “prospering” is the work advancing through prophetic speech as the builders carry it to completion.
THE MEANING
The verse holds progress and completion together: the elders build, and their work advances through prophetic speech alongside the commands named in the passage. The names Haggai (חַגַּי, Ḥaggay, “festal”) and Zechariah (זְכַרְיָה, Zəkaryāh, “YHWH remembers”) place festivity and remembrance beside the labor. This speaks to present work carried by both the hands that build and words that give it direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that command alone completes a work: the verse places prophetic speech and the elders’ building alongside the commands.
THE ROOT
מַצְלְחִין
maṣleḥîn
GROWS FROM
צלח
Advance successfully; prosper.
“broke through” in this verse is maṣleḥîn. The form translated “prospered” carries the root צָלַח (ṣālaḥ, advance or prosper), which also appears in words for succeeding. Here prosperity is the work itself moving forward through prophetic speech, not a separate reward detached from the building.
ALSO GROWS
ṣālaḥ: Advance, prosper, succeed.
צָלַח
This form makes progress and prosperity shades of the same movement, illuminating the builders’ forward work.
hiṣlîaḥ: Cause to succeed or prosper.
הִצְלִיחַ
This causative form shows success as something that can be brought about, fitting the verse’s account of prophecy accompanying the builders’ progress.
בָּנַיִן
bānayin
GROWS FROM
בנה
Build; construct.
“builded” in this verse is bānayin. The root בָּנָה (bānâ, build) ties the builders’ repeated action to the structure they bring into being. The verse keeps the act of building in view all the way to its completion.
ALSO GROWS
bānâ: Build; construct.
בָּנָה
This form shares the root consonants and names the work the elders are doing.
yivneh: He will build.
יִבְנֶה
This form carries the same root into future building, showing the work as an action that can continue.
נְבוּאַת
nəḇûʾaṯ
GROWS FROM
נבא
Prophesy; speak prophetically.
The root נָבִיא (nāvîʾ, prophet) and נְבוּאָה (nevûʾāh, prophecy) share the consonants of the word rendered “prophesying.” The verse binds the prophetic voice to the builders’ actual progress: the speech accompanies the work rather than standing apart from it.
ALSO GROWS
nāvîʾ: Prophet; one who speaks prophetically.
נָבִיא
The same root names the person whose prophetic speech accompanies the building.
nevûʾāh: Prophecy; prophetic utterance.
נְבוּאָה
This related form names the speech through which the builders prosper.
THE PATTERN
Work reaches completion as human labor moves with a word and force beyond the workers alone.
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will also finish it, and you will perceive that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.A Song of degrees for Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders toil in emptiness. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in emptiness.I planted, Apollos gave to drink, but God made it grow.THE THREAD
And he becomes like a tree planted by the channels of the waters, that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; whatever he does, he breaks through.The word translated “prospered” in Ezra shares the root צלח with יַצְלִיחַ (yaṣlîaḥ, prospers) in this verse. Both passages show prosperity as sustained forward growth: here the builders complete their work, and here the planted tree bears fruit in season.
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