From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.

EZRA 3:6KJV
Know the Bible

Ezra 3:6 (KJV)

What does Ezra 3:6 mean?

Ezra 3:6 describes how the people who returned to Jerusalem began offering sacrifices to the LORD before rebuilding his temple. The altar was already in use, even though the work of laying the temple’s foundation had not yet begun.

The narrator marks the start as the first day of the seventh month. After the festival described in verse 5, Ezra 3:6 clarifies that offerings were already being made while the temple site was still awaiting its foundation.

The Hebrew behind Ezra 3:6

  • “offerings” — עֹלָה (ʿolah): This word refers to an offering burned on an altar. The word is related to the idea of going up, which helps explain the KJV’s phrase “burnt offerings.”
  • “temple” — הֵיכָל (hekhal): This word can refer to a large, important building, such as a palace or temple. Here it names the LORD’s temple, whose foundation the builders had yet to lay.

Why Ezra 3:6 matters

  • The verse distinguishes the altar from the temple building. Ezra 3:3 says the people had set up the altar on its site; Ezra 3:6 shows that this did not mean the temple foundation was already in place.
  • The date helps place the rebuilding in sequence. Ezra 3:8 says work on the house of God began in the second month of the following year, after the offerings described in verse 6.

Where else these words appear

“foundation” Hebrew H3245 · used in 41 verses

  • Exodus 9:18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
  • Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
  • Isaiah 14:32 What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

“temple” Hebrew H1964 · used in 76 verses

  • 1 Samuel 1:9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.
  • Nehemiah 6:11 And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
  • Ezekiel 41:1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle.

“seventh” Hebrew H7637 · used in 94 verses

  • Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
  • Leviticus 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
  • 1 Kings 8:2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

“began” Hebrew H2490 · used in 131 verses

  • Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
  • Judges 20:31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
  • Jeremiah 16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.