Ezra 3 · Verse 12

Ezra 3:12

But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

Ezra 3:12, King James Version

Ezra 3:12 in other translations

BSB	But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.
WEB	But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,
ASV	But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, the old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
YLT	And many of the priests, and the Levites, and the heads of the fathers, the aged men who had seen the first house--in this house being founded before their eyes--are weeping with a loud voice, and many with a shout, in joy, lifting up the voice;
DARBY	But many of the priests and Levites and chief fathers, the ancient men that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice, when the foundation of this house was laid in their sight; and many shouted aloud for joy.
BBE	But a number of the priests and Levites and the heads of families, old men who had seen the first house, when the base of this house was put down before their eyes, were overcome with weeping; and a number were crying out with joy:
Webster	But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, old men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

What does Ezra 3:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers ... wept with a loud voice--Those painful emotions were excited by the sad contrast between the prosperous circumstances in which the foundations of the first temple had been laid and the desolate, reduced state of the country and city when the second was begun; between the inferior size and less costliness of the stones used in the foundations of the second (1Ki 7:9, 10), and the much smaller extent of the foundation itself, including all the appurtenances of the building (Hag 2:3); between the comparative smallness of their present means and the immense resources of David and Solomon. Perhaps, however, the chief cause of grief was that the second temple would be destitute of those things which formed the great and distinguishing glory of the first; namely, the ark, the shekinah, the Urim and Thummim, &c. Not that this second temple was not a very grand and beautiful structure. But no matter how great its material splendor was, it was inferior in this respect to that of Solomon. Yet the glory of the second far outshone that of the first temple in another and more important point of view, namely, the receiving within its walls the incarnate Saviour (Hag 2:9).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 12 Wept with a loud voice - They saw that the glory had departed from Israel; in their circumstances it was impossible to build such a house as the first temple was; and had this been even possible, still it would have been greatly inferior, because it wanted the ark of the covenant, the heavenly fire, the mercy-seat, the heavenly manna, Aaron's rod that budded, the Divine shechinah, the spirit of prophecy, and most probably the Urim and Thummim. Many shouted for joy - Finding they were now restored to their own land, and to the worship of their God in his own peculiar city: these, in general, had not seen the original temple; and therefore could not feel affected in that way which the elderly people did. The sight must have been very affecting: a whole people, one part crying aloud with sorrow; the other shouting aloud for joy; and on the same occasion too, in which both sides felt an equal interest! The prophet Haggai comforted them on this occasion by assuring them that the glory of this latter house should exceed that of the former, because the Lord (Jesus Christ) was to come to this temple, and fill it with his glory. See Haggai, Hag 2:1-9.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezra 3:8-13

There was a remarkable mixture of affections upon laying the foundation of the temple. Those that only knew the misery of having no temple at all, praised the Lord with shouts of joy. To them, even this foundation seemed great. We ought to be thankful for the beginnings of mercy, though it be not yet perfect. But those who remembered the glory of the first temple, and considered how far inferior this was likely to…

Read the full comment on Ezra 3:8-13 →

Ezra 3:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְרַבִּ֡יםve.ra.Bimand manyH7227

מֵהַכֹּהֲנִ֣יםme.ha.ko.ha.Nimof the priestsH3548

וְהַלְוִיִּם֩ve.hal.vi.Yimand the LevitesH3881

וְרָאשֵׁ֨יve.ra.Sheiand [the] heads ofH7218

הָאָב֜וֹתha.'a.Votthe fathersH1

הַזְּקֵנִ֗יםha.ze.ke.Nim<the> oldH2205

אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.SherwhoH834

רָא֜וּra.'Uthey had seenH7200

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

הַבַּ֤יִתha.Ba.yitthe houseH1004

הָֽרִאשׁוֹן֙ha.ri.shOn<the> firstH7223

בְּיָסְד֔וֹbe.ya.se.Dowhen founded itH3245

זֶ֤הzehthisH2088

הַבַּ֙יִת֙ha.Ba.yitthe houseH1004

בְּעֵ֣ינֵיהֶ֔םbe.'Ei.nei.Hemwith own eyes theirH5869

בֹּכִ֖יםbo.Khim[were] weepingH1058

בְּק֣וֹלbe.Kolwith a voiceH6963

גָּד֑וֹלga.DolgreatH1419

וְרַבִּ֛יםve.ra.Bimand many [people]H7227

בִּתְרוּעָ֥הbit.ru.'Ahwith a shout of joyH8643

בְשִׂמְחָ֖הve.sim.Chahwith gladnessH8057

לְהָרִ֥יםle.ha.Rimto lift upH7311

קֽוֹל\׃Kola voiceH6963

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezra 3:12

Haggai 2:3
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Jeremiah 31:8-9
Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Matthew 13:31-32
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Isaiah 60:22
A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.
Daniel 2:34-35
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Job 8:7
Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
Psalms 126:6
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Zechariah 4:10
For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Isaiah 41:14
Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

many.
Hag 2:3
when the foundation.
Job 8:7; Isa 41:14; 60:22; Da 2:34,35; Zec 4:10; Mt 13:31,32
wept.
Ps 126:6; Jer 31:8,9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Ezra 3:11
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Ezra 3:12
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
Ezra 3:13
So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Read all of Ezra 3

Ezra 3:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y muchos de los sacerdotes y de los Levitas y de los cabezas de los padres, ancianos que habían visto la casa primera, viendo fundar esta casa, lloraban en alta voz, mientras muchos otros daban grandes gritos de alegría.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et beaucoup d’entre les sacrificateurs, et d’entre les lévites, et d’entre les chefs des pères, les vieillards qui avaient vu la première maison, pleuraient à haute voix lorsque les fondements de cette maison furent posés devant leurs yeux, et beaucoup poussaient des cris de joie, en élevant leur voix;
German Elberfelder 1871	Viele aber von den Priestern und den Leviten und den Häuptern der Väter, den Alten, welche das erste Haus gesehen hatten, weinten mit lauter Stimme, als vor ihren Augen der Grund zu diesem Hause gelegt wurde; viele aber erhoben ihre Stimme mit freudigem Jauchzen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Plurimi etiam de sacerdotibus et Levitis, et principes patrum, et seniores, qui viderant templum prius cum fundatum esset, et hoc templum, in oculis eorum, flebant voce magna: et multi vociferantes in lætitia, elevabant vocem.