Ezra 5:16

“Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem, etc.] Which makes it clear, that by Sheshbazzar is meant Zerubbabel; for he it was that laid the foundation of the temple, or at least by whose order it was laid, (see <380409>Zechariah 4:9) and since that time even until now; from the first of Cyrus to the second of Darius, a space of about eighteen years, and just seventy from the destruction of the temple: hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished; the work going on slowly, not without interruption and intermission, through the enmity of the Samaritans unto them, who had made false representations of them; but these men, Tatnai…”

“Then came . . . Shesh-bazzar . . . since that time even until now hath it been in building--This was not a part of the Jews' answer--they could not have said this, knowing the building had long ceased. But Tatnai used these expressions in his report, either looking on the stoppage as a temporary interruption, or supposing that the Jews were always working a little, as they had means and opportunities. Next: Ezra Chapter 6”

“Since that time even until now - Sixteen years - from 536 B.C. to 520 B.C. The adversaries of the Jews here overstep the truth; since, in point of fact, the work had been suspended for a while Ezra 4:24. return to 'Top of Page'”

“5:16 Most likely, Sheshbazzar began the work and Zerubbabel finished it (see study note on 1:8).”

“Sheshbazzar: Ezr 5:14 laid: Ezr 5:2, Ezr 3:8, Ezr 3:10; Hag 1:12-14, Hag 2:18; Zac 4:10, am 3468-3485, bc 536-519 it is not finished: Ezr 6:15 Ezra 5:17”

“In virtue of this command of Cyrus, this Sheshbazzar came (from Babylon to Jerusalem), and laid then the foundations of the house of God, and from that time till now it has been building, and is not (yet) finished. שׁלים, part. pass. of שׁלם, often used in the Targums and in Syriac for the Hebrew תּמם; hence in Dan 5:26 the Aphel, in the meaning of to finish, and Eze 7:19, to restore. This statement does not exclude the cessation from building from the last year of Cyrus to the second of Darius, narrated Ezra 4-6:7, as Bertheau and others suppose, but only leaves the unmentioned circumstance which had been the cause of the delay. If the section Ezra 4:6-23 does not refer to the building of…”