Ezra 6:10

That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven,.... Such as will be acceptable to him, Genesis 8:21 and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons; prayer being wont to be

And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which

Ezra 6:10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.Ver. 10. That they may pray for the life of the king] For God, at his pleasure, cutteth off the spirits of princes, Psalms 76:12, he crops them off with ease, as one would do a flower; slips them off, as one would do a bunch of grapes; as he dealt by Alexander the Great, Attila, that terror of the world, and King Henry II of France, who upon the marriage of his sister to the king of Spain, was so puffed up, that he called himself by a new title, Tres-heureuse Roy, the thrice happy king. But, to confute him, in solemnizing that marriage, he was slain at tilt, by the captain of his guard (though against his will, but not without God’ s determinate counsel), in the very beginning of his supposed happiness. Death is the only king against whom there is no rising up. The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre, saith one, and it moweth down the lilies of the crown as well as the grass of the field; pray, therefore, for the life of the king, saith this king here; let the priests shout and say, Let the king live for ever, Nehemiah 2:3. And of his sons] Some of whom had soon died, say some: he therefore calleth for prayers for the preservation of the rest.

(10) That they may offer sacrifices . . . and pray for the life of the king.—Two ends are to be answered: the God of heaven is to be honoured, and the dynasty of Darius interceded for by the Jews. (Comp. Jeremiah 29:7.) Of sweet savours.—The word occurs again only in Daniel 2:46, and there is translated “sweet odours,” meaning incense. The connection of this with the prayer following justifies the same translation here, and, moreover, indicates under what good instruction the decree was drawn up.

Verse 10. And pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.] Even heathens believed that offerings made in their behalf to the God of the Jews would be available. And this principle has had considerable influence in certain states where there was even a form of religion established by the law, to induce them to tolerate other forms, that the state might have the benefit of their prayers.

10. The king’s special desire, propitiatory sacrifice and intercessory prayer to be offered on behalf of his dynasty. sacrifices of sweet savours] R.V. sacrifices of sweet savour. One word in the original; it occurs also in Daniel 2:46 ‘Then the king Nebuchadnezzar … worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him’. The expression recalls the ‘burnt offering … of a sweet savour unto the Lord’ (Exodus 29:18; Exodus 29:25; Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 1:13; Leviticus 1:17; Leviticus 2:2-3; Leviticus 2:9; Leviticus 2:12) which should be compared with Genesis 8:21. This interpretation lays stress upon the acceptableness of the propitiatory offering. Others giving the word a more material sense consider it to mean especially the incense used in offerings (LXX. εὐωδίας; Vulg. oblationes). pray for the life, &c.] Compare especially Jeremiah 29:7 ‘and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.’ Allusions to sacrifice and prayer for Gentile rulers will be found also in Bar 1:10-12, where Ezra 6:11 especially should be compared with this passage ‘And pray for the life of Nebuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven’. See also 1Ma 7:33; 1Ma 12:11; 2Ma 3:35; 2Ma 13:23. and of his sons] i.e. for the prosperity of Darius’s dynasty. We hear of two wives of Darius, Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and Tarsys, daughter of Smerdis.

10. Offer sacrifices of sweet savours — Or, offer sweet odours. The God of heaven — The same respectful and devout Monotheism appears in this letter of Darius as in the proclamation of Cyrus.