And so that they lay foundations that may support a height of 60 cubits and a breadth of 60 cubits, three rows of unfinished stones^[1] and in the same way rows of new timber: we need not comment on it because neither in the building of the first temple nor of the subsequent one are any of these measurements or works of this sort found.^[2] It can thus be inferred that Cyrus proposed this from his own ideas and that he noted the measurements and arrangement of the work as seemed appropriate to him. Indeed, as Chronicles relates, in the first measurement (that is, inside the inner walls) the temple was 60 cubits long and 20 cubits wide,^[3] but the height, as the history of Kings explains, was 30 cubits to the upper room;^[4] from there to the high chamber an additional 30 cubits, which was the level reached by the top of the porticos, as Josephus attests;^[5] and from there another 60 to the top of the roof, which is to say, 120 cubits all together, as Chronicles explains.^[6] Yet how does it say that three rows of unfinished stones and in the same way rows of new timbers are to be laid, when all inside the temple was lined with cedar, unless perhaps it was a custom of the Persians to make temples with varied work in such a way that there were three rows of stones throughout the walls and a fourth made skillfully from timbers, and Cyrus thought that this should be done too in the same manner in the Jerusalem temple; or perhaps we should understand that he spoke of the courtyard of the priests, which, built in a circle around the temple, had three rows of finished stones and a fourth of cedar wood^[7] and was as high as a man’s chest; or else of the portico of the Lord’s house that was in the front of the temple, concerning which Scripture, when King Solomon’s palace was being built, relates thus: And he made the greater courtyard round with three rows of hewn stones and one row of planks of cedar, and also in the inner courtyard of the Lord’s house and in the portico of the house.^[8]

The sequence of events in the text is as if Darius himself had read Cyrus’s letter and, having perused it, immediately endorsed it with his authority, in such a way that suppressing all their adversaries, he ordered the temple of God to be rebuilt on its site just as the letter said, and himself, with a most devout mind in all things, assisted God’s worshipers to serve his will. Let Artaxerxes, therefore, who above forbade that the house or city of God be built,^[1] designate those lords of worldly affairs who by inciting persecutions opposed the construction of the holy church, while in the upheaval of these persecutions that church flourished chiefly by the triumph of martyrs. Let Darius designate the dutiful devotion of those kings who, recognizing the will of God, endeavored not only not to resist the Christian faith but also to assist it with their decrees; and many of them, forbidding the persecutions of their predecessors, wished that they themselves along with the people under their sway might be consecrated in the sacraments of the same faith.

For these prophets had predicted that if they persisted in building the temple, soon, with the Lord’s assistance, they not only would complete the work itself but also have a more abundant supply of all good things as a reward for their devotion. Among their proclamations are Zechariah’s words: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you,^[1] which is to say, When you see that the temple has been completed by Zerubbabel, by whom it was begun, then you will understand that I was sent by the Lord and that what I have said I have said at his command. And Haggai says, From this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day when the foundations of the Lord’s temple were laid, store it in your heart. Is the seed as yet to sprout? Or have the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree not blossomed? From this day on I will bless you.^[2] What happened in the event shows that this prediction was correct. But all the prophets, indeed all the writers of sacred Scripture, promise good things for the builders of the holy church (i.e., teachers) if they do not tire from adversities and cease from their holy labor. For divine help will be present, by which the Lord’s house that has been begun may be brought to completion in the heart of their listeners by their believing and living well; and to the architects themselves will come the blessing of crops, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive [i.e., more abundance of spiritual gifts], which without any doubt will be more copiously granted to us by the Lord the more diligently we have endeavored to establish the abode of his glory either in ourselves or in the hearts of our neighbors.

But since the rebuilding of the house after the captivity, as has often been said, designates the correction of those who through sin have wandered from the path of truth that they had only just set out on, it is fitting that when the temple has been restored in this way it is dedicated by the priests and Levites and the rest of the descendants of the exiles with joy. For when those who have sinned are set straight, there is great joy in heaven in the presence of the angels of God;^[1] there is joy also for the teachers who have labored for the salvation of those who go astray, and there is joy for all those who have migrated in their thoughts and deeds from Babylon [i.e., from the confusion of sinners] to the citadel of the virtues, which is truly the promised land. So both the priests and the Levites and all the people rejoice in the dedication of the Lord’s restored house because all the orders of the holy church must share in the rejoicing when those who have sinned are reconciled by repenting. They offer victims for this dedication when they bring vows of thanks to God for the efforts of sinners to lead a holy life and when many, observing their life devoted to God, are themselves spurred on to works of greater virtue.