“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says.” This decree in Ezra 1:2-4 is written in Hebrew, so that the people returning from the Babylonian Captivity could read it, or read it to anyone who challenged what they were doing. In contrast, the copy of the decree that was kept at Ecbatana in the Persian records was written in Aramaic (Ezra 6:3-5). Ezra is one of the books that has a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic, for example, Daniel does also. This kind of detail attests to the historical accuracy of the Bible. If someone wrote the whole book of Ezra at a much later date, as some Bible detractors assert, it is highly unlikely that he would go to the trouble to write some parts of the book in Hebrew and some in Aramaic.

“house.” The Temple was called the “house” or “house of God.” This is hard to see in many English versions because translators use “temple” to make the verse easier for the average reader. But then inconsistency makes some verses in the Bible confusing. For example, The Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) happened in the Temple, the “house,” but tradition says the upper room (Acts 2:2).