children of the captivity: Chal, sons of the transportation, Ezr 4:1
the dedication: 1Ki 8:63; 2Ch 7:5, 2Ch 7:9; Joh 10:22
with joy: Ezr 6:22, Ezr 3:11-12; Deu 12:7; 1Ch 15:28; 2Ch 7:10, 2Ch 30:23, 2Ch 30:26; Neh 8:10, Neh 12:43; Psa 122:1; Phi 4:4; Having set up the worship of God in this dedication, they took care to keep it up, and made the book of Moses their rule, to which they had an eye in this establishment. Though the temple service could not now be performed with so much pomp and plenty as formerly, because of their poverty, yet no doubt it was performed with as much purity and close adherence to the Divine institutions as ever. No beauty is like the beauty of holiness.