8. The house of the great God. This is a remarkable expression in the mouth of a heathen. The Persians were Zoroastrians, and the monotheism of the Jews no doubt appealed to them as a religion similar to their own. This may partially explain why Persian kings and officials were, for the most part, sympathetically disposed toward the Jews in general and toward their desires and aspirations.
Great stones. Literally, “stones of rolling,” indicating stones of such a size as to require rollers in order to be moved. In ancient times stones of tremendous size were used for temples and public buildings. Some of these stones can be seen in Egyptian temples, such as the one in Karnak, or in a later buildings, such as the Roman temple at Baalbek or the superstructure of Abraham’s tomb in Hebron.
Timber is laid in the walls. A reference to the ancient architectural method of laying a row of timber in the walls for each three rows of stones. The decree of Cyrus expressly made mention of this procedure ( 6:4), and the Jews were meticulously following the order. The method of building walls by alternating one row of timber and three rows of stone is first mentioned in connection with Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 7:12). During the excavation of Megiddo a public building of the time of Solomon was uncovered which showed this architectural feature, the timber used being cedar. Other places where this practice has been observed are Carchemish, a Hittite city, and ancient Alalakh in northern Syria. The older Jews, who had seen Solomon’s Temple with the rows of timber in the walls, may be have desired to see the new Temple built in the same fashion, and made request to Cyrus accordingly. This seems to be the only plausible explanation for this provision in the official decree, because it was not the custom of the Persians to build walls in this way, or of any other nation of that time, so far as our knowledge goes.