Ezra 3:12 (DBY)

Passage

But many of the priests and Levites and chief fathers, the ancient men that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice, [when] the foundation of this house was laid in their sight; and many shouted aloud for joy.

Nearby Context

Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David king of Israel.

Ezra 3:11 And they sang alternately together in praising and giving thanks to Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout to the praise of Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.

Ezra 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief fathers, the ancient men that had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice, [when] the foundation of this house was laid in their sight; and many shouted aloud for joy.

Ezra 3:13 And the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a great shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "priests", "levites", "chief", "fathers", "ancient", "seen", "first", and "house". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "priests" and "levites", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And they sang alternately together in praising..." into verse 13's "And the people could not discern the...", so "priests" and "levites" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "priests" and "levites" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.