1. Ezra 3:10 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What kind of foundation was this?

Ezra 3:10 (ESV)

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel.

The returned exiles may have simply repaired the foundation of Solomon’s temple rather than building a new foundation from scratch. 2 Kings 25:9 makes it clear that the first temple was burned but it does not say that the foundation was destroyed. In such a case, some of the foundation stones which were broken, may have required replacing and fixing.1