Text: Ezra 3:2
OT Text Referred to: Deuteronomy 12:11
Subject: Centralized worship at the chosen place
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Deuteronomy 12:11 commands Israel to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to "the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name" (לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם, leshakken shemo sham), and Ezra 3:2 records the returned exiles rebuilding the altar and offering burnt offerings "as it is written in the Law of Moses." The returnees' careful obedience to the Deuteronomic centralization principle—offering sacrifices only at the authorized site—demonstrates that the Torah's worship regulations remained operative even after exile. Ezra's emphasis on conformity to the "Law of Moses the man of God" signals that the post-exilic community understood their restoration as a renewed opportunity to fulfill the very commands Moses had given.