Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezra 3:7

"They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and food, and drink, and oil, unto them of Sidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea, unto Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia." — Ezra 3:7 (ASV)

They gave money. —Their own workmen were paid in money; the Phoenicians, as in Solomon’s days (1 Kings 5; 2 Chronicles 2; 2 Chronicles 2), were paid in kind. This illustrates and is illustrated by Acts 12:20.

The sea of Joppa. —The Jewish port to which the cedar-trees were sent by sea, and from there thirty-five miles inland to Jerusalem.

The grant. —The authority of Cyrus over Phoenicia seems not to have been doubtful.