11:14 The Lord brought 1 against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king.
1:1 6 In the first 7 year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message 8 spoken through 9 Jeremiah, 10 the Lord stirred the mind 11 of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated 12 a proclamation 13 throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict 14 the following: 15
13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; 16
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold. 17
37:26 18 Certainly you must have heard! 19
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 20 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 21
45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, 22
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle, 23 even though you do not recognize 24 me.
1 tn Or “raised up.”
2 tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”
3 tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.
5 tn Heb “and he did not spare any belonging to him who urinate against a wall, [including] his kinsmen redeemers and his friends.”
6 sn In addition to the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are two deuterocanonical books that are also called “Ezra.” Exactly how these books are designated varies in ancient literature. In the Septuagint (LXX) canonical Ezra is called Second Esdras, but in the Latin Vulgate it is called First Esdras. Our Nehemiah is called Third Esdras in some manuscripts of the LXX, but it is known as Second Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. (In the earliest LXX manuscripts Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as one book, as they were in some Hebrew manuscripts.) The deuterocanonical books of Ezra are called First and Fourth Esdras in the LXX, but Third and Fourth Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. The titles for the so-called books of Ezra are thus rather confusing, a fact that one must keep in mind when consulting this material.
7 sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539
8 tn Heb “the word of the Lord.”
9 tc The MT reads מִפִּי (mippi, “from the mouth of”), but this should probably be emended to בְּפִי (bÿfi, “by the mouth of”), which is the way the parallel passage in 2 Chr 36:22 reads. This is also reflected in the LXX, which is either reflecting an alternate textual tradition of בְּפִי or is attempting to harmonize Ezra 1:1 in light of 2 Chronicles.
10 sn Cf. Jer 29:10; 25:11-14. Jeremiah had prophesied that after a time of seventy years the Jews would return “to this place.” How these seventy years are to be reckoned is a matter of debate among scholars. Some understand the period to refer to the approximate length of Babylon’s ascendancy as a world power, beginning either with the fall of Nineveh (612
11 tn Heb “spirit.” The Hebrew noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) has a broad range of meanings (see BDB 924-26 s.v.). Here, it probably refers to (1) “mind” as the seat of mental acts (e.g., Exod 28:3; Deut 34:9; Isa 29:24; 40:13; Ezek 11:5; 20:32; 1 Chr 28:12; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 6) or (2) “will” as the seat of volitional decisions (e.g., Exod 35:5, 22; Pss 51:12, 14; 57:8; 2 Chr 29:31; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 7). So also in v. 5.
12 tn Heb “caused to pass.”
13 tn Heb “a voice.” The Hebrew noun קוֹל (qol, “voice, sound”) has a broad range of meanings, including the metonymical (cause – effect) nuance “proclamation” (e.g., Exod 36:6; 2 Chr 24:9; 30:5; 36:22; Ezra 1:1; 10:7; Neh 8:15). See BDB 877 s.v. 3.a.2.
14 sn For an interesting extrabiblical parallel to this edict see the Cyrus cylinder (ANET 315-16).
15 tn Heb “in writing, saying.”
16 tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”
17 sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.
18 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
19 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
20 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
21 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
22 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
23 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
24 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
25 tn Heb “come up.”
26 tn Or “reveal my holiness.”