Ezra 1:11

1:11 All these gold and silver vessels totaled 5,400. ¹  Sheshbazzar brought them all along when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Ezra 2:42

2:42 The gatekeepers: ²  the descendants of Shallum, the descendants of Ater, the descendants of Talmon, the descendants of Akkub, the descendants of Hatita, and the descendants of Shobai: 139.

Ezra 3:13

3:13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly ³  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Ezra 4:11

4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)

“To King Artaxerxes, ⁴  from your servants in ⁵  Trans-Euphrates:

Ezra 4:16

4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control ⁶  of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

Ezra 4:24

4:24 So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. ⁷ 

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over ⁸  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ⁹  until a report could be dispatched ¹⁰  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 6:15

6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ¹¹  year of the reign of King Darius.

Ezra 6:18

6:18 They appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their divisions over the worship of God at Jerusalem, ¹²  in accord with ¹³  the book of Moses.

Ezra 7:11

Artaxerxes Gives Official Endorsement to Ezra’s Mission

7:11 What follows ¹⁴  is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. ¹⁵  Ezra was ¹⁶  a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:

Ezra 9:14

9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

¹ sn The total number as given in the MT does not match the numbers given for the various items in v. 9. It is not clear whether the difference is due to error in textual transmission or whether the constituent items mentioned are only a selection from a longer list, in which case the total from that longer list may have been retained. The numbers provided in 1 Esdras come much closer to agreeing with the number in Ezra 1:9-11, but this does not necessarily mean that 1 Esdras has been better preserved here than Ezra. 1 Esdras 2:13-15 (RSV) says, “The number of these was: a thousand gold cups, a thousand silver cups, twenty-nine silver censures, thirty gold bowls, two thousand four hundred and ten silver bowls, and a thousand other vessels. All the vessels were handed over, gold and silver, five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, and they were carried back by Shesbazzar with the returning exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem.”

² tc Here it is preferable to delete the reading בְּנֵי (bÿne, “the sons of”) found in the MT.

³ tn Heb “a great shout.”

⁴ tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.

⁵ tn Aram “men of.”

⁵ tn Aram “will not be to you.”

⁶ sn Darius I Hystaspes ruled Persia ca. 522–486 b.c.

⁷ tn Aram “the eye of their God was on.” The idiom describes the attentive care that one exercises in behalf of the object of his concern.

⁸ tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

⁹ tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.

⁸ sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁰ tn Aram “according to the writing of.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “this.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.” So also in v. 21.

¹² tn The words “Ezra was” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.