Ezra 1:2

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah.

Ezra 3:7

Preparations for Rebuilding the Temple

3:7 So they provided money ³  for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon ⁴  and Tyre, ⁵  so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport ⁶  at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia.

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁷  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

¹ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ tn Heb “silver.”

⁴ map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁵ map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁶ tn Heb “to the sea”

⁵ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”