Ezra 1:7-8

1:7 Then King Cyrus brought out the vessels of the Lord’s temple which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and had displayed ¹  in the temple of his gods. 1:8 King Cyrus of Persia entrusted ²  them to ³  Mithredath ⁴  the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar ⁵  the leader of the Judahite exiles. ⁶ 

Ezra 10:19

10:19 (They gave their word ⁷  to send away their wives; their guilt offering was a ram from the flock for their guilt.)

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ⁸  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ⁹  and that of those who respect ¹⁰  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ¹¹  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ¹²  who were the temple servants in ¹³  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

¹ tn Heb “and he gave them.”

² tn Heb “brought them forth.”

³ tn Heb “upon the hand of.”

⁴ sn A Persian name meaning “gift of Mithras.” See HALOT 656 s.v. מִתְרְדָת.

⁵ sn A Babylonian name with the probable meaning “Shamash protect the father.” See HALOT 1664-65 s.v. שֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר.

⁶ tn Heb “Sheshbazzar the prince to Judah”; TEV, CEV “the governor of Judah.”

³ tn Heb “hand.”

⁴ tn Heb “cut.”

⁵ tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

⁶ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

⁵ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

⁶ tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

⁷ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.