Ezra 10:4

10:4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”

Ezra 6:19

6:19 ¹  The exiles ²  observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra 10:12

10:12 All the assembly replied in a loud voice: “We will do just as you have said! ³ 

Ezra 3:4

3:4 They observed the Festival of Temporary Shelters ⁴  as required ⁵  and offered the proper number of ⁶  daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day.

Ezra 7:10

7:10 Now Ezra had dedicated himself ⁷  to the study of the law of the Lord, to its observance, and to teaching ⁸  its statutes and judgments in Israel.

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ⁹  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ¹⁰  and that of those who respect ¹¹  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 10:5

10:5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ¹²  And they all took a solemn oath.

Ezra 10:11

10:11 Now give praise to the Lord God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the local residents ¹³  and from these foreign wives.”

Ezra 3:9

3:9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹⁴  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ¹⁵ ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ¹⁶  the Levites.

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ¹⁷  of the king of Assyria ¹⁸  toward them, so that he assisted ¹⁹  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 10:16

10:16 So the exiles proceeded accordingly. Ezra the priest separated out ²⁰  by name men who were leaders in their family groups. ²¹  They sat down to consider this matter on the first day of the tenth month,

¹ sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (4:8–6:18) back to Hebrew. Aramaic will again be used in Ezra 7:12-26.

² tn Heb “the sons of the exile.” So also in v. 20.

¹ tn Heb “thus according to your word [singular = Qere] concerning us, to do.”

¹ tn The Hebrew phrase אֶת חַג־הַסֻּכּוֹת (’et khag-hassukot, “festival of huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

² tn Heb “according to what is written.”

³ tn Heb “by number.”

¹ tn Heb “established his heart.”

² tn Heb “to do and to teach.” The expression may be a hendiadys, in which case it would have the sense of “effectively teaching.”

¹ tn Heb “cut.”

² 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.

³ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

¹ tn Heb “to do according to this plan.”

¹ tn Heb “the peoples of the land.”

¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

² sn The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

¹ tn Heb “heart.”

² sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

³ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

¹ tc The translation reads the Hiphil singular וַיַּבְדֵּל לוֹ (vayyavdel lo, “separated for himself”) rather than the Niphal plural וַיִּבָּדְלוּ (vayyibbadÿlu, “were separated”) of the MT.

² tn Heb “the heads of the fathers, to the house of their fathers, and all of them by name.”