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 ¹  that the sound was heard a long way off.

Ezra 3:12

3:12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders ²  – older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established ³  – were weeping loudly, ⁴  and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

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 ⁵  of the king of Assyria ⁶  toward them, so that he assisted ⁷  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

¹ tn Heb “a great shout.”

² tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

³ sn The temple had been destroyed some fifty years earlier by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.

⁴ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

³ tn Heb “heart.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”