Ezra 4:19

4:19 So I gave orders, ¹  and it was determined ²  that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in ³  rebellion and revolt.

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over ⁴  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ⁵  until a report could be dispatched ⁶  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 5:16

5:16 Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment ⁷  it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’

Ezra 7:23

7:23 Everything that the God of heaven has required should be precisely done for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath ⁸  against the empire of the king and his sons?

Ezra 7:27

7:27 ⁹ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem!

¹ tn Aram “from me was placed a decree.”

² tn Aram “and they searched and found.”

³ tn Aram “are being done.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

⁶ tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.

⁷ tn Aram “from then and until now.”

¹⁰ tn The Aramaic word used here for “wrath” (קְצַף, qÿtsaf; cf. Heb קָצַף, qatsaf) is usually used in the Hebrew Bible for God’s anger as opposed to human anger (but contra Eccl 5:17 [MT 5:16]; Esth 1:18; 2 Kgs 3:27). The fact that this word is used in v. 23 may have theological significance, pointing to the possibility of divine judgment if the responsible parties should fail to make available these provisions for the temple.

¹³ sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (7:12-26) back to Hebrew.