Ezra 4:21

4:21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. ¹ 

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over ²  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ³  until a report could be dispatched ⁴  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ⁵  Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

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 ⁶  against the empire of the king and his sons?

¹ tn Aram “until a command is issued from me.”

² 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.

³ tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

⁴ tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.

³ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

⁴ 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.