Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ¹  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

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 ²  against the empire of the king and his sons?

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ³  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ⁴  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 5:9

5:9 We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

Ezra 4:19

4:19 So I gave orders, ⁵  and it was determined ⁶  that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in ⁷  rebellion and revolt.

Ezra 5:3

5:3 At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority ⁸  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ⁹ 

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ¹⁰  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 1:2

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ¹¹  for him in Jerusalem, ¹²  which is in Judah.

¹ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

² 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.

³ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

⁴ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

⁴ tn Aram “from me was placed a decree.”

⁵ tn Aram “and they searched and found.”

⁶ tn Aram “are being done.”

⁵ tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.

⁶ tn The exact meaning of the Aramaic word אֻשַּׁרְנָא (’ussarna’) here and in v. 9 is uncertain (BDB 1083 s.v.). The LXX and Vulgate understand it to mean “wall.” Here it is used in collocation with בַּיְתָא (bayta’, “house” as the temple of God), while in 5:3, 9 it is used in parallelism with this term. It might be related to the Assyrian noun ashurru (“wall”) or ashru (“sanctuary”; so BDB). F. Rosenthal, who translates the word “furnishings,” thinks that it probably enters Aramaic from Persian (Grammar, 62-63, §189).

⁶ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

⁷ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.