Ezra 4:4

4:4 Then the local people ¹  began to discourage ²  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Ezra 6:19

6:19 ³  The exiles ⁴  observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Ezra 8:19

8:19 and Hashabiah, along with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, with his brothers and their sons, 20 men,

¹ tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.

² tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”

³ 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.

⁴ tn Heb “the sons of the exile.” So also in v. 20.