Ezra 4:5

4:5 They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time 1  of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius 2  of Persia. 3 

Ezra 1:8

1:8 King Cyrus of Persia entrusted 4  them to 5  Mithredath 6  the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar 7  the leader of the Judahite exiles. 8 

Ezra 7:12

7:12 9 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the perfect law of the God of heaven:

Ezra 1:1

The Decree of Cyrus

1:1 10 In the first 11  year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message 12  spoken through 13  Jeremiah, 14  the Lord stirred the mind 15  of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated 16  a proclamation 17  throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict 18  the following: 19 

Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 20 These are the people 21  of the province who were going up, 22  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem 23  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 4:24

4:24 So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. 24 

Ezra 7:1

The Arrival of Ezra

7:1 Now after these things had happened, during the reign of King Artaxerxes 25  of Persia, Ezra came up from Babylon. 26  Ezra was the son of Seraiah, who was the son of Azariah, who was the son of Hilkiah,

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 27  for him in Jerusalem, 28  which is in Judah.

Ezra 3:7

Preparations for Rebuilding the Temple

3:7 So they provided money 29  for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon 30  and Tyre, 31  so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport 32  at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, 33  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by 34  King David of Israel. 35 

Ezra 4:2-3

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders 36  and said to them, “Let us help you build, 37  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him 38  from the time 39  of King Esarhaddon 40  of Assyria, who brought us here.” 41  4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right 42  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 4:7

4:7 And during the reign 43  of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, 44  Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues 45  wrote to King Artaxerxes 46  of Persia. This letter 47  was first written in Aramaic but then translated.

[Aramaic:] 48 

Ezra 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors 49  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands 50  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. 51 

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation 52  who reaches out 53  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time 54  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 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 55  of the king of Assyria 56  toward them, so that he assisted 57  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

1 tn Heb “all the days of.”

2 sn Darius ruled Persia ca. 522-486 B.C.

3 sn The purpose of the opening verses of this chapter is to summarize why the Jews returning from the exile were unable to complete the rebuilding of the temple more quickly than they did. The delay was due not to disinterest on their part but to the repeated obstacles that had been placed in their path by determined foes.

4 tn Heb “brought them forth.”

5 tn Heb “upon the hand of.”

6 sn A Persian name meaning “gift of Mithras.” See HALOT 656 s.v. מִתְרְדָת.

7 sn A Babylonian name with the probable meaning “Shamash protect the father.” See HALOT 1664-65 s.v. שֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר.

8 tn Heb “Sheshbazzar the prince to Judah”; TEV, CEV “the governor of Judah.”

7 sn Ezra 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.

10 sn In addition to the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are two deuterocanonical books that are also called “Ezra.” Exactly how these books are designated varies in ancient literature. In the Septuagint (LXX) canonical Ezra is called Second Esdras, but in the Latin Vulgate it is called First Esdras. Our Nehemiah is called Third Esdras in some manuscripts of the LXX, but it is known as Second Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. (In the earliest LXX manuscripts Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as one book, as they were in some Hebrew manuscripts.) The deuterocanonical books of Ezra are called First and Fourth Esdras in the LXX, but Third and Fourth Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. The titles for the so-called books of Ezra are thus rather confusing, a fact that one must keep in mind when consulting this material.

11 sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539 B.C. Cyrus reigned in Persia from ca. 539-530 B.C.

12 tn Heb “the word of the Lord.”

13 tc The MT reads מִפִּי (mippi, “from the mouth of”), but this should probably be emended to בְּפִי (bÿfi, “by the mouth of”), which is the way the parallel passage in 2 Chr 36:22 reads. This is also reflected in the LXX, which is either reflecting an alternate textual tradition of בְּפִי or is attempting to harmonize Ezra 1:1 in light of 2 Chronicles.

14 sn Cf. Jer 29:10; 25:11-14. Jeremiah had prophesied that after a time of seventy years the Jews would return “to this place.” How these seventy years are to be reckoned is a matter of debate among scholars. Some understand the period to refer to the approximate length of Babylon’s ascendancy as a world power, beginning either with the fall of Nineveh (612 b.c.) or with Nebuchadnezzar’s coronation (605 b.c.) and continuing till the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 b.c. Others take the seventy years to refer to the period from the destruction of the temple in 586 b.c. till its rebuilding in 516 b.c.

15 tn Heb “spirit.” The Hebrew noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) has a broad range of meanings (see BDB 924-26 s.v.). Here, it probably refers to (1) “mind” as the seat of mental acts (e.g., Exod 28:3; Deut 34:9; Isa 29:24; 40:13; Ezek 11:5; 20:32; 1 Chr 28:12; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 6) or (2) “will” as the seat of volitional decisions (e.g., Exod 35:5, 22; Pss 51:12, 14; 57:8; 2 Chr 29:31; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 7). So also in v. 5.

16 tn Heb “caused to pass.”

17 tn Heb “a voice.” The Hebrew noun קוֹל (qol, “voice, sound”) has a broad range of meanings, including the metonymical (cause – effect) nuance “proclamation” (e.g., Exod 36:6; 2 Chr 24:9; 30:5; 36:22; Ezra 1:1; 10:7; Neh 8:15). See BDB 877 s.v. 3.a.2.

18 sn For an interesting extrabiblical parallel to this edict see the Cyrus cylinder (ANET 315-16).

19 tn Heb “in writing, saying.”

13 sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6-73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.

14 tn Heb “the sons of.”

15 tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”

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

16 sn Darius I Hystaspes ruled Persia ca. 522–486 b.c.

19 sn If the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7:1 is Artaxerxes I Longimanus (ca. 464–423 B.C.), Ezra must have arrived in Jerusalem ca. 458 B.C., since Ezra 7:7-8 connects the time of his arrival to the seventh year of the king. The arrival of Nehemiah is then linked to the twentieth year of the king (Neh 1:1), or ca. 445 B.C. Some scholars, however, have suggested that Ezra 7:7 should be read as “the thirty-seventh year” rather than “the seventh year.” This would have Ezra coming to Jerusalem after, rather than before, the arrival of Nehemiah. Others have taken the seventh year of Ezra 7:7-8 to refer not to Artaxerxes I but to Artaxerxes II, who ruled ca. 404–358 B.C. In this understanding Ezra would have returned to Jerusalem ca. 398 B.C., a good many years after the return of Nehemiah. Neither of these views is certain, however, and it seems better to retain the traditional understanding of the chronological sequence of returns by Ezra and Nehemiah. With this understanding there is a gap of about fifty-eight years between chapter six, which describes the dedication of the temple in 516 b.c., and chapter seven, which opens with Ezra’s coming to Jerusalem in 458 b.c.

20 tn The words “came up from Babylon” do not appear in the Hebrew text until v. 6. They have been supplied here for the sake of clarity.

22 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).

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

25 tn Heb “silver.”

26 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

27 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

28 tn Heb “to the sea”

28 sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

29 tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

30 sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

31 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

32 tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

33 tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran MS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

34 tn Heb “days.”

35 sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

36 sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.

34 tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

37 tn Heb “And in the days.”

38 tn The LXX understands this word as a prepositional phrase (“in peace”) rather than as a proper name (“Bishlam”). Taken this way it would suggest that Mithredath was “in agreement with” the contents of Tabeel’s letter. Some scholars regard the word in the MT to be a corruption of either “in Jerusalem” (i.e., “in the matter of Jerusalem”) or “in the name of Jerusalem.” The translation adopted above follows the traditional understanding of the word as a name.

39 tc The translation reads the plural with the Qere rather than the singular found in the MT Kethib.

40 sn Artaxerxes I ruled in Persia from ca. 465–425 b.c.

41 tc It is preferable to delete the MT’s וּכְתָב (ukhÿtav) here.

42 sn The double reference in v. 7 to the Aramaic language is difficult. It would not make sense to say that the letter was written in Aramaic and then translated into Aramaic. Some interpreters understand the verse to mean that the letter was written in the Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language, but this does not seem to give sufficient attention to the participle “translated” at the end of the verse. The second reference to Aramaic in the verse is more probably a gloss that calls attention to the fact that the following verses retain the Aramaic language of the letter in its original linguistic form. A similar reference to Aramaic occurs in Dan 2:4b, where the language of that book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12-26 are written in Aramaic, whereas the rest of the book is written in Hebrew.

40 tn Aram “fathers.”

41 tn Aram “hand” (singular).

42 sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.

43 tn Aram “people.”

44 tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

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

49 tn Heb “heart.”

50 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.

51 tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”