6:1 So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives 2 of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon. 6:2 A scroll was found in the citadel 3 of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:
“Memorandum:
1:5 Then the leaders 4 of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready 5 to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6
9:14 So the king issued orders for this to be done. A law was passed in Susa, and the ten sons of Haman were hanged.
148:6 He established them so they would endure; 11
he issued a decree that will not be revoked. 12
1 sn Cyrus was actually a Persian king, but when he conquered Babylon in 539
2 tn Aram “the house of the archives.”
3 tc The translation reads בִירְתָא (birta’, citadel”) rather than the reading בְּבִירְתָא (bÿvireta’, “in the citadel”) found in the MT. The MT probably experienced dittography here.
4 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
5 tn Heb “arose.”
6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
7 tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”
8 tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).
9 tn Heb “with the word of the king.”
10 sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.
11 tn Or “forever and ever.”
12 tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”