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 4:22

4:22 Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”

Ezra 5:4

5:4 They 1  also asked them, “What are the names of the men who are building this edifice?”

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 2  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” 3 

Ezra 6:11

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled 4  on it, and his house is to be reduced 5  to a rubbish heap 6  for this indiscretion. 7 

Ezra 7:17

7:17 With this money you should be sure to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, along with the appropriate 8  meal offerings and libations. You should bring them to the altar of the temple of your God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:11

4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)

“To King Artaxerxes, 9  from your servants in 10  Trans-Euphrates:

Ezra 4:14

4:14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, 11  and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, 12  we are sending the king this information 13 

Ezra 4:16

4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control 14  of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over 15  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped 16  until a report could be dispatched 17  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 5:13

5:13 But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, 18  King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

Ezra 6:15-16

6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth 19  year of the reign of King Darius.

6:16 The people 20  of Israel – the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles 21  – observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy.

Ezra 4:15

4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records 22  of his predecessors 23  and discover in those records 24  that this city is rebellious 25  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts 26  from long ago. 27  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

Ezra 5:11-12

5:11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king 28  of Israel built it and completed it. 5:12 But after our ancestors 29  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands 30  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. 31 

Ezra 6:17

6:17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Ezra 7:24

7:24 Furthermore, be aware of the fact 32  that you have no authority to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or the attendants at the temple of this God.

Ezra 5:17

5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, 33  let a search be conducted in the royal archives 34  there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

1 tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta אֲמַרוּ (’amaru, “they said”) rather than the reading אֲמַרְנָא (’amarna’, “we said”) of the MT.

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

2 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).

1 sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

2 tn Aram “made.”

3 tn Aram “a dunghill.”

4 tn Aram “for this.”

1 tn Aram “their meal offerings and their libations.”

1 tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.

2 tn Aram “men of.”

1 tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”

2 tn Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”

3 tn Aram “and we have made known.”

1 tn Aram “will not be to you.”

1 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.

2 tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

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

1 sn Cyrus was actually a Persian king, but when he conquered Babylon in 539 b.c. he apparently appropriated to himself the additional title “king of Babylon.” The Syriac Peshitta substitutes “Persia” for “Babylon” here, but this is probably a hyper-correction.

1 sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

1 tn Aram “sons of.”

2 tn Aram “sons of the exile.”

1 tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

2 tn Aram “of your fathers.”

3 tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

4 tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”

5 tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

6 tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.

1 sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.

1 tn Aram “fathers.”

2 tn Aram “hand” (singular).

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

1 tn Aram “we are making known to you.”

1 tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”

2 tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”