7:12 2 “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the perfect law of the God of heaven:
7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, 7 appoint judges 8 and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.
7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of 17 Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you –
9:10 “And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments
7:11 What follows 22 is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. 23 Ezra was 24 a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:
1 tn On the meaning of this word see HALOT 1820-21 s.v. אָסְפַּרְנָא; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 14.
2 sn Ezra 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic rather than Hebrew.
3 tn Heb “established his heart.”
4 tn Heb “to do and to teach.” The expression may be a hendiadys, in which case it would have the sense of “effectively teaching.”
4 tn Aram “sent.”
5 tn Aram “in your hand.”
5 tn Aram “in your hand.”
6 tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).
6 tn Heb “cut.”
7 tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.
8 tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”
7 sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.
8 tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”
9 tn Heb “his brothers.”
10 tn Heb “arose and built.”
11 tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.
8 tn Aram “who are in.”
9 tn Aram “we are making known to you.”
10 tn The Hebrew phrase אֶת חַג־הַסֻּכּוֹת (’et khag-hassukot, “festival of huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
11 tn Heb “according to what is written.”
12 tn Heb “by number.”
11 tn Heb “this.”
12 tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.” So also in v. 21.
13 tn The words “Ezra was” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
12 tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.