Haggai 1:14

1:14 So the Lord energized and encouraged ¹  Zerubbabel ²  son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, ³  and the whole remnant of the people. ⁴  They came and worked on the temple of their God, the Lord who rules over all.

Ezra 1:8

1:8 King Cyrus of Persia entrusted ⁵  them to ⁶  Mithredath ⁷  the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar ⁸  the leader of the Judahite exiles. ⁹ 

Ezra 2:63

2:63 The governor ¹⁰  instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult ¹¹  the Urim and Thummim.

Nehemiah 8:9

8:9 Then Nehemiah the governor, ¹²  Ezra the priestly scribe, ¹³  and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, ¹⁴  “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.

¹ tn Heb “stirred up” (as in many English versions). Only one verb appears in the Hebrew text, but the translation “energized and encouraged” brings out its sense in this context. Cf. TEV “inspired”; NLT “sparked the enthusiasm of”; CEV “made everyone eager to work.”

² tn Heb “the spirit of Zerubbabel” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

³ tn Heb “the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest” (as in many English versions), but this is subject to misunderstanding. See the note on the name “Jehozadak” at the end of v. 1.

⁴ tn Heb “and the spirit of all the remnant of the people.” The Hebrew phrase שְׁאֵרִית הָעָם (shÿ’erit ha’am) in this postexilic context is used as a technical term to refer to the returned remnant; see the note on the phrase “the whole remnant of the people” in v. 12.

⁵ tn Heb “brought them forth.”

⁶ tn Heb “upon the hand of.”

⁷ sn A Persian name meaning “gift of Mithras.” See HALOT 656 s.v. מִתְרְדָת.

⁸ sn A Babylonian name with the probable meaning “Shamash protect the father.” See HALOT 1664-65 s.v. שֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר.

⁹ tn Heb “Sheshbazzar the prince to Judah”; TEV, CEV “the governor of Judah.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word תִּרְשָׁתָא (tirshata’) is an official title of the Persian governor in Judea, perhaps similar in meaning to “excellency” (BDB 1077 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 395).

¹¹ tn Heb “to stand.”

¹² tc The unexpected reference to Nehemiah here has led some scholars to suspect that the phrase “Nehemiah the governor” is a later addition to the text and not original.

¹³ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the people.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.