Zechariah 4:9

4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, ¹  and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.

Ezra 6:14-15

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ²  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. 6:15 They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth ³  year of the reign of King Darius.

Isaiah 44:26-28

44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ⁴ 

and brings to pass the announcements ⁵  of his messengers,

who says about Jerusalem, ⁶  ‘She will be inhabited,’

and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,

her ruins I will raise up,’

44:27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!

I will dry up your sea currents,’

44:28 who commissions ⁷  Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd ⁸ 

to carry out all my wishes ⁹ 

and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’

and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’” ¹⁰ 

Haggai 1:14

1:14 So the Lord energized and encouraged ¹¹  Zerubbabel ¹²  son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, ¹³  and the whole remnant of the people. ¹⁴  They came and worked on the temple of their God, the Lord who rules over all.

¹ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).

² tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

³ sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 B.C.

⁴ tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.

⁵ tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.

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 “says to.” It is possible that the sentence is not completed, as the description of Cyrus and his God-given role is developed in the rest of the verse. 45:1 picks up where 44:28a leaves off with the Lord’s actual words to Cyrus finally being quoted in 45:2.

⁸ tn Heb “my shepherd.” The shepherd motif is sometimes applied, as here, to a royal figure who is responsible for the well-being of the people whom he rules.

⁹ tn Heb “that he might bring to completion all my desire.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and [concerning the] temple, you will be founded.” The preposition -לְ (lÿ) is understood by ellipsis at the beginning of the second line. The verb תִּוָּסֵד (tivvased, “you will be founded”) is second masculine singular and is probably addressed to the personified temple (הֵיכָל [hekhal, “temple”] is masculine).

¹¹ 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.”

¹² tn Heb “the spirit of Zerubbabel” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.