Ezra 10:44

10:44 All these had taken foreign wives, and some of them also had children by these women. ¹ 

Ezra 2:59

2:59 These are the ones that came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon, and Immer (although they were unable to certify ²  their family connection ³  or their ancestry, ⁴  as to whether they really were from Israel):

Ezra 6:20

6:20 The priests and the Levites had purified themselves, every last one, ⁵  and they all were ceremonially pure. They sacrificed the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their colleagues ⁶  the priests, and for themselves.

Ezra 8:25

8:25 and I weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the vessels intended for the temple of our God – items that the king, his advisers, his officials, and all Israel who were present had contributed.

Ezra 9:2

9:2 Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race ⁷  has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ⁸  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ⁹  and that of those who respect ¹⁰  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ¹¹  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ¹²  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ¹³  from the time ¹⁴  of King Esarhaddon ¹⁵  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ¹⁶ 

[10:44]  ¹ tc The final statement in v. 44 is difficult in terms of both its syntax and its meaning. The present translation attempts to make sense of the MT. But the passage may have undergone corruption in the transmission process. One proposal is that the text should be emended to read “and they sent these wives and children away” (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

[2:59]  ² tn Heb “relate.”

[2:59]  ³ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

[2:59]  ⁴ tn Heb “their seed.”

[6:20]  ³ tn Heb “as one.” The expression is best understood as referring to the unity shown by the religious leaders in preparing themselves for the observance of Passover. On the meaning of the Hebrew phrase see DCH 1:182 s.v. אֶחָד 3b. See also HALOT 30 s.v. אֶחָד 5.

[6:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

[9:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.

[10:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “cut.”

[10:3]  ⁶ 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.

[10:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

[4:2]  ⁸ tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran MS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “days.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

[4:2]  ¹¹ sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.