Ezra 4:12-13

4:12 Now ¹  let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. ²  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations. 4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury ³  will suffer loss.

Ezra 5:2-3

5:2 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began ⁴  to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

5:3 At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority ⁵  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ⁶ 

Ezra 5:8

5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, ⁷  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ⁸  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ⁹  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ¹⁰  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ¹¹  feet, ¹² 

Ezra 6:8

6:8 “I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹³ 

Ezra 5:17

5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, ¹⁴  let a search be conducted in the royal archives ¹⁵  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.”

[4:12]  ¹ tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.

[4:12]  ² sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.

[4:13]  ³ tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.

[5:2]  ⁵ tn Aram “arose and began.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.

[5:3]  ⁸ 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).

[5:8]  ⁹ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

[6:3]  ¹¹ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ¹³ tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ¹⁴ tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “twenty cubits” here, a measurement probably derived from dimensions given elsewhere for Solomon’s temple. According to 1 Kgs 6:2 the dimensions of the Solomonic temple were as follows: length, 60 cubits; width, 20 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Since one would expect the dimensions cited in Ezra 6:3 to correspond to those of Solomon’s temple, it is odd that no dimension for length is provided. The Syriac has apparently harmonized the width dimension provided here (“twenty cubits”) to that given in 1 Kgs 6:2.

[6:3]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “Its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

[6:8]  ¹³ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:17]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”

[5:17]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”