Ezra 4:12

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.

Ezra 4:15

4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records ³  of his predecessors ⁴  and discover in those records ⁵  that this city is rebellious ⁶  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts ⁷  from long ago. ⁸  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

Ezra 4:23

4:23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ⁹  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ¹⁰ 

Ezra 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors ¹¹  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ¹²  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ¹³ 

Ezra 6:5

6:5 Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’

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. ¹⁴ 

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ¹⁵  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.

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ¹⁶  Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you –

Ezra 7:23

7:23 Everything that the God of heaven has required should be precisely done for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath ¹⁷  against the empire of the king and his sons?

Ezra 7:26

7:26 Everyone who does not observe both the law of your God and the law of the king will be completely ¹⁸  liable to the appropriate penalty, whether it is death or banishment or confiscation of property or detainment in prison.”

[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.

[4:15]  ³ tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

[4:15]  ⁴ tn Aram “of your fathers.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

[4:15]  ⁸ tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.

[4:23]  ⁵ tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”

[4:23]  ⁶ tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Aram “fathers.”

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Aram “hand” (singular).

[5:12]  ⁹ sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.

[6:8]  ⁹ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

[7:21]  ¹³ tn Aram “who are in.”

[7:23]  ¹⁵ tn The Aramaic word used here for “wrath” (קְצַף, qÿtsaf; cf. Heb קָצַף, qatsaf) is usually used in the Hebrew Bible for God’s anger as opposed to human anger (but contra Eccl 5:17 [MT 5:16]; Esth 1:18; 2 Kgs 3:27). The fact that this word is used in v. 23 may have theological significance, pointing to the possibility of divine judgment if the responsible parties should fail to make available these provisions for the temple.

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn On the meaning of this word see HALOT 1820-21 s.v. אָסְפַּרְנָא; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 14.