Ezra 4:15

4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records ¹  of his predecessors ²  and discover in those records ³  that this city is rebellious ⁴  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts ⁵  from long ago. ⁶  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

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 6:8

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. ⁸ 

Ezra 6:11-12

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ⁹  on it, and his house is to be reduced ¹⁰  to a rubbish heap ¹¹  for this indiscretion. ¹²  6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ¹³  who reaches out ¹⁴  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  against the empire of the king and his sons?

[4:15]  ¹ tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

[4:15]  ² tn Aram “of your fathers.”

[4:15]  ³ tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

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

[4:15]  ⁵ tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.

[5:8]  ⁷ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

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

[6:11]  ¹⁹ sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

[6:11]  ²⁰ tn Aram “made.”

[6:11]  ²¹ tn Aram “a dunghill.”

[6:11]  ²² tn Aram “for this.”

[6:12]  ²⁵ tn Aram “people.”

[6:12]  ²⁶ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

[7:21]  ³¹ tn Aram “who are in.”

[7:23]  ³⁷ 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.