Ezra 4:2-3

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ¹  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ²  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ³  from the time ⁴  of King Esarhaddon ⁵  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ⁶  4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁷  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ⁸  of the king of Assyria ⁹  toward them, so that he assisted ¹⁰  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Ezra 9:9

9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ¹¹  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ¹²  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹³ 

Ezra 10:1

The People Confess Their Sins

10:1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself to the ground before the temple of God, a very large crowd of Israelites – men, women, and children alike – gathered around him. The people wept loudly. ¹⁴ 

Ezra 10:6

10:6 Then Ezra got up from in front of the temple of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he stayed ¹⁵  there, he did not eat food or drink water, for he was in mourning over the infidelity of the exiles.

Ezra 10:13

10:13 However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. ¹⁶  We are unable to stand here outside. Furthermore, this business cannot be resolved in a day or two, for we have sinned greatly in this matter.

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

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

[4:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “days.”

[4:2]  ⁵ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

[4:2]  ⁶ 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.

[4:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

[6:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “heart.”

[6:22]  ¹⁴ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

[6:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

[9:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

[9:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[9:9]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “with much weeping.”

[10:6]  ³¹ tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.

[10:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the time [is] rain showers.”