Ezra 9:10

9:10 “And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments

Ezra 4:8

4:8 Rehum the commander ¹  and Shimshai the scribe ²  wrote a letter concerning ³  Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

Ezra 7:11

Artaxerxes Gives Official Endorsement to Ezra’s Mission

7:11 What follows ⁴  is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. ⁵  Ezra was ⁶  a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:

Ezra 9:14

9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

Ezra 6:14

6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time ⁷  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 4:21

4:21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. ⁸ 

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁹  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 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ¹⁰  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ¹¹  and that of those who respect ¹²  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 4:9

4:9 From ¹³  Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, ¹⁴  the Elamites),

Ezra 4:17

4:17 The king sent the following response:

“To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Trans-Euphrates: Greetings! ¹⁵ 

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?

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ¹⁷  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ¹⁸  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 4:19

4:19 So I gave orders, ¹⁹  and it was determined ²⁰  that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in ²¹  rebellion and revolt.

Ezra 5:9

5:9 We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’

Ezra 5:3

5:3 At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority ²²  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ²³ 

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ²⁴  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ²⁵  who were the temple servants in ²⁶  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

Ezra 6:13

The Temple Is Finally Dedicated

6:13 Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly – with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions. ²⁷ 

Ezra 1:2

1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:

“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple ²⁸  for him in Jerusalem, ²⁹  which is in Judah.

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ³⁰  who reaches out ³¹  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!”

[4:8]  ¹ tn Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17.

[4:8]  ² sn Like Rehum, Shimshai was apparently a fairly high-ranking official charged with overseeing Persian interests in this part of the empire. His title was “scribe” or “secretary,” but in a more elevated political sense than that word sometimes has elsewhere. American governmental titles such as “Secretary of State” perhaps provide an analogy in that the word “secretary” can have a broad range of meaning.

[4:8]  ³ tn Or perhaps “against.”

[7:11]  ¹ tn Heb “this.”

[7:11]  ² tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.” So also in v. 21.

[7:11]  ³ tn The words “Ezra was” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ¹ tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.

[4:21]  ¹ tn Aram “until a command is issued from me.”

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “cut.”

[10:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

[4:9]  ¹ tn Aram “then.” What follows in v. 9 seems to be the preface of the letter, serving to identify the senders of the letter. The word “from” is not in the Aramaic text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:9]  ² tn For the qere of the MT (דֶּהָיֵא, dehaye’, a proper name) it seems better to retain the Kethib דִּהוּא (dihu’, “that is”). See F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 25, §35; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 36.

[4:17]  ¹ tn Aram “peace.”

[7:23]  ¹ 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.

[9:11]  ¹ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

[9:11]  ² tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[4:19]  ¹ tn Aram “from me was placed a decree.”

[4:19]  ² tn Aram “and they searched and found.”

[4:19]  ³ tn Aram “are being done.”

[5:3]  ¹ tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.

[5:3]  ² 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).

[8:17]  ¹ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

[8:17]  ² tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

[8:17]  ³ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:13]  ¹ tn Aram “sent.”

[1:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).

[1:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:12]  ¹ tn Aram “people.”

[6:12]  ² tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”