Ezra 10:12

10:12 All the assembly replied in a loud voice: “We will do just as you have said! ¹ 

Ezra 9:10

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

Ezra 5:4

5:4 They ²  also asked them, “What are the names of the men who are building this edifice?”

Ezra 10:10

10:10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.

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 8:28

8:28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

Ezra 10:5

10:5 So Ezra got up and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath to carry out this plan. ³  And they all took a solemn oath.

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ⁴  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ⁵  who were the temple servants in ⁶  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

Ezra 10:2

10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, from the descendants of Elam, ⁷  addressed Ezra:

“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying ⁸  foreign women from the local peoples. ⁹  Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. ¹⁰ 

Ezra 9:6

9:6 I prayed, ¹¹ 

“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.

Ezra 9:1

A Prayer of Ezra

9:1 Now when these things had been completed, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the local residents ¹²  who practice detestable things similar to those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ¹³  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ¹⁴  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ¹⁵  from the time ¹⁶  of King Esarhaddon ¹⁷  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ¹⁸ 

Ezra 8:22

8:22 I was embarrassed to request soldiers and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy ¹⁹  along the way, because we had said to the king, “The good hand of our God is on everyone who is seeking him, but his great anger ²⁰  is against everyone who forsakes him.”

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ²¹  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ²²  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 7:11

Artaxerxes Gives Official Endorsement to Ezra’s Mission

7:11 What follows ²³  is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priestly scribe. ²⁴  Ezra was ²⁵  a scribe in matters pertaining to the commandments of the Lord and his statutes over Israel:

Ezra 9:3

9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

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 ²⁶  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ²⁷ 

Ezra 7:27

7:27 ²⁸ Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who so moved in the heart of the king to so honor the temple of the Lord which is in Jerusalem!

Ezra 6:9

6:9 Whatever is needed – whether oxen or rams or lambs or burnt offerings for the God of heaven or wheat or salt or wine or oil, as required by ²⁹  the priests who are in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without any neglect,

Ezra 1:1

The Decree of Cyrus

1:1 ³⁰ In the first ³¹  year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message ³²  spoken through ³³  Jeremiah, ³⁴  the Lord stirred the mind ³⁵  of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated ³⁶  a proclamation ³⁷  throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict ³⁸  the following: ³⁹ 

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁴⁰  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 10:13

10:13 However, the people are numerous and it is the rainy season. ⁴¹  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.

Ezra 3:8

3:8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, ⁴²  in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work, ⁴³  along with the rest of their associates, ⁴⁴  the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed ⁴⁵  the Levites who were at least twenty years old ⁴⁶  to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple.

Ezra 5:14

5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace ⁴⁷  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ⁴⁸  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

[10:12]  ¹ tn Heb “thus according to your word [singular = Qere] concerning us, to do.”

[5:4]  ² tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta אֲמַרוּ (’amaru, “they said”) rather than the reading אֲמַרְנָא (’amarna’, “we said”) of the MT.

[10:5]  ³ tn Heb “to do according to this plan.”

[8:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

[8:17]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:2]  ⁷ tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew MSS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate עֵילָם (’elam, “Elam”) rather than the reading עוֹלָם (’olam, “eternity”) found in the MT.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.

[10:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[10:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “upon this.”

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I said.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.” So also in v. 2.

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “days.”

[4:2]  ¹⁷ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

[4:2]  ¹⁸ 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.

[8:22]  ¹⁹ tn A number of modern translations regard this as a collective singular and translate “from enemies” (also in v. 31).

[8:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his strength and his anger.” The expression is a hendiadys (one concept expressed through two terms).

[9:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

[9:11]  ²² tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[7:11]  ²³ tn Heb “this.”

[7:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the priest, the scribe.” So also in v. 21.

[7:11]  ²⁵ tn The words “Ezra was” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁶ tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.

[5:3]  ²⁷ 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).

[7:27]  ²⁸ sn At this point the language of the book reverts from Aramaic (7:12-26) back to Hebrew.

[6:9]  ²⁹ tn Aram “according to the word of.”

[1:1]  ³⁰ sn In addition to the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are two deuterocanonical books that are also called “Ezra.” Exactly how these books are designated varies in ancient literature. In the Septuagint (LXX) canonical Ezra is called Second Esdras, but in the Latin Vulgate it is called First Esdras. Our Nehemiah is called Third Esdras in some manuscripts of the LXX, but it is known as Second Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. (In the earliest LXX manuscripts Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as one book, as they were in some Hebrew manuscripts.) The deuterocanonical books of Ezra are called First and Fourth Esdras in the LXX, but Third and Fourth Esdras in the Latin Vulgate. The titles for the so-called books of Ezra are thus rather confusing, a fact that one must keep in mind when consulting this material.

[1:1]  ³¹ sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539 B.C. Cyrus reigned in Persia from ca. 539-530 B.C.

[1:1]  ³² tn Heb “the word of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ³³ tc The MT reads מִפִּי (mippi, “from the mouth of”), but this should probably be emended to בְּפִי (bÿfi, “by the mouth of”), which is the way the parallel passage in 2 Chr 36:22 reads. This is also reflected in the LXX, which is either reflecting an alternate textual tradition of בְּפִי or is attempting to harmonize Ezra 1:1 in light of 2 Chronicles.

[1:1]  tn Heb “from the mouth of.”

[1:1]  ³⁴ sn Cf. Jer 29:10; 25:11-14. Jeremiah had prophesied that after a time of seventy years the Jews would return “to this place.” How these seventy years are to be reckoned is a matter of debate among scholars. Some understand the period to refer to the approximate length of Babylon’s ascendancy as a world power, beginning either with the fall of Nineveh (612 b.c.) or with Nebuchadnezzar’s coronation (605 b.c.) and continuing till the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 b.c. Others take the seventy years to refer to the period from the destruction of the temple in 586 b.c. till its rebuilding in 516 b.c.

[1:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “spirit.” The Hebrew noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) has a broad range of meanings (see BDB 924-26 s.v.). Here, it probably refers to (1) “mind” as the seat of mental acts (e.g., Exod 28:3; Deut 34:9; Isa 29:24; 40:13; Ezek 11:5; 20:32; 1 Chr 28:12; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 6) or (2) “will” as the seat of volitional decisions (e.g., Exod 35:5, 22; Pss 51:12, 14; 57:8; 2 Chr 29:31; cf. BDB 925 s.v. 7). So also in v. 5.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “caused to pass.”

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “a voice.” The Hebrew noun קוֹל (qol, “voice, sound”) has a broad range of meanings, including the metonymical (cause – effect) nuance “proclamation” (e.g., Exod 36:6; 2 Chr 24:9; 30:5; 36:22; Ezra 1:1; 10:7; Neh 8:15). See BDB 877 s.v. 3.a.2.

[1:1]  ³⁸ sn For an interesting extrabiblical parallel to this edict see the Cyrus cylinder (ANET 315-16).

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in writing, saying.”

[4:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

[10:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the time [is] rain showers.”

[3:8]  ⁴² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “began”; the phrase “the work” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[3:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “their brothers.”

[3:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “stood.”

[3:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “from twenty years and upward.”

[5:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “temple.”

[5:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Aram “they were given.”