Ezra 4:19

4:19 So I gave orders, ¹  and it was determined ²  that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in ³  rebellion and revolt.

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ⁴  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ⁵  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ⁶  from the time ⁷  of King Esarhaddon ⁸  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ⁹ 

Ezra 4:15

4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records ¹⁰  of his predecessors ¹¹  and discover in those records ¹²  that this city is rebellious ¹³  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts ¹⁴  from long ago. ¹⁵  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

Ezra 5:16

5:16 Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment ¹⁶  it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’

Ezra 3:6

3:6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord’s temple was not at that time established. ¹⁷ 

Ezra 9:7

9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and ¹⁸  priests, have been delivered over by the local kings ¹⁹  to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.

Ezra 8:20

8:20 and some of the temple servants that David and his officials had established for the work of the Levites – 220 of them. They were all designated by name.

Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 ²⁰ These are the people ²¹  of the province who were going up, ²²  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ²³  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 2:61

2:61 And from among ²⁴  the priests: the descendants of Hobaiah, the descendants of Hakkoz, and the descendants of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite and was called by that ²⁵  name).

Ezra 3:5

3:5 Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ²⁶  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ²⁷  King David of Israel. ²⁸ 

Ezra 4:12

4:12 Now ²⁹  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. ³⁰  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.

[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.”

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

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

[4:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “days.”

[4:2]  ⁸ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

[4:2]  ⁹ 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.

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn Aram “of your fathers.”

[4:15]  ¹² tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

[4:15]  ¹³ tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”

[4:15]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

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

[5:16]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “from then and until now.”

[3:6]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the foundation of the LORD’s temple was not yet laid.

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”

[2:1]  ²⁰ sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6-73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the sons of.”

[2:1]  ²² tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”

[2:1]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:61]  ²⁴ tc The translation reads וּמִן (umin, “and from”) rather than the reading וּמִבּנֵי (umibbÿney, “and from the sons of”) found in the MT.

[2:61]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their.”

[3:10]  ²⁶ sn This was a long, straight, metallic instrument used for signal calls, rather than the traditional ram’s horn (both instruments are typically translated “trumpet” by English versions).

[3:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

[3:10]  ²⁸ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

[4:12]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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.