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 ¹  for him in Jerusalem, ²  which is in Judah.

Ezra 3:10

3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ³  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ⁴  King David of Israel. ⁵ 

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ⁶  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ⁷  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ⁸  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ⁹  feet, ¹⁰ 

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, ¹¹  appoint judges ¹²  and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.

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 ¹³  priests, have been delivered over by the local kings ¹⁴  to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ¹⁵  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ¹⁶  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 9:13

9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint ¹⁷  toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.

[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.

[3:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

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

[6:3]  ⁶ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ⁸ tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ⁹ tc The Syriac Peshitta reads “twenty cubits” here, a measurement probably derived from dimensions given elsewhere for Solomon’s temple. According to 1 Kgs 6:2 the dimensions of the Solomonic temple were as follows: length, 60 cubits; width, 20 cubits; height, 30 cubits. Since one would expect the dimensions cited in Ezra 6:3 to correspond to those of Solomon’s temple, it is odd that no dimension for length is provided. The Syriac has apparently harmonized the width dimension provided here (“twenty cubits”) to that given in 1 Kgs 6:2.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “Its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) long.

[7:25]  ¹¹ tn Aram “in your hand.”

[7:25]  ¹² tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).

[9:7]  ¹³ tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”

[9:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).