Ezra 4:20

4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates ¹  and who were the beneficiaries of ²  tribute, custom, and toll.

Ezra 6:6

6:6 “Now Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and their colleagues, the officials of Trans-Euphrates – all of you stay far away from there!

Ezra 2:63

2:63 The governor ³  instructed them not to eat any of the sacred food until there was a priest who could consult ⁴  the Urim and Thummim.

Ezra 4:10

4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal ⁵  deported and settled in the cities ⁶  of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. ⁷ 

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! ⁸ 

Ezra 5:6

5:6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates sent to King Darius.

Ezra 4:11

4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)

“To King Artaxerxes, ⁹  from your servants in ¹⁰  Trans-Euphrates:

Ezra 6:2

6:2 A scroll was found in the citadel ¹¹  of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:

“Memorandum:

Ezra 6:7

6:7 Leave the work on this temple of God alone. ¹²  Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this temple of God in its proper place.

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. ¹³ 

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 ¹⁴  to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?” ¹⁵ 

Ezra 6:8

6:8 “I also hereby issue orders as to what you are to do with those elders of the Jews in order to rebuild this temple of God. From the royal treasury, from the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men, so that there may be no interruption of the work. ¹⁶ 

Ezra 4:16

4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control ¹⁷  of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”

Ezra 8:36

8:36 Then they presented the decrees of the king to the king’s satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.

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 ¹⁸  for him in Jerusalem, ¹⁹  which is in Judah.

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 4:15

4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records ²⁴  of his predecessors ²⁵  and discover in those records ²⁶  that this city is rebellious ²⁷  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts ²⁸  from long ago. ²⁹  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

Ezra 5:8

5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, ³⁰  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ³¹  Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you –

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, ³²  appoint judges ³³  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 10:9

10:9 All the men of Judah and Benjamin were gathered in Jerusalem within the three days. (It was in the ninth month, on the twentieth day of that month.) All the people sat in the square at the temple of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the rains.

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 ³⁴  of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented ³⁵  to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor.

[4:20]  ¹ sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.

[4:20]  ² tn Aram “were being given to them.”

[2:63]  ³ tn The Hebrew word תִּרְשָׁתָא (tirshata’) is an official title of the Persian governor in Judea, perhaps similar in meaning to “excellency” (BDB 1077 s.v.; HALOT 1798 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 395).

[2:63]  ⁴ tn Heb “to stand.”

[4:10]  ⁵ tn Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal.

[4:10]  sn Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria in 669 B.C. Around 645 B.C. he sacked the city of Susa, capital of Elam, and apparently some of these people were exiled to Samaria and other places.

[4:10]  ⁶ tc The translation reads with the ancient versions the plural בְּקֻרְיַהּ (bÿquryah, “in the cities”) rather than the singular (“in the city”) of the MT.

[4:10]  ⁷ tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.

[4:17]  ⁸ tn Aram “peace.”

[4:11]  ⁹ tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.

[4:11]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “men of.”

[6:2]  ¹¹ tc The translation reads בִירְתָא (birta’, citadel”) rather than the reading בְּבִירְתָא (bÿvireta’, “in the citadel”) found in the MT. The MT probably experienced dittography here.

[6:7]  ¹² tc For the MT reading “the work on this temple of God” the LXX reads “the servant of the Lord Zurababel” [= Zerubbabel].

[6:13]  ¹³ tn Aram “sent.”

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ 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).

[6:8]  ¹⁶ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:16]  ¹⁷ tn Aram “will not be to you.”

[1:2]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[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.

[4:15]  ²⁴ tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

[4:15]  ²⁵ tn Aram “of your fathers.”

[4:15]  ²⁶ tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

[4:15]  ²⁷ tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”

[4:15]  ²⁸ tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

[4:15]  ²⁹ tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.

[5:8]  ³⁰ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

[7:21]  ³¹ tn Aram “who are in.”

[7:25]  ³² tn Aram “in your hand.”

[7:25]  ³³ tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).

[5:14]  ³⁴ tn Or “temple.”

[5:14]  ³⁵ tn Aram “they were given.”