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 1:4

1:4 Anyone who survives in any of those places where he is a resident foreigner must be helped by his neighbors ³  with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Ezra 2:1

The Names of the Returning Exiles

2:1 ⁴ These are the people ⁵  of the province who were going up, ⁶  from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem ⁷  and Judah, each to his own city.

Ezra 4:12

4:12 Now ⁸  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. ⁹  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ¹⁰  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ¹¹  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ¹²  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ¹³  feet, ¹⁴ 

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 ¹⁵  the priests who are in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without any neglect,

Ezra 7:17

7:17 With this money you should be sure to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, along with the appropriate ¹⁶  meal offerings and libations. You should bring them to the altar of the temple of your God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 9:9

9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us ¹⁷  to restore the temple of our God and to raise ¹⁸  up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ 

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.

[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.

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “the men of his place.”

[2:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of.”

[2:1]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:12]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ¹¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ¹² tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[6:9]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “according to the word of.”

[7:17]  ¹⁶ tn Aram “their meal offerings and their libations.”

[9:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”

[9:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to cause to stand.”

[9:9]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.