Ezra 1:1

The Decree of Cyrus

1:1 ¹ In the first ²  year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the Lord’s message ³  spoken through ⁴  Jeremiah, ⁵  the Lord stirred the mind ⁶  of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated ⁷  a proclamation ⁸  throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict ⁹  the following: ¹⁰ 

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 3:9-10

3:9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives, ¹¹  Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah ¹² ), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives ¹³  the Levites. 3:10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions, ¹⁴  and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by ¹⁵  King David of Israel. ¹⁶ 

Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ¹⁷  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ¹⁸  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ¹⁹  from the time ²⁰  of King Esarhaddon ²¹  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ²² 

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, ²³  and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands.

Ezra 5:12

5:12 But after our ancestors ²⁴  angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands ²⁵  of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. ²⁶ 

Ezra 5:17

5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, ²⁷  let a search be conducted in the royal archives ²⁸  there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ²⁹  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ³⁰  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ³¹  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ³²  feet, ³³ 

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ³⁴  Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you –

[1:1]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539 B.C. Cyrus reigned in Persia from ca. 539-530 B.C.

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “the word of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “caused to pass.”

[1:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn For an interesting extrabiblical parallel to this edict see the Cyrus cylinder (ANET 315-16).

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in writing, saying.”

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:9]  ¹² sn The name יְהוּדָה (Yehudah; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB “Judah”) is probably a variant of Hodaviah (see Ezra 2:40; cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “brothers.”

[3:10]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to the hands of.”

[3:10]  ¹⁶ sn See Ps 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1. Cf. 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3; 20:21.

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

[4:2]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “days.”

[4:2]  ²¹ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

[4:2]  ²² 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.

[5:8]  ²³ tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.

[5:12]  ²⁴ tn Aram “fathers.”

[5:12]  ²⁵ tn Aram “hand” (singular).

[5:12]  ²⁶ sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.

[5:17]  ²⁷ tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”

[5:17]  ²⁸ tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”

[6:3]  ²⁹ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ³¹ tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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.

[7:21]  ³⁴ tn Aram “who are in.”