Ezra 4:1

Opposition to the Building Efforts

4:1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles ¹  were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel,

Ezra 4:10

4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal ²  deported and settled in the cities ³  of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. ⁴ 

Ezra 7:15

7:15 and to bring silver and gold which the king and his advisers have freely contributed to the God of Israel, who resides in Jerusalem,

Ezra 8:26

8:26 I weighed out to them ⁵  650 talents of silver, silver vessels worth 100 talents, ⁶  100 talents of gold,

Ezra 8:28

8:28 Then I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, just as these vessels are holy. The silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of the exile.”

[4:10]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.

[8:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “upon their hand.”

[8:26]  ⁶ tn Possibly “100 silver vessels worth [?] talents” or “silver vessels weighing 100 talents.”