Ezra 4:24

4:24 So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. ¹ 

Ezra 4:21

4:21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. ² 

Ezra 4:23

4:23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem ³  and stopped them with threat of armed force. ⁴ 

Ezra 8:32

8:32 So we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there for three days.

Ezra 5:5

5:5 But God was watching over ⁵  the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped ⁶  until a report could be dispatched ⁷  to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.

Ezra 4:4

4:4 Then the local people ⁸  began to discourage ⁹  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Ezra 9:5

9:5 At the time of the evening offering I got up from my self-abasement, ¹⁰  with my tunic and robe torn, and then dropped to my knees and spread my hands to the Lord my God.

Ezra 8:15

The Exiles Travel to Jerusalem

8:15 I had them assemble ¹¹  at the canal ¹²  that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there for three days. I observed that the people and the priests were present, but I found no Levites there.

[4:24]  ¹ sn Darius I Hystaspes ruled Persia ca. 522–486 b.c.

[4:21]  ² tn Aram “until a command is issued from me.”

[4:23]  ³ tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”

[4:23]  ⁴ tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Aram “the eye of their God was on.” The idiom describes the attentive care that one exercises in behalf of the object of his concern.

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Aram “they did not stop them.”

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.

[4:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.

[4:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word used here is a hapax legomenon. It refers to the self-abasement that accompanies religious sorrow and fasting.

[8:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “I gathered them.”

[8:15]  ¹² tn Heb “river.” So also in vv. 21, 31.