Ezra 6:11

6:11 “I hereby give orders that if anyone changes this directive a beam is to be pulled out from his house and he is to be raised up and impaled ¹  on it, and his house is to be reduced ²  to a rubbish heap ³  for this indiscretion. ⁴ 

Ezra 6:5

6:5 Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’

Ezra 7:19

7:19 Deliver to ⁵  the God of Jerusalem the vessels that are given to you for the service of the temple of your God.

Ezra 7:26

7:26 Everyone who does not observe both the law of your God and the law of the king will be completely ⁶  liable to the appropriate penalty, whether it is death or banishment or confiscation of property or detainment in prison.”

Ezra 7:21

7:21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of ⁷  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 7:23

7:23 Everything that the God of heaven has required should be precisely done for the temple of the God of heaven. Why should there be wrath ⁸  against the empire of the king and his sons?

Ezra 6:8-9

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. 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 ¹⁰  the priests who are in Jerusalem – must be given to them daily without any neglect,

Ezra 7:25

7:25 “Now you, Ezra, in keeping with the wisdom of your God which you possess, ¹¹  appoint judges ¹²  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 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ¹³  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ¹⁴  who were the temple servants in ¹⁵  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

Ezra 10:7

10:7 A proclamation ¹⁶  was circulated ¹⁷  throughout Judah and Jerusalem ¹⁸  that all the exiles were to be assembled in Jerusalem.

Ezra 6:12

6:12 May God who makes his name to reside there overthrow any king or nation ¹⁹  who reaches out ²⁰  to cause such change so as to destroy this temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have given orders. Let them be carried out with precision!”

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ²¹  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ²²  and that of those who respect ²³  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

Ezra 6:4

6:4 with three layers of large stones ²⁴  and one ²⁵  layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized ²⁶  by the royal treasury. ²⁷ 

Ezra 6:3

6:3 In the first year of his reign, ²⁸  King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ²⁹  ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. ³⁰  Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety ³¹  feet, ³² 

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 ³³  with silver, gold, equipment, and animals, along with voluntary offerings for the temple of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

Ezra 7:17

7:17 With this money you should be sure to purchase bulls, rams, and lambs, along with the appropriate ³⁴  meal offerings and libations. You should bring them to the altar of the temple of your God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 5:13

5:13 But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, ³⁵  King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God.

Ezra 10:4

10:4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”

Ezra 10:14

10:14 Let our leaders take steps ³⁶  on behalf of all the assembly. Let all those in our towns who have married foreign women come at an appointed time, and with them the elders of each town and its judges, until the hot anger of our God is turned away from us in this matter.”

Ezra 4:7

4:7 And during the reign ³⁷  of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, ³⁸  Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues ³⁹  wrote to King Artaxerxes ⁴⁰  of Persia. This letter ⁴¹  was first written in Aramaic but then translated.

[Aramaic:] ⁴² 

Ezra 7:16

7:16 along with all the silver and gold that you may collect ⁴³  throughout all the province of Babylon and the contributions of the people and the priests for the temple of their God which is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 8:29

8:29 Be careful with them and protect them, until you weigh them out before the leading priests and the Levites and the family leaders of Israel in Jerusalem, ⁴⁴  in the storerooms of the temple of the Lord.”

Ezra 1:3

1:3 Anyone from ⁴⁵  his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the Lord God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:3

4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right ⁴⁶  to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”

Ezra 8:21

8:21 I called for a fast there by the Ahava Canal, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and seek from him a safe journey ⁴⁷  for us, our children, and all our property.

Ezra 9:13

9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint ⁴⁸  toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.

[6:11]  ¹ sn The practice referred to in v. 11 has been understood in various ways: hanging (cf. 1 Esd 6:32 and KJV); flogging (cf. NEB, NLT); impalement (BDB 1091 s.v. זְקַף; HALOT 1914 s.v. מחא hitpe; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). The latter seems the most likely.

[6:11]  ² tn Aram “made.”

[6:11]  ³ tn Aram “a dunghill.”

[6:11]  ⁴ tn Aram “for this.”

[7:19]  ⁵ tn Or “before.”

[7:26]  ⁶ tn On the meaning of this word see HALOT 1820-21 s.v. אָסְפַּרְנָא; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 14.

[7:21]  ⁷ tn Aram “who are in.”

[7:23]  ⁸ tn The Aramaic word used here for “wrath” (קְצַף, qÿtsaf; cf. Heb קָצַף, qatsaf) is usually used in the Hebrew Bible for God’s anger as opposed to human anger (but contra Eccl 5:17 [MT 5:16]; Esth 1:18; 2 Kgs 3:27). The fact that this word is used in v. 23 may have theological significance, pointing to the possibility of divine judgment if the responsible parties should fail to make available these provisions for the temple.

[6:8]  ⁹ tn The words “of the work” are not in the Aramaic, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “according to the word of.”

[7:25]  ¹¹ tn Aram “in your hand.”

[7:25]  ¹² tc For the MT reading שָׁפְטִין (shoftim, “judges”) the LXX uses the noun γραμματεῖς (grammatei", “scribes”).

[8:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

[8:17]  ¹⁴ tc The translation reads with the LXX and Vulgate וְאֶחָיו (vÿ’ekhayv, “and his brethren” = “relatives”; so NCV, NLT) rather than the reading אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”) of the MT.

[8:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[10:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “voice.”

[10:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they sent.”

[10:7]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:12]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “people.”

[6:12]  ²⁰ tn Aram “who sends forth his hand.”

[10:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “cut.”

[10:3]  ²² tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

[10:3]  ²³ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”

[6:4]  ²⁴ tn Aram “stones of rolling.”

[6:4]  ²⁵ tc The translation follows the LXX reading חַד (khad, “one”) rather than the MT חֲדַת (khadat, “new”). If the MT reading “new” is understood to mean freshly cut timber that has not yet been seasoned it would seem to be an odd choice for construction material.

[6:4]  ²⁶ tn Aram “let be given.”

[6:4]  ²⁷ tn Aram “house.”

[6:3]  ²⁸ tn Aram “In the first year of Cyrus the king.”

[6:3]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:3]  ³⁰ tn Aram “raised”; or perhaps “retained” (so NASB; cf. NLT), referring to the original foundations of Solomon’s temple.

[6:3]  ³¹ 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]  ³² 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.

[1:4]  ³³ tn Heb “the men of his place.”

[7:17]  ³⁴ tn Aram “their meal offerings and their libations.”

[5:13]  ³⁵ sn Cyrus was actually a Persian king, but when he conquered Babylon in 539 b.c. he apparently appropriated to himself the additional title “king of Babylon.” The Syriac Peshitta substitutes “Persia” for “Babylon” here, but this is probably a hyper-correction.

[10:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “stand.”

[4:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And in the days.”

[4:7]  ³⁸ tn The LXX understands this word as a prepositional phrase (“in peace”) rather than as a proper name (“Bishlam”). Taken this way it would suggest that Mithredath was “in agreement with” the contents of Tabeel’s letter. Some scholars regard the word in the MT to be a corruption of either “in Jerusalem” (i.e., “in the matter of Jerusalem”) or “in the name of Jerusalem.” The translation adopted above follows the traditional understanding of the word as a name.

[4:7]  ³⁹ tc The translation reads the plural with the Qere rather than the singular found in the MT Kethib.

[4:7]  ⁴⁰ sn Artaxerxes I ruled in Persia from ca. 465–425 b.c.

[4:7]  ⁴¹ tc It is preferable to delete the MT’s וּכְתָב (ukhÿtav) here.

[4:7]  ⁴² sn The double reference in v. 7 to the Aramaic language is difficult. It would not make sense to say that the letter was written in Aramaic and then translated into Aramaic. Some interpreters understand the verse to mean that the letter was written in the Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language, but this does not seem to give sufficient attention to the participle “translated” at the end of the verse. The second reference to Aramaic in the verse is more probably a gloss that calls attention to the fact that the following verses retain the Aramaic language of the letter in its original linguistic form. A similar reference to Aramaic occurs in Dan 2:4b, where the language of that book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12-26 are written in Aramaic, whereas the rest of the book is written in Hebrew.

[7:16]  ⁴³ tn Aram “find.”

[8:29]  ⁴⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “from all.”

[4:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “not to you and to us.”

[8:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “a straight way.”

[9:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).