Ezra 7:14

7:14 You are authorized ¹  by the king and his seven advisers to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your possession, ² 

Ezra 8:16

8:16 So I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, ³  Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers.

Ezra 4:4

4:4 Then the local people ⁴  began to discourage ⁵  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Ezra 8:17

8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them ⁶  what to say to Iddo and his relatives, ⁷  who were the temple servants in ⁸  Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.

[7:14]  ¹ tn Aram “sent.”

[7:14]  ² tn Aram “in your hand.”

[8:16]  ³ tc The name “Elnathan” occurs twice in this list. Some, assuming an accidental repetition, would include it only once (cf. NAB).

[4:4]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”

[8:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”

[8:17]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.