Ezra 5:3-17
New English Translation
3 At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority[a] to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?”[b] 4 They[c] also asked them, “What are the names of the men who are building this edifice?” 5 But God was watching over[d] the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped[e] until a report could be dispatched[f] to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues (who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates) sent to King Darius. 7 The report they sent to him was written as follows:[g]
“To King Darius: All greetings![h] 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,[i] and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands. 9 We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’ 10 We also inquired of their names in order to inform you, so that we might write the names of the men who were their leaders. 11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king[j] of Israel built it and completed it. 12 But after our ancestors[k] angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands[l] of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon.[m] 13 But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon,[n] King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God. 14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace[o] of Babylon—even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented[p] to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor. 15 He said to him, “Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location.”[q] 16 Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment[r] it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’
17 “Now if the king is so inclined,[s] let a search be conducted in the royal archives[t] 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.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezra 5:3 tn Aram “who placed to you a command?” So also v. 9.
- Ezra 5:3 tn The exact meaning of the Aramaic word אֻשַּׁרְנָא (ʾussarnaʾ) here and in v. 9 is uncertain (BDB 1083 s.v.). The LXX and Vulgate understand it to mean “wall.” Here it is used in collocation with בַּיְתָא (baytaʾ, “house” as the temple of God), while in 5:3, 9 it is used in parallelism with this term. It might be related to the Assyrian noun ashurru (“wall”) or ashru (“sanctuary”; so BDB). F. Rosenthal, who translates the word “furnishings,” thinks that it probably enters Aramaic from Persian (Grammar, 62-63, §189).
- Ezra 5:4 tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew ms, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta אֲמַרוּ (ʾamaru, “they said”) rather than the reading אֲמַרְנָא (ʾamarnaʾ, “we said”) of the MT.
- Ezra 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.
- Ezra 5:5 tn Aram “they did not stop them.”
- Ezra 5:5 tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.
- Ezra 5:7 tn Aram “and it was written in its midst.”
- Ezra 5:7 tn Aram “all peace.”
- Ezra 5:8 tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.
- Ezra 5:11 sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.
- Ezra 5:12 tn Aram “fathers.”
- Ezra 5:12 tn Aram “hand” (singular).
- Ezra 5:12 sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586 b.c.
- Ezra 5:13 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.
- Ezra 5:14 tn Or “temple.”
- Ezra 5:14 tn Aram “they were given.”
- Ezra 5:15 tn Aram “upon its place.”
- Ezra 5:16 tn Aram “from then and until now.”
- Ezra 5:17 tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”
- Ezra 5:17 tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”
Ezra 5:3-17
American Standard Version
3 At the same time came to them Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall? 4 Then we told them after this manner, what the names of the men were that were making this building. 5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not make them cease, till the matter should come to Darius, and then [a]answer should be returned by letter concerning it.
6 The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent unto Darius the king; 7 they sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus: Unto Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goeth on with diligence and prospereth in their hands. 9 Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall? 10 We asked them their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were at the head of them. 11 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished. 12 But [b]after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. 13 But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God. 14 And the gold and silver vessels also of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said unto him, Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in its place. 16 Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not completed. 17 Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
Read full chapterNET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)