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.”
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- 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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”(A) 4 They[a] also asked them this, “What are the names of the men who are building this building?”(B) 5 But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report reached Darius and then answer was returned by letter in reply to it.(C)
6 The copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates the envoys who were in the province Beyond the River sent to King Darius;(D) 7 they sent him a report in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace! 8 May it be known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built of hewn stone, and timber is laid in the walls; this work is being done diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we spoke to those elders and asked them, ‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’(E) 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, so that we might write down the names of the men at their head. 11 This was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.(F) 12 But because our ancestors had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia.(G) 13 However, King Cyrus of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt.(H) 14 Moreover, the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem and had brought into the temple of Babylon, these King Cyrus took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor.(I) 15 He said to him, “Take these vessels; go and put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet finished.’(J) 17 And now, if it seems good to the king, have a search made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”(K)
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- 5.4 Gk Syr: Aram We
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