Ezra 3:2
3:2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak 1 and his priestly colleagues 2 and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues 3 started to build 4 the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by 5 the law of Moses the man of God.
Ezra 4:2
4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders 6 and said to them, “Let us help you build, 7 for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him 8 from the time 9 of King Esarhaddon 10 of Assyria, who brought us here.” 11
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 12 and stopped them with threat of armed force. 13
Ezra 6:14
6:14 The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time 14 Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying. They built and brought it to completion by the command of the God of Israel and by the command of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
Ezra 6:22
6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion 15 of the king of Assyria 16 toward them, so that he assisted 17 them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.
Ezra 8:17-18
8:17 I sent them to Iddo, who was the leader in the place called Casiphia. I told them 18 what to say to Iddo and his relatives, 19 who were the temple servants in 20 Casiphia, so they would bring us attendants for the temple of our God.
8:18 Due to the fact that the good hand of our God was on us, they brought us a skilled man, from the descendants of Mahli the son of Levi son of Israel. This man was Sherebiah, 21 who was accompanied by his sons and brothers, 22 18 men,
Ezra 9:2
9:2 Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race 23 has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”
Ezra 9:11
9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: 24 ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! 25 With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.
1 sn Jozadak (also in 3:8) is a variant spelling of Jehozadak.
2 tn Heb “his brothers the priests.”
3 tn Heb “his brothers.”
4 tn Heb “arose and built.”
5 tn Heb “written in.” Cf. v. 4.
6 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.
7 tn Heb “Let us build with you.”
8 tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran MS, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).
9 tn Heb “days.”
10 sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.
11 sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.
12 tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”
13 tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.
14 tn Aram “in” or “by,” in the sense of accompaniment.
15 tn Heb “heart.”
16 sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.
17 tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”
18 tn Heb “I placed in their mouth words.”
19 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.
20 tn Heb “in the place called.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
21 tn Heb “and Sherebiah.” The words “this man was” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Or “relatives” (so CEV; NRSV “kin”); also in v. 19.
23 tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.
24 tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”
25 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”