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 6 and stopped them with threat of armed force. 7
5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, 8 let a search be conducted in the royal archives 9 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.”
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 Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”
7 tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.
8 tn Aram “if upon the king it is good.”
9 tn Aram “the house of the treasures of the king.”
10 tc The translation reads וַיָּלֶן (vayyalen, “and he stayed”) rather than the reading וַיֵּלֶךְ (vayyelekh, “and he went”) of the MT. Cf. the LXX.