Ezra 4:2

4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders ¹  and said to them, “Let us help you build, ²  for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him ³  from the time ⁴  of King Esarhaddon ⁵  of Assyria, who brought us here.” ⁶ 

Ezra 9:11

9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: ⁷  ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! ⁸  With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness.

Ezra 10:3

10:3 Therefore let us enact ⁹  a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, ¹⁰  and that of those who respect ¹¹  the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

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¹ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.

² tn Heb “Let us build with you.”

³ 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”).

⁴ tn Heb “days.”

⁵ sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669 b.c.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”

⁸ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

⁹ tn Heb “cut.”

¹⁰ tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.

¹¹ tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”