Ezra 4:3
4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right 1 to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
Ezra 7:28
7:28 He has also conferred his favor on me before the king, his advisers, and all the influential leaders of the king. I gained strength as the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.
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 2 has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!”
Ezra 9:7
9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and 3 priests, have been delivered over by the local kings 4 to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.
1 tn Heb “not to you and to us.”
2 tn Heb “the holy seed,” referring to the Israelites as God’s holy people.
3 tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.
4 tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”