Discovery BoxEzra 1:2-3 
Context1:2 “Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:
“‘The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple 1 for him in Jerusalem, 2 which is in Judah. 1:3 Anyone from 3 his people among you (may his God be with him!) may go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may build the temple of the Lord God of Israel – he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
Ezra 1:5
Context1:5 Then the leaders 4 of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready 5 to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6
Ezra 2:1
Context2:1 7 These are the people 8 of the province who were going up, 9 from the captives of the exile whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had forced into exile in Babylon. They returned to Jerusalem 10 and Judah, each to his own city.
Ezra 5:1
Context5:1 Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son 11 of Iddo 12 prophesied concerning the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem 13 in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.
Ezra 5:5
Context5:5 But God was watching over 14 the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped 15 until a report could be dispatched 16 to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.
1 tn Heb “house.” The Hebrew noun בַּיִת (bayit, “house”) is often used in reference to the temple of Yahweh (BDB 108 s.v. 1.a). This is also frequent elsewhere in Ezra and Nehemiah (e.g., Ezra 1:3, 4, 5, 7; 2:68; 3:8, 9, 11, 12; 4:3; 6:22; 7:27; 8:17, 25, 29, 30, 33, 36; 9:9; 10:1, 6, 9).
2 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
3 tn Heb “from all.”
4 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”
5 tn Heb “arose.”
6 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
7 sn The list of names and numbers in this chapter of Ezra has a parallel account in Neh 7:6-73. The fact that the two lists do not always agree in specific details suggests that various textual errors have crept into the accounts during the transmission process.
8 tn Heb “the sons of.”
9 tn The Hebrew term הָעֹלִים (ha’olim, “those who were going up” [Qal active participle]) refers to continual action in the past. Most translations render this as a simple past: “went up” (KJV), “came up” (RSV, ASV, NASV, NIV), “came” (NRSV). CEV paraphrases: “were on their way back.”
10 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
11 tn Aram “son.” According to Zech 1:1 he was actually the grandson of Iddo.
12 tn Aram “and Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo the prophet.”
13 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
14 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.
15 tn Aram “they did not stop them.”
16 tn Aram “[could] go.” On this form see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 58, §169.
