Ezra 4:2 - Forerunner Commentary

Ezra 4:2

Resistance to Rebuilding the Temple

1 Now when ^athe adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel,

2 they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him ^asince the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, ^a“You may do nothing with us to build a¹ house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as ^bKing Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

4 Then ^athe people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,

5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of ^aDarius king of Persia.

Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed

6 In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7 In the days of ^aArtaxerxes also, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in ^bAramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language.

8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion:

9 From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions—representatives of ^athe Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the people of Persia and Erech and Babylon and Shushan, the Dehavites, the Elamites,

10 ^aand the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapper took captive and settled in the cities of Samaria and the remainder beyond¹ the River —^band so forth.

11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent him)
To King Artaxerxes from your servants, the men of the region beyond the River,¹ and so forth:

12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem, and are building the ^arebellious and evil city, and are finishing its ^bwalls and repairing the foundations.

Verse Comparison: Ezra 4:2

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American Standard Version
then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers' `houses', and said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.

Amplified® Bible
They came to Zerubbabel [now governor] and to the heads of the fathers' houses and said, Let us build with you, for we seek {and} worship your God as you do, and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.

Contemporary English Version
So they went to Zerubbabel and to the family leaders and said, "Let us help! Ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here, we have worshiped your God and offered sacrifices to him."

Darby English Version
and they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief fathers, and said to them, We would build with you; for we seek your God, as ye; and we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.

Good News Bible
So they went to see Zerubbabel and the heads of the clans and said, "Let us join you in building the Temple. We worship the same God you worship, and we have been offering sacrifices to him ever since Emperor Esarhaddon of Assyria sent us here to live."

King James Version
Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

New American Standard Bible
they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' {households,} and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

New International Version
they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."

New King James Version
they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

Revised Standard Version
they approached Zerub'babel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of E'sar-had'don king of Assyria who brought us here."

Young's Literal Translation
and they draw nigh unto Zerubbabel, and unto heads of the fathers, and say to them, `Let us build with you; for, like you, we seek to your God, and we are not sacrificing since the days of Esar-Haddon king of Asshur, who brought us up hither.'

New English Translation
they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders¹ and said to them, “Let us help you build,² for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him³ from the time⁴ of King Esarhaddon⁵ of Assyria, who brought us here.”⁶

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