Ezra 4:4 - Forerunner Commentary

Ezra 4:4

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.

Verse Comparison: Ezra 4:4

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Ezra 4:5 >>

American Standard Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

Amplified® Bible
Then [the Samaritans] the people of the land [continually] weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled {and} terrified them in building

Contemporary English Version
Then the neighboring people began to do everything possible to frighten the Jews and to make them stop building.

Darby English Version
And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building;

Good News Bible
Then the people who had been living in the land tried to discourage and frighten the Jews and keep them from building.

King James Version
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

New American Standard Bible
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

New International Version
Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.

New King James Version
Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building,

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building,

Revised Standard Version
Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and made them afraid to build,

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, the people of the land are making the hands of the people of Judah feeble, and troubling them in building,

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Ezra 4:5 >>

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Rebuilding of Jerusalem Opposed

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