Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible; which formerly included the Book of Nehemiah in a single book, commonly distinguished in scholarship as Ezra–Nehemiah. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the ear ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' book of Nehemiah as one book. Jewish tradition states that

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest (''kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρα ...

is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the Book of Chronicles, but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from the 5th century BCE (the so-called "

Chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

") is the final author of these books. The section comprising chapter 1 to 6 describes the history before the arrival of

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest (''kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρα ...

to the land of Judah in 468 BCE. This chapter records the contribution of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

building project and the investigation by Persian officials.

Text

This chapter is divided into 17 verses. The original text of this chapter is written in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, which includes

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). A fragment containing a part of this chapter in Hebrew was found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, that is, 4Q117 (4QEzra; 50 BCE) with the extant verse 17 (= 1 Esdras 6:20).Dead sea scrolls - Ezra
/ref> There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century). An ancient Greek book called 1 Esdras (Greek: ) containing some parts of

2 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

,

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest (''kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρα ...

and

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced o ...

is included in most editions of the Septuagint and is placed before the single book of

Ezra–Nehemiah Ezra–Nehemiah ( he, עזרא נחמיה , ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible found in the Ketuvim section, originally with the Hebrew title of Ezra ( he, עזרא, links=no, ). The book covers the period from the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE t ...

(which is titled in Greek: ). 1 Esdras 6:1-22 is an equivalent of Ezra 5 (The second year of Darius's reign).

Renewed effort (5:1–2)

Through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, God sent the message of inspiration so the people began the repair of temple again

Verse 1

:''Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.'' The prophecies of

Haggai Haggai (; he, חַגַּי – ''Ḥaggay''; Koine Greek: Ἀγγαῖος; la, Aggaeus) was a Hebrew prophet during the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the author of ...

and Zechariah are recorded in the Hebrew Bible in the

Book of Haggai The Book of Haggai (; he, ספר חגי, Sefer Ḥaggay) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 52 ...

and

Book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Historical context Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary ...

respectively. Haggai's prophecy period completely covers the time mentioned here ( Ezra 4:24; 520 BC), whereas Zechariah's only partly.

Verse 2

:''Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.'' *"

Zerubbabel According to the biblical narrative, Zerubbabel, ; la, Zorobabel; Akkadian: 𒆰𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 ''Zērubābili'' was a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. Zeru ...

": is the leader of the group and of Davidic line (), so he is associated with the messianic hope in the

book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Historical context Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary ...

, although none of it is mentioned in this book. His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the “governor of Judah” in Haggai 1:1, ; . *" Jeshua": or "Joshua". His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the “ high priest” in Haggai 1:1, , ; ; . *"Jozadak": or "

Jehozadak Jehozadak is a man in the Bible, his name means "God had justified". He was the son of the high priest Seraiah at the time of the Babylonian exile (597-581 BCE, '' 1Chronicles'' 6:14, 15). He was taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned c ...

" ().

The investigation (5:3–17)

Based on the complaint of the non-Jews, the governor of the area began an investigation into the building project, interviewing the Jewish leaders and sending an inquiry to Darius, the king of Persia.

Verse 3

:’’At the same time Tattenai, the governor beyond the River came to them, with Shetharbozenai, and their companions, and asked them, "Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?"'' * Tattenai was the governor beyond the River, that is, "Persian governor of the province west of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

River (''eber nāri'', "beyond the river") during the reign of Darius I" (522–486 BCE). A number of cuneiform tablets bearing the name Tattenai have survived as part of what may have been a family archive, with one tablet functioning as a promissory note bearing a witness to the transaction involving a servant of "''Tattannu, governor of Across-the-River''". The

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets ( Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a sty ...

can be dated accurately to June 5, 502

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

(the 20th year of Darius I). *”House”: refers to "Temple".

Verse 6

:''The copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, and Shetharbozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king follows.'' *"The Apharsachites": is considered the same as "Apharsites" and "Apharsathchites" ( Ezra 4:9) as the three forms of provincial variants of the word "''Parsaya''" in , which is the Chaldaean equivalent of "Persian", so these people as the "companions" of Tatnai and Shethar-boznai are possibly the Persians who became their body-guard and their soldiers.

Verse 8

:''Be it known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.'' *"House": refers to "Temple". *"Great stones": ''lit.'' "stones of rolling", that is, "stones too heavy to be carried", which were therefore moved on rollers. Ryle, H. E. (1901)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Ezra 5, accessed 21 June 2020

Verse 11

:''And thus they returned us an answer, saying: “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.'' NKJV The "great king of Israel" was Solomon. The conventional dates of Solomon's reign are about 970 to 931 BCE. The Jewish historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

says that "the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

was burnt four hundred and seventy years, six months, and ten days after it was built".

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Ezra - Chapter 5 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *__Christian_translations: *
''Online_Bible''_at_GospelHall.org
(ESV,_KJV,_Darby,_American_Standard_Version,_Bible_in_Basic_English) *
Book_of_Ezra_Chapter_5._Bible_Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezra_5 Book_of_Ezra_chapters.html" ;"title="Ezra_5.html" ;"title="Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org * Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) *
Book of Ezra Chapter 5. Bible Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezra 5 Book of Ezra chapters">05

Text

Textual witnesses

Renewed effort (5:1–2)

Verse 1

Verse 2

The investigation (5:3–17)

Verse 3

Verse 6

Verse 8

Verse 11

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

External links