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Ezra 4

KJ3 Literal Translation — Chapter 4 of 10

1 ¶ And when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the exile built the temple to Jehovah the God of Israel,

2 even they came to Zerubbabel and to the head of the fathers and said to them, Let us build with you, for we seek your God, as you. And we have not sacrificed to Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel said to them, It is not for you and for us to build a house to our God. But we ourselves will together build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

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Chapter Summary

1 Adversaries try to hinder the construction. 7 Their letter to Artaxerxes. 17 The decree of Artaxerxes.

Key Hebrew Words

זֹבְחִ֗ים slaughter for sacrifice H2076 · TWOT 525
אִגְּרָ֥ה letter-missive H104 · TWOT 2557
עֲבַֽר region across H5675 · TWOT 2897
תְּהַנְזִֽק suffer injury H5142 · TWOT 2857
יְהוּדָ֖ה Judah H3063 · TWOT 850c

People & Context

Adversaries Offer to Help and Are Rejected

Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin ask to help build the temple, claiming they seek the same God. Zerubbabel and the leaders reject the offer, stating …

Adversaries Oppose the Building

The people of the land actively discourage and terrify the people of Judah, hiring counselors to frustrate their building plans throughout the reign o…

Accusation During the Reign of Ahasuerus

At the beginning of Ahasuerus's reign, the adversaries write a formal accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Timeline

Adversaries Offer to Help and Are Rejected

Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin ask to help build the temple, claiming they seek the same God. Zerubbabel and the leaders reject the offer, stating the exiles will build it alone as Cyrus commanded.

Ezra 4:1-3
Adversaries Oppose the Building

The people of the land actively discourage and terrify the people of Judah, hiring counselors to frustrate their building plans throughout the reign of Cyrus until the reign of Darius.

Ezra 4:4-5
Accusation During the Reign of Ahasuerus

At the beginning of Ahasuerus's reign, the adversaries write a formal accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:6

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