translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: EZR

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “the sons of the exile.”


text: Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3 .


text: Heb “Let us build with you.”


label: NET textual note

text: The translation reads with the Qere , a Qumran MS , the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Arabic version וְלוֹ ( vÿlo , “and him”) rather than the Kethib of the MT, וְלֹא ( vÿlo ’, “and not”).


text: Heb “days.”


text: Heb “not to you and to us.”


text: Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.


text: Heb “were making slack the hands of.”


text: Heb “all the days of.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Heb “And in the days.”


text: The LXX understands this word as a prepositional phrase (“in peace”) rather than as a proper name (“Bishlam”). Taken this way it would suggest that Mithredath was “in agreement with” the contents of Tabeel’s letter. Some scholars regard the word in the MT to be a corruption of either “in Jerusalem” (i.e., “in the matter of Jerusalem”) or “in the name of Jerusalem.” The translation adopted above follows the traditional understanding of the word as a name.


text: The translation reads the plural with the Qere rather than the singular found in the MT Kethib .


text: It is preferable to delete the MT’s וּכְתָב ( ukhÿtav ) here.


text: Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17 .


text: Or perhaps “against.”


text: Aram “then.” What follows in v. 9 seems to be the preface of the letter, serving to identify the senders of the letter. The word “from” is not in the Aramaic text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.


text: For the qere of the MT ( דֶּהָיֵא , dehaye ’, a proper name) it seems better to retain the Kethib דִּהוּא ( dihu ’, “that is”). See F. Rosenthal, Grammar , 25, §35; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae , 36.


text: Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal. sn Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria in 669 B.C . Around 645 B.C. he sacked the city of Susa, capital of Elam, and apparently some of these people were exiled to Samaria and other places.


text: The translation reads with the ancient versions the plural בְּקֻרְיַהּ ( bÿquryah , “in the cities”) rather than the singular (“in the city”) of the MT.


text: Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.


text: The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.


text: Aram “men of.”


text: The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11 , but in English style it fits better with v. 12 .


text: Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.


text: Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”


text: Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”


text: Aram “and we have made known.”


text: Aram “the book of the minutes.”


text: Aram “of your fathers.”


text: Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.


text: Aram “is a rebellious city.”


text: Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”


text: Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19 .


text: Aram “will not be to you.”


text: Aram “peace.”


text: Aram “from me was placed a decree.”


text: Aram “and they searched and found.”


text: Aram “are being done.”


text: Aram “were being given to them.”


text: Aram “until a command is issued from me.”


text: Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”


text: Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.