EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ezra 4:5
5They paid bribes to government officers to work against the Israelite builders. Then they could not do the work. They continued to do this all the time that King Cyrus ruled Persia, until Darius became king.
Ezra 4:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
- New International Version (NIV)They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
- New King James Version (NKJV)and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Context of Ezra 4:5
3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the other leaders of Israel's people said, ‘No. You cannot help us to build the temple for our God. We must build it by ourselves for the Lord, Israel's God. That is what Cyrus, king of Persia, has commanded us to do.’ 4Then the people who lived near them tried to make Judah's people afraid. They tried to stop them building. They paid bribes to government officers to work against the Israelite builders. Then they could not do the work. They continued to do this all the time that King Cyrus ruled Persia, until Darius became king. 6When Xerxes became king of Persia, Judah's enemies wrote a letter to him. They said that the people who lived in Jerusalem and the rest of Judah were doing a bad thing. 7Later, when Artaxerxes was king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their friends wrote a letter to him. They wrote it in the Aramaic language. People translated it for the king to understand.
Read all of Ezra 4Ezra 4:5 word by word
וְסֹכְרִ֧ים עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם יוֹעֲצִ֖ים לְהָפֵ֣ר עֲצָתָ֑ם כָּל־יְמֵ֗י כּ֚וֹרֶשׁ מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֔ס וְעַד־מַלְכ֖וּת דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁ מֶֽלֶךְ־פָּרָֽס׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And hiredסָכַרώâkar sâkar · to hireH7936
- counsellorsיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
- against them, to frustrateפָּרַרpârar · to breakH6565
- their purposeעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
- all the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of Cyrusכּ֫וֹרֶשׁkôresh kôresh · CyrusH3566
- kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- of Persiaפָּרַסpâras · PersiaH6539
- even until the reignמַלְכוּתmalkûth malkûth malkûyâh · royaltyH4438
- of Dariusדָּֽרְיָ֫וֶשׁdâreyâvêsh · DariusH1867
Cross-references for Ezra 4:5
- Psalms 2:1Why are nations making plans to turn against the Lord? All their plans will fail!
- Nahum 1:11The Lord tells the king of Nineveh that he has done bad things against God. And the king has told his people that they should do wrong things.
- Acts 24:1Five days after that, Ananias, the leader of the priests, went to Caesarea. Some important Jews went with him. A man called Tertullus also went with them. He was a lawyer. All these people went to meet with Felix, the ruler. They told Felix what Paul had done. Felix would judge who was right.
- Ezra 4:24So the people did no more work on God's temple in Jerusalem. The work stopped until the second year that King Darius ruled Persia.
- Ezra 5:5But God was watching over the Jewish leaders. Nobody was able to stop them building at that time. The city's officers had to wait until they could send a letter to King Darius. They waited for him to reply.
- Ezra 6:1King Darius told his officers to look in the books in the royal library. That was in Babylon, in the place where they stored important things.
Commentaries on Ezra 4:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Hired counsellors - They found means to corrupt some of the principal officers of the Persian court, so that the orders of Cyrus were not executed; or at least so slowly as to make them nearly ineffectual. Until the reign of Darius - This was probably Darius the son of Hystaspes.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Hired counselors - Rather, “bribed” officials at the Persian court to interpose delays and create difficulties, in order to hinder the work. Darius - i. e., Darius, the son of HystaspesRead the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The people faced severe consequences for their strict dedication to holiness. King Cyrus ruled until 530 BC. Darius (Darius I) became the king of Persia in 521 BC. Construction on the temple restarted in 520 BC and concluded in 515 BC (see Ezra 6:15).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-54-5. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, &c.--Exasperated by this repulse, the Samaritans endeavored by every means to molest the workmen as well as obstruct the progress of the building; and, though they could not alter the decree which Cyrus had issued regarding it, yet by bribes and clandestine arts indefatigably plied at court, they labored to frustrate the effects of the edict. Their success in those underhand…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezra 4:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezra 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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