OET interlinear EZRA 1:5

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

וַ⁠יָּק֜וּמוּ

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_arose heads_of of,the_fathers of,Judah and,Benjamin and,the,priests and,the,Levites to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit to,go_up to,build DOM house_of YHWH which/who [is]_in,Jerusalem )

The word then indicates that the sentence it introduces explains the results of what the previous verses have described. Alternate translation: [In response to this decree … prepared]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

וַ⁠יָּק֜וּמוּ

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_arose heads_of of,the_fathers of,Judah and,Benjamin and,the,priests and,the,Levites to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit to,go_up to,build DOM house_of YHWH which/who [is]_in,Jerusalem )

In this context, the term arose means that these leaders took action to get an enterprise under way. It does not indicate that these leaders had been sitting or lying down and that they stood up. Alternate translation: [Then … started making preparations]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

רָאשֵׁ֣י הָ⁠אָב֗וֹת

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_arose heads_of of,the_fathers of,Judah and,Benjamin and,the,priests and,the,Levites to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit to,go_up to,build DOM house_of YHWH which/who [is]_in,Jerusalem )

This is an abbreviated way of saying the heads of the father’s houses. Alternate translation: [the clan leaders]

רָאשֵׁ֣י הָ⁠אָב֗וֹת

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_arose heads_of of,the_fathers of,Judah and,Benjamin and,the,priests and,the,Levites to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit to,go_up to,build DOM house_of YHWH which/who [is]_in,Jerusalem )

Among the Israelites, the expression “father’s house” or “house of the father” originally described an extended-family group. It later came to be used more generally to refer to a larger clan within a tribe. In this expression, the word “house” (which does not appear in the abbreviated version here) describes all the people descended from a particular person. The term views all of those descendants as if they were one household living together. Alternate translation: [the clan leaders]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

רָאשֵׁ֣י

(Some words not found in UHB: and,they_arose heads_of of,the_fathers of,Judah and,Benjamin and,the,priests and,the,Levites to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit to,go_up to,build DOM house_of YHWH which/who [is]_in,Jerusalem )

Here, heads is a figurative way of saying leaders. Alternate translation: [leaders]

Note 5 topic: translate-names

לִֽ⁠יהוּדָה֙ וּ⁠בִנְיָמִ֔ן

of,Judah and,Benjamin

These are the names of two of the tribes of Israel. Alternate translation: [of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לְ⁠כֹ֨ל הֵעִ֤יר הָ⁠אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־רוּח֔⁠וֹ

to=all/each/any/every stirred the=ʼElohīm DOM his/its=breath/wind/spirit

Here the book again speaks of God causing people to act by saying that he stirred up their spirits the way winds might stir up calm waters and get them to move around. The meaning is that God directly influenced the hearts and wills of these clan leaders to get them to do something. Alternate translation: [all those whom God had led to act]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

לַ⁠עֲל֣וֹת

to,go_up

As in 1:3, the book says go up because the Jews would have to travel from a river valley up into the mountains in order to return from their places of exile to Jerusalem. Alternate translation: [to return to Jerusalem]