OET interlinear EZRA 4:1

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-background

וַֽ⁠יִּשְׁמְע֔וּ

and=they_heard

The word Now indicates that the sentence it introduces will provide background information that will be needed to understand what the book describes next. You can translate it with the word or phrase in your language that is most similar in meaning and significance.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

יְהוּדָ֖ה וּ⁠בִנְיָמִ֑ן

Yehuda and,Benjamin

Here the book is referring to the people who came from the tribe of Judah as if they were a single person, their ancestor Judah. It is referring similarly to the people of the tribe of Benjamin as if they were a single person, their ancestor Benjamin. Alternate translation: “the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin” or see the next note for a further possibility.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / hendiadys

יְהוּדָ֖ה וּ⁠בִנְיָמִ֑ן

Yehuda and,Benjamin

Here the book may be expressing a single idea by using two words connected with and. Together the two words may be a way of referring to all of the Israelites, since at this point the community consisted essentially of people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Alternate translation: “the Israelites”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

וַֽ⁠יִּשְׁמְע֔וּ & כִּֽי־בְנֵ֤י הַ⁠גּוֹלָה֙ בּוֹנִ֣ים הֵיכָ֔ל

and=they_heard & that/for/because/then/when sons_of the,exile building temple

Heard means that these enemies learned by some means that the Jews were doing this. The book is using hearing, one means of discovering things, to describe the enemies learning this. Alternate translation: “Now … learned that the Jews who had returned from exile were building a temple”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

בְנֵ֤י הַ⁠גּוֹלָה֙

sons_of the,exile

As indicated in 2:1 and 8:35, the phrase the sons of the exile refers specifically to the group of Jewish people who returned to the land of Judah from Babylon. Babylon was the country where King Nebuchadnezzar had taken many Jews as captives after he conquered Jerusalem. Alternate translations: “the Jews who had returned from exile” or “the Jews who had returned to their homeland”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / distinguish

לַ⁠יהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

to/for=YHWH god_of Yisrael

This phrase provides further background information about Yahweh and it likely expresses the perspective of the enemies on the situation. Alternate translations: “Yahweh, the God they worshiped” or “Yahweh, the God whom the people of Israel worship”