OET interlinear EZRA 4:15

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

דִּ֡י יְבַקַּר֩

that/who a_search_~_made

Here again the officials are addressing the king in the third person as a sign of respect. They are also making their suggestion very diplomatically so that they do not appear to be telling the king what to do. Alternate translation: “and may we suggest that you search”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

בִּֽ⁠סְפַר־דָּכְרָ֨נַיָּ֜⁠א דִּ֣י אֲבָהָתָ֗⁠ךְ

in/on/at/with,books record,the that/who ancestors,your

Although book is singular, this expression actually refers to the collection of documents that Artaxerxes possessed that recorded events and decrees from the reigns of earlier kings. He responds in 4:19 that he had his court officials search in this collection. Verses 6:1–2 describe how Darius earlier made a similar search. Alternate translation: “in the royal chronicles” or “in the archives of the previous kings”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

בִּֽ⁠סְפַר־דָּכְרָ֨נַיָּ֜⁠א דִּ֣י אֲבָהָתָ֗⁠ךְ

in/on/at/with,books record,the that/who ancestors,your

Here, fathers means “predecessors.” This would include some who were direct ancestors of Artaxerxes, including his father Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and grandfather Darius. But it also seems to include the Assyrian and Babylonian kings to whose empires the Persian kings were now the heirs. The revolts of Jerusalem that this search discovered, as reported in 4:19, were against the Babylonians. Indeed, Artaxerxes says that his officials investigated the matter back to ancient days, presumably back to the times of earlier empires. Alternate translation: “the chronicles of previous kings”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

וּ֠⁠תְהַשְׁכַּח בִּ⁠סְפַ֣ר דָּכְרָנַיָּ⁠א֮ וְ⁠תִנְדַּע֒

and,discover in/on/at/with,books records,these and,learn

The words discover and learn mean similar things. The officials use the two words together to emphasize how certain it is that the chronicles will show that Jerusalem has always been rebellious. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use only one word instead of two. Alternate translation: “The chronicles will certainly confirm for you”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

דִּי֩ קִרְיְתָ֨⁠א דָ֜ךְ קִרְיָ֣א מָֽרָדָ֗א וּֽ⁠מְהַנְזְקַ֤ת מַלְכִין֙ וּ⁠מְדִנָ֔ן וְ⁠אֶשְׁתַּדּוּר֙ עָבְדִ֣ין בְּ⁠גַוַּ֔⁠הּ מִן־יוֹמָ֖ת עָלְמָ֑⁠א

that/who city,the this city rebellious and,hurtful kings and,provinces and,sedition stirred_up in/on/at/with,midst,it from/more_than times the=ages

These two phrases mean similar things. The officials say essentially the same thing twice for emphasis. You do not need to repeat both phrases in your translation if that might be confusing for your readers. Alternate translation: “that the people living in Jerusalem have constantly rebelled against their kings and governors and refused to pay tribute” However, there is a slight difference in meaning. The second phrase intensifies the first phrase, and you could also choose to bring that out in your translation. Alternate translation: “that the people of Jerusalem have rebelled against emperors and governors and refused to pay tribute, long being a center of revolt”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

וּֽ⁠מְהַנְזְקַ֤ת

and,hurtful

In light of the similar expression in 4:13, “and the revenue of the kings will suffer harm,” this likely means that the people of Jerusalem have refused to pay tribute to foreign emperors. Alternate translation: “and refused to pay tribute to”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וּ⁠מְדִנָ֔ן

and,provinces

Here, provinces refers to the rulers of provinces, that is, governors. The officials are describing them by reference to something associated with them, the jurisdictions that they rule. Alternate translation: “and governors”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

עַ֨ל־דְּנָ֔ה קִרְיְתָ֥⁠א דָ֖ךְ הָֽחָרְבַֽת

on/upon/above/on_account_of//he/it_went_in this/about_this city,the this destroyed

If it would be helpful in your language, you could say this with an active form, and you could say who did the action. Alternate translation: “Because the people of Jerusalem kept rebelling against them, the Babylonians finally came and destroyed that city”