OET interlinear EZRA 4:4

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

וַ⁠יְהִי֙

and=he/it_was

The phrase and it happened that introduces a new series of events in the story. Use a natural way in your language for introducing something new or different.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

עַם־הָ⁠אָ֔רֶץ

people the=earth/land

This expression refers to the non-Israelite people groups, listed in 4:9, whom the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal had brought to live in the area just north of Judah in the century before the Jews were taken away into exile themselves. When the Jews returned to their homeland, those foreign groups were still living nearby. Alternate translation: “the foreign people groups living nearby”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

וַ⁠יְהִי֙ & מְרַפִּ֖ים יְדֵ֣י עַם־יְהוּדָ֑ה וּֽמְבַהֲלִ֥ים אוֹתָ֖⁠ם לִ⁠בְנֽוֹת

and=he/it_was & ones_discouraging hands_of people Yehuda (Some words not found in UHB: and=he/it_was people the=earth/land ones_discouraging hands_of people Yehuda and,made_~_afraid DOM,them to,build )

These two phrases mean similar things. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine them. Alternate translation: “making the people of Judah so intimidated that they stopped working on the temple” However, there is a slight distinction between the phrases. The first one describes how the people felt inwardly, and the second one explains what effect this had on their outward actions. So you could also translate the phrases separately. Alternate translation: “were intimidating the people of Judah so that they were afraid to keep working on the temple”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וַ⁠יְהִי֙ & מְרַפִּ֖ים יְדֵ֣י עַם־יְהוּדָ֑ה

and=he/it_was & ones_discouraging hands_of people Yehuda

Here, hands represents power and action, so making the hands weak means to make someone so discouraged or intimidated that they do not use their power to act. Alternate translation: “were intimidating the people of Judah”

עַם־יְהוּדָ֑ה

people people Yehuda

In this context, this expression does not refer to all of the inhabitants of the province of Judah, whatever their nationality, but rather it specifically refers to the Jews who returned from exile and settled there. In this book, the people of Judah and “the people of Israel” both refer to the Jewish people and mean the same thing. Alternate translation: “the Jews who had returned from exile and settled in the province of Judah”