Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrTrAnd they that afflicted Juda and Benjamin heard, that the children of the captivity were building a house to the Lord God of Israel.
ULTNow the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the sons of the exile were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel.
USTThe enemies of the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin learned that the Israelites who had returned from Babylon were rebuilding the temple for Yahweh, the God whom the people of Israel worship.
BSB § When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,
NETWhen the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel,
LSVAnd adversaries of Judah and Benjamin hear that the sons of the captivity are building a temple to YHWH, God of Israel,
FBVThe enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.
T4TThe enemies of the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin heard that the Israeli people who had returned from Babylonia were rebuilding a temple for Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worshiped.
LEBNow the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles[fn]were building a temple for Yahweh the God of Israel.
RVNow when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded a temple unto the LORD, the God of Israel;
WbstrNow when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple to the LORD God of Israel;
KJB-1769Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;[fn] (Now when the adversaries of Yudah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; )
4.1the children…: Heb. the sons of the transportation
KJB-1611¶ [fn]Now when the aduersaries of Iudah and Beniamin, heard that the children of the captiuitie builded the Temple vnto the LORD God of Israel: (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes)
BshpsBut the aduersaries of Iuda and Beniamin, heard that the children of the captiuitie builded the temple vnto the Lorde God of Israel: (But the adversaries of Yudah and Benyamin, heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel:)
GnvaBvt the aduersaries of Iudah and Beniamin heard, that the children of the captiuitie builded the Temple vnto the Lord God of Israel. (Bvt the adversaries of Yudah and Benyamin heard, that the children of the captivity builded the Temple unto the Lord God of Israel. )
CvdlBut whan the aduersaries of Iuda and Ben Iamin herde, that the children of the captiuyte buylded the teple vnto the LORDE God of Israel, (But when the adversaries of Yudah and Benyamin heard, that the children of the captivity builded/built the teple unto the LORD God of Israel,)
WyclForsothe the enemyes of Juda and of Beniamyn herden, that the sones of caitifte bildiden a temple to the Lord God of Israel; (Forsothe the enemies of Yudah and of Benyamin heard, that the sons of caitifte builded/builtn a temple to the Lord God of Israel;)
LuthDa aber die Widersacher Judas und Benjamins höreten, daß die Kinder des Gefängnisses dem HErr’s, dem GOtt Israels, den Tempel baueten, (So but the Widersacher Yudas and Benyamins heard, that the children the Gefängnisses to_him LORD’s, to_him God Israels, the Tempel baueten,)
ClVgAudierunt autem hostes Judæ et Benjamin, quia filii captivitatis ædificarent templum Domino Deo Israël:[fn] (Audierunt however hostes Yudæ and Benyamin, because children captivitatis to_buildnt templum Master Deo Israel: )
4.1Audierunt autem hostes Judæ et Benjamin, etc. BED. in Esdr. Hostes Judæ et Benjamin Samaritas dicit, etc., usque ad qui ad dexteram judicis benedictionem et regnum æternum percepturi sunt. Dicunt ergo:
4.1Audierunt however hostes Yudæ and Benyamin, etc. BED. in Esdr. Hostes Yudæ and Benyamin Samaritas dicit, etc., until to who to dexteram yudicis benedictionem and kingdom eternal percepturi are. Dicunt ergo:
God is holy, and he made a covenant with Israel to establish a holy nation (Exod 19:4-6; Lev 19:2). Israel’s identity as God’s people required purity in worship and in social relationships. God knew that if his people mingled with their pagan neighbors, they would be drawn into their detestable worship practices (see Num 25:1-9). Their failure to maintain purity and their assimilation to the surrounding cultures ultimately led to their destruction and exile (2 Kgs 17:5-23).
When Ezra wrote to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem, one of his main purposes was to remind them of their need to remain pure in their beliefs and commitments. After arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra found that the people had intermarried with pagan foreigners, even though doing so was not permitted in God’s law (see Deut 7:3-4; Josh 23:12-13). As a result, their identity as God’s holy nation was in danger of disintegrating once again (Ezra 9:1-2).
To impress on his readers the need for separation from these foreigners, Ezra recounts how those who first returned to Jerusalem refused to cooperate with the pagan people living around them (4:1-5). These people claimed to worship the same God, but they actually worshiped several gods in addition to Israel’s God. If the Jews had joined with these people, they soon would have compromised their beliefs and become ungodly, just as Israel had done before the Exile (see Exod 34:15-16; 1 Kgs 11:1-5; 2 Kgs 16:3). Those early leaders of the Jews in Judea understood the danger of accommodating these foreigners. They learned from their ancestors’ experience and refused to compromise the purity of their faith for the sake of peace. They carefully followed God’s instructions in everything they did (Ezra 3:2, 9; 6:18). If they were going to identify themselves as “the servants of the God of heaven and earth” (5:11), they would need to please and serve him and no other gods.
Believers today are identified as God’s holy people (1 Pet 2:9), a title that speaks of purity. Paul admonished the Corinthians to refrain from marrying unbelievers—for Christ and Satan have no fellowship (2 Cor 6:14-15). Righteousness and unrighteousness do not mix. The people of God must dissociate themselves from all behavior that defiles, instead clothing themselves with attitudes and actions that befit their holy status (Col 3:5-15).
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.
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.
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”
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”
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”
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”
The Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, where all Israelite males were commanded to offer sacrifices to the Lord (Exodus 23:14-19; Deuteronomy 16:16-17), underwent several stages of reconstruction and development over hundreds of years. The first Temple was built by King Solomon to replace the aging Tabernacle, and it was constructed on a threshing floor on high ground on the north side of the city (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21). Hundreds of years later King Hezekiah expanded the platform surrounding the Temple. When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C., the Temple was completely destroyed (2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; 52:1-30). It was rebuilt in 515 B.C. after a group of Jews returned to Judea from exile in Babylon (Ezra 1:5-6:15; Nehemiah 7:5-65). Herod the Great completely rebuilt and expanded the Temple once again around 20 B.C., making it one of the largest temples in the Roman world. Jesus’ first believers often met together in Solomon’s Colonnade, a columned porch that encircled the Temple Mount, perhaps carrying on a tradition started by Jesus himself (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). But Herod’s Temple did not last long: After many Jews revolted against Rome, the Romans eventually recaptured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70.
