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Key: khaki:verbs.
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 continued hiring persons against them, plotting to frustrate their counsel, all the days of Cyrus king of the Persians, and until the reign of Darius king of the Persians.
ULTand hiring counselors against them to frustrate their plans all the days of Cyrus, the king of Persia, and until the reign of Darius, the king of Persia.
USTThey bribed government officials to prevent the Jews from fulfilling their plans to rebuild the temple and the city. They did that all during the time that Cyrus was king of Persia, and continued to do it during the time of the kings after him, including the time when Darius was king of Persia.
BSBThey hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
WEBBEThey hired counsellors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
NETThey were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius of Persia.
LSVand are hiring against them counselors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
FBVThey bribed officials[fn] to oppose them and to obstruct their plans. This continued during the whole reign of Cyrus king of Persia up until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
4:5These would be local officials whose chain of command stretched back to the Persian king.
T4TThey bribed government officials to oppose what the Israelis were doing and prevent them from continuing to work on the temple. They did that all during the time that Cyrus was King of Persia. They continued to do it when Darius became the King of Persia.
LEBand bribed officials against them to frustrate their plan for all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ¶
BBEAnd they gave payment to men who made designs against them and kept them from effecting their purpose, all through the time of Cyrus, king of Persia, till Darius became king.
JPSand hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
ASVand hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
DRAAnd they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their design all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of the Persians.
YLTand are hiring against them counsellors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even till the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Drbyand they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
RVand hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
WbstrAnd hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
KJB-1769And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
KJB-1611And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the dayes of Cyrus king of Persia, euen vntill the reigne of Darius king of Persia. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
BshpsAnd hyred counsellers against them, to hinder their deuice as long as Cyrus the king of Persia liued, vntil the raigne of Darius king of Persia. (And hired counsellors against them, to hinder their deuice as long as Cyrus the king of Persia lived, until the reign of Darius king of Persia.)
GnvaAnd they hired counsellers against them, to hinder their deuise, all the dayes of Cyrus King of Persia, euen vntill the reigne of Darius King of Persia. (And they hired counsellors against them, to hinder their deuise, all the days of Cyrus King of Persia, even until the reign of Darius King of Persia. )
Cvdland hyred councelers aganst them and hyndered their deuyce, as longe as Cyrus the kynge of Persia lyued, vntyll the reigne off Darius kynge off Persia. (and hired councelers aganst them and hyndered their deuyce, as long as Cyrus the king of Persia lyued, until the reign off Darius king off Persia.)
WyclAnd thei hiriden counselouris ayens the Jewis, that thei schulden destrie the counseil of the Jewis, in alle the daies of Cirus, king of Persis, and `til to the rewme of Darius, king of Persis. (And they hireden counselouris against the Yewis, that they should destrie the counseil of the Yewis, in all the days of Cirus, king of Persis, and `til to the realm of Darius, king of Persis.)
LuthUnd dingeten Ratgeber wider sie und verhinderten ihren Rat, solange Kores, der König in Persien, lebte, bis an das Königreich Darii, des Königs in Persien. (And dingeten Ratgeber against they/she/them and verhinderten your Rat, solange Kores, the/of_the king in Persien, lebte, until at the kingreich Darii, the kings in Persien.)
ClVgConduxerunt autem adversus eos consiliatores, ut destruerent consilium eorum omnibus diebus Cyri regis Persarum, et usque ad regnum Darii regis Persarum.[fn] (Conduxerunt however adversus them consiliatores, as destruerent consilium their to_all days Cyri king Persarum, and until to kingdom Darii king Persarum. )
4.5Conduxerunt. ID., ibid. Notanda distinctio verborum, etc., usque ad cum principum terrenorum contra Ecclesiam præsidia acquirunt, quod quantum noceat fidei, tempore Arianæ perfidiæ luce clarius innotuit. In regno autem Assueri. ID., ibid. Hunc Artaxerxem, etc., usque ad sed quasi minoris potentiæ illum hæc tractare et decernere permisit. BEDA., ibid. Artaxerxes cui suadetur et suasus præcepit ne Jerusalem ædificetur, etc., usque ad denuo superatis hostibus qui proxima tenebant loca, possederunt.
4.5Conduxerunt. ID., ibid. Notanda distinctio verborum, etc., until to when/with of_the_princes terrenorum on_the_contrary Ecclesiam præsidia acquirunt, that quantum noceat of_faith, tempore Arianæ perfidiæ luce clarius innotuit. In regno however Assueri. ID., ibid. Hunc Artaxerxem, etc., until to but as_if minoris potentiæ him these_things tractare and decernere permisit. BEDA., ibid. Artaxerxes cui suadetur and suasus ordered not Yerusalem ædificetur, etc., until to denuo superatis hostibus who proxima tenebant loca, they_possesed.
4:5 The people paid a heavy price for their uncompromising commitment to holiness. • King Cyrus reigned until 530 BC. Darius (Darius I) took the throne of Persia in 521 BC. Work on the Temple resumed in 520 BC and was finished in 515 BC (see 6:15).
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).
Here, counselors means royal advisors in the Persian court. The enemies of the Jews were bribing the counselors to try to get them to influence the king against the Jews. Alternate translation: “and bribing royal advisors to work against the Jews in the Persian court”
לְהָפֵ֣ר עֲצָתָ֑ם
to,frustrate plan,their
Alternate translation: “to keep them from successfully rebuilding the temple”
Days is used here to refer to a particular period of time. In this context, it would mean specifically the nine years from 538 BC, when Cyrus conquered Babylon and became ruler of the Jews, to 529 BC, when he died. Alternate translation: “throughout the rest of the reign of Cyrus as king of Persia”
Darius did not succeed Cyrus directly, and so this means that the enemy opposition continued throughout the reigns of the successors of Cyrus until Darius became king. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could say this explicitly. Alternate translation: “and throughout the reign of his successors until Darius became king of Persia”
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.
