Ezra 4:3

Verse

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

American Standard Version (1901)

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

Bible in Basic English

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of families in Israel said to them, You have no part with us in the building of a house for our God; we ourselves will do the work together for the Lord, the God of Israel, as Cyrus, king of Persia, has given us orders.

Douay-Rheims 1899

But Zorobabel, and Josue, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said to them: You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we ourselves alone will build to the Lord our God, as Cyrus king of the Persians hath commanded us.

Free Bible Version

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the family leaders of Israel replied, “You can't share with us in building a Temple for our God. Only we can build it for the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has ordered us to do.”

Geneva Bible 1599

Then Zerubbabel, and Ieshua, and the rest of the chiefe fathers of Israel, sayde vnto them, It is not for you, but for vs to buyld the house vnto our God: for we our selues together wil buylde it vnto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded vs.

King James (Authorized) Version

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

Translation for Translators

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other Israeli leaders replied, “We will not allow you to help us build a temple for our(exc) God. We will build it ◄ourselves/without your help► for Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship, like Cyrus, the King of Persia, told us to do.”

Unlocked Literal Bible

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the heads of their ancestors' clans said, “It is not you, but we who must build the house of our God, for it is we who will build for Yahweh, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded.”

Noah Webster Bible

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

World English Bible

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Young's Literal Translation

And Zerubbabel saith to them, also Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers of Israel, 'Not for you, and for us, to build a house to our God; but we ourselves together do build to Jehovah God of Israel, as the king Cyrus, king of Persia, commanded us.'

Context

Adversaries Hinder the Work

²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

Sermons

Do God's Work Watchfully

Friedel Stegen

1.2K

Summary

In this verse, the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin attempted to discourage the people of God from rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. These enemies used deceitful tactics to hinder the work of God, sowing seeds of doubt and fear among the Israelites. Despite facing opposition, the Israelites remained steadfast in their commitment to obeying God's command to rebuild the temple. This verse serves as a reminder of the spiritual warfare believers may encounter when seeking to fulfill God's purposes, encouraging perseverance and reliance on God's strength in the face of adversity.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Ye have nothing to do with us - We cannot acknowledge you as worshippers of the true God, and cannot participate with you in anything that relates to his worship.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Zerubbabel and the other chiefs of Israel answer, "It is not for you and for us to build a house to our God;" i.e., You and we cannot together build a house to the God who is our God; "but we alone will build it to Jahve the God of Israel, as King Cyrus commanded us." יחד אנחנוּ, we together, i.e., we alone (without your assistance). By the emphasis placed upon "our God" and "Jahve the God of Israel," the assertion of the adversaries, "We seek your God as ye do," is indirectly refuted. If Jahve is the God of Israel, He is not the God of those whom Esarhaddon brought into the land. The appeal to the decree of Cyrus (Ezr 1:3, comp. Ezr 3:6, etc.) forms a strong argument for the sole agency of Jews in building the temple, inasmuch as Cyrus had invited those only who were of His (Jahve's) people (Ezr 1:3). Hence the leaders of the new community were legally justified in rejecting the proposal of the colonists brought in by Esarhaddon. For the latter were neither members of the people of Jahve, nor Israelites, nor genuine worshippers of Jahve. They were non-Israelites, and designated themselves as those whom the king of Assyria had brought into the land. According to Kg2 17:24, the king of Assyria brought colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, and other places, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel. Now we cannot suppose that every Israelite, to the very last man, was carried away by the Assyrians; such a deportation of a conquered people being unusual, and indeed impossible. Apart, then, from the passage, Ch2 30:6, etc., which many expositors refer to the time of the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, we find that in the time of King Josiah (Ch2 34:9), when the foreign colonists had been for a considerable period in the country, there were still remnants of Manasseh, of Ephraim, and of all Israel, who gave contributions for the house of God at Jerusalem; and also that in Kg2 23:15-20 and Ch2 34:6, a remnant of the Israelite inhabitants still existed in the former territory of the ten tribes. The eighty men, too, who (Jer 41:5, etc.) came, after the destruction of the temple, from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, mourning, and bringing offerings and incense to Jerusalem, to the place of the house of God, which was still a holy place to them, were certainly Israelites of the ten tribes still left in the land, and who had probably from the days of Josiah adhered to the temple worship. These remnants, however, of the Israelites inhabitants in the territories of the former kingdom of the ten tribes, are not taken into account in the present discussion concerning the erection of the temple; because, however considerable their numbers might be, they formed no community independent of the colonists, but were dispersed among them, and without political influence. It is not indeed impossible "that the colonists were induced through the influence exercised upon them by the Israelites living in their midst to prefer to the Jews the request, 'Let us build with you;' still those who made the proposal were not Israelites, but the foreign colonists" (Bertheau). These were neither members of the chosen people nor worshippers of the God of Israel. At their first settlement (Kg2 17:24, etc.) they evidently feared not the Lord, nor did they learn to do so till the king of Assyria, at their request, sent them one of the priests who had been carried away to teach them the manner of worshipping the God of the land. This priest, being a priest of the Israelitish calf-worship, took up his abode at Bethel, and taught them to worship Jahve under the image of a golden calf. Hence arose a worship which is thus described, Kg2 17:29-33 : Every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans, i.e., the former inhabitants of the kingdom of the ten tribes, had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And besides their idols Nergal, Asima, Nibhaz, Tartak, they feared Jahve; they sacrificed to all these gods as well as to Him. A mixed worship which the prophet-historian (Kg2 17:34) thus condemns: "They fear not the Lord, and do after their statutes and ordinances, not after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded to the sons of Jacob." And so, it is finally said (Kg2 17:41), do also their children and children's children unto this day, i.e., about the middle of the Babylonian captivity; nor was it will a subsequent period that the Samaritans renounced gross idolatry. The rulers and heads of Judah could not acknowledge that Jahve whom the colonists worshipped as a local god, together with other gods, in the houses of the high places at Bethel and elsewhere, to be the God of Israel, to whom they were building a temple at Jerusalem. For the question was not whether they would permit Israelites who earnestly sought Jahve to participate in His worship at Jerusalem-a permission which they certainly would have refused to none who sincerely desired to turn to the Lord God-but whether they would acknowledge a mixed population of Gentiles and Israelites, whose worship was more heathen than Israelite, and who nevertheless claimed on its account to belong to the people of God. (Note: The opinion of Knobel, that those who preferred the request were not the heathen colonists placed in the cities of Samaria by the Assyrian king (Kg2 17:24), but the priests sent by the Assyrian king to Samaria (Kg2 17:27), has been rejected as utterly unfounded by Bertheau, who at the same time demonstrates, against Fritzsche on 1 Esdr. 5:65, the identity of the unnamed king of Assyria (Kg2 17:24) with Esarhaddon.) To such, the rulers of Judah could not, without unfaithfulness to the Lord their God, permit a participation in the building of the Lord's house.

Ezra 4:3

Adversaries Hinder the Work

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

American Standard Version (1901)

Bible in Basic English

Douay-Rheims 1899

Free Bible Version

Geneva Bible 1599

King James (Authorized) Version

Translation for Translators

Unlocked Literal Bible

Noah Webster Bible

World English Bible

Young's Literal Translation

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Ye have nothing to do with us - We cannot acknowledge you as worshippers of the true God, and cannot participate with you in anything that relates to his worship.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Ezra 4:3

Verse

Context

Adversaries Hinder the Work

Sermons

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Ezra 4:3

Adversaries Hinder the Work

Do God's Work Watchfully

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes