Ezra 4:18 — Word Study
WLCנִשְׁתְּוָנָ֕א דִּ֥י שְׁלַחְתּ֖וּן עֲלֶ֑ינָא מְפָרַ֥שׁ קֱרִ֖י קָדָמָֽי׃
BSAThe letternishtᵉvân [document, official paper] you sentshᵉlach [dispatched, conveyed] usʻal has been translatedpᵉrash△ [made clear, interpreted] and readqᵉrâʼ [proclaimed, called out loud] in my presenceqŏdâm [before me, in my sight]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| נִשְׁתְּוָנָ֕א | letter the | Noun common both singular determined, particle |
| דִּ֥י | which | Conjunction |
| שְׁלַחְתּ֖וּן | you sent | Verb, Qal, perfect second person masculine plural |
| עֲלֶ֑ינָא | to us | Preposition, suffix |
| מְפָרַ֥שׁ | made distinct | Verb, Piel, participle (active) masculine singular |
| קֱרִ֖י | it was read aloud | Verb plural, third person masculine singular |
| קָדָמָֽי׃ | before me | Noun common both plural construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence. |
| KJV | The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. |
| ASV | The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. |
| YLT | The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me, |
| WEB | The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. |
| BBE | And now the sense of the letter which you sent to us has been made clear to me, |
Where they part company is in the interpretation of the actions described, but all translations agree on the essential meaning.
The sentence consists of a main clause followed by two phrases detailing the actions taken regarding the letter, providing a clear structure.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
verbשְׁלַח
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 7 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Ezra 4:18
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The King's Response to the Officialsgenerated
Ezra 4:18 describes a formal response from the king to the officials who had sent a letter. The king acknowledges the receipt of the letter, emphasizing the actions taken to ensure its contents were understood and communicated clearly. This response highlights the administrative processes in place during the time and the significance of written communication in governance.
Cross References
The Key Word — מְפָרַשׁ, me.fa.Rashgenerated
The word מְפָרַשׁ (me.fa.Rash) is a Piel participle meaning 'made distinct' or 'made clear'. It indicates an active process of clarification or interpretation, suggesting that the content of the letter was not only read but also explained for better understanding.
This term appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing the importance of clarity in official communication. The use of this word here indicates the king's desire for transparency and comprehension in dealings with his officials.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb is שְׁלַחְתּ֖וּן (she.lach.Tun), meaning 'you sent', which governs the entire clause. The structure includes a noun phrase as the subject and two verbal phrases describing the actions taken regarding the letter.
The sentence follows a straightforward order, presenting the subject first, followed by the actions performed on the letter, thus emphasizing the sequence of events.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates נִשְׁתְּוָנָ֕א as φορολόγος, meaning 'letter' or 'document'. This choice reflects a direct correspondence to the Hebrew term, maintaining the focus on written communication.
The Greek term does not carry additional connotations beyond the basic meaning of a letter, indicating that the translators aimed for clarity and fidelity to the original text.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Ezra 4:18 states that the letter sent to the king has been translated and read aloud in his presence. This shows the importance of ensuring that the contents of official documents are clearly communicated and understood.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The king is indicating that the letter was interpreted into a language he could understand, ensuring that its contents were clear.
Reading the letter in the king's presence underscores the significance of the communication and allows for immediate understanding and response.
It implies that the reading was done in a way that clarified the message, making it understandable and accessible to the audience.
The verse illustrates the formal processes of communication and the importance of written documentation in governance during that period.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How can clear communication impact relationships in my life?
- What steps can I take to ensure that my messages are understood by others?
- In what ways can I apply the principle of making things distinct in my daily conversations?
- How does the act of reading aloud enhance understanding in a group setting?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Ezra 4:18 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThe letter which ye sent unto us,.... The plural number is used, being now become courtly for kings thus to speak of themselves: hath been plainly before me; by such that understood both the Syrian
Read John Gill on Ezra 4 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThe letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Ezra 4 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsEzra 4:18 The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.Ver. 18. Hath been plainly read before us] This in the general was commendable; but he should have reserved (as Alexander used to do) ουςαδιαβλητον, one ear free, and have heard both parties.
Read John Trapp on Ezra 4 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges18. The letter] On the word used here see note on Ezra 4:8. hath been plainly read before me] So the R.V. The margin of the R.V. gives ‘translated’ as the alternative rendering for ‘plainly’, and this agrees with the general later usage of the word. The same word in Hebrew occurs in Nehemiah 8:8, where the R.V. renders ‘distinctly’, and its margin, ‘with an interpretation’. ‘Plainly’ (Vulg. manifeste) would imply that the allusions &c. of the Samaritan letter had been faithfully explained, not merely that the oral reading of the letter had been distinct. There is not much to be said for the rendering ‘translated’. A Persian king would be acquainted with the official dialect of his…
Read Cambridge on Ezra 4 →Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the BibleHath been ... read - It is doubtful if the Persian monarchs could ordinarily read. At any rate, it was their habit to have documents read to them (compare Esther 6:1). This is still the ordinary practice in Eastern courts.
Read Albert Barnes on Ezra 4 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.
The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.
The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.
The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence.
Tyndale line
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
The letter which ye sent to us hath been plainly read before me.
The letter which yee sent vnto vs, hath bene openly read before me,
Strictly literal
The letter that ye sent to us has been read before me distinctly.
The letter that ye sent unto us, explained, hath been read before me,
The letter that you sent to us, explained, has been read before me,
The letter which ye have sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
The letter that you sent me has been translated and read to me.
From the Latin
The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly read before me,
Simplified
The letter you sent to us has been translated and read to me.
And now the sense of the letter which you sent to us has been made clear to me,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint largely agree in their wording, with six out of seven words matching. This alignment indicates a strong textual consistency between the Hebrew and Greek versions, affirming the integrity of the message conveyed.
נִשְׁתְּוָנָ֕א דִּ֥י שְׁלַחְתּ֖וּן עֲלֶ֑ינָא מְפָרַ֥שׁ קֱרִ֖י קָדָמָֽי׃
6 of the 7 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Ezra 4:18
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
נִשְׁתְּוָן (nishtvan) is an Aramaic word meaning 'letter' or 'document.' It is derived from a related Hebrew term, נִשְׁתְּוָן (H5406). The entries consistently define it as a type of written communication.
[נִשְׁתְּוָן] n.m. letter
base
H5407 נִשְׁתְּוָן
5407 nishtvan nish-tev-awn'
(Aramaic) corresponding to 5406:--letter.
see HEBREW for 05406
נִשְׁתְּוָן (nish.te.van) — document.
letter
Aramaic of nish.te.van (נִשְׁתְּוָן "letter" H5406)
Adj | Art — Noun common both singular determined · particleANcbsd/Ta
let'-er.
See EPISTLE.
Letter
In Rom. 2:27, 29 means the outward form. The “oldness of the letter” (7:6) is a phrase which denotes the old way of literal outward obedience to the law as a system of mere external rules of conduct. In 2 Cor. 3:6, “the letter” means the Mosaic law as a written law. (See WRITING.)
דִּי (diy) is an Aramaic word meaning 'that,' functioning as a relative conjunction and a preposition in various contexts. It can indicate relationships such as 'who,' 'which,' or 'because,' and is used in adverbial phrases. The entries highlight its role in connecting clauses and marking possession.
דִּי part. of relation, who, which, that, used also as mark of gen. and conj. that, because
base
H1768 דִּי
1768 diy dee
(Aramaic) apparently for 1668; that, used as relative
conjunction, and especially (with a preposition) in adverbial
phrases; also as preposition of:--X as, but, for(-asmuch +), +
now, of, seeing, than, that, therefore, until, + what
(-soever), when, which, whom, whose.
see HEBREW for 01668
דִּי (di) — that.
part of relation
1) who, which, that
mark of genitive
2) that of, which belongs to, that
conj
3) that, because
AC — ConjunctionAC
שְׁלַח (shlach) primarily means 'to send.' It can refer to the act of sending or being sent, with a focus on the P'al stem, which indicates a simple action. The word is connected to the Aramaic form and has a relationship with the Hebrew root found in H7971.
H7972 שְׁלַח
7972 shlach shel-akh'
(Aramaic) corresponding to 7971:--put, send.
see HEBREW for 07971
שְׁלַח (she.lach) — to send.
1) to send
1a) (P'al)
1a1) to send, send out
1a2) to be sent
Adj — Verb · Qal · perfect second person masculine pluralAVqp2mp
עַל (al) is a preposition meaning 'upon,' 'over,' or 'against.' It covers a range of uses, including direction, comparison, and causation. The entries indicate it can express relationships concerning location, purpose, or authority. There is a note that it corresponds to the Aramaic term related to another Hebrew word, עַל (H5921), but no significant disagreement among lexicons is noted.
עַל prep. upon, over, on account of, above, to, against
base
H5922 עַל
5922 `al al
(Aramaic) corresponding to 5921:--about, against,
concerning, for, (there-)fore, from, in, X more, of, (there-,
up-)on, (in-)to, + why with.
see HEBREW for 05921
עַל (al) — since.
1) upon, over, on account of, above, to, against
1a) upon, over, on account of, regarding, concerning, on behalf of
1b) over (with verbs of ruling)
1c) above, beyond (in comparison)
1d) to, against (of direction)
Adj | Suff — Preposition · suffixAR/Sp1bp
US, pronoun objective case of we.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Us , pron. [OE. us, AS. s; akin to OFries. & OS. s, D. ons, G. uns, Icel. & Sw. oss, Dan. os, Goth. uns, L. nos we, us, Gr. we, Skr. nas us. . Cf. Nostrum, Our.] The persons speaking, regarded as an object; ourselves; — the objective case of we. See We. “Tell us a tale.” Chaucer.
Give us this day our daily bread. Matt. vi. 11.
Us, pron. oblique case of we
פְּרַשׁ (prash) means to make distinct or clear. It is related to the Aramaic word for 'to declare' and appears in Ezra 4:18. The entries indicate that it is used in a specific context to denote specification or distinction.
[פְּרַשׁ] vb. make distinct;—Pa. Ezr 4:18
ref
H6568 פְּרַשׁ
6568 prash per-ash'
(Aramaic) corresponding to 6567; to specify:--distinctly.
see HEBREW for 06567
פְּרַשׁ (pe.rash) — to make clear.
(Pael) to specify, distinguish, make distinct
Aramaic of pa.rash (פָּרַשׁ "to declare" H6567A)
Adj — Verb · Piel · participle (active) masculine singularAVprmsa
קְרָא (qra') is a Hebrew verb meaning to call, read aloud, or shout. It encompasses actions like proclaiming and being summoned. The entries indicate its use in both active and reflexive forms, with no significant disagreements among the lexicons.
[קְרָא] vb. call, read out, aloud
Pe.
call, proclaim
read out, aloud
Pe‛îl it was read
Hithpe. be summoned
base
H7123 קְרָא
7123 qra' ker-aw'
(Aramaic) corresponding to 7121:--call, cry, read.
see HEBREW for 07121
קְרָא (qe.ra) — to read.
1) to call, read aloud, read out, shout
1a) (P'al)
1a1) to call, proclaim
1a2) to read aloud, read out
1b)(Ithp'el) to be summoned, be called
Adj — Verb plural · third person masculine singularAVQp3ms
קֳדָם (qodam) primarily means 'before' or 'in front of.' It is used in various contexts, including indicating position or time. The entries indicate its Aramaic roots and its connection to another Hebrew word, קָדַם (H6924). Daniel 7:13 is specifically noted for its use.
[קֳדָם] 42 prep. before
base
H6925 קֳדָם, קְדָם
6925 qodam kod-awm'
(Aramaic) or qdam (Aramaic) (Daniel 7:l3) {ked-awm'};
corresponding to 6924; before:--before, X from, X I
(thought), X me, + of, X it pleased, presence.
see HEBREW for 0l3
see HEBREW for 06924
קֳדָם (qo.dam) — before.
1) before, in front of
1a) before
1b) from before
Adj | Suff — Noun common both plural construct · suffixANcbpc/Sp1bs