Ezra 4:1

Opposition to the Rebuilding

1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

Ezra 4:1 in Other Translations

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,

1 The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the LORD, the God of Israel.

1 Old enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building The Temple of the God of Israel.

1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel,

Ezra 4:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 4:1

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin
The Samaritans, as appears from ( Ezra 4:2 Ezra 4:10 ) ,

heard that the children of the captivity;
the Jews, who had been in captivity seventy years, and were just come out of it, and still were not quite free, but under the jurisdiction and control of the king of Persia:

builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel;
that they were going about it, and had laid the foundation of it, which might soon come to their ears, the distance not being very great. Josephus ^F3 says they heard the sound of the trumpets, and came to know the meaning of it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 4. sect. 3.

Ezra 4:1 In-Context

1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,

2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.

5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 2:20