Ezra 1:4

4 And let every survivor, from wherever he {resides}[a] be assisted by the men of that place with silver and gold, with possessions and domestic animals, and with the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem."

Ezra 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 1:4

And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth
Is left behind, and cannot go up through poverty, not having a sufficiency to bear his charges in his journey to Jerusalem:

let the men of his place keep him with silver, and with gold, and with
goods, and with beasts;
with money to bear the expenses of his journey, with goods to furnish his house, or trade with, when he came to Judea, and with cattle to carry him, and his goods, and to till the ground with, when he came thither; and the men exhorted to this are either the Gentiles that dwelt in the cities where these poor Jews were, or the richer Jews, who chose as yet not to go up until they saw how things would succeed; and are therefore called upon to assist their brethren who had a will, but not ability:

besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in
Jerusalem:
which they freely gave, and sent by them for the rebuilding of the temple.

Ezra 1:4 In-Context

2 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yahweh, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he himself has appointed me to build a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Whoever among you [who is] from all of his people, may his God be with him and may he go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and may he build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel. He is the God who [is] in Jerusalem.
4 And let every survivor, from wherever he {resides} be assisted by the men of that place with silver and gold, with possessions and domestic animals, and with the freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem."
5 So the heads of the {families} for Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites--to all whose spirit God had stirred--[prepared] to go up and build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem.
6 And all of their neighbors {helped them} with objects of silver, gold, possessions, domestic animal[s], and with valuable gifts--besides all of [the] freewill offering.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "resides as a foreigner"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.