Ezra 4:4

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

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Ezra 4:4 in Other Translations

KJV

4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

ESV

4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build

NLT

4 Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.

MSG

4 So these people started beating down the morale of the people of Judah, harassing them as they built.

CSB

4 Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.

Ezra 4:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 4:4

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of
Judah, and troubled them in building.
] By threatening them, or by dissuading the workmen from going on, by endeavouring to hinder their having materials from the Tyrians and Zidonians, or money out of the king's revenues to bear the expenses as ordered; see ( Ezra 6:4 ) .

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Ezra 4:4 In-Context

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.

6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Cross References 1

1. S Ezra 3:3

Footnotes 1

[a]. Or "and troubled them as they built"