Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel,
Parallel translations
- WEB Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;
- KJV Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
- BSB When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel,
- NASB Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the Lord God of Israel,
- NLT The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The adversaries of Judah heard that the returned exiles were building the temple. Opposition arose as soon as God's work advanced.
Overview
These adversaries were likely peoples settled in the land during the exile (compare 2 Kings 17:24). Their attention shows that faithful work for God often draws opposition. The verse sets up the recurring biblical pattern that obedience to God meets resistance, yet God's purposes prevail.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Chr 22:9–10Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.
- Ezra 1:11All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar brought all these up when the captives were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
- Ezra 4:7–10In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian, and delivered in the Syrian language.
- Ezra 6:16The children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
- Dan 9:25Know therefore and discern, that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
- Ezra 7:9For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.
- Ezra 6:19–20The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
- Ezra 10:7They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;
- Dan 5:13Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?
- Ezra 10:16The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers’ households, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
- 1 Cor 16:9for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
- 1 Kgs 5:4–5But now Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side. There is no enemy and no evil occurrence.
- Neh 4:1–11But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
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Christ at the center
The return from exile and the rebuilt altar keep alive the hope of a greater restoration — the true return from our deeper exile of sin accomplished by Christ.
How Ezra 4:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.