So we questioned the elders and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then we asked those elders, and said to them thus, “Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall?”
- KJV Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?
- NKJV Then we asked those elders, and spoke thus to them: “Who commanded you to build this temple and to finish these walls?”
- NASB Then we asked those elders and said to them as follows: ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’
- NLT “We asked the leaders, ‘Who gave you permission to rebuild this Temple and restore this structure?’
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 officials reported asking the elders who authorized the building. The letter recounted their investigation.
Overview
The governor relayed his direct question about the project's authorization. His measured approach gave the Jews opportunity to state their case. The fair inquiry, under God's providence, set up the discovery that would justify the work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Ezra 5:3–4At that time Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates went to the Jews and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and restore this structure?”
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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 5:9 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.