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Ezra 5:11

in Ezra 5

And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished.

KJV

And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up.

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This verse in Ezra 5

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

We are the servants of the God of heaven - How simple, plain, and ingenuous is this confession! They were the servants of the God of heaven. How came they then into bondage! Why, they provoked the God of heaven - repeatedly sinned against him, and then he gave them into the hands of their enemies.

This site's exposition

We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth

on Ezra 5:11-12

The elders answer with a recital, not a plea: we are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we build the house that a great king of Israel built long ago. The full title, the God of heaven and earth, is the Persian era's own court language for the Lord, the same title the book uses when kings decree by it. Their history does not skip the exile's cause: our fathers provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, and he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed this house and carried the people to Babylon. Adam Clarke calls the confession simple and plain, a people who own their fathers' sin rather than argue their innocence to a foreign court.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

also..their names We also asked them the names of the builders, the heads of the construction, in order to let you know.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezra 5:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
But now But now, since our forefathers angered the God of the heavens, He delivered them into the hands of the Chaldean king of Babylon, and he destroyed this House and exiled the people to Babylon.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezra 5:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וּכְנֵ֥מָאand as follows

    ukhenema'H3660 →5 times

  • פִתְגָמָ֖אword the

    fitgama'H6600 →6 times

  • הֲתִיב֣וּנָאthey sent back to us

    hativuna'H8421 →8 times

  • לְמֵמַ֑רto say

    lememarH560 →71 times

  • אֲנַ֣חְנָאwe

    ʾanachna'H586 →

  • הִמּ֡וֹthey

    himoH1994 →12 times

  • עַבְדוֹהִי֩[are] servants his

    avdohiH5649 →

  • דִֽי־of

    di-H1768 →345 times

  • אֱלָ֨הּ[the] God of

    ʾelahH426 →95 times

  • שְׁמַיָּ֜אheavens the

    shemaiya'H8065 →38 times

  • וְאַרְעָ֗אand earth the

    veara'H772 →

  • וּבָנַ֤יִןand [we are] building

    uvanayinH1124 →22 times

  • בַּיְתָא֙house the

    bayta'H1005 →44 times

  • דִּֽי־which

    di-H1768 →345 times

  • הֲוָ֨אit was

    hava'H1934 →71 times

  • בְנֵ֜הbuilt

    venehH1124 →22 times

  • מִקַּדְמַ֤תfrom [the] former time of

    mikadmatH6928 →

  • דְּנָה֙this

    denahH1836 →58 times

  • שְׁנִ֣יןyears

    sheninH8140 →7 times

  • שַׂגִּיאָ֔ןmany

    sagianH7690 →

  • וּמֶ֤לֶךְand a king

    umelekhH4430 →180 times

  • לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙of Israel

    leyisraelH3479 →8 times

  • רַ֔בgreat

    ravH7229 →15 times

  • בְּנָ֖הִיhe built it

    benahiH1124 →22 times

  • וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃and he finished it

    veshakhlelehH3635 →7 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Romans 6:16Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?2 worksPsalms 119:46I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.2 worksActs 27:23For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me2 worksJonah 1:9“I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”2 works2 Chronicles 3:1–5Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.2 worksDaniel 3:26Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,2 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 10:32Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.2 worksJoshua 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”2 worksRomans 1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.2 worksGalatians 6:14But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.2 works1 Kings 6:1–7In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the month of Ziv, the second month of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.2 worksLuke 12:8I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.2 works1 Chronicles 17:12He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever.2 worksEzekiel 16:13So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.2 worksEzekiel 19:11It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.2 works1 Kings 3:1Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Romans 6:16

    Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to…

    it leads to

    • John 8:34

      Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

    • Matthew 6:24

      No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…

    • Joshua 24:15

      But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…

    • 2 Peter 2:19

      They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

    • Romans 6:12–13

      Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.

  • Through

    Acts 27:23

    For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me

    it leads to

    • Acts 23:11

      The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”

    • Romans 1:9

      God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

  • Through

    Psalms 119:46

    I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.

    it leads to

    • Romans 1:16

      I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

About Ezra

Ezra Kneels in Prayer, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra Kneels in Prayer, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra: the study guide →Read Ezra 5 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Read on in Ezra 5 →