Ezra 5:12
in Ezra 5But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
KJV
But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
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This verse in Ezra 5
Commentary
2 notes on this verseBut after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath,.... By their idolatries; which accounts for it how it was that they who were the servants of the great God of heaven and earth, and this temple built for the honour of his name, were not preserved by him; but they were carried captive, and this house left desolate: it was for their sins for which he (God) gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon; see 2Ch 36:19.
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
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.
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
20 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָהֵ֗ן | lahen | but | H3861 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4481 → | 109 times |
| דִּ֨י | di | that | H1768 → | 345 times |
| הַרְגִּ֤זוּ | hargizu | they enraged | H7265 → | |
| אֲבָהֳתַ֙נָא֙ | ʾavohotana' | fathers our | H2 → | |
| לֶאֱלָ֣הּ | leelah | <obj.> [the] God of | H426 → | 95 times |
| שְׁמַיָּ֔א | shemaiya' | heavens the | H8065 → | 38 times |
| יְהַ֣ב | yehav | he gave | H3052 → | 28 times |
| הִמּ֔וֹ | himo | them | H1994 → | 12 times |
| בְּיַ֛ד | beyad | in [the] hand of | H3028 → | 17 times |
| נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֥ר | nevukhadnetzar | Nebuchadnezzar | H5020 → | 31 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4430 → | 180 times |
| בָּבֶ֖ל | bavel | Babylon | H895 → | 25 times |
| כַּסְדָּאָ֑ה | kasdaya' | Chaldean the | H3679 → | |
| וּבַיְתָ֤ה | uvaytah' | and house the | H1005 → | 44 times |
| דְנָה֙ | denah | this | H1836 → | 58 times |
| סַתְרֵ֔הּ | satreh | he destroyed it | H5642 → | |
| וְעַמָּ֖ה | veamah' | and people the | H5972 → | 15 times |
| הַגְלִ֥י | hagli | he took into exile | H1541 → | |
| לְבָבֶֽל׃ ס | levavel | to Babylon | H895 → | 25 times |
לָהֵ֗ןbut
lahenH3861 →
מִן־from
min-H4481 →109 times
דִּ֨יthat
diH1768 →345 times
הַרְגִּ֤זוּthey enraged
hargizuH7265 →
אֲבָהֳתַ֙נָא֙fathers our
ʾavohotana'H2 →
לֶאֱלָ֣הּ<obj.> [the] God of
leelahH426 →95 times
שְׁמַיָּ֔אheavens the
shemaiya'H8065 →38 times
יְהַ֣בhe gave
yehavH3052 →28 times
הִמּ֔וֹthem
himoH1994 →12 times
בְּיַ֛דin [the] hand of
beyadH3028 →17 times
נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּ֥רNebuchadnezzar
nevukhadnetzarH5020 →31 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4430 →180 times
בָּבֶ֖לBabylon
bavelH895 →25 times
כַּסְדָּאָ֑הChaldean the
kasdaya'H3679 →
וּבַיְתָ֤הand house the
uvaytah'H1005 →44 times
דְנָה֙this
denahH1836 →58 times
סַתְרֵ֔הּhe destroyed it
satrehH5642 →
וְעַמָּ֖הand people the
veamah'H5972 →15 times
הַגְלִ֥יhe took into exile
hagliH1541 →
לְבָבֶֽל׃ סto Babylon
levavelH895 →25 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Daniel 9:5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:7
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
- Daniel 9:11
All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out…
- Daniel 9:15
Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we…
- Psalms 106:6
We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
- Malachi 3:7
Through
2 Kings 24:2And the LORD sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim in order to destroy Judah, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through His servants the prophets.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 35:11
So when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go into Jerusalem to escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”
- 2 Kings 23:27
For the LORD had said, “I will remove Judah from My sight, just as I removed Israel. I will reject this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the temple of which I said, ‘My…
- Jeremiah 32:28
Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.
- Jeremiah 25:9
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents,…
- Jeremiah 35:11
About Ezra

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
