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Ezra 4:5

in Ezra 4

They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

KJV

And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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This verse in Ezra 4

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Hired counselors - Rather, “bribed” officials at the Persian court to interpose delays and create difficulties, in order to hinder the work. Darius - i. e., Darius, the son of Hystaspes

This site's exposition

set out to discourage the people of Judah

on Ezra 4:4-5

Refused, the people of the land turn from persuasion to pressure. They discourage the people of Judah, make them afraid to build, and hire counselors against them to frustrate their plans. The opposition runs across reigns as a steady policy, and the verse sets up the long parenthesis that follows.

This site's exposition

They hired counselors against them

Albert Barnes reads hired counselors as officials at the Persian court, bribed to put delays and difficulties in the way of the work. He identifies this Darius as Darius son of Hystaspes. The pressure moved from the building site to the king's court.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

But they hired counselors against them, etc. The distinction of the words is noteworthy; because they indeed hired counselors against the builders of the temple with a price given, in order that their plan might be destroyed; yet he does not say that their plan …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Wonder not at the restlessness of the church's enemies in their attempts against the building of God's temple. He whom they serve, and whose work they are doing, is unwearied in walking to and fro through the earth to do mischief. And let those who discourage a good work, and weaken the hands of those that are employed in it, see whose pattern they follow.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Hired counsellors - They found means to corrupt some of the principal officers of the Persian court, so that the orders of Cyrus were not executed; or at least so slowly as to make them nearly ineffectual. Until the reign of Darius - This was probably Darius the son of Hystaspes.

The words behind it

15 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.

  • וְסֹכְרִ֧יםand [were] hiring

    vesokherimH7936 →

  • עֲלֵיהֶ֛םon them

    ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times

  • יוֹעֲצִ֖יםcounselors

    yoatzimH3289 →79 times

  • לְהָפֵ֣רto frustrate

    lehaferH6565 →

  • עֲצָתָ֑םpurpose their

    ʾatzatamH6098 →89 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יְמֵ֗י[the] days of

    yemeiH3117 →2304 times

  • כּ֚וֹרֶשׁCyrus

    koreshH3566 →15 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • פָּרַ֔סPersia

    parasH6539 →28 times

  • וְעַד־and until

    vead-H5704 →1261 times

  • מַלְכ֖וּת[the] reign of

    malkhutH4438 →91 times

  • דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁDarius

    dareyaveshH1867 →

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • פָּרָֽס׃Persia

    parasH6539 →28 times

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

Related verses

7 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.

Nahum 1:11From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.4 worksPsalms 2:1–2Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?3 worksEzra 5:5But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.3 worksActs 24:1–27Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.3 worksDaniel 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.3 worksEzra 4:24Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Daniel 8:3Then I lifted up my eyes and saw a ram with two horns standing beside the canal. The horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one grew up later.2 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

    Nahum 1:11

    From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.

    it leads to

    • Nahum 1:9

      Whatever you plot against the LORD, He will bring to an end. Affliction will not rise up a second time.

    • 2 Chronicles 13:7

      Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young, inexperienced, and unable to resist them.

    • 2 Chronicles 32:15–19

      So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver…

    • 1 Samuel 2:12

      Now the sons of Eli were wicked men; they had no regard for the LORD

    • 2 Kings 19:22–25

      Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

  • Through

    Ezra 5:5

    But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 33:18

      Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

    • Ezra 7:28

      and who has shown me favor before the king, his counselors, and all his powerful officials. And because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, I took courage and gathered the…

    • Ezra 7:6

      this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for…

Where this verse is studied

What the record shows

1 entry
  • Darius I (the Great) — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed

    Behistun inscription; numerous royal inscriptions

    Biblical figure (King of Persia, 522-486 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

About Ezra

Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra: the study guide →Read Ezra 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ezra 4 →