Ezra 5:11
in Ezra 5And 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.
⋯
This verse in Ezra 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWe 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
servants of the God of heaven and earth
on Ezra 5:11-12
The elders answer that they are servants of the God of heaven. That title is the Persian era's court language for the Lord, used when the book's kings decree. They name the exile's cause plainly, that their fathers angered the God of heaven, and He delivered them to Nebuchadnezzar.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And thus they returned us answer,....
Note, (1.) The temple of God among men is to be built by prophecy, not by secular force (that often hinders it, but seldom furthers it), but by the word of God. As the weapons of our warfare, so the instruments of our building, are not carnal, but spiritual, and they are the ministers of the gospel that are the master-builders.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Not a word was uttered to dispirit the Jews or afford cause of triumph to their opponents. Matters were to go on till contrary orders arrived from Babylon. After surveying the work in progress, he inquired: first, by what authority this national temple was undertaken; and, secondly, the names of the principal promoters and directors of the undertaking.
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.
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.
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּכְנֵ֥מָא | ukhenema' | and as follows | H3660 → | 5 times |
| פִתְגָמָ֖א | fitgama' | word the | H6600 → | 6 times |
| הֲתִיב֣וּנָא | hativuna' | they sent back to us | H8421 → | 8 times |
| לְמֵמַ֑ר | lememar | to say | H560 → | 71 times |
| אֲנַ֣חְנָא | ʾanachna' | we | H586 → | |
| הִמּ֡וֹ | himo | they | H1994 → | 12 times |
| עַבְדוֹהִי֩ | avdohi | [are] servants his | H5649 → | |
| דִֽי־ | di- | of | H1768 → | 345 times |
| אֱלָ֨הּ | ʾelah | [the] God of | H426 → | 95 times |
| שְׁמַיָּ֜א | shemaiya' | heavens the | H8065 → | 38 times |
| וְאַרְעָ֗א | veara' | and earth the | H772 → | |
| וּבָנַ֤יִן | uvanayin | and [we are] building | H1124 → | 22 times |
| בַּיְתָא֙ | bayta' | house the | H1005 → | 44 times |
| דִּֽי־ | di- | which | H1768 → | 345 times |
| הֲוָ֨א | hava' | it was | H1934 → | 71 times |
| בְנֵ֜ה | veneh | built | H1124 → | 22 times |
| מִקַּדְמַ֤ת | mikadmat | from [the] former time of | H6928 → | |
| דְּנָה֙ | denah | this | H1836 → | 58 times |
| שְׁנִ֣ין | shenin | years | H8140 → | 7 times |
| שַׂגִּיאָ֔ן | sagian | many | H7690 → | |
| וּמֶ֤לֶךְ | umelekh | and a king | H4430 → | 180 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | leyisrael | of Israel | H3479 → | 8 times |
| רַ֔ב | rav | great | H7229 → | 15 times |
| בְּנָ֖הִי | benahi | he built it | H1124 → | 22 times |
| וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃ | veshakhleleh | and he finished it | H3635 → | 7 times |
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.
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
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…
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.
- John 8:34
Through
Acts 27:23For 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
- Acts 23:11
Through
Psalms 119:46I 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.
- Romans 1:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezra
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.