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Ezra 5:12

in Ezra 5

But 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

6 notes on this verse
But 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

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.

This site's exposition

since our fathers angered the God of heaven

John Gill names the provocation as the fathers' idolatries. He takes the confession as the answer to why the servants of the God of heaven, and the house for his name, were given up. Gill points to 2 Chronicles 36:19 for the same destruction.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), for which he delivered us and our temple into the hands of the king of Babylon, but never intended thereby to put a final period to our religion. We were only suspended for a time, not deprived for ever." (4.) "We have the royal decree of Cyrus to justify us and bear us out in what we do.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 & Brown

1802–1910

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

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

20 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.

  • 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.

Related verses

18 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.

2 Chronicles 36:16–17But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.4 worksDaniel 9:5we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.4 worksNehemiah 9:26–27But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.3 works2 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.3 worksJeremiah 39:1–14In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.3 worksJudges 6:1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 29:24–28So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’2 worksJudges 2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.2 worksDeuteronomy 28:15–68If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:2 works2 Kings 25:8–30On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.2 worksIsaiah 59:1–2Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.2 works2 Chronicles 7:19–22But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,2 worksJeremiah 5:29Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?2 works2 Kings 21:12–15this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that the news will reverberate in the ears of all who hear it.2 worksDeuteronomy 32:30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?2 worksJudges 4:2So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.2 worksPsalms 106:40So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.2 worksDeuteronomy 31:17On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’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

    Daniel 9:5

    we 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.

  • Through

    2 Kings 24:2

    And 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,…

Where this verse is studied

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 5 →

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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

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