4:1 VA YISHME'U TSAREY YEHUDAH U VIN-YAMIN KI VENEY HA GOLAH BONIM HEYCHAL LA YHVH ELOHEY YISRA-EL
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ צָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן כִּי בְנֵי הַגּוֹלָה בּוֹנִים הֵיכָל לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ (King James translation): Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
BN (BibleNet translation): Now when the enemies of Yehudah and Bin-Yamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a Temple to YHVH, the god of Yisra-El...
Who were these enemies - internal or external? If internal, can we presume they were the Shomronim (Samaritans), who had been exiled here in much the same way, and much the same numbers, as the Yehudim who were taken to Babylon, augmenting significant numbers of their predecessors who had come here as colonisers after Sennacherib conquered the northern kingdom in the 720s BCE? And/or other non-Yehudi inhabitants of Kena'an? The next verse confirms that they are Samaritans, though the Yehudit renders them as SHAMRAYIN in verse 10.
4:2 VA YIGSHU EL ZERU-BAVEL VE EL RA'SHEY HA AVOT VA YOMRU LAHEM NIVNEH IMACHEM KI CHACHEM NIDROSH LELOHEYCHEM VE LO ANACHNU ZOVCHIM MIYMEY ESAR-CHADON MELECH ASHUR HA MA'ALEH OTANU POH
וַיִּגְּשׁוּ אֶל זְרֻבָּבֶל וְאֶל רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהֶם נִבְנֶה עִמָּכֶם כִּי כָכֶם נִדְרוֹשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיכֶם וְלֹא אֲנַחְנוּ זֹבְחִים מִימֵי אֵסַר חַדֹּן מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר הַמַּעֲלֶה אֹתָנוּ פֹּה
KJ: Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
BN: Then they approached Zeru-Bav-El and the clan-chiefs, and said to them: Let us build with you; for we seek your god, as you do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esar-Chadon, the king of Ashur who brought us here.
Does this make us question the translation of TSAREY in verse 1 as "adversaries" or "enemies"; the phrase led us to expect opposition, not support. Or are they justplaying politics?
ESAR-CHADON: The heir to Sennacherib, he reigned from 681 to 669 BCE, and was succeeded by his son Ashurbanipal. Sennacherib had destroyed Babylon, but Esar-Chadon rebuilt it, though - significantly to our Padan Aram tales in Genesis as well as the importance of the books of Job and Jonah (the latter especially significant in the Galilean tales of Jesus), his capital, the centre of his empire, was Ninveh (Nineveh). Following his father's conquest of the northern kingdon, he left behind garrisons in Yisra-El, and went on to campaign in Egypt, where he died. Those garrisons became central points of colonisation over the next century, and were probably the reason why Nebuchadnezzar chose Yisra-El when he removed the Yehudim to Babylon, and replaced them with vast numbers of Assyrians out of Padan Aram.
ANACHNU ZOVCHIM: The Samaritans had their own temple, a relic of the age of Yehoshu'a, on Mount Gerizim, destroyed in 128 BCE by John Hyrcanus. They would also produce their own version of the Pentateuch, with large numbers of variations in their traditional text from those in the Yehudit, though neither party has its original, and both acknowledge much redaction over the centuries.
NIDROSH LELOHEYCHEM: seek? or desire? The term is fraught with complexity, because the Yehudim returning from Babylon have moved on a long way in their religious beliefs and practices from those of the era of the Solomonic Temple. That latter was polytheistic, with as many gods and goddesses worshipped in its side chapels as there were at Mecca before Muhammad cleaned it out and left only al-Lah to be worshipped. The Yehudim were not quite ready yet to make that full leap into monotheism, but the evidence in the three prophets of this epoch, and in the writings of Ezra and Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah), is that they were moving rapidly towards it. So the multiple ELOHEYCHEM of whom the Shomronim are speaking here are not actually the same gods that the Yehudim NIDROSH, though they probably don't know that yet.
4:3 VA YOMER LAHEM ZERU-BAVEL VE YESHU'A U SHE'AR RA'SHEY HA AVOT LE YISRA-EL LO LACHEM VA LANU LIVNOT BAYIT LE ELOHEYNU KI ANACHNU YACHAD NIVNEH LA YHVH ELOHEY YISRA-EL KA ASHER TSIVANU HA MELECH KORESH MELECH PARAS
וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם זְרֻבָּבֶל וְיֵשׁוּעַ וּשְׁאָר רָאשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא לָכֶם וָלָנוּ לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לֵאלֹהֵינוּ כִּי אֲנַחְנוּ יַחַד נִבְנֶה לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּנוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרָס
KJ: But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
BN: But Zeru-Bav-El, and Yeshu'a, and the rest of the clan-chiefs of Yisra-El said to them: It is not for you but for us to build a house to our god; and we alone will build for YHVH, the god of Yisra-El, as king Koresh, the king of Paras, has instructed us.
A simple lesson in how to get faith confused with politics, also known as "an idiot's guide to winning friends and establishing harmonious community relationships" - the squabble with the Shomronim will go on for the next four hundred years, and the ascent of Christianity after the fall of the Second Temple probably owes a great deal more to the Shomronim than historians or theologians have yet investigated. (It is also a cowardly excuse to use Koresh as their mitigation: they don't want their help because they are "uncircumcised heathens". But maybe they also the Shomronim of using this as a device to infiltrate the inner circle, and then...)
4:4 VA YEHI AM HA ARETS MERAPHIM YEDEY AM YEHUDAH U MEVALAHIM OTAM LIVNOT
KJ: Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
וַיְהִי עַם הָאָרֶץ מְרַפִּים יְדֵי עַם יְהוּדָה וּמְבַלַהִים אוֹתָם לִבְנוֹת
KJ: Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
BN: Then the rural and especially the urban peasants undermined the hands of the people of Yehudah, harrying them while they were building...
The translations are both poor, mine as much as the King James, though both are also entirely accurate. But the verse uses an idiom, and idioms cannot easily be translated. Am Ha Arets is the Yehudit equivalent of calling people "proles" or "hoi poloi" or, as Prime Minister Begin once rather foolishly did, "chak-chakim" - ignorant hooligans, Yahoos, and yobs. This verse serves as a wonderful exemplar of how our side is always right, no matter how badly we behave, and their side is always wrong, even when they behaved perfectly decently and were spat on for their trouble.
The question is: did they do this harrassing because their original plan of prevention-by-infiltration was seen through and denied, or did they do it because their offer was genuine and now they were bloody-minded because offended?
4:5 VE SOCHRIM ALEYHEM YO'ATSIM LEHAPHER ATSATAM KOL YEMEY KORESH MELECH PARAS VE AD MALCHUT DARYAVESH MELECH PARAS
וְסֹכְרִים עֲלֵיהֶם יוֹעֲצִים לְהָפֵר עֲצָתָם כָּל יְמֵי כּוֹרֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרַס וְעַד מַלְכוּת דָּרְיָוֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרָס
KJ: 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.
BN: And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Koresh king of Paras, until the reign of Daryavesh king of Paras.
SOCHRIM: Is this the biblical equivalent of suing? But now we know: it was an infiltration attempt; their objective is to prevent the building.
ARTACHSHAST'A: this is Artaxerxes, the sixth "King of Kings" of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to 424 BCE, heir to his father Xerxes, who reigned from 518 to 465 BCE. From Xerxes to Cyrus may not be a very long way in the Persian language, and this may explain why Josephus, in his account of this history, gets Koresh and Xerxes and Artaxerxes somewhat confused.
DARYAVESH: or perhaps DAR-YAVESH, because he was famously dry? What can we learn about names from ones like these and Ach-Mousa and others where we know from the archaeology exactly how they were named, and even how they were pronounced, and yet the Yehudit name is different? Only slightly different in this case: King Dârayavauš.
KOL YEMEY: The two key prophets of the time of Zeru-Bavel, Chagai and Zechar-Yah, spent a huge amount of time in their books urging and encouraging the leadership to get on with the task - "in their books" simply being the written record of their doing the same in public speeches, sermons and face-to-face meetings with the leadership.
4:6 U VE MALCHUT ACHASHVEROSH BIT'CHILAT MALCHUTO KATVU SITNAH AL YOSHVEY YEHUDAH VIYRU-SHALA'IM
וּבְמַלְכוּת אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ בִּתְחִלַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ כָּתְבוּ שִׂטְנָה עַל יֹשְׁבֵי יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם
KJ: And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
BN: And in the reign of Achashverosh, at the beginning of his reign, they wrote him an accusation against the inhabitants of Yehudah and Yeru-Shala'im.
ACHASHVEROSH is another; generally Ahasuerus in English renditions, but his real name was Xšayārša in Old Persian, which is written as اخشورش in modern Farsi, and phonetically as Axšoreš; the Greeks knew him simply as Xerxes (Ξέρξης). Achashverosh is the king associated with Queen Ester in the Purim legend.
BIT'CHILAT: Useful to see this phrase written down, and with its correct translation as "in the beginning", because this is not the phrase used at the opening of the Book of Genesis, though English translations would lead you to assume that it must be. BE RE'SHIT there... see my notes.
SITNAH: An accusation, in the sense here of taking the matter to the Supreme Court; from the same root that gives the word SATAN, which only means "an adversary" in the most superficial sense, but here in its earliest usage (as opposed to TSAREY, which was also translated as "adversary", in verse 1). What they have brought is not an accusation, but a law suit - they are suing the Beney Yehudah and the Beney Yisra-El, presumably in justified fear that a national religion is about to be imposed on them, and themselves "apartheided" within it on the basis of verse 2. Ha Satan is the official title of the defense counsel, the "opposition" if you are in debate at the students' union, or sitting at javelin's length from the Prime Minister in Parliament.
samech break
samech break
4:7 U VIYMEY ARTACHSHAST'A KATAV BISHLAM MITREDAT TAV-EL U SHE'AR KENA'OTO AL ARTACHSHAST MELECH PARAS U CHETAV HA NISHTEVAN KATUV ARAMIT U METURGAM ARAMIT
וּבִימֵי אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּא כָּתַב בִּשְׁלָם מִתְרְדָת טָבְאֵל וּשְׁאָר כְּנָוֹתָו עַל אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּא מֶלֶךְ פָּרָס וּכְתָב הַנִּשְׁתְּוָן כָּתוּב אֲרָמִית וּמְתֻרְגָּם אֲרָמִית
KJ: And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
BN: And in the days of Artachshast'a Bishlam, Mitredat, Tav-El, and the rest of his companions wrote to Artachshast' king of Paras; and the letter was written in the Aramaic script, and translated from the Aramaic.
As to the spelling of the name, which is inconsistent in this verse, we will see several variations through the Books of the Return. Here, it is ARTACHSHAST'A first, but then ARTACHSHAST', the former with a patach, the latter with a sheva below the the Tav. The Masoretic versions for this verse (click here) are also undecided whether the "SHAST" part should be "SHASHT", with two Sheens (שש), or "SHAST" with a Sheen followed bya Seen, or "SHAST" with Sheen followed by a Samech (שס).
pey break
MITREDAT: Mithridates presumably - but which one? We encounter a man of the same name as Koresh's Treasurer, in Ezra 1:8.
TAV-EL: Strong's explanation of his name (go to the link) simply cannot be missed; presumably this was a nickname given him by his enemies, rather than a parental choice.
KETUV...METURGAM: Translations tend to be vague with this; the point is that it was written in Aramaic, which the Yehudim were using, and in the Aramaic script, not in Persian and in Persian script, the consequence for the Yehudim of fifty years of captivity in Babylonia. By the time of Ezra and Nechem-Yah, seventy years on from Zeru-Bavel, they had probably become fluent in Persian, but not yet at the time of the letter.
And the deeper significance of this: it would be a matter of just a few generations before Yehudit became obsolete as a spoken language, kept alive only for the purposes of prayer, and used as a written language only in the study of the Tanach, and even there, to this day, Aramaic predominates - see Nehemiah 13, where the ability to speak Yehudit has become a major issue. By Jesus' time, Aramaic was the lingua franca of all Yehudim in the land, spoken and written. The revival of Yehudit, as modern Ivrit, spoken and written, belongs to the last decades of the 19th century CE, almost two and a half thousand years since it "died".
Also worth noting that today's Arabic is an evolution of Aramaic; because the Medean kings used Persian script, and conquered most of Arabia, it eventually replaced the Ugaritic alphabet for the writing of Arabic, though Farsi never became the language of Arabia, as Aramaic did in Yehudah.
pey break
4:8 RECHUM BE'EL TE'EM VE SHIMSHAI SAPHR'A KETAVU IGRAH CHADAH AL YERU-SHELEM LE ARTACHSHAST MALK'A KE NEM'A
APHARSATCHAY'E: Lesser Governor, the Commander's Number 2.
רְחוּם בְּעֵל טְעֵם וְשִׁמְשַׁי סָפְרָא כְּתַבוּ אִגְּרָה חֲדָה עַל יְרוּשְׁלֶם לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּא מַלְכָּא כְּנֵמָא
KJ: Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
BN: Rechum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Yeru-Shelem to Artachshast' the king in this manner:
And then the great irony, that the very next verse, this verse, employs Aramaic - you can usually tell by those Aleph-endings, though there are some Yehudit words that have them. Here we have BE'EL for BA'AL, SAPHR'A, MALK'A and KE NEM'A, as well as the Aramaic spelling and pronunciation of what may be either YERUSHLEM or YERU-SHELEM.
RECHUM: The word means "womb" in Yehudit, and no one calls their son "womb". I am assuming that the man was a Persian appointee and that we should therefore look for the word in Farsi, not Aramaic - and lo and behold, Rukma, meaning "splendour" in Old Iranian; in which case RECHUM BE'EL TE'EM is probably "His Excellency the Garrison Commander", and not his name at all.
KETAVU: Why is it pointed this way, and not KATVU? Is that Aramaic as well?
4:9 EDAYIN RECHUM BE'EL TE'EM VE SHIMSHAI SAPHR'A U SHE'AR KENAVAT'HON DIYNAY'E VA APHARSATCHAY'E TARPELAY'E EPHRASAY'E ARKEVAY'E VAVLAY'E SHUSHANCHAY'E DEHAV'E ALMAY'E
אֱדַיִן רְחוּם בְּעֵל טְעֵם וְשִׁמְשַׁי סָפְרָא וּשְׁאָר כְּנָוָתְהוֹן דִּינָיֵא וַאֲפַרְסַתְכָיֵא טַרְפְּלָיֵא אֲפָרְסָיֵא אַרְכְּוָיֵ בָבְלָיֵא שׁוּשַׁנְכָיֵא דֶּהָוֵא עֵלְמָיֵא
KJ: Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
BN: Immediately Rechum the commander, and Shimshai the scribe, wrote again, and the rest of their associates; Diynay'e, and Apharsatchay'e, Tarpelay'e, Ephrasay'e, Arkevay'e, Vavlay'e, Shushanchay'e on behalf of Almay'e...
Is Ezra being tongue-in-cheek, showing off his personal fluency in Aramaic? Or is it simply that he takes a different attitude to Nechem-Yah in this matter, ready to accept Aramaic as the national language, at least for what he thought would only be the time being? I wonder if the two had arguments over this!
KENAVAT'HON: Aramaic plural? HON for IM? We know it from the Kaddish. Clearly this is a "class action" law-suit, and not just a move by one disgruntled man.
EDAYIN: Meaning "immediately"; though it has to be said that it doesn't make much sense here; most of this verse appears to be a repetition of the previous, as though Ezra wrote it, then redrafted it slightly, but the copyist failed to realise and kept both.
APHARSATCHAY'E: Lesser Governor, the Commander's Number 2.
TARPELAY'E: Civil servants.
EPHRASAY'E: Secretaries.
ARKEVAY: Looks like a scribal error for ARKEVAY'E. From the town of Erech, or Warak, or Uruk, the name changing across time.
VAVLAY'E: Babylonians.
SHUSHANCHAY'E: The second town of Persia, Susa.
DEHAV'E: this looks like the name of another town, but it is actually the middle word of a triplet (the V is the give-away), "the Susans on behalf of all the Elamites".
ALMAY'E: Elamites, or Eylam usually in the Yehudit.
4:10 U SHE'AR UMAY'A DI HAGLI ASNAPAR RAB'A VE YAKIYR'A VE HOTEV HIMO BE KIRYAH DI SHAMRAYIN U SHE'AR AVAR NAHARAH U CHE'ENET
וּשְׁאָר אֻמַּיָּא דִּי הַגְלִי אָסְנַפַּר רַבָּא וְיַקִּירָא וְהוֹתֵב הִמּוֹ בְּקִרְיָה דִּי שָׁמְרָיִן וּשְׁאָר עֲבַר נַהֲרָה וּכְעֶנֶת
KJ: And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.
BN: And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnapar brought over, and set in the city of Shamrayin, and the rest that are in the country beyond the River... et cetera, et cetera."
ASNAPAR: "The great and the noble"! Did I say a moment ago that Ezra had a fine sense of irony and tongue-in-cheek! The name in full is Ashurbanipal. The same is true of "U CHE'ENET"
SHAMRAYIN: Samaria, Shomron in Yehudit.
4:11 DENAH PARSHEGEN IGART'A DI SHELACHU ALOHI AL ARTACHSHAST' MALK'A AVDAYICH ENASH AVAR NAHARAH U CHE'ENET
דְּנָה פַּרְשֶׁגֶן אִגַּרְתָּא דִּי שְׁלַחוּ עֲלוֹהִי עַל אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּא מַלְכָּא עַבְדָיִךְ אֱנָשׁ עֲבַר נַהֲרָה וּכְעֶנֶת
KJ: This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.
BN: This is a copy of the letter that they sent to him, even to Artachshast' the king - your servants the men beyond the river, et cetera...
And now - almost overkill - the entire piece is being written in Aramaic. Why? Because he can? To show those "adversaries" that he can compete with them on any terms they like, even language?
pey break
4:12 YEDIY'A LEHEV'E LE MALK'A DI YEHUDAY'E DI SELIKU MIN LEVATACH ALEYN'A ATO LIYRUSHLEM KIRYET'A MARADET'A U VIY'SHET'A BANAYIN VE SHURAY'A ASHACHLILU VE USHAY'A YACHIYTU
יְדִיעַ לֶהֱוֵא לְמַלְכָּא דִּי יְהוּדָיֵא דִּי סְלִקוּ מִן לְוָתָךְ עֲלֶינָא אֲתוֹ לִירוּשְׁלֶם קִרְיְתָא מָרָדְתָּא וּבִאישְׁתָּא בָּנַיִן וְשׁוּרַיָּ אשַׁכְלִלוּ וְאֻשַּׁיָּא יַחִיטוּ
KJ: Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.
BN: "Be it known to the king, that the Yehudim who came up from you have come to us in Yerushlem; they are building a rebellious and a bad city, and have finished the walls, and are digging out the foundations...
4:13 KE'AN YEDIY'A LEHEV'E LE MALK'A DI HEN KIRYET'A DACH TITBEN'E VE SHURAYAH YISHTACHLELUN MINDAH VELO VA HALACH LA YINTENUN VE APTOM MALCHIM TEHANZIK
כְּעַן יְדִיעַ לֶהֱוֵא לְמַלְכָּא דִּי הֵן קִרְיְתָא דָךְ תִּתְבְּנֵא וְשׁוּרַיָּה יִשְׁתַּכְלְלוּן מִנְדָּה בְלוֹ וַהֲלָךְ לָא יִנְתְּנוּן וְאַפְּתֹם מַלְכִים תְּהַנְזִק
KJ: Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.
BN: Let it be known now to the king, that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, impost, or toll, and so you will damage the revenue of the kings.
The normal scaremongering strategy of third-rate politicians, unbacked by any sort of evidence whatsoever!
4:14 KE'AN KOL KAVEL DI MELACH HEYCHL'A MELACHN'A VE ARVAT MALK'A LA ARICH LAN'A LE MECHEZ'E AL DENAH SHELACHN'A VE HODA'N'A LE MALK'A
כְּעַן כָּל קֳבֵל דִּי מְלַח הֵיכְלָא מְלַחְנָא וְעַרְוַת מַלְכָּא לָא אֲרִיךְ לַנָא לְמֶחֱזֵא עַל־דְּנָה שְׁלַחְנָא וְהוֹדַעְנָא לְמַלְכָּא
KJ: Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
BN: "Now, because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not meet for us to witness the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and announced to the king...
Augmented by the normal cringeing sycophancy of third-rate politicians!
4:15 DI YEVAKAR BISPHAR DACHRANAY'A DI AVAHATACH U TEHASHKACH BISPHAR DACHRANAY'A VE TIND'A DI KIRYET'A DACH KIRY'A MARAD'A U MEHANZEKAT MALCHIN U MEDINAN VE ESHTADUR AVDIN BA GAVAH MIN YOMAT ALM'A AL DINAH KIRYET'A DACH HA CHARVAT
דִּי יְבַקַּר בִּסְפַר דָּכְרָנַיָּא דִּי אֲבָהָתָךְ וּתְהַשְׁכַּח בִּסְפַר דָּכְרָנַיָּא וְתִנְדַּע דִּי קִרְיְתָא דָךְ קִרְיָא מָרָדָא וּמְהַנְזְקַת מַלְכִין וּמְדִנָן וְאֶשְׁתַּדּוּר עָבְדִין בְּגַוַּהּ מִן יוֹמָת עָלְמָא עַל דְּנָה קִרְיְתָא דָךְ הָחָרְבַת
KJ: That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this cityis a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.
BN: "That search may be made in the archives of your predecessors; so you shall find in the archives of your predecessors, and know that this city is a rebellious city, that it has done much damage to kings and provinces, and that they have carried out similar kinds of sedition in the past, for which reason this city was laid waste...
Another of the great ironies of this passage, for us today, is that this letter could be on its way to Persia right now, which is to say Iran, even as you are reading this, sent by the equivalent of the garrison commander in Syria, the head of Hezbollah. Plus ça change!
4:16 MEHOD'IN ANACHNAH LE MALK'A DI HEN KIRYET'A DACH TITBEN'E VE SHURAYAH YISHTACHLELUN LAKAVEL DENAH CHALAK BA AVAR NAHAR'A LA ITAI LACH
מְהוֹדְעִין אֲנַחְנָה לְמַלְכָּא דִּי הֵן קִרְיְתָא דָךְ תִּתְבְּנֵא וְשׁוּרַיָּה יִשְׁתַּכְלְלוּן לָקֳבֵל דְּנָה חֲלָק בַּעֲבַר נַהֲרָא לָא אִיתַי לָךְ
KJ: We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.
BN: "We beg to inform the king that, if this city is rebuilt, and her walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River."
BN: "We beg to inform the king that, if this city is rebuilt, and her walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River."
SHURAYAH: I think that last letter signifies a feminine possessive ending - the similar word earlier had an Aleph ending: "her walls"; though I also wonder if this isn't the Aramaic equivalent of SHA'AR, and therefore means "gates", not "walls" - a significant difference if you are hoping for the king to instruct you to lay siege.
NAHAR'A: The river in question being the Yarden, not the Euphrates, though the deliberate vagueness of the statement allows the other to be inferred - scaremongering again, a Jewish state with a tiny population perceived as a threat to the entirety of Arabia. Apparently "plus ça change" in Persian is بیشتر تغییر می کند; and no, I don't know how you pronounce it.
pey break
4:17 PITGAM'A SHELACH MALK'A AL RECHUM BE'EL TE'EM VE SHIMSHAI SAPHR'A U SHE'AR KENAVAT’HON DI YAT'VIN BE SHAMRAYIN U SHE'AR AVAR NAHARAH SHELAM U CHE'ET
פִּתְגָמָא שְׁלַח מַלְכָּא עַל רְחוּם בְּעֵל טְעֵם וְשִׁמְשַׁי סָפְרָא וּשְׁאָר כְּנָוָתְהוֹן דִּי יָתְבִין בְּשָׁמְרָיִן וּשְׁאָר עֲבַר נַהֲרָה שְׁלָם וּכְעֶת
KJ: Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.
BN: Then the king sent a reply to Rechum the garrison commander, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their associates who dwelt in Shamrayin, and to the rest beyond the river: Peace, etc etc...
U CHE'ET on this occasion, where it was U CHE ENET above (verses 10 and 11). As per my translation, I think it's the same as the difference between "etc" and "et cetera" in English.
samech break
4:18 NISHTEVAN'A DI SHILACHTUN ALEYN'A MEPHARASH KERI KADAMAI
נִשְׁתְּוָנָא דִּי שְׁלַחְתּוּן עֲלֶינָא מְפָרַשׁ קֱרִי קָדָמָי
KJ: The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
BN: "The letter which you sent to us has been read out in my presence...
4:19 U MINI SIM TE'EM U VAKARO VE HASHKACHU DI KIRYET'A DACH MIN YOMAT ALM'A AL MALCHIN MITNAS'AH U MERAD VE ESHTADUR MI TE'AVED BAH
וּמִנִּי שִׂים טְעֵם וּבַקַּרוּ וְהַשְׁכַּחוּ דִּי קִרְיְתָא דָךְ מִן יוֹמָת עָלְמָא עַל מַלְכִין מִתְנַשְּׂאָה וּמְרַד וְאֶשְׁתַּדּוּר מִתְעֲבֶד בַּהּ
KJ: And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and thatrebellion and sedition have been made therein.
BN: "And I issued a decree, and a search has been made, and it has been found that this city has, in the past, risen in insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it...
The trouble with inviting the king to search his archives is that your scaremongering-without-evidence may turn into scaremongering-with-evidence, or it may be shown to be just that, scare-mongering... oh but Ezra is enjoying telling this tale in this dismissive manner, because he knows, and is exulting in, the outcome. Even if there is still one more difficult stage to go before it is reached.
4:20 U MALCHIN TAKIYPHIN HAVO AL YERUSHLEM VE SHALIYTIN BE CHOL AVAR NAHARAH U MIDAH VE LO VA HALACH MIT'YEHEV LEHON
וּמַלְכִין תַּקִּיפִין הֲווֹ עַל יְרוּשְׁלֶם וְשַׁלִּיטִין בְּכֹל עֲבַר נַהֲרָה וּמִדָּה בְלוֹ וַהֲלָךְ מִתְיְהֵב לְהוֹן
KJ: There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
BN: "There have also been great kings in Yerushlem, who have ruled over all the lands beyond the river; and tribute, and impost, and toll, was paid to them...
4:21 KE'AN SIYMU TE'EM LEVATAL'A GUVRAY'A ILECH VE KIRYET'A DACH LA TITBEN'E AD MINI TA'M'A YIT'SAM
כְּעַן שִׂימוּ טְּעֵם לְבַטָּלָא גֻּבְרַיָּא אִלֵּךְ וְקִרְיְתָא דָךְ לָא תִתְבְּנֵא עַד מִנִּי טַעְמָא יִתְּשָׂם
KJ: Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.
BN: "Issue a decree now to ensure that these men cease, and that this city should not be built, until a decree has been made by me...
4:22 U ZEHIYRIN HEVO SHALU LEME'BAD AL DENAH LE MAH YISG'E CHAVAL'A LEHANZAKAT MALCHIN
וּזְהִירִין הֱווֹ שָׁלוּ לְמֶעְבַּד עַל דְּנָה לְמָה יִשְׂגֵּא חֲבָלָא לְהַנְזָקַת מַלְכִין
KJ: Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
BN: "And take heed not to be slack about this matter; why should damage increase, to the hurt of the kings?"
samech break
4:23 EDAYIN MIN DI PARSHEGEN NISHTEVAN'A DI ARTACHSHAST'A MALK'A KERI KADAM RECHUM VE SHIMSHAI SAPHR'A U CHENAVAT'HON AZALU VIVHIYLU LIYRUSHLEM AL YEHUDAY'E U VATILU HIMO BE EDR'A VE CHAYIL
אֱדַיִן מִן דִּי פַּרְשֶׁגֶן נִשְׁתְּוָנָא דִּי אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּא מַלְכָּא קֱרִי קֳדָם רְחוּם וְשִׁמְשַׁי סָפְרָא וּכְנָוָתְהוֹן אֲזַלוּ בִבְהִילוּ לִירוּשְׁלֶם עַל־יְהוּדָיֵא וּבַטִּלוּ הִמּוֹ בְּאֶדְרָע וְחָיִל
KJ: Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
BN: As soon as the copy of king Artachshasta's letter was read out to Rechum, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to their associates, they hurried to Yerushlem, to the Yehuday'e, and made them cease by force and power.
samech break
4:24 BE'DAYIN BE TELAT AVIYDAT BEIT ELAH'A DI BIYRUSHLEM VA HAVAT BA TEL'A AD SHENAT TARTEYN LE MALCHUT DAR-YAVESH MELECH PARAS
בֵּאדַיִן בְּטֵלַת עֲבִידַת בֵּית אֱלָהָא דִּי בִּירוּשְׁלֶם וַהֲוָת בָּטְלָא עַד שְׁנַת תַּרְתֵּין לְמַלְכוּת דָּרְיָוֶשׁ מֶלֶךְ פָּרָס
KJ: Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
BN: And immediately work ceased on the house of Elah'a which is in Yerushlem; and it remained suspended until the second year of the reign of Dar-Yavesh, king of Paras.
pey break
No comments:
Post a Comment