Ezra 4:3

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Zerubbabel	זְרֻבָּבֶ֜ל ze.ru.ba.Vel	H2216	Zerubbabel · proper noun, a man's name
Jeshua	וְיֵשׁ֗וּעַ ve.ye.Shu.a'	H3442	Jeshua · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
rest	וּשְׁאָ֨ר u.she.'Ar	H7605	a remainder · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
chief	רָאשֵׁ֤י ra.Shei	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct
fathers	הָֽאָבוֹת֙ ha.'a.Vot	H1	father · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
Israel	לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל le.Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
said	וַיֹּאמֶר֩ vai.yo.Mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
build	לִבְנ֥וֹת liv.Not	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
house	בַּ֖יִת Ba.yit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular absolute
God	לֵאלֹהֵ֑ינוּ le.lo.Hei.nu	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
together	יַ֜חַד Ya.chad	H3162	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
build	נִבְנֶ֗ה niv.Neh	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common plural
LORD	לַֽיהוָה֙ la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהֵ֣י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
king	הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ ha.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Cyrus	כּ֥וֹרֶשׁ Ko.resh	H3566	Koresh (or Cyrus) · proper noun, a man's name
king	מֶֽלֶךְ Me.lekh-	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Persia	פָּרָֽס pa.Ras	H6539	Paras (i.e. Persia) · proper noun, a place name
commanded	צִוָּ֔נוּ tzi.Va.nu	H6680	(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Nehemiah 2:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have…
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Acts 8:21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD sti…
Ezra 6:3-5 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded…
Isaiah 44:28-45:1 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple,…
Isaiah 45:4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me…
John 4:22-23 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:1-5

We have here an instance of the old enmity that was put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. God's temple cannot be built, but Satan will rage, and the gates of hell will fight against it. The gospel kingdom was, in like manner, to be set up with much struggling and contention. In this respect the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former, and it was more a figure of the temple of Christ's church, in that Solomon built his temple when there was no adversary nor evil occurrent, (Kg1 5:4); but this second temple was built notwithstanding great opposition, in the removing and conquering of which, and the bringing of the work to perfection at last i…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:3

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua . . . said . . . Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God--This refusal to co-operate with the Samaritans, from whatever motives it sprang, was overruled by Providence for ultimate good; for, had the two peoples worked together, familiar acquaintanceship and intermarriage would have ensued, and the result might have been a relapse of the Jews into idolatry. Most certainly, confusion and obscurity in the genealogical evidence that proved the descent of the Messiah would have followed; whereas, in their hostile and separate condition, they were jealous observers of each other's proceedings, watching with mutual care over the preservation and integr…

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Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:3

Ye have nothing to do with us - We cannot acknowledge you as worshippers of the true God, and cannot participate with you in anything that relates to his worship.

John Gill on Ezra 4:3

But Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers, said unto them,.... The prince and high priest, and chief of the people: you have nothing to do with us to build an house to our God; being neither of the same nation, nor of the same religion: but we ourselves together will build to the Lord God of Israel; we and we only, who are together as one man, united in one body of people, and in the same religious sentiments, being Israelites; we separately, without admitting strangers among us, will build a temple to the God of Israel: as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, hath commanded us; thereby letting them know that they acted by his authority, and the commission they had f…

The Church Fathers

It is not for you or us to build a house for our God. Heretics are not to build the house of the Lord, which is the Church, from which they themselves are proved to be strangers; but only those who, adhering to Christ the true King and Priest, have deserved to be called the leaders of the fathers, due to the devout care which they have for those who desire to see God, which is the meaning of Israel.
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Cyrus — (Heb. Ko’resh), the celebrated “King of Persia” (Elam) who was conqueror of Babylon, and issued the decree of liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1, 2). He was the son of Cambyses, the prince of Persia,…
Jeshua · .Contends with those who — .Contends with those who
Temple, The Second · The Samaritans: Their help refused by the Jews — The Samaritans: Their help refused by the Jews
Zerubbabel · from — from

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezra 4:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:3

Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:3

John Gill on Ezra 4:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezra 4:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:3

Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:3

John Gill on Ezra 4:3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 4:3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 4:3

Rashi on Ezra 4:3