Ezra 5:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezra 5:3
At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?
an appointed occasion · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
came
אֲתָ֨א'a.Ta'
H858
to arrive · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Tatnai
תַּ֠תְּנַיTa.te.nai
H8674
Tattenai · proper noun, a man's name
governor
פַּחַ֧תpa.Chat
H6347
a prefect (of a city or small district) · noun, common feminine singular construct
side
עֲבַֽר'a.var-
H5675
properly · noun, common both genders singular construct
river
נַהֲרָ֛הna.ha.Rah'
H5103
a river · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Shethar-boznai
וּשְׁתַ֥רu.she.Tar
H8370
Shethar-Bozenai · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
companions
וּכְנָוָתְה֑וֹןu.khe.na.va.te.Hon
H3675
a colleague (as having the same title) · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
said
אָמְרִ֣ין'a.me.Rin
H560
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
thus
וְכֵן֙ve.Khen
H3652
so · conjunction + adverb
them
עֲלֵיה֜וֹןa.lei.Hon
H5922
above · preposition + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Who
מַןman-
H4479
who or what (properly · interrogative pronoun
commanded
שָׂ֨םsam
H7761
to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
build
לִבְּנֵ֔אli.be.Ne'
H1124
to build · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
this
דְנָה֙de.Nah
H1836
this · demonstrative particle
house
בַּיְתָ֤אbay.Ta'
H1005
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
up
לְשַׁכְלָלָֽהle.shakh.la.Lah
H3635
to complete · preposition + verb, infinitive construct
this
דְנָ֖הde.Nah
H1836
this · demonstrative particle
wall
וְאֻשַּׁרְנָ֥אve.'u.shar.Na'
H846
a wall (from its uprightness) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
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
Ezra 6:6 Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye f…
Ezra 1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the…
Ezra 5:9 Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?
Ezra 6:13 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so the…
Ezra 4:12 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, an…
Ezra 5:6 The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on…
Ezra 7:21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the s…
Nehemiah 2:7-9 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me ove…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 5:3–end
We have here, I. The cognizance which their neighbours soon took of the reviving of this good work. A jealous eye, it seems, they had upon them, and no sooner did the Spirit of God stir up the friends of the temple to appear for it than the evil spirit stirred up its enemies to appear against it. While the people built and ceiled their own houses their enemies gave them no molestation (Hag 1:4), though the king's order was to put a stop to the building of the city (Ezr 4:21); but when they fell to work again at the temple then the alarm was taken, and all heads were at work to hinder them, Ezr 5:3, Ezr 5:4. The adversaries are here named: Tatnai and Shethar-boznai. The governors we read of (…
At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river--The Persian empire west of the Euphrates included at this time Syria, Arabia, Egypt, PhÅ“nicia, and other provinces subject to Darius. The empire was divided into twenty provinces, called satrapies. Syria formed one satrapy, inclusive of Palestine, PhÅ“nicia, and Cyprus, and furnished an annual revenue of three hundred fifty talents. It was presided over by a satrap or viceroy, who at this time resided at Damascus. Though superior to the native governors of the Jews appointed by the Persian king, he never interfered with their internal government except when there was a threatened disturbance of order and tranquillity. Ta…
Tatnai, governor - He was governor of the provinces which belonged to the Persian empire on their side of the Euphrates, comprehending Syria, Arabia Deserta, Phoenicia, and Samaria. He seems to have been a mild and judicious man; and to have acted with great prudence and caution, and without any kind of prejudice. The manner in which he represented this to the king is a full proof of this disposition.
John Gill on Ezra 5:3
The Church Fathers
At that time, Thathannai came to them, etc. The sense of the letter is clear, because the leaders of the Jews, strengthened by the words of the prophets, were not able to be hindered by the persecution of the enemies from the holy work, which they had ceased from for fear of the enemies while the prophets still rested. What is now carried out in the holy Church in the same manner, while those who had become more lukewarm towards good work due to the snares of evil men or spirits remained for a while, suddenly corrected by the words of either faithful teachers or divine Scriptures, begin to boil over with good endeavors to such an extent that they cannot be overcome by any machinations of temptations, nor can they be recalled from their intended purpose. However, it is rightly asked how it was said, "To which we responded to them," as if he who wrote was present at that time, since Ezra is said to have written this book, who is found not to have been in Jerusalem at this time but came much later during the reign of Artaxerxes. Either he was truly there at that time when the temple was being built and returned to Babylon after the temple was made to lead more of the children of Israel back to Jerusalem; or certainly, even if he was not there while the temple was being built, he nonetheless joined with those who were building, because he considered everything that was done concerning his brothers or that they did as his own. Similarly, the Apostle also, for the sake of fraternal concord, in a way associates himself with the saints who will be at the end of the age: "We," he says, "who are alive, who remain, will not precede those who have fallen asleep at the coming of our Lord" (I Thess. IV).
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
Governor — (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of…
Shethar-boznai — Star of splendour, a Persian officer who vainly attempted to hinder the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 5:3, 6; 6:6, 13).
Shetharboznai — (Pers. star of splendor), a Persian officer of rank in the reign of Darius Hystaspes. (Ezra 5:3,6; 6:6,13) (B.C. 320.)
Tatnai — Gift, a Persian governor (Heb. pehah, i.e., “satrap;” modern “pasha”) “on this side the river”, i.e., of the whole tract on the west of the Euphrates. This Hebrew title pehah is given to governors of…
Temple, the Second — After the return from captivity, under Zerubbabel (q.v.) and the high priest Jeshua, arrangements were almost immediately made to reorganize the long-desolated kingdom. The body of pilgrims, forming…
Shethar-Boznai · An official of the king of Persia — An official of the king of Persia
Tatnai · A Persian governor in Samaria — A Persian governor in Samaria
Temple, The Second · Tatnai the governor wrote to Darius to know if the building had his sanction — Tatnai the governor wrote to Darius to know if the building had his sanction
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).
At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions,.... These were new governors and officers under the king of Persia in those parts, the old ones, Rehum, Shimshai, &c. being either dead, or removed upon this new king coming to the throne: these came to the Jews:
and said thus unto them, who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall? for it seems by this time they had raised up the walls of the temple from its foundation to some height; for of these it must be understood, see Ezra 4:8 for it can hardly be thought they were as yet enclosing it with a wall round about it; now they asked them by what authority…
When the building was recommenced, the governor on this side Euphrates, and other royal officials, evidently informed of the undertaking by the adversaries of the Jews, made their appearance for the purpose of investigating matters on the spot. עליהון אתּה, came to them, to the two above-named rulers of the community at Jerusalem. Tatnai (lxx Θανθαναΐ́) was פּחה, viceroy, in the provinces west of Euphrates, i.e., as correctly expanded in 1 Esdras, of Syria and Phoenicia, to which Judaea with its Pecha Zerubbabel was subordinate. With him came Shethar-Boznai, perhaps his secretary, and their companions, their subordinates. The royal officials inquired: "Who has commanded you to build this ho…
Who gave you permission? Unlike the hostile opposition recorded in ch 4, this seems to have been a routine inquiry to make sure that everything was done according to official requirements.
Rashi on Ezra 5:3
At that time, there came upon them At that time, there came upon them these adversaries of Judah and Benjamin to accuse and to slander them regarding the matter of the building.
the governor of the other side of the river [as translated,] the governor of the other side of the river.
and their companies [as translated,] and their companies.
and so they said to them [as translated,] and so they said to them.
Who issued to you Who ordered you, regarding the matter of building the Temple?
and to found these walls Aram. וְאֻשַּׁרְנָא, and to found these walls, like (4:12): “and the walls (וְאֻשַּׁיָא) they have joined,” the building of walls of bricks (לְבֵנִים) so did Menahem (p. 36) associ…
