Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it is so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.”
Parallel Translations
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Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let a search be made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it is so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.”
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Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
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Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let search be made in the king's treasure-house there, which is at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.'
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Ezra 5:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezra 4:15 that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will see in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have started rebellions within it in the past. That is why this city was destroyed.
- Ezra 4:19 I decreed, and search has been made, and it was found that this city has made insurrection against kings in the past, and that rebellion and revolts have been made in it.
- Ezra 6:1-5 Then Darius the king made a decree, and the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon, was searched. A scroll was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, and in it this was written for a record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning God’s house at Jerusalem, let the house be built, the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be strongly laid; with its height sixty cubits, and its width sixty cubits; with three courses of great stones and a course of new timber. Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house. Also let the gold and silver vessels of God’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, everything to its place. You shall put them in God’s house.
- Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, in the library, or places where lay the…
Meaning, in the library, or places where lay the register or records of times.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ezr 5:17 Now therefore, if [it seem] good to…
Ezr 5:17 Now therefore, if [it seem] good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which [is] there at Babylon, whether it be [so], that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
Ver. 17. Now, therefore, if it seem good] Verba byssina. Flaxen words.
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Whether it be so] They supposed it was nothing so, and hoped that these Jews would he found falsaries, but it fell out far otherwise; like as St Paul’s persecutions at Rome fell out "rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" than else, Php 1:12.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Now therefore. &c. - If the case had been…
Now therefore. &c. - If the case had been so fairly stated to Artaxerxes, he would hardly have hindered the work. The people of God could not be persecuted, if they were not belied.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. The - treasure house] גנזיא ginzaiya. This…
Verse 17. The - treasure house] גנזיא ginzaiya. This is a Persian word, [Persian] gunji, a treasury.
There is a great deal of good sense and candour in this letter. Nothing of passion or prejudice appears in it. They laid before the king a fair statement without any attempt to prejudice his mind, and gave him those directions which were most likely to lead him to the truth, and to form a correct judgment on a business which, however it issued, must be of considerable importance to the state. God was in all this business; he was now giving an additional proof of his continued regard for a disobedient people, whom, though he had punished in his justice, he had spared in his mercy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ezr 5:17. Now therefore, let there be search made,…
Ezr 5:17. Now therefore, let there be search made, &c. — So they properly propose, that the real facts might be ascertained; in the king’s treasure-house — The house or place where the records of the kingdom were preserved very carefully, as rich treasures are wont to be. Thus these Samaritans seem to have given a fair representation of the cause of the Jews to the king, telling him only what was done namely, that they were rearing the temple, as persons that intended to worship, and not what was not done, that they were fortifying the city, as if they intended war; as those Samaritans that had written to Artaxerxes had falsely represented. It is probable, if their case had been as fairly stated to the former king (see the foregoing chapter) as it was now to Darius: he would not have ordered the work to be hindered. God’s people could not be persecuted if they were not belied. Let but the cause of God and truth be fairly stated and heard, and it will keep its ground.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let there be search made ... at Babylon -…
Let there be search made ... at Babylon - They perhaps doubted whether proof of the decree of Cyrus remained in the archives. The Pseudo-Smerdis had had the records in his power for seven months; and, when he reversed the policy of his predecessors, might have been expected to destroy their edicts. The decree was not found at Babylon, the most natural place for it, but in the provincial capital of Ecbatana, which Tatnai and his friends had not asked Darius to have searched (see Ezr 6:2).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Library. Septuagint, "treasury-house." Arabic, "for the archives." It is…
Library. Septuagint, "treasury-house." Arabic, "for the archives." It is called "the house of books," chap. vi. 1. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 17. The king’s treasure-house — Where important records would…
17. The king’s treasure-house — Where important records would be carefully preserved.
There at Babylon — Where the official documents of Cyrus were supposed to be still remaining. But they were found at Achmetha. Ezr_6:2.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. if it seem good to the king] A…
17. if it seem good to the king] A similar phrase in Ezr_7:18; Est_1:19.
in the king’s treasure house] which apparently was the repository of important documents as well as of treasure. The expression occurs again in Est_3:9; Est_4:7. The word rendered ‘treasure’ (ginzayya) is rendered by ‘gaza’ (γάζα) in the LXX. Compare Ezr_1:8; (gizbar) ‘treasurer’; 1Ch_28:11 (ganzak) ‘treasure’; chap. Ezr_6:1 gives the full explanation of the present phrase. The Vulgate too narrowly renders ‘bibliotheca’.
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at Babylon] i.e. where would be kept the records of the Babylonian Empire.
his pleasure] Same word as that in Ezr_7:18, ‘the will of God’. The LXX. by a mistake of similar letters renders ‘having learnt’ (γνούς).
concerning this matter] Same phrase as in Ezr_5:5 (where see note). The word ‘matter’ added here in the English for the sake of explicitness. Tattenai asks for instructions as to how he should proceed generally in dealing with the Jews and their Temple-building.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) Let there be search made.—All depended on the…
(17) Let there be search made.—All depended on the original decree, which nothing done intermediately by the usurper could cancel. And the request of Tatnai seems to imply that it would be found: although the original was not found in Babylon, as was expected, a copy had been made.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Let there be search made in the king"s treasure…
Let there be search made in the king"s treasure house. The Vulgate has "in the king"s library;" and this, though not the literal rendering, is probably what was intended by Tatuai. Libraries or record chambers were attached to the royal residences under the old Assyrian and Babylonian kings; and the practice was no doubt continued by the Persians. Some of these record offices have been recently found, and their stores recovered. In the year 1850 Mr. Layard came upon the royal library of Asshur-bani-pal at Koyunjik, and obtained from it several hundreds of documents. More recently, in 1875-6, some Arab explorers happened upon a similar collection near Babylon, which yielded from 3000 to 4000 tablets ("Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. 6. pp. 4, 582). It is quite possible that the "decree of Cyrus" may still exist, and be one day recovered.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The letter from Tattenai to the king that began in Esra 5:7 continues. Tattenai has finished telling the king what the Judeans told him and now asks the king to see if what the Judeans told him was true.
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may it be investigated
This can be translated in active form. AT: "I would like you to have someone investigate this matter" (See: Active or Passive)
if a judgment from King Cyrus exists there
"if there is a record there that King Cyrus issued a law"
translationWords
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.