The Meaning of Ezra 4:5 Explained

Ezra 4:5

KJV: And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

YLT: and are hiring against them counsellors to make void their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even till the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Darby: and they 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.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Ezra 4:5 Mean?

Context Summary

Ezra 4:1-10 - The Building Of The Temple Opposed
So long as you lead a languid and unaggressive life, the enemy will leave you alone, but directly you begin to build God's temple, you may count on His strenuous opposition. When we are permitted to go on from day to day without much temptation, we may fear that we are doing little to destroy evil and construct good. But the virulent hate of the wicked one is a comfortable sign that his kingdom is suffering serious damage. Let us so live that we may give the devil good reason to fear and hate us. There is a stronger than he. We must beware of the proposal to join in with the ungodly. Their arguments may sound very fair and appeal to a false liberality of sentiment, but the golden cup contains poison, and beneath the kiss is the traitor's hand. This is why so many fair enterprises have miscarried. They have seemed to afford common ground for cooperation with the false and counterfeit Israel, but they have ended in disillusion and disappointment. Though the Jews excited the intense hatred and opposition of their would-be helpers, their policy of exclusiveness was amply justified by the result. The old proverb reminds us that we must never trust our enemies when they offer blandishments and gifts. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ezra 4

1  The adversaries, being not accepted in the building of the temple with the Jews,
4  endeavor to hinder it
7  Their letter to Artaxerxes
17  The answer and decree of Artaxerxes
23  The building is hindered

What do the individual words in Ezra 4:5 mean?

and hired against them counselors to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia and even until the reign of Darius king of Persia
וְסֹכְרִ֧ים עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם יוֹעֲצִ֖ים לְהָפֵ֣ר עֲצָתָ֑ם כָּל־ יְמֵ֗י כּ֚וֹרֶשׁ מֶ֣לֶךְ פָּרַ֔ס וְעַד־ מַלְכ֖וּת דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁ מֶֽלֶךְ־ פָּרָֽס

וְסֹכְרִ֧ים  and  hired 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: סָכַר  
Sense: to hire.
עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם  against  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
יוֹעֲצִ֖ים  counselors 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: יׄועֵץ 
Sense: to advise, consult, give counsel, counsel, purpose, devise, plan.
לְהָפֵ֣ר  to  frustrate 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: פָּרַר 
Sense: to break, frustrate.
עֲצָתָ֑ם  their  purpose 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: עֵצָה 
Sense: counsel, advice, purpose.
יְמֵ֗י  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
כּ֚וֹרֶשׁ  of  Cyrus 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּורֶשׁ  
Sense: the king of Persia and conqueror of Babylon; first ruler of Persia to make a decree allowing the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem.
מֶ֣לֶךְ  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
פָּרַ֔ס  of  Persia 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: פָּרַס  
Sense: the empire Persia; encompassed the territory from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace on the west, and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south.
וְעַד־  and  even  until 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
מַלְכ֖וּת  the  reign 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: מַלְכוּת  
Sense: royalty, royal power, reign, kingdom, sovereign power.
דָּרְיָ֥וֶשׁ  of  Darius 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּרְיָוֶשׁ  
Sense: Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, king of the Chaldeans, who succeeded to the Babylonian kingdom on the death of Belshazzar; probably the same as “Astyages” the last king of the Medes (538 BC).
מֶֽלֶךְ־  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
פָּרָֽס  of  Persia 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: פָּרַס  
Sense: the empire Persia; encompassed the territory from India on the east to Egypt and Thrace on the west, and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south.

What are the major concepts related to Ezra 4:5?

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