All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand four hundred and sixty-nine: The total of the items in verses 9-10 adds up to only 2,499, instead of 5,400 as stated in the Hebrew text. It is possible that the list in verses 9-10 is selective, stating only the most important items, whereas the total number in this verse includes all the items. As noted above, the translator should follow the Hebrew text supported by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating and not attempt to make the number of items listed in the inventory add up to the sum total that is recorded in this verse. A footnote may be added to explain the problem, for example, “The number of items listed in verses 9-10 does not add up to 5,400 as state in verse 11. It is possible that this is because the list of items is incomplete.”

All these did Sheshbazzar bring up …: This section ends by telling what happened to the Temple objects as well as to the people to whom King Cyrus had given permission to return to Jerusalem. Sheshbazzar brought along all the Temple objects when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. The Jews are collectively referred to as the exiles, that is, a group of people who had been taken away from their own land by force to live in a foreign land. They are now mentioned in a way that would remind readers of the deliverance of their ancestors when Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt.

In many languages it is difficult to express the passive verb were brought up. Some translations make Sheshbazzar the subject of an active verb; for example, “he led the exiles back” (New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet). It is preferable either to retain a passive form in translation without specifying who caused the Jews to be brought up, or to use a verb of motion with the exiles as the subject; for example, they “went” (Good News Translation), they “returned” (Contemporary English Version), “the exiles came back” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “the exiles came up” (New International Version). In some languages a form similar to the Hebrew may be used; for example, “in the exiles’ going up” (Chouraqui) or “in the going up of the exiles.”

The same Hebrew word is used to refer to the land of Babylonia and to the city of Babylon. Here Revised Standard Version interprets it to refer to the land on the understanding that it was not only the exiles who lived in the city of Babylon who returned to Jerusalem (also Bible en français courant, New Revised Standard Version). Many versions render it as “Babylon” so that the city of Babylon represents the land (so Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Throughout the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, translators will need to distinguish between the country Babylonia and the city Babylon.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .