Then, when … they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem: The Aramaic begins with the adverb Then and a prepositional construction meaning “from the time that.” In other words, the provincial officials lost no time in carrying out the orders of the king. “As soon as” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) they heard the letter from the king, they went in haste. For in haste, the Aramaic uses a preposition followed by a noun, and many languages will do the same as Revised Standard Version, but this may also be expressed adverbially as “very fast” (Parole de Vie [Parole de Vie]), or the concept of speed may be expressed by a verb like “hurried” as Good News Translation has done. Translators should use the grammatical construction that is normal for the style of this narrative.

Rehum’s title “royal deputy” or “high commissioner” (Revised English Bible) is not included in the Aramaic text but is in the Septuagint and the Syrian version. In line with the general principle of using MT as the base text, the title should not be inserted here by the translator. But if it is included in the translation as in Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible and other versions, a footnote should indicate its source.

By force and power made them cease: They caused the Jews to stop the work by force and power. The Aramaic uses the figure of speech “by arm and power.” The “arm” often represents strength in the Old Testament. The word for power indicates that they went with military strength. 1 Esdras 2.30 adds “with horsemen and a multitude in battle array” (also in Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XI.29), but this should not be added here.

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 .