The Persian officials finish their report with a request to look for the decree authorizing the rebuilding and confirming the claims of the Jewish leaders. The transition from the statement by the Jewish leaders to the conclusion of the report by the Persian officials is indicated by the marker Therefore. An equivalent discourse marker should be used to introduce the officials’ concluding recommendation.
If it seem good to the king is a standard clause in Aramaic letters that is used here to ask the king to look for the record without directly telling him what to do. Good News Translation uses an English expression that is addressed to a monarch under similar circumstances: “if it please your Majesty” (also New English Bible). New International Version uses an expression that is between the Aramaic form reflected in Revised Standard Version and the English form of Good News Translation when it says “if it pleases the king” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty-Trinquet). Parole de Vie renders it “if you judge it to be good.” Translators should use an equivalent expression in the receptor culture.
The writers of the letter suggest that he let search be made. This is similar to the request for a search that was recorded in the letter to King Artaxerxes (see Ezra 4.15). But here the search should be in the royal archives there in Babylon. This is the place where valuable records were kept. Although some translations follow the Aramaic literally in saying “the king’s treasure house” (New King James Version , Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “the royal treasuries” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible de Jérusalem), it is preferable to say “the royal archives” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “the royal records” (Good News Translation).
The Persian officials suggest Babylon as the place for the search because the Jews came from there and that may have been the place where the decree had been made. Other official documents have been found in Babylon including the famous Cyrus Cylinder, which proclaims Cyrus’s victory over the Babylonians, his title as king of Babylon, and his decision to rebuild the sanctuaries of the peoples in his empire (see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” page 6).
To see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem: This does not mean “to see” in a literal or physical sense. The meaning is rather that the king should have a search made to find evidence in the official archives that would prove or disprove the claim that was being made by the Jewish leaders. Bible en français courant translates “in order to know if the emperor Cyrus truly gave the order to rebuild the Temple of God in Jerusalem.” In some languages this may be restructured to suggest that first a search be made and then to state the question separately: “Did King Cyrus truly give an order for them to build the House of God in Jerusalem again?”
Let the king send us his pleasure in this matter: The letter ends with a request that the king send them his pleasure. The word translated pleasure means “desire.” It is translated as “will” in Good News Translation, “decision” in New International Version, and “wishes” in Revised English Bible. This clause may be restated as follows: “May the king let us know what he wants to be done” or “… what he wants us to do in this matter.”
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 .