Sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brethren the temple servants: Ezra sent the nine leaders and two teachers to a leader named Iddo (whose name in Hebrew is spelled differently from “Iddo” in Ezra 5.1 and 6.14). The two names Iddo and Casiphia are not mentioned elsewhere. Iddo was evidently the head of a community of Levites and their assistants, the temple servants (see Ezra 2.43), at an exile center named Casiphia, which was near 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 .
Ezra told his representatives what to speak. Telling them what to say is literally “I placed in their mouths the words to say.” They were to speak to Iddo and his brethren the temple servants. The Hebrew text has literally “to Iddo, his brother, the Temple servants.” The status of Iddo in the text indicates that he himself was not a Temple servant. It is thought that one or two “and”s have been omitted. 1 Esdras 8.46 has “and his brothers.” Revised Standard Version and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project with a B rating put “and” between “Iddo” and “his brother,” and they make “brother” plural by putting in different vowel markings. Some commentators propose putting a second “and” before “Temple servants” to distinguish between the “Levites” who were related to Iddo and the “Temple servants.” Translators should follow the interpretation of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (also Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).
To send us ministers for the house of our God: Ministers is literally “servants,” here referring to Levites. They were to be sent to us, which is the first person plural exclusive pronoun. Although the text says only that they were to come for the house of our God, Good News Translation makes explicit what they were being called to come and do. They were “to serve God in the Temple” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Bible en français courant translates “for the service of the temple of our God.”
In Hebrew the pronoun our in our God is the first person plural possessive. In some languages a choice is required between the inclusive and the exclusive pronoun. In this context it will be inclusive because it can be assumed that the narrator was recounting these events to Jews who were followers of the same God.
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 .