Bible Strands
Ezra 4:5
They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The "people of the land" coordinate opposition against the returning exiles to halt temple reconstruction during the Persian reigns of Cyrus and Darius.
The words — The Hebrew יוֹעֲצִ֖ים (yo.'a.Tzim) denotes "counselors" or advisors, paired with לְ/הָפֵ֣ר (le./ha.Fer) meaning "to frustrate" or "break," describing a paid strategy to dismantle the builders' purpose.
The thread — This pattern of orchestrated opposition recurs in Nahum 1:11 with a "counselor of wickedness," in Ezra 5:5 where divine protection preserves the work until a report reaches Darius, and in Psalms 2:1 regarding nations plotting against the Lord's authority.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledgment that God's projects face prolonged, organized political resistance, demanding endurance and reliance on sovereign oversight rather than immediate human victory.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Nahum 1:11 From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.
- Ezra 5:5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.
- Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Acts 24:1 Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.
- Ezra 4:24 Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.