Ezra 5:11

And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Jewish elders respond to Babylonian administrators who are investigating the temple reconstruction project. They deliver a formal reply during an official inquiry about the building work.

The words — The Aramaic term עַבְדוֹ/הִי֩ (av.do./Hi) literally means “[are] servants/ his,” and אֲנַ֣חְנָא ('a.Nach.na') translates directly as “we.” These words anchor the speaker’s identity in servitude to the divine before describing the construction work.

The thread — The claim of serving the God of heaven recalls the covenant choice in Joshua 24:15, while the reference to a “great king of Israel” who built the temple points to the accounts in 1 Kings 6:1 and 2 Chronicles 3:1. The reply is immediately followed by Ezra 5:12, which explains the temple’s prior destruction.

Why it lands — The text records a factual claim about divine identity and historical precedent without elaborating on theological justification. It requires the reader to note how exiled workers ground their current labor in prior covenant history and royal construction.

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

וּכְנֵ֥מָאu./khe.Ne.ma'and/ as follows פִתְגָמָ֖אfit.ga.Ma/'word/ the הֲתִיב֣וּנָאha.ti.Vu./na'they sent back to/ us לְמֵמַ֑רle./me.Marto/ say אֲנַ֣חְנָא'a.Nach.na'we הִמּ֡וֹhi.Mothey עַבְדוֹהִי֩av.do./Hi[are] servants/ his דִֽי־di-of אֱלָ֨הּ'e.Lah[the] God of שְׁמַיָּ֜אshe.mai.Ya/'heavens/ the וְאַרְעָ֗אve./'ar.'A/'and/ earth/ the וּבָנַ֤יִןu./va.Na.yinand/ [we are] building בַּיְתָא֙bay.Ta/'house/ the דִּֽי־di-which הֲוָ֨אha.Va'it was בְנֵ֜הve.Nehbuilt מִקַּדְמַ֤תmi./kad.Matfrom/ [the] former time of דְּנָה֙de.Nahthis שְׁנִ֣יןshe.Ninyears שַׂגִּיאָ֔ןsa.gi.'Anmany וּמֶ֤לֶךְu./Me.lekhand/ a king לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙le./Yis.ra.'Elof/ Israel רַ֔בRavgreat בְּנָ֖הִיbe.Na./hihe built/ it וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ׃ve./shakh.le.Le/hand/ he finished/ it

King James Version

And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up.

Cross-references

Joshua 24:15 But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
1 Kings 6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the house of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Psalms 119:46 I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.
Daniel 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,
Jonah 1:9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Matthew 10:32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
Luke 12:8 I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
Acts 27:23 For just last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me
Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.