Ezra 5 · Verse 11

Ezra 5:11

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.
Ezra 5:11, King James Version

Ezra 5:11 in other translations

BSBAnd 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.
WEBThus they returned us answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished.
ASVAnd thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished.
YLT‘And thus they have returned us word, saying, We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built many years before this, that a great king of Israel built and finished:
DARBYAnd thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth, and build the house that was built these many years ago; and a great king of Israel built and completed it.
BBEAnd they made answer to us, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building the house which was put up in times long past and was designed and made complete by a great king of Israel.
WebsterAnd thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was erected these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and set up.

What does Ezra 5:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 5:5-17

5-17. But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, &c.--The unusual presence, the imposing suite, the authoritative enquiries of the satrap appeared formidable, and might have produced a paralyzing influence or led to disastrous consequences, if he had been a partial and corrupt judge or actuated by unfriendly feelings towards the Jewish cause. The historian, therefore, with characteristic piety, throws…

Read the full comment on Ezra 5:5-17 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 We are the servants of the God of heaven - How simple, plain, and ingenuous is this confession! They were the servants of the God of heaven. How came they then into bondage! Why, they provoked the God of heaven - repeatedly sinned against him, and then he gave them into the hands of their enemies.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezra 5:3-17

While employed in God's work, we are under his special protection; his eye is upon us for good. This should keep us to our duty, and encourage us therein, when difficulties are ever so discouraging. The elders of the Jews gave the Samaritans an account of their proceedings. Let us learn hence, with meekness and fear, to give a reason of the hope that is in us; let us rightly understand, and then readily declare…

Read the full comment on Ezra 5:3-17 →

Ezra 5:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּכְנֵ֥מָאu.khe.Ne.ma'and as followsH3660
פִתְגָמָ֖אfit.ga.Ma'word theH6600
הֲתִיב֣וּנָאha.ti.Vu.na'they sent back to usH8421
לְמֵמַ֑רle.me.Marto sayH560
אֲנַ֣חְנָא'a.Nach.na'weH586
הִמּ֡וֹhi.MotheyH1994
עַבְדוֹהִי֩av.do.Hi[are] servants hisH5649
דִֽי\־di-ofH1768
אֱלָ֨הּ'e.Lah[the] God ofH426
שְׁמַיָּ֜אshe.mai.Ya'heavens theH8065
וְאַרְעָ֗אve.'ar.'A'and earth theH772
וּבָנַ֤יִןu.va.Na.yinand [we are] buildingH1124
בַּיְתָא֙bay.Ta'house theH1005
דִּֽי\־di-whichH1768
הֲוָ֨אha.Va'it wasH1934
בְנֵ֜הve.NehbuiltH1124
מִקַּדְמַ֤תmi.kad.Matfrom [the] former time ofH6928
דְּנָה֙de.NahthisH1836
שְׁנִ֣יןshe.NinyearsH8140
שַׂגִּיאָ֔ןsa.gi.'AnmanyH7690
וּמֶ֤לֶךְu.Me.lekhand a kingH4430
לְיִשְׂרָאֵל֙le.Yis.ra.'Elof IsraelH3479
רַ֔בRavgreatH7229
בְּנָ֖הִיbe.Na.hihe built itH1124
וְשַׁכְלְלֵֽהּ\׃ve.shakh.le.Lehand he finished itH3635

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezra 5:11

  • Matthew 10:32

    Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

  • Acts 27:23

    For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

  • Jonah 1:9

    And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

  • Galatians 6:14

    But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

  • Luke 12:8

    Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:

  • Daniel 3:26

    Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.

  • Romans 6:16

    Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

  • Joshua 24:15

    And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

  • 1 Kings 6:1-7

    And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. And the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. And for the house he made windows of narrow lights. …

  • 2 Chronicles 3:1-5

    Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. …

  • Romans 1:16

    For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

  • Psalms 119:46

    I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
We are.
Jos 24:15; Ps 119:46; Da 3:26; Jon 1:9; Mt 10:32; Lu 12:8; Ac 27:23
Ro 1:16; 6:16; Ga 6:14
which a great.
1Ki 6:1-7:51; 2Ch 3:1-5:14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezra 5:10

    We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.

  • Ezra 5:11

    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.

  • Ezra 5:12

    But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

Read all of Ezra 5

Ezra 5:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y respondiéronnos, diciendo así: Nosotros somos siervos del Dios del cielo y de la tierra, y reedificamos la casa que ya muchos años antes había sido edificada, la cual edificó y fundó el gran rey de Israel.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et ils répondirent ainsi, disant: Nous sommes les serviteurs du Dieu des cieux et de la terre, et nous bâtissons la maison qui fut bâtie anciennement, il y a bien des années; et un grand roi d’Israël l’a bâtie et achevée.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und also gaben sie uns Antwort und sprachen: Wir sind die Knechte des Gottes des Himmels und der Erde, und wir bauen das Haus wieder auf, das viele Jahre zuvor gebaut wurde; und ein großer König von Israel hatte es gebaut und vollendet.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Hujuscemodi autem sermonem responderunt nobis dicentes: Nos sumus servi Dei cæli et terræ, et ædificamus templum, quod erat exstructum ante hos annos multos, quodque rex Israël magnus ædificaverat, et exstruxerat.