וְהִתְנַבִּי חַגַּי נְבִיָּא וּזְכַרְיָה בַר־עִדּוֹא נְבִיַּאיָּא עַל־יְהוּדָיֵא דִּי בִיהוּד וּבִירוּשְׁלֶם בְּשֻׁם אֱלָהּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲלֵיהוֹן

In those years Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Ido, prophets of the Judeans who were in Judah and Jerusalem, prophesied in the name of the God of Israel about them, the Judeans. The content of these prophecies does not appear here, but in their respective prophetic books. It is stated there that the time had come for the Temple to be rebuilt, that the builders should not be concerned for their own safety, and that God guarantees the enduring leadership of Zerubavel and the priesthood of Yeshua.

בֵּאדַיִן קָמוּ זְרֻבָּבֶל בַּר־שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל וְיֵשׁוּעַ בַּר־יוֹצָדָק וְשָׁרִיו לְמִבְנֵא בֵּית אֱלָהָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וְעִמְּהוֹן נְבִיַּאיָּה דִי־אֱלָהָא מְסַעֲדִין לְהוֹן

Then Zerubavel son of She’altiel, a descendant of the royal house of David, who was still the governor, and Yeshua son of Yotzadak, the High Priest, rose and began to build the House of God that is in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God, helping them. The two leaders decided to heed the instructions of the prophets and resume the construction work.

בֵּהּ־זִמְנָא אֲתָה עֲלֵיהוֹן תַּתְּנַי פַּחַת עֲבַר־נַהֲרָה וּשְׁתַר בּוֹזְנַי וּכְנָוָתְהוֹן וְכֵן אָמְרִין לְהֹם מַן־שָׂם לְכֹם טְעֵם בַּיְתָא דְנָה לִבְּנֵא וְאֻשַּׁרְנָא דְנָה לְשַׁכְלָלָה

At that time, when they started to build, Tatenai, who was the governor of Avar Nahara, the official appointed by the Persian regime over the large province on the western side of the Euphrates, and Shetar Bozenai, apparently Tatenai’s second-in-command, and their companions came to them,the builders; so they said to them: Who issued a decree for you allowing you to build this house, and to finish this wall, or to complete its furnishings?

אֱדַיִן כְּנֵמָא אֲמַרְנָא לְהֹם מַן־אִנּוּן שְׁמָהָת גֻּבְרַיָּא דִּי־דְנָה בִנְיָנָא בָּנַיִן

The respondent, one of the builders of the Temple, reports in the first person: Then, as stated, we said to them in the letter that will be cited in this section, the names of the men who are building this building. Tatenai, the powerful leader of the province, and his assistants came as administrators of the Persian ruling authorities, and they wished to know the names of those responsible.

וְעֵין אֱלָהֲהֹם הֲוָת עַל־שָׂבֵי יְהוּדָיֵא וְלָא־בַטִּלוּ הִמּוֹ עַד־טַעְמָא לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ יְהָךְ וֶאֱדַיִן יְתִיבוּן נִשְׁתְּוָנָא עַל־דְּנָה

And the eye of their God was looking favorably upon the elders of the Judeans, and through His providence they, Tatenai and his colleagues, could not stop them from continuing with the construction work, until the matter would be brought to Darius, the king, and then they would reply with a letter concerning this.

פַּרְשֶׁגֶן אִגַּרְתָּא דִּי־שְׁלַח תַּתְּנַי פַּחַת עֲבַר־נַהֲרָה וּשְׁתַר בּוֹזְנַי וּכְנָוָתֵהּ אֲפַרְסְכָיֵא דִּי בַּעֲבַר נַהֲרָה עַל דָּרְיָוֶשׁ מַלְכָּא

The text of the letter is preceded by a heading: This is the copy of the letter that Tatenai the governor of Avar Nahara, and Shetar Bozenai, and his companions the Afarsekhites, the Persians who were in Avar Nahara, sent to Darius the king:

פִּתְגָמָא שְׁלַחוּ עֲלוֹהִי וְכִדְנָה כְּתִיב בְּגַוֵּהּ

They sent the matter, an official document, to him, and so it was written in it, an official opening: To King Darius, complete peace [shelama khola]. Others interpret khola as an expression meaning “etc.” In any case, it was an official, respectful greeting, similar to “Your Majesty.”

לְדָרְיָוֶשׁ מַלְכָּא שְׁלָמָא כֹלָּא יְדִיעַ לֶהֱוֵא לְמַלְכָּא דִּי־אֲזַלְנָא לִיהוּד מְדִינְתָּא לְבֵית אֱלָהָא רַבָּא וְהוּא מִתְבְּנֵא אֶבֶן גְּלָל וְאָע מִתְּשָׂם בְּכֻתְלַיָּא וַעֲבִידְתָּא דָךְ אָסְפַּרְנָא מִתְעַבְדָא וּמַצְלַח בְּיֶדְהֹם

Let it be known to the king that we went to the autonomous province of Judah, which was under the control of the governors of the region Avar Nahara, to the House of the great God, and it is built with large, cut stones [even gelal], which are transported by rolling [golel] them from one place to another, and wood is set in the walls, as construction with large stones is a complex and slow process and therefore timber was added between the layers of the building, and therefore this work is being accomplished diligently, or with precision, and the task is succeeding in their, the Judeans’, hands. They did not know God’s name, but had presumably heard from the Judeans that this was a Temple for the great God.

אֱדַיִן שְׁאֵלְנָא לְשָׂבַיָּא אִלֵּךְ כְּנֵמָא אֲמַרְנָא לְהֹם מַן־שָׂם לְכֹם טְעֵם בַּיְתָא דְנָה לְמִבְנְיָה וְאֻשַּׁרְנָא דְנָה לְשַׁכְלָלָה

Then we asked those elders, and so we said to them: Who issued you a decree that said you were permitted to build this House, and to finish this wall?

וְאַף שְׁמָהָתְהֹם שְׁאֵלְנָא לְהֹם לְהוֹדָעוּתָךְ דִּי נִכְתֻּב שֻׁם־גֻּבְרַיָּא דִּי בְרָאשֵׁיהֹם

We even asked them for their names, in order to inform you, so we could write the names of the men that were at their head; a list of the leaders heading the project was appended to the document.

וּכְנֵמָא פִתְגָמָא הֲתִיבוּנָא לְמֵמַר אֲנַחְנָא הִמּוֹ עַבְדוֹהִי דִי־אֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא וְאַרְעָא וּבָנַיִן בַּיְתָא דִּי־הֲוָא בְנֵה מִקַּדְמַת דְּנָה שְׁנִין שַׂגִּיאָן וּמֶלֶךְ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל רַב בְּנָהִי וְשַׁכְלְלֵהּ

With these words they, the Judeans, replied, saying: We are the servants of the God of the heavens and the earth, and we are building the House, the Temple, that was first built many years beforehand; a great king of Israel built and finished it.

לָהֵן מִן־דִּי הַרְגִּזוּ אֲבָהָתַנָא לֶאֱלָהּ שְׁמַיָּא יְהַב הִמּוֹ בְּיַד נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל כַּסְדָּאָה וּבַיְתָה דְנָה סַתְרֵהּ וְעַמָּה הַגְלִי לְבָבֶל

However, because our fathers angered the God of the heavens, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, and he demolished this House and exiled the people to Babylon.

בְּרַם בִּשְׁנַת חֲדָה לְכוֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּא דִּי בָבֶל כּוֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּא שָׂם טְעֵם בֵּית־אֱלָהָא דְנָה לִבְּנֵא

But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree to build this House of God. Moreover, he did not only grant permission, he issued an order that the Temple should be built.

וְאַף מָאנַיָּא דִי־בֵית־אֱלָהָא דִּי דַהֲבָה וְכַסְפָּא דִּי נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר הַנְפֵּק מִן־הֵיכְלָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וְהֵיבֵל הִמּוֹ לְהֵיכְלָא דִּי בָבֶל הַנְפֵּק הִמּוֹ כּוֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּא מִן־הֵיכְלָא דִּי בָבֶל וִיהִיבוּ לְשֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר שְׁמֵהּ דִּי פֶחָה שָׂמֵה

Even the gold and silver vessels of the House of God that Nebuchadnezzar had removed from the Sanctuary that was in Jerusalem, and transported them to the sanctuary of Babylon, King Cyrus removed them from the sanctuary of Babylon and gave them to Sheshbatzar; that is the name of he, the official, whom he had appointed governor. It is possible that Sheshbatzar was the Persian or Chaldean name for Zerubavel, the governor of Judah appointed by the king. There is an opinion in the Midrash that Sheshbatzar was Daniel, who came to Israel from Babylon during this period.

וַאֲמַר־לֵהּ אֵל מָאנַיָּא שֵׂא אֵזֶל־אֲחֵת הִמּוֹ בְּהֵיכְלָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וּבֵית אֱלָהָא יִתְבְּנֵא עַל־אַתְרֵהּ

He, the king, said to him, Sheshbatzar: Carry these vessels, go, place them in the Sanctuary that is in Jerusalem, and let the House of God be built in its designated place. This was Cyrus’ order.

אֱדַיִן שֵׁשְׁבַּצַּר דֵּךְ אֲתָא יְהַב אֻשַּׁיָּא דִּי־בֵית אֱלָהָא דִּי בִירוּשְׁלֶם וּמִן־אֱדַיִן וְעַד־כְּעַן מִתְבְּנֵא וְלָא שְׁלִם

Then, that same Sheshbatzar came and set the foundations of the House of God that is in Jerusalem, and from then until now it, the Temple, is being built, and it is not completed. In this brief account of events, the elders omitted the order of the previous Persian king to cease the construction work. They stated simply that Sheshbatzar had fulfilled the order of Cyrus, the great ruler and the first Persian king. It was this celebrated king who had commanded that the House of God be built and had provided assistance in other ways. However, the construction had taken a long time, and was still in progress.

וּכְעַן הֵן עַל־מַלְכָּא טָב יִתְבַּקַּר בְּבֵית גִּנְזַיָּא דִּי־מַלְכָּא תַמָּה דִּי בְּבָבֶל הֵן אִיתַי דִּי־מִן־כּוֹרֶשׁ מַלְכָּא שִׂים טְעֵם לְמִבְנֵא בֵּית־אֱלָהָא דֵךְ בִּירוּשְׁלֶם וּרְעוּת מַלְכָּא עַל־דְּנָה יִשְׁלַח עֲלֶינָא

Tatenai and his colleagues had no way of authenticating the claim of the Judean elders, as the relevant documents were not in their possession. The historic decree in question involves a matter that was of great concern to the Samaritans, but that was not particularly important to Tatenai, who ruled over a large region and presumably had many other pressing matters at hand. Therefore, Tatenai and his men requested in their letter: Now, if it pleases the king, let it be checked in the king’s treasury, which also served as the royal archives, which is there, in Babylon, to determine whether it is so, whether there is in fact a document attesting that a decree was issued by King Cyrus to build this House of God in Jerusalem. And may the king’s will in this matter be sent to us.