Ezra 3:13

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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בְּכִ֣י

Bᵉkîy

H1065

“weeping of”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct

Appears 28× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 45:2

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1058

TWOT: 243b

a weeping, weeping

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

18: words
13: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

בְּכִ֣י weeping H1065 occurs in 27 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
10 nouns
2 adjectives
1 preposition
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

מַכִּירִים֙ Hiphil · Participle Active
מְרִיעִים֙ Hiphil · Participle Active
נִשְׁמַ֖ע Niphal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הָעָ֗ם people H5971 ×3
ק֚וֹל voice H6963 ×3
תְּרוּעַ֣ת alarm H8643 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 38 words from the Hebrew and 38 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 18 Hebrew tokens and 30 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Ezra 3:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Samuel 4:5 When the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
Luke 19:37–40 As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,
1 Kings 1:40 All the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth shook with the sound of them.
1 Kings 1:45 and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard.
Nehemiah 12:43 They offered great sacrifices that day, and rejoiced; for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and the women also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
Psalms 5:11 But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice, Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.
Psalms 100:1–2 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands!
Jeremiah 33:11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Hosts, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; [and of them] who bring [sacrifices of] thanksgiving into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Yahweh.

Zechariah 4:7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to it!'"
Exodus 32:17–18 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is the noise of war in the camp."
Judges 2:5 They called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there to Yahweh.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Ezra 3:13 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאֵ֣ין הָעָ֗ם מַכִּירִים֙ ק֚וֹל תְּרוּעַ֣ת הַשִּׂמְחָ֔ה לְק֖וֹל בְּכִ֣י הָעָ֑ם כִּ֣י הָעָ֗ם מְרִיעִים֙ תְּרוּעָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֔ה וְהַקּ֥וֹל נִשְׁמַ֖ע עַד לְמֵרָחֽוֹק

so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezra 3:13 Septuagint · lemma form

καί οὐ εἰμί ὁ λαός ἐπιγιγνώσκω φωνή σημασία ὁ εὐφροσύνη ἀπό ὁ φωνή ὁ κλαυθμός ὁ λαός ὅτι ὁ λαός κραυγάζω φωνή μέγας καί ὁ φωνή ἀκούω ἕως ἀπό μακρόθεν

And the people did not distinguish the voice of the glad shout from the voice of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud voice, and the voice was heard even from afar off.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

In the Septuagint this is one book — Esdras B (2 Esdras): Ezra is chapters 1–10, Nehemiah 11–23.

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Ezra 3:13 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Ezr 3:13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Ver. 13. The noise of the shout of joy from the noise, &c.] Nam partim iubilabant, partim eiulabant. Our joys, while we are here, will be mixed joys. Let those that would have joys unspeakable stir up sighs unutterable.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Ezr 3:13. So that the people could not discern, &c. — The mixture of sorrow and joy here is a representation of this world. In heaven all are singing and none sighing; in hell all are wailing and none rejoicing: but here on earth we can scarce discern the shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping; let us learn to rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Meantime, let us ourselves rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and weep as though we wept not.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

the people could not discern the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people--Among Eastern people, expressions of sorrow are always very loud and vehement. It is indicated by wailing, the howl of which is sometimes not easily distinguishable from joyful acclamations.

Next: Ezra Chapter 4

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) The noise was heard afar off.—The people also mingled in the weeping, which was with shrill cries. The rejoicing and the sorrow were blended, and the common sound was heard from far. All here has the stamp of truth.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

13. So that the people could not discern] literally, ‘And the people &c.’ The people generally, not merely the leaders, were of two minds. The sounds were mingled together; the weeping near at hand was as loud as the shouting. And the confused sound was audible a long way off.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people,.... That is, not clearly and distinctly, they were so mixed and confounded together, and made such a jarring and discord:

for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off; the shouting being of young people, whose voice was strongest, and they the most numerous, the noise of shouting prevailed over the noise of weeping; and it was heard further, and at a distance appeared more distinctly to be the noise of shouting, that of weeping not reaching so far; though Jarchi is of opinion that the noise of weeping was heard further than the noise of shouting, which is not likely.

Next: Ezra Chapter 4

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

The people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping. One, it would seem, was as loud as the other; neither predominated. This, which would scarcely be possible among ourselves, was not unnatural in the East, where those who lament utter shrill cries, instead of weeping silently. Herodotus describes the lament of the Persians for a lost general as "resounding throughout all Boeotia". (Ezr_9:2-4)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Could not discern - The mixture of sorrow and joy here, is a representation of this world. In heaven all are singing and none sighing; in hell all are wailing, and none rejoicing: but here on earth we can scarce discern the shouts of joy from the noise of the weeping, let us learn to rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Meantime let us ourselves rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and weep as though we wept not.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

And the people did not recognize Those listeners did not recognize the voice of the shout of joy, because of the voice of the people’s weeping, for the rejoicing people were shouting with a great shout, and the voice of weeping was heard farther and farther away.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Ezra, in the Historical, opens this verse with 18 words (13 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Bᵉkîy (“weeping”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “weeping” (Bᵉkîy) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Genesis 45:2, which shares the word «weeping», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “people” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«מַכִּירִים֙» is a Hiphil Participle Active verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 18 Hebrew ↔ 30 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 13 words in this verse.
“people” occurs 3× in this single verse.
13 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 18 words in this verse.