Ezra 7:17

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

3 hapax legomena — only here in the Hebrew Bible
4 first appearances in the Hebrew Bible

Full analysis ↓

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תִקְנֵ֜א

qᵉnâʼ

H7066

“to acquire”

Adjective, V

Appears 1× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: corresponding to H7069

TWOT: 2974

(Peal) to acquire, buy, purchase

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 →

21: words
19: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

3 hapax legomena — words that appear only here in the entire Hebrew Bible:

תִקְנֵ֜א to acquire H7066
וְנִסְכֵּיה֑וֹן drink offering H5261
מַדְבְּחָ֔ה altar H4056

First appearance in Scripture

These words make their first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

תִקְנֵ֜א to acquire H7066
וּמִנְחָתְה֖וֹן offering H4504
וְנִסְכֵּיה֑וֹן drink offering H5261
מַדְבְּחָ֔ה altar H4056

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וּמִנְחָתְה֖וֹן offering H4504 occurs in 2 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Daniel 2:46

Grammatical profile

1 verb
3 nouns
14 adjectives
1 conjunction
2 particles

Verb forms

וּתְקָרֵ֣ב Piel · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

דְּנָה֩ this H1836 ×2
דִּ֛י which H1768 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 36 words from the Hebrew and 43 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

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 21 Hebrew tokens and 31 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 7:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Deuteronomy 12:5–11 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come;
Numbers 15:4–13 then shall he who offers his offering offer to Yahweh a meal-offering of a tenth part [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil:
Ezra 6:9–10 That which they have need of, both young bulls, and rams, and lambs, for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; [also] wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the word of the priests who are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
Deuteronomy 14:24–26 If the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you;
Matthew 21:12–13 Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money-changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.
John 2:14 He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting.

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 7:17 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כָּל קֳבֵ֣ל דְּנָה֩ אָסְפַּ֨רְנָא תִקְנֵ֜א בְּכַסְפָּ֣א דְנָ֗ה תּוֹרִ֤ין דִּכְרִין֙ אִמְּרִ֔ין וּמִנְחָתְה֖וֹן וְנִסְכֵּיה֑וֹן וּתְקָרֵ֣ב הִמּ֔וֹ עַֽל מַדְבְּחָ֔ה דִּ֛י בֵּ֥ית אֱלָהֲכֹ֖ם דִּ֥י בִירוּשְׁלֶֽם

therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Ezra 7:17 Septuagint · lemma form

καί πᾶς προςπορεύομαι οὗτος ἑτοίμως ἐντάσσω ἐν βιβλίον οὗτος μόσχος κριός ἀμνός καί θυσία αὐτός καί σπονδή αὐτός καί προςφέρω αὐτός ἐπί θυσιαστήριον ὁ οἶκος ὁ θεός σύ ὁ ἐν ἰερουσαλήμ

And as for every one that arrives there, speedily order him by this letter to bring calves, rams, lambs, and their meat-offerings, and their drink-offerings; and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.

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 7:17 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 7:17 That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which [is] in Jerusalem.

Ver. 17. That thou mayest buy speedily] Illico. immediately, God is himself a pure act, and hateth dulness in duty. What thou doest, do quickly, said Christ, even to the very traitor that did seek and suck his blood.

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.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) Buy speedily.—Provide first of all for the sacrificial ceremonial. Every sacrifice had its own meat-offerings and drink-offerings (Numbers 15). These phrases in the commission of course Ezra dictated.

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

17. Purpose of the gifts and offerings: (i) sacrifices.

that thou mayest buy speedily] R.V. therefore thou shalt buy with all diligence; ‘therefore’, i.e. because of the gifts received from the crown, the Babylonians and the Jews.

‘with all diligence’, see note on Ezr_5:8. The sacrifices here mentioned, as in Ezr_6:9-10, consist of burnt offerings (bullocks, rams, lambs), with their accompanying ‘meal’ and ‘drink-offerings’, Num_15:1-16.

meat offerings] R.V. meal offerings (i.e. ‘Minkhah’, as always in R.V.).

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

The vessels also that were given thee for the service of the house of thy God,.... These were vessels of silver, basins of gold, and vessels of fine copper; not what formerly belonged to the temple, they were delivered by Cyrus to Sheshbazzar; but what the present king and his counsellors freely offered at this time, see Ezr 8:25, those

deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem; perfect and complete, the full number of them, as the word signifies (t); meaning not to be delivered before him, or in his presence, as a witness thereof, but that they should be dedicated and devoted to his service, who was worshipped in the temple at Jerusalem, and by the inhabitants of it; he seems as if he thought him a topical deity, the God of that particular place, which was the notion of the Heathens, see Kg1 20:23, though he also speaks of him as the God of heaven.

(t) "integra et pleno numero redde", Michaelis.

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

That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks, etc. The primary application of the money sent by Ezra was to be the maintenance of the Jewish ritual in its full splendour. (compare the decree of Darius, Ezr_6:9, Ezr_6:10) The residue was, however, to be employed in any way that Ezra, acting under Divine guidance, might direct (see below, ver. 18). Apparently, this residue was actually employed on beautifying the temple (see ver. 27).

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

Connecting Statement:

This continues the decree that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra.

So buy in full ... offerings

The phrase "in full" means as many as are necessary to complete the task. They were to use the gold and silver to buy all they needed in order to worship God in the temple. AT: "Buy as many of the oxen, rams, lambs, grain and drink offerings as are needed" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

you and your brothers

The phrase "your brothers" refers to the people who were doing this work with Ezra. AT: "your co-workers" or "your companions" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

cow

ewe

lamb

grain

drink offering

altar

house of God

brother

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

Because of this And because of this, because it is for the service of the Sanctuary, you shall quickly purchase with this money cattle, rams and lambs; sacrifices, meal-offerings, and libations, and you shall offer them up on the altar of the Holy One, blessed be He.

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 21 words (19 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is qᵉnâʼ (“to acquire”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to acquire” (qᵉnâʼ) shape what this verse is saying?
3 words here appear nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Why might the author reach for such rare wording?
4 words make their first appearance in Scripture here. What does this debut establish?
How does Daniel 2:46, which shares the word «offering», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “this” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וּתְקָרֵ֣ב» is a Piel Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
4 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 21 Hebrew ↔ 31 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 17 words in this verse.
“this” occurs 2× in this single verse.