What Does Ezra 4:5 Mean in the King James?

And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 4:5 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The counsellors and the purpose they target grow from the same Hebrew root: the plan is attacked by purchasing counsel.

THE MEANING

Resistance can be deliberately arranged and sustained; the verse names voices hired against a purpose, with the aim of making it fail. The pressure comes from counsel organized to break another plan.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Opposition proves a purpose has failed on its own merits; this verse shows that obstruction can be engineered by people who want the purpose to fail.

THE ROOT

יוֹעֲצִים

yoʿatsim

GROWS FROM

יעץ

y-ʿ-ts

To advise, counsel, or deliberate.

“counsellors / purpose” in this verse is yoʿatsim. The Hebrew uses words from the same root for both the advisers and the purpose they target: counsellors are people of counsel, and the purpose is their counsel or plan. English separates the people from the plan; the Hebrew exposes the conflict as counsel set against counsel.

ALSO GROWS

yoʿets: A person who gives counsel.

יוֹעֵץ

The hired agents are named by the counsel they bring into the conflict.

ʿetsah: Advice, a plan, or purpose.

עֵצָה

This is the noun at the root of “their purpose,” showing that what the counsellors target is a formed plan.

לְהָפֵר

lehafer

GROWS FROM

פרר

p-r-r

To break, annul, or make void.

“Frustrate” can sound like discouragement, but the Hebrew verb carries the force of breaking or annulling. The attack aims to make their plan unable to stand.

ALSO GROWS

hephir etzah: To nullify or bring a plan to nothing.

הֵפִיר עֵצָה

Psalm 33:10 uses this same verb with “counsel,” echoing the exact mechanism in Ezra.

hepher berit: To break or annul a covenant.

הֵפֵר בְּרִית

The same root can describe breaking something held in force, giving “frustrate” the weight of deliberate nullification.

THE PATTERN

A contested purpose becomes a contest of counsel over which plan will stand.

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

Psalm 33:10 · KJVThe verse uses the same Hebrew verb for bringing counsel to nothing that Ezra uses for frustrating the builders’ purpose.

There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

Proverbs 19:21 · KJVMany plans may compete, while the verse turns attention to the counsel that endures.

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye can not overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

Acts 5:38-39 · KJVThe speech weighs whether a purpose can be overthrown, making the standing or collapse of counsel the central question.

THE THREAD

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

Psalm 33:10 · KJV

Psalm 33:10 uses the same Hebrew verb translated “frustrate” in Ezra, and pairs it with the same word for “counsel” that underlies “purpose.” The echo reveals the conflict as an attempt to annul a plan through opposing counsel.

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