When the seventh month came: The new section is marked by the Hebrew connective conjunction plus a time reference. It is the logical continuation of the account of the Israelites’ return to Jerusalem. The first thing the people do after they have returned and settled in their towns is rebuild the altar and start to perform their sacrificial rituals again.

The seventh month was known by the Babylonian name Tishri. It was also called Ethanim according to the Canaanite calendar. This corresponds to the period of time from late September to late October. (For the calendar in use then, see “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” pages 25-26.) For the Jews this was the most important month of the year with special religious celebrations: the Festival of Trumpets on the first day (Lev 23.23-25; Num 29.1-6), the Day of Atonement on the tenth day (Lev 16.29-31), and the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles beginning the fifteenth day and lasting eight days (Lev 23.39-43). Also every seventh year there was to be a proclamation of the Law during the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles (see Deut 31.10-13). It was considered a favorable time to begin a new project, and it was at this time that the Israelites assembled in Jerusalem.

The verb came indicates the passage of time. According to the logic of the narrative, this describes the situation in the first year after the return from Babylonia. An appropriate verb must be used depending on how time is viewed in the receptor culture. Has a point in time arrived as in Revised Standard Version or has a period of time passed as in Good News Translation? The whole clause here may be rendered “When the seventh month was reached.” If necessary, the expression may be restructured so that the people have “arrived at the seventh month,” or they have “spent time up to the seventh month.” What takes place now takes place in the seventh month.

The sons of Israel were in the towns means that the people of Israel had “settled” in the towns (Good News Translation, New International Version). New Jerusalem Bible says “resettled.” For sons of, see the comments on Ezra 2.3-20, 21-35. Some Hebrew manuscripts have “in their own towns” to make clear the meaning of in the towns. It took six months for the people to make places to live in and to work out their living arrangements. Once this was done, they were able to gather in Jerusalem and start a community project, such as rebuilding the altar. Many languages have a special verb or idiom for “settling in a place,” for example, “to take a place” or “to make town there.”

The people gathered as one man: The Hebrew word for people is inclusive of the whole community (see Ezra 1.3). The whole clause emphasizes the fact that the entire community assembled or came together for a common purpose and with a common concern (see Neh 8.1). Many translations retain the Hebrew expression literally (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New English Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée, New International Version), while others seek to express the same meaning in their own way. Good News Translation says “they all assembled,” New Revised Standard Version has “the people gathered together,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy say “the entire people gathered together,” and Bible en français courant translates “they gathered with a common accord.” In many languages it may be appropriate to use a similar expression to describe the unity of the assembly, but instead of as one man they may say “as one person” (so New Jerusalem Bible), which is the meaning of the Hebrew expression in this context.

Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation divide the verse differently, but the interpretation is the same. Revised Standard Version takes the verse as one complete sentence with two parts (also Bible en français courant, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New International Version). The first part is a temporal clause that specifies a time and a situation, namely, the seventh month and the fact that the returnees were all settled in their homes. The second part of the sentence then states what the people did—they gathered in Jerusalem. Good News Translation, on the other hand, divides the two parts of the verse by making the first part a complete sentence in itself (also Nouvelle version Segond révisée): “By the seventh month” the returnees were already settled; “Then” the next event occurs, that is, “they all assembled in Jerusalem,” and the sentence continues into the next verse. On the basis of the Hebrew text, the Good News Translation division is preferred and should be followed as a model.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .