The repetition of the information that they rebuilt the altar is to stress that this was done in spite of opposition by the peoples who lived around them.
They set the altar in its place: The language is very precise here. They did not merely “build” the altar as they had set out to do. They “set it up,” or literally “they erected the altar upon its place.” This refers to deliberately placing it or rebuilding it where it had been before the destruction of the Temple. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “They re-established the altar on its foundations.”
For fear was upon them: Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation reflect two distinct interpretations of this line. The difference is in two different meanings of the Hebrew word that is translated for by Revised Standard Version and “Even though” by Good News Translation. The first interpretation gives a reason for rebuilding the altar, namely their fear (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Amplified Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Osty-Trinquet). New English Bible is more specific for the first part of the verse by saying “They put the altar in place first, because they lived in fear.” The second interpretation understands this clause to be a concession: “Even though” (Good News Translation) or “Despite” (New International Version, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous, New Jerusalem Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée) their fear, they rebuilt the altar. Because both interpretations are widely accepted, one may be put in the text and the other in a footnote as Good News Translation has done. This Handbook recommends the interpretation adopted by Good News Translation.
The peoples of the lands: This phrase occurs thirteen times in Ezra–Nehemiah, with peoples and lands in either singular or plural (Ezra 3.3; 4.4; 6.21; 9.1, 2, 11; 10.2, 11; Neh 9.24, 30; 10.28, 30, 31). The singular form of the Hebrew word translated peoples usually refers to a community of people who are related to each other (see Ezra 1.3). The singular and plural forms of lands often seem to be used synonymously in this phrase, but there may also be a subtle distinction in meaning according to the context. The plural may refer to people from various foreign lands, as in Ezra 9.1, while the singular may refer to foreign people living alongside the Jews in the land, as in Ezra 10.2.
Although the Hebrew text gives few details, the phrase as it is used here refers to the people who were already living in the area when the people of Israel returned from Babylonia. Bible en français courant makes this meaning quite explicit: “those who had settled in the land during the exile.” Revised English Bible calls them “the foreign population.” But these translations are too narrow. The people who were already living in the land included those people of Israel who had not been taken into exile plus other peoples who had come to live in the area. A translation like Good News Translation or like Nouvelle version Segond révisée “the local population” may be used for more clarity.
The people who lived there wanted to help with the rebuilding of the Temple but they were not permitted to do so by the people who returned from Babylonia. According to Ezra 4.1-5, it is stated that the local population had been offering sacrifices to God. Their opposition to the rebuilding of the altar may have been because they were excluded from the rebuilding of the Temple.
They offered burnt offerings upon it to the LORD: See the comments on LORD in “Translating Ezra and Nehemiah,” pages 18-19.
Burnt offerings morning and evening: Morning and evening were the prescribed times for the daily burnt offerings of a lamb with flour, oil and wine, and also a grain offering and a drink offering (Exo 29.38-46; Num 28.3-8). The times of the sacrifices were early in the morning and in the evening at twilight. Translators may use general terms for morning and evening, but they should avoid words that would suggest a late morning hour or an evening hour after dark.
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 .