Now be it known to the king: The writers repeat this formula from the beginning of the letter (see the previous verse) to make an appeal to the economic consequences of the Jews’ actions: the king is in danger of losing income to the royal treasury. They state a condition (rebuilding of Jerusalem with its walls). If the condition is met, there will be one result (no taxes paid by the Jews) that will bring about a second result (harm to the empire). Translators should use a sentence construction that makes the conditional aspect clear.
If this city is rebuilt and the walls finished: In some languages it may be necessary to restructure these clauses using active verbs, for example, “If the people rebuild the city and if they complete the walls….”
They will not pay tribute, custom, or toll: The three kinds of taxes cannot be exactly defined, but generally tribute may refer to payment in money or kind to the king, custom may refer to a poll tax paid in kind and based on one’s capacity for work, and toll may refer to a property tax. Everyone other than members of the Temple hierarchy was required to pay these taxes (see Ezra 7.24). Many translations use three separate words but with closely related meanings as Revised Standard Version has done. Good News Translation groups the three payments under the one word “taxes,” while Contemporary English Version says “any kind of taxes.” Translators should try to reflect the fact that several different kinds of taxes are referred to here.
The royal revenue will be impaired: The general meaning of the text here is evident from the context, but the exact translation is uncertain. Some translations interpret as Revised Standard Version has done; for example, “the royal revenues will suffer” (New International Version, Chouraqui) or “there will be less money in your treasury” (Contemporary English Version; compare New King James Version “the king’s treasury will be diminished”). However, the word translated as revenue is a Persian loanword and may mean “in the end,” while royal is literally “kings.” Other translations therefore translate “in the end they will harm the monarchy” (New English Bible; similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “thus the king will incur a loss” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Bible de Jérusalem). These translations may better represent the Aramaic text and should therefore be followed by translators.
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 .