At the same time Sisinnes the governor of Syria and Phoenicia and Sathrabuzanes and their associates came to them and said: The temporal phrase At the same time indicates that the Persian officials named in this verse showed up in Jerusalem while the renewed work on the Temple was in its early stages. These officials came to check what authority the Jews had to build the Temple. Good News Bible renders this temporal phrase as “Almost at once,” which may put them on the scene a little too early, since we learn in verses 4 and 9 that a considerable amount of work had been done since the laying of the foundation. We may also begin this verse in a way similar to Contemporary English Version, which says “But Governor Sisinnes of Southwest Syria Province and his assistant Sathrabuzanes got together with some of their officials and went to Jerusalem….” Sisinnes is named “Tattenai” in the parallel passage of Ezra 5.3. A Babylonian document indicates that Tattenai was newly appointed as governor of the Persian province beyond the Euphrates River in the time of King Darius and was an assistant to the satrap for Babylon and the province beyond the Euphrates River. Sathrabuzanes was a Persian official who is unknown except in this episode. He may have been Sisinnes’ secretary or assistant (so Contemporary English Version). For Sathrabuzanes Good News Bible uses the form of the name used in Ezra 5.3, which is “Shethar Bozenai.” Translators will probably find it easier to use here whatever forms of the names they have used in the Ezra passage, rather than adapt another pair of strange names to their languages. Following our own advice, we will use Good News Bible‘s form of the names. For Syria and Phoenicia, see the comments on 1 Esd 2.17. Here we have only Syria and not “Coelesyria.” However the same province of the Persian Empire in which the Jewish homeland lay is in view here. Their associates refers to the Persian officials working under Sisinnes and Shethar Bozenai. The pronoun them refers to the Jews working on the Temple, especially Zerubbabel and Joshua, their leaders. The verb said simply introduces what the men said (verse 4), and this is all a translator need to say. However, since the royal officials challenged the right of the Jews to rebuild the Temple by asking two questions, the verb said may be rendered “challenged them by asking.” An alternative model for this verse is:

• The work had hardly begun when the governor of the province of Phoenicia and Greater Syria showed up [or, appeared in Jerusalem]. His name was Sisinnes, and with him was Shethar Bozenai and other government officials. They challenged Zerubbabel and Jeshua, asking….

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.