Ezra 4:9

9 At that time, Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe were with the others of their group--the people from Denya, Partakka, Tarpel, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa, (that is, those of Elam),

Ezra 4:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 4:9

Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and
the rest of their companions
who all signed the letter; namely, the governors of the following nations;

the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the
Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the
Elamites;
which were colonies from several parts of Chaldea, Media, and Persia, and were settled in the several cities of Samaria, as several of their names plainly show, as from Persia, Erech, Babylon, Shushan, and Elimais; some account for them all, but with uncertainty; according to R. Jose ^F11 these were the Samaritans who first were sent out of five nations, to whom the king of Assyria added four more, which together make the nine here mentioned, see ( 2 Kings 17:24 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Pirke Eliezer, c. 38.

Ezra 4:9 In-Context

7 Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their group wrote to him when Artaxerxes was king of Persia. The letter was written with the Aramaic script and translated into the Aramaic language.

8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote another letter against [the people of] Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes.

9 At that time, Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe were with the others of their group--the people from Denya, Partakka, Tarpel, Persia, Erech, Babylon, Susa, (that is, those of Elam),

10 and the rest of the people whom the great and noble Assurbanipal deported. (Assurbanipal settled them in the cities of Samaria and the rest of the lands west of the Euphrates River.)

11 This is the copy of the letter they sent to him: To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the people west of the Euphrates: