Ezra 4:17-22

Artaxerxes' Reply

17 The king sent a reply to his chief deputy Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates River: Greetings.

18 The letter you sent us has been translated and read^[a] in my presence.

19 I issued a decree and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has had uprisings against kings since ancient times, and there have been rebellions and revolts in it.

20 Powerful kings have also ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region, and tribute, duty, and land tax were paid to them.

21 Therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until a [further] decree has been pronounced by me.

22 See that you not neglect this matter. Otherwise, the damage will increase and the royal interests^[b] will suffer.

Ezra 4:17-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZRA 4

The contents of this chapter are the offer the Samaritans made to the Jews, to assist them in building the temple, which having refused, they gave them all the trouble they could, Ezr 4:1-6 and a letter of theirs to Artaxerxes, king of Persia, full of accusations of them, Ezr 4:7-16 and the answer of Artaxerxes to it, giving orders to command the Jews to cease building the temple, Ezr 4:17-22 which orders were accordingly executed, and the work ceased till the second year of Darius, Ezr 4:23,24.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or been read clearly
• [b]. Lit the kings