Ezra 4:22

22 Be sure to carry out this order! Why should danger grow and threaten the king?

Ezra 4:22 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 4:22

Take heed now that ye fail not to do this
To put his orders into execution, and at once, without any loss of time, oblige the Jews to desist from rebuilding the walls of their city, which he was told they were doing, though a great falsehood:

why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
of him and his successors, to be deprived of their toll, tribute, and customs, and to have insurrections, mutinies, and rebellions, in the dominions belonging to them.

Ezra 4:22 In-Context

20 However, there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem who also ruled over the whole province Beyond the River. Tribute and taxes and dues were paid to them.
21 Therefore, issue an order to stop these people: this city is not to be rebuilt until I make a decree.
22 Be sure to carry out this order! Why should danger grow and threaten the king?
23 When the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem to oppose the Jews and made them stop by force of arms.
24 At that time the work on God's house in Jerusalem stopped and was suspended until the second year of the rule of Persia's King Darius.
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