Ezra 4:8-16

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

8 Rehum the commander * and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows -

9 then wrote Rehum the commander * and Shimshai the scribe and ¹the rest of their colleagues, the judges and ²the lesser governors, the officials, the secretaries, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,

10 and the rest of the nations which the great and honorable Osnappar deported and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the region beyond the River. ³Now

11 this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "T o King Artaxerxes: Your servants, the men in the region beyond the River, and now

12 let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem; they are rebuilding ⁴the rebellious and evil city and ⁵are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations.

13 "Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, ⁶they will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.

14 "Now because * * we are in the service of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king's dishonor, therefore * we have sent and informed the king,

15 so that a search may be made in the record books of your fathers. And you will discover in the record books and learn that that city is a rebellious city and damaging to kings and provinces, and that they have incited revolt within it in past days; therefore * that city was laid waste.

16 "We inform the king that if that city is rebuilt and the walls finished, as a result you will have no possession in the province beyond the River."

Ezra 4:8-16 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.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Kings 17:24
• 2. Ezra 5:6; Ezra 6:6
• 3. Ezra 4:11, 17; Ezra 7:12
• 4. 2 Chronicles 36:13
• 5. Ezra 5:3, 9
• 6. Ezra 4:20; Ezra 7:24

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 4:8-6:18 is in Aram
• [b]. I.e. probably Ashurbanipal
• [c]. I.e. Euphrates River, and so throughout the ch
• [d]. Lit "eat the salt"