Ezra 4:10

10 They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal had deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.

Ezra 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 4:10

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar
brought over
The river Euphrates:

and set in the cities of Samaria;
placed there in the room of the Israelites carried captive; this Asnappar was, according to Jarchi and others ^F12 Sennacherib; but, with Grotius, Shalmaneser; rather he was Esarhaddon, the son of the former, and grandson of the latter; so Dr. Prideaux ^F13; though he might be only some commander of the Assyrian monarch, who carried them over by his orders:

and the rest that are on this side the river;
the river Euphrates:

and at such a time;
which may respect the date of the letter, which, no doubt, was expressed, though not here given; or this, as some think, was the same with our &c. something following, unto King Artaxerxes greeting, or something like that; though David de Pomis ^F14 takes it to be the general name of the people beyond the river.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Kimchi Sepher Shorash. fol. 166. 2. & Vajikra Rabba in ib. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1.
F13 Connexion vol. 1. p. 30.
F14 Tzemach David, fol. 63. 3.

Ezra 4:10 In-Context

8 Rehum the governor and Shimshai the court secretary wrote the letter, telling King Artaxerxes about the situation in Jerusalem.

9 They greeted the king for all their colleagues—the judges and local leaders, the people of Tarpel, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the people of Erech and Susa (that is, Elam).

10 They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal had deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.

11 This is a copy of their letter: “To King Artaxerxes, from your loyal subjects in the province west of the Euphrates River.

12 “The king should know that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation and will soon finish its walls.

Footnotes

• [a]. Aramaic Osnappar, another name for Ashurbanipal.
• [b]. Aramaic the province beyond the river; also in 4:11, 16, 17, 20 .