1 Now when the adversaries H6862 of Judah H3063 and Benjamin H1144 heard H8085 that the children H1121 of the captivity H1473 builded H1129 the temple H1964 unto the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel; H3478
But now the LORD H3068 my God H430 hath given me rest H5117 on every side, H5439 so that there is neither adversary H7854 nor evil H7451 occurrent. H6294 And, behold, I purpose H559 to build H1129 an house H1004 unto the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 my God, H430 as the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto David H1732 my father, H1 saying, H559 Thy son, H1121 whom I will set H5414 upon thy throne H3678 in thy room, he shall build H1129 an house H1004 unto my name. H8034
Behold, a son H1121 shall be born H3205 to thee, who shall be a man H376 of rest; H4496 and I will give him rest H5117 from all his enemies H341 round about: H5439 for his name H8034 shall be Solomon, H8010 and I will give H5414 peace H7965 and quietness H8253 unto Israel H3478 in his days. H3117 He shall build H1129 an house H1004 for my name; H8034 and he shall be my son, H1121 and I will be his father; H1 and I will establish H3559 the throne H3678 of his kingdom H4438 over Israel H3478 for H5704 ever. H5769
And in the days H3117 of Artaxerxes H783 wrote H3789 Bishlam, H1312 Mithredath, H4990 Tabeel, H2870 and the rest H7605 of their companions, H3674 unto Artaxerxes H783 king H4428 of Persia; H6539 and the writing H3791 of the letter H5406 was written H3789 in the Syrian tongue, H762 and interpreted H8638 in the Syrian tongue. H762 Rehum H7348 the chancellor H1169 H2942 and Shimshai H8124 the scribe H5613 wrote H3790 a H2298 letter H104 against H5922 Jerusalem H3390 to Artaxerxes H783 the king H4430 in this sort: H3660 Then H116 wrote Rehum H7348 the chancellor, H1169 H2942 and Shimshai H8124 the scribe, H5613 and the rest H7606 of their companions; H3675 the Dinaites, H1784 the Apharsathchites, H671 the Tarpelites, H2967 the Apharsites, H670 the Archevites, H756 the Babylonians, H896 the Susanchites, H7801 the Dehavites, H1723 and the Elamites, H5962 And the rest H7606 of the nations H524 whom H1768 the great H7229 and noble H3358 Asnappar H620 brought over, H1541 and set H3488 H1994 in the cities H7149 of Samaria, H8115 and the rest H7606 that are on this side H5675 the river, H5103 and at such a time. H3706
And the children H1121 of the captivity H1473 kept H6213 the passover H6453 upon the fourteenth H702 H6240 day of the first H7223 month. H2320 For the priests H3548 and the Levites H3881 were purified H2891 together, H259 all of them were pure, H2889 and killed H7819 the passover H6453 for all the children H1121 of the captivity, H1473 and for their brethren H251 the priests, H3548 and for themselves.
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat H5571 heard H8085 that we builded H1129 the wall, H2346 he was wroth, H2734 and took great H7235 indignation, H3707 and mocked H3932 the Jews. H3064 And he spake H559 before H6440 his brethren H251 and the army H2428 of Samaria, H8111 and said, H559 What do H6213 these feeble H537 Jews? H3064 will they fortify H5800 themselves? will they sacrifice? H2076 will they make an end H3615 in a day? H3117 will they revive H2421 the stones H68 out of the heaps H6194 of the rubbish H6083 which are burned? H8313 Now Tobiah H2900 the Ammonite H5984 was by him, H681 and he said, H559 Even that which they build, H1129 if a fox H7776 go up, H5927 he shall even break down H6555 their stone H68 wall. H2346 Hear, H8085 O our God; H430 for we are despised: H939 and turn H7725 their reproach H2781 upon their own head, H7218 and give H5414 them for a prey H961 in the land H776 of captivity: H7633 And cover H3680 not their iniquity, H5771 and let not their sin H2403 be blotted out H4229 from before H6440 thee: for they have provoked thee to anger H3707 before the builders. H1129 So built H1129 we the wall; H2346 and all the wall H2346 was joined together H7194 unto the half H2677 thereof: for the people H5971 had a mind H3820 to work. H6213 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, H5571 and Tobiah, H2900 and the Arabians, H6163 and the Ammonites, H5984 and the Ashdodites, H796 heard H8085 that the walls H2346 of Jerusalem H3389 were made up, H724 H5927 and that the breaches H6555 began H2490 to be stopped, H5640 then they were very H3966 wroth, H2734 And conspired H7194 all of them together H3162 to come H935 and to fight H3898 against Jerusalem, H3389 and to hinder H6213 H8442 it. Nevertheless we made our prayer H6419 unto our God, H430 and set H5975 a watch H4929 against them day H3119 and night, H3915 because H6440 of them. And Judah H3063 said, H559 The strength H3581 of the bearers of burdens H5449 is decayed, H3782 and there is much H7235 rubbish; H6083 so that we are not able H3201 to build H1129 the wall. H2346 And our adversaries H6862 said, H559 They shall not know, H3045 neither see, H7200 till we come H935 in the midst H8432 among H8432 them, and slay H2026 them, and cause the work H4399 to cease. H7673
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezra 4
Commentary on Ezra 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Ezr 4:1-6. The Building Hindered.
1. the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin—that is, strangers settled in the land of Israel.
2. we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon … which brought us up hither—A very interesting explanation of this passage has been recently obtained from the Assyrian sculptures. On a large cylinder, deposited in the British Museum, there is inscribed a long and perfect copy of the annals of Esar-haddon, in which the details are given of a large deportation of Israelites from Palestine, and a consequent settlement of Babylonian colonists in their place. It is a striking confirmation of the statement made in this passage. Those Assyrian settlers intermarried with the remnant of Israelite women, and their descendants, a mongrel race, went under the name of Samaritans. Though originally idolaters, they were instructed in the knowledge of God, so that they could say, "We seek your God"; but they served Him in a superstitious way of their own (see on 2Ki 17:26-34, 41).
3. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua … said … Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God—This refusal to co-operate with the Samaritans, from whatever motives it sprang, was overruled by Providence for ultimate good; for, had the two peoples worked together, familiar acquaintanceship and intermarriage would have ensued, and the result might have been a relapse of the Jews into idolatry. Most certainly, confusion and obscurity in the genealogical evidence that proved the descent of the Messiah would have followed; whereas, in their hostile and separate condition, they were jealous observers of each other's proceedings, watching with mutual care over the preservation and integrity of the sacred books, guarding the purity and honor of the Mosaic worship, and thus contributing to the maintenance of religious knowledge and truth.
4, 5. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, &c.—Exasperated by this repulse, the Samaritans endeavored by every means to molest the workmen as well as obstruct the progress of the building; and, though they could not alter the decree which Cyrus had issued regarding it, yet by bribes and clandestine arts indefatigably plied at court, they labored to frustrate the effects of the edict. Their success in those underhand dealings was great; for Cyrus, being frequently absent and much absorbed in his warlike expeditions, left the government in the hands of his son Cambyses, a wicked prince, and extremely hostile to the Jews and their religion. The same arts were assiduously practised during the reign of his successor, Smerdis, down to the time of Darius Hystaspes. In consequence of the difficulties and obstacles thus interposed, for a period of twenty years, the progress of the work was very slow.
6. in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they … an accusation—Ahasuerus was a regal title, and the king referred to was successor of Darius, the famous Xerxes.
Ezr 4:7-24. Letter to Artaxerxes.
7. in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, &c.—The three officers named are supposed to have been deputy governors appointed by the king of Persia over all the provinces subject to his empire west of the Euphrates.
the Syrian tongue—or Aramæan language, called sometimes in our version, Chaldee. This was made use of by the Persians in their decrees and communications relative to the Jews (compare 2Ki 18:26; Isa 36:11). The object of their letter was to press upon the royal notice the inexpediency and danger of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. They labored hard to prejudice the king's mind against that measure.
9. the Dinaites—The people named were the colonists sent by the Babylonian monarch to occupy the territory of the ten tribes. "The great and noble Asnappar" was Esar-haddon. Immediately after the murder of Sennacherib, the Babylonians, Medes, Armenians, and other tributary people seized the opportunity of throwing off the Assyrian yoke. But Esar-haddon having, in the thirtieth year of his reign, recovered Babylon and subdued the other rebellious dependents, transported numbers of them into the waste cities of Samaria, most probably as a punishment of their revolt [Hales].
12. the Jews which came up from thee to us—The name "Jews" was generally used after the return from the captivity, because the returning exiles belonged chiefly to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Although the edict of Cyrus permitted all who chose to return, a permission of which some of the Israelites availed themselves, the great body who went to settle in Judea were the men of Judah.
13. toll, tribute, and custom—The first was a poll tax; the second was a property tax; the third the excise dues on articles of trade and merchandise. Their letter, and the edict that followed, commanding an immediate cessation of the work at the city walls, form the exclusive subject of narrative at Ezr 4:7-23. And now from this digression [the historian] returns at Ezr 4:24 to resume the thread of his narrative concerning the building of the temple.
14. we have maintenance from the king's palace—literally, "we are salted with the salt of the palace." "Eating a prince's salt" is an Oriental phrase, equivalent to "receiving maintenance from him."
24. Then ceased the work of the house of God—It was this occurrence that first gave rise to the strong religious antipathy between the Jews and the Samaritans, which was afterwards greatly aggravated by the erection of a rival temple on Mount Gerizim.