20 And there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all beyond the river; and tribute, tax, and toll were paid to them.
On the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;
And Solomon ruled over all kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
And David put [garrisons] in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, [and] brought gifts. And Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went.
And he put garrisons in Edom; and all they of Edom became servants to David. And Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went.
besides [what] dealers and merchants brought, and [what] all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon.
And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.
And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-Baal, and the Maonites. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad to the entrance of Egypt; for he became exceeding strong.
Be it known therefore unto the king, that, if this city be built and the walls be completed, they will not pay tribute, tax, and toll, and in the end it will bring damage to the kings.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezra 4
Commentary on Ezra 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
The good work of rebuilding the temple was no sooner begun than it met with opposition from those that bore ill will to it; the Samaritans were enemies to the Jews and their religion, and they set themselves to obstruct it.
Ezr 4:1-5
We have here an instance of the old enmity that was put between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. God's temple cannot be built, but Satan will rage, and the gates of hell will fight against it. The gospel kingdom was, in like manner, to be set up with much struggling and contention. In this respect the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former, and it was more a figure of the temple of Christ's church, in that Solomon built his temple when there was no adversary nor evil occurrent, (1 Ki. 5:4); but this second temple was built notwithstanding great opposition, in the removing and conquering of which, and the bringing of the work to perfection at last in spite of it, the wisdom, power, and goodness of God were much glorified, and the church was encouraged to trust in him.
Ezr 4:6-16
Cyrus stedfastly adhered to the Jews' interest, and supported his own grant. It was to no purpose to offer any thing to him in prejudice of it. What he did was from a good principle, and in the fear of God, and therefore he adhered to it. But, though his reign in all was thirty years, yet after the conquest of Babylon, and his decree for the release of the Jews, some think that he reigned but three years, others seven, and then either died or gave up that part of his government, in which his successor was Ahasuerus (v. 6), called also Artaxerxes (v. 7), supposed to be the same that in heathen authors is called Cambyses, who had never taken such cognizance of the despised Jews as to concern himself for them, nor had he that knowledge of the God of Israel which his predecessor had. To him these Samaritans applied by letter for an order to stop the building of the temple; and they did it in the beginning of his reign, being resolved to lose no time when they thought they had a king for their purpose. See how watchful the church's enemies are to take the first opportunity of doing it a mischief; let not its friends be less careful to do it a kindness. Here is,
Ezr 4:17-24
Here we have,