6 And in the reign H4438 of Ahasuerus, H325 in the beginning H8462 of his reign, H4438 wrote H3789 they unto him an accusation H7855 against the inhabitants H3427 of Judah H3063 and Jerusalem. H3389
Now it came to pass in the days H3117 of Ahasuerus, H325 (this is Ahasuerus H325 which reigned, H4427 from India H1912 even unto Ethiopia, H3568 over an hundred H3967 and seven H7651 and twenty H6242 provinces:) H4082
For G1063 we have found G2147 this G5126 man G435 a pestilent G3061 fellow, and G2532 a mover G2795 of sedition G4714 among all G3956 the Jews G2453 throughout G2596 the world, G3625 and G5037 a ringleader G4414 of the sect G139 of the Nazarenes: G3480 Who G3739 also G2532 hath gone about G3985 to profane G953 the temple: G2411 G2532 whom G3739 we took, G2902 and G2532 would G2309 have judged G2919 according G2596 to our G2251 law. G3551 But G1161 the chief captain G5506 Lysias G3079 came G3928 upon us, and with G3326 great G4183 violence G970 took him away G520 out of G1537 our G2257 hands, G5495 Commanding G2753 his G846 accusers G2725 to come G2064 unto G1909 thee: G4571 by examining G350 of G3844 whom G3739 thyself G846 mayest G1410 take knowledge G1921 of G4012 all G3956 these things, G5130 whereof G3739 we G2249 accuse G2723 him. G846 And G1161 the Jews G2453 also G2532 assented, G4934 saying G5335 that these things G5023 were G2192 so. G3779
Neither G3777 can G1410 they prove G3936 G3165 the things G4012 whereof G3739 they G2723 now G3568 accuse G2723 me. G3450
And G2532 I heard G191 a loud G3173 voice G5456 saying G3004 in G1722 heaven, G3772 Now G737 is come G1096 salvation, G4991 and G2532 strength, G1411 and G2532 the kingdom G932 of our G2257 God, G2316 and G2532 the power G1849 of his G846 Christ: G5547 for G3754 the accuser G2723 of our G2257 brethren G80 is cast down, G2598 which G3588 accused G2725 them G846 before G1799 our G2257 God G2316 day G2250 and G2532 night. G3571
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.