Advanced Commentary
Texts -- Ezra 4:16-24 (NET)
Pericope
NET
- Ezr 4:6-24 -- Official Complaints Are Lodged Against the Jews
Bible Dictionary
-
Persia
[smith] (pure, splended), Per?sians. Persia proper was a tract of no very large dimensions on the Persian Gulf, which is still known as Fars or Farsistan , a corruption of the ancient appellation. This tract was bounded on the west b...
[nave] PERSIA An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Esth. 1:1; Dan. 6:1. Government of, restricted by constitutional limitations, Esth. 8:8; Dan. 6:8-12. Municipal gov...
-
Rehum
[ebd] merciful. (1.) One of "the children of the province" who returned from the Captivity (Ezra 2:2); the same as "Nehum" (Neh. 7:7). (2.) The "chancellor" of Artaxerxes, who sought to stir him up against the Jews (Ezra 4:8-24) a...
[isbe] REHUM - re'-hum (rechum, or rechum): (1) One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community returning from captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7 (by a copyist's error "Nehum"); 12:3; 1 Esdras 5:8, "Roimus"). (2) A Persian...
[smith] (merciful). One who went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:2) (B.C. 536.) "Rehum the chancellor." (Ezra 4:8,9,17,23) He was perhaps a kind of lieutenant-governor of the province under the king of Persia. (B.C. 535.) A...
[nave] REHUM 1. A captive who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, Ezra 2:2. Called Nehum, Neh. 7:7. 2. A chancellor who wrote a letter to Artaxerxes, influencing him against the Jews, Ezra 4:8, 9, 17, 23. 3. A Levite who repaire...
-
Shimshai
[ebd] the shining one, or sunny, the secretary of Rehum the chancellor, who took part in opposing the rebuilding of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 4:8, 9, 17-23).
[isbe] SHIMSHAI - shim'-shi, shim'-sha-i (shimshay; Codex Vaticanus Samasa, Samae, Sameais Samesa; Codex Alexandrinus Samsai; Lucian, Samaias, throughout; in 1 Esdras 2:17 he is called "Semellius," the Revised Version (British and ...
[nave] SHIMSHAI, a scribe, Ezra 4:8, 9, 17, 23.
-
Zechariah
[ebd] Jehovah is renowned or remembered. (1.) A prophet of Judah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Like Ezekiel, he was of priestly extraction. He describes himself (1:1) as "the son of Berechiah." In Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 h...
[nave] ZECHARIAH 1. A Reubenite, 1 Chr. 5:7. 2. Three Levites in the days of David, 1 Chr. 9:21; 15:18, 20, 24; 16:5; 26:2, 14. 3. A Benjamite, 1 Chr. 9:37. Called Zacher in 1 Chr. 8:31. 4. Two Kohathites, 1 Chr. 24:25; 2 Chr. ...
-
Artaxerxes
[nave] ARTAXERXES 1. A Persian king, probably identical with Ahasuerus. Prohibits the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Ezra 4:7-24. 2. King of Persia. Decrees of, in behalf of the Jews, Ezra 7; Neh. 2; 5:14.
-
Bishlam
[nave] BISHLAM, a Samaritan who obstructed the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, Ezra 4:7-24.
-
ESDRAS, THE FIRST BOOK OF
[isbe] ESDRAS, THE FIRST BOOK OF - ez'-dras, es'-dras: 1. Name 2. Contents 3. Relation to Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah 4. Versions 5. Date and Authorship LITERATURE 1. Name: In some of the Greek uncials (Codex Vaticanus, etc.) of the...
-
TAX; TAXING
[isbe] TAX; TAXING - taks, taks'-ing: I. INTRODUCTION 1. General Considerations 2. Limits of the Discussion II. TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT 1. In the Earliest Period 2. Under the Theocracy; in the Period of the Judges 3. ...
-
Chaldee language
[ebd] employed by the sacred writers in certain portions of the Old Testament, viz., Dan. 2:4-7, 28; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Gen. 31:46; Jer. 10:11. It is the Aramaic dialect, as it is sometimes called, as distinguished from the H...
-
Lies and Deceits
[nave] LIES AND DECEITS Ex. 23:1; Lev. 6:2-7; Lev. 19:11, 12, 16 Ex. 20:16. Job 13:4; Job 21:34; Job 27:4; Job 31:5, 6, 33; Job 36:4; Psa. 5:6, 9; Psa. 10:7; Psa. 12:2, 3; Psa. 28:3; Psa. 31:18; Psa. 34:13 1 Pet. 3:10. Psa. 36:3; P...
-
Israel
[nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...
-
Zerubbabel
[ebd] the seed of Babylon, the son of Salathiel or Shealtiel (Hag. 1:1; Zorobabel, Matt. 1:12); called also the son of Pedaiah (1 Chr. 3:17-19), i.e., according to a frequent usage of the word "son;" the grandson or the nephew of ...
-
Malice
[nave] MALICE. Gen. 3:15; Lev. 19:14, 17, 18; Deut. 27:17, 18; Deut. 32:32, 33; 2 Kin. 6:21, 22; Job 31:29, 30; Psa. 4:2; Psa. 7:14-16 Job 15:35. Psa. 10:7-10, 14; Psa. 21:11; Psa. 22:7, 8; Psa. 35:15, 16, 19-21; Psa. 38:16, 19; P...
-
Temple
[nave] TEMPLE. Solomon's Called also Temple of the Lord, 2 Kin. 11:10; Holy Temple, Psa. 79:1; Holy House, 1 Chr. 29:3; House of God, 1 Chr. 29:2; 2 Chr. 23:9; House of the Lord, 2 Chr. 23:5, 12; Jer. 28:5; Father's House, John 2...
-
Persecution
[nave] PERSECUTION See also Intolerance; Bigotry. Of Jesus Gen. 3:15; Psa. 2:1-5; Psa. 22:1, 2, 6-8, 11-21; Psa. 69:7-9, 20, 21, 26 vs. 1-21.; Psa. 109:25; Isa. 49:7; Isa. 50:6; Isa. 52:14; Isa. 53:2-5, 7-10; Mic. 5:1; Matt. 2:13...
-
EPISTLE
[isbe] EPISTLE - e-pis'-'-l (epistole, "a letter," "epistle"; from epistello, "to send to"): 1. New Testament Epistles 2. Distinctive Characteristics 3. Letter-Writing in Antiquity 4. Letters in the Old Testament 5. Letters in the ...
-
Darius
[ebd] the holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Dan. 11:1), "the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes" (9:1). On the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean he "received the kingdom" of Babyl...
-
Chancellor
[ebd] one who has judicial authority, literally, a "lord of judgement;" a title given to the Persian governor of Samaria (Ezra 4:8, 9, 17).
[isbe] CHANCELLOR - chan'-sel-er: The rendering in Ezr 4:8,9,17 of the Hebrew be`el Te`em; Septuagint Baal (4:9), Balgam (4:17), the latter being an incorrect translation of Hebrew `ayin. In 1 Esdras 2:16,25, Beeltethmos (compare E...
[nave] CHANCELLOR, a state officer, Ezra 4:8, 9, 17. See: Cabinet.
-
SAMSON
[isbe] SAMSON - sam'-sun (shimshon. 1. Name: Derived probably from shemesh, "sun" with the diminutive ending -on, meaning "little sun" or "sunny," or perhaps "sun-man"; Sampson; Latin and English, Samson): His home was near Bethshe...
-
SHIMSHAI, OR SHIMSHAI
[smith] (sunny), the scribe or secretary of Kehum, who was a kind of satrap of the conquered province of Judea and of the colony of Samaria, supported by the Persian court. (Ezra 4:8,13,17,23) He was apparently an Aramaean, for the l...
Arts
Resources/Books
Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)
-
The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
-
The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the templ...
-
Due to the ancient tradition that the same writer composed both parts of the book (chapters 1-6 and 7-10), many scholars believe Ezra produced all of it.5A passage in the Talmud credits Ezra with the authorship of Ezra-Nehemi...
-
The earliest historical reference in Ezra is to the decree of Cyrus that he issued in his first year on the throne (1:1), 538 B.C.12The latest historical reference was just prior to Nehemiah's first trip to Jerusalem (4:21-23...
-
I. The first return under Sheshbazzar chs. 1-6A. The return from Babylon chs. 1-21. The edict of Cyrus and its consequences ch. 12. The exiles who returned ch. 2B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3-61. The beginning of cons...
-
"This whole section (Ezra 1-6) emphasizes God's sovereignty and his providence; God works in history to fulfill his will."15
-
"It is not strange according to the Semitic style to start a book with a waw["And"or "Now"], especially when the author intended to write a continuation of the history of his people. He connects the history which he wants to ...
-
Construction of the temple began soon after the exiles returned to Jerusalem. However problems threatened the completion of the project. First, the immigrants contemplated abandoning their religious distinctives to get along ...
-
The Assyrian government encouraged its residents to move to Israel and to settle there after the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. This was official government policy during the reigns of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon ...
-
"When he [the writer] discussed the problems of the building of the temple in 4:1-5, it reminded him of later similar troubles with the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and so 4:6-23 has been inserted, almost parenthetica...
-
Artaxerxes was the successor of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) who ruled the Persian Empire from 464 to 424 B.C.73Clearly the incident reported in these verses took place long after the temple was complete. It really involved the attempt...
-
The reference in this verse to work stopping indicates that at this point the writer returned to the opposition he had been describing earlier (vv. 1-5). Verses 6-23 are parenthetical. They record later events and simply illu...
-
As a result of Samaritan intimidation (4:1-5) the restoration Jews stopped building the temple in 536 B.C. (4:24). They did little work on it until 520 B.C. The Jews should have persevered because Cyrus had supported their ef...
-
The Book of Haggai contains four messages that Haggai delivered to the returned exiles in 520 B.C. We know from it that the people had turned from their commitment to rebuild the temple to constructing comfortable houses for ...
-
In contrast to Rehum and Shimshai's letter to Artaxerxes (4:11-16), Tattenai's letter to Darius was fair and objective. He did not want to stop the Jews' project. He only wanted to know if Cyrus had really given permission fo...
-
Several factors resulted in the completion of the temple that the writer brought together in verse 14. The reference to Artaxerxes (v. 14; cf. 4:7-23) does not mean that he had a part in completing the temple. As I pointed ou...
-
Compared with the dedication of the first temple this one was very modest. Solomon had offered more than 200 times as many animals.96The Jews offered one sin offering, which involved slaying a goat, for each of the 12 tribes ...
-
"These things"(v. 1) refers to the events of the first return that the writer described in chapters 1-6.Ezra's genealogy (vv. 1-5) shows that he was a man of importance whom his fellow Jews would have respected. He was a desc...
-
The Book of Ezra records two major Jewish returns to the Promised Land from Babylon.The first of these took place in 537 B.C. under the leadership of Sheshbazzar and then Zerubbabel. About 50,000 Jews returned, rebuilt the te...
-
The focus of restoration activities in Nehemiah is on the walls of Jerusalem. In Ezra it was the altar of burnt offerings and especially the temple in Jerusalem."The orientation of Nehemiah is more civil and secular than that...
-
The month Chislev (v. 1) corresponds to our late November and early December. The year in view was the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign (i.e., 445-444 B.C.). Susa (or Shushan, in Hebrew) was a winter capital of Artaxerxes ...
-
Nehemiah prayed for four months about conditions in Jerusalem before he spoke to Artaxerxes about them (cf. 1:1; 2:1). Artaxerxes' reign began in the seventh Jewish month, Tishri (late September and early October), of 464 B.C...
-
The events of the Book of Esther took place during the Persian period of ancient history (539-331 B.C.) and during the reign of King Ahasuerus in particular (486-464 B.C.).Chronology of the Book of Esther483Ahasuerus' militar...
-
5:29 Belshazzar kept his promise (v. 16) though Daniel's honors only lasted a few hours at most, typical of the honors of this world. The king's response is surprising. We might have expected him to execute Daniel for confron...
-
The vision in chapter 9 came after Daniel had been praying and fasting (9:3). The vision that follows also came to him after he had been mourning, fasting, and undoubtedly praying for three weeks (cf. 1:11-13). Obviously thes...
-
The Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, including Solomon's temple, in 586 B.C. and took most of the Jews captive to Babylon. There the Israelites could not practice their formal worship ...
-
1:1 Yahweh sent a message to Zerubbabel and Joshua through the prophet Haggai, though it went to all the Israelites too (vv. 2, 4). Zerubbabel was the political governor (overseer) of the Persian province of Judah who had led...
-
4:6 The angel announced a word of explanation from Yahweh that Zechariah was to pass on to Zerubbabel, the descendant of David who was the leader of the first group of returnees from exile.88He was to tell him, "not by might ...
-
Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...
Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)
-
The time and place are precisely given. The month Chisleu' corresponds to the end of November and beginning of December. The twentieth year' is that of Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1). Shushan,' or Susa, was the royal winter residence,...