Ezra 4:10-11

4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal ¹  deported and settled in the cities ²  of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. ³  4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)

“To King Artaxerxes, ⁴  from your servants in ⁵  Trans-Euphrates:

Ezra 4:17

4:17 The king sent the following response:

“To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Trans-Euphrates: Greetings! ⁶ 

¹ tn Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal.

² tc The translation reads with the ancient versions the plural בְּקֻרְיַהּ (bÿquryah, “in the cities”) rather than the singular (“in the city”) of the MT.

³ tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.

⁴ tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.

⁵ tn Aram “men of.”

⁶ tn Aram “peace.”