Discovery BoxEzra 4:7-23
Context4:7 And during the reign 1 of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, 2 Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their colleagues 3 wrote to King Artaxerxes 4 of Persia. This letter 5 was first written in Aramaic but then translated.
[Aramaic:] 6
4:8 Rehum the commander 7 and Shimshai the scribe 8 wrote a letter concerning 9 Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows: 4:9 From 10 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, 11 the Elamites), 4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal 12 deported and settled in the cities 13 of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. 14 4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)
“To King Artaxerxes, 15 from your servants in 16 Trans-Euphrates: 4:12 Now 17 let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. 18 They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations. 4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury 19 will suffer loss. 4:14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, 20 and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, 21 we are sending the king this information 22 4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records 23 of his predecessors 24 and discover in those records 25 that this city is rebellious 26 and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts 27 from long ago. 28 It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed. 4:16 We therefore are informing the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, you will not retain control 29 of this portion of Trans-Euphrates.”
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! 30 4:18 The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence. 4:19 So I gave orders, 31 and it was determined 32 that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in 33 rebellion and revolt. 4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates 34 and who were the beneficiaries of 35 tribute, custom, and toll. 4:21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. 36 4:22 Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”
4:23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem 37 and stopped them with threat of armed force. 38
Ezra 5:6-17
Context5:6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates sent to King Darius. 5:7 The report they sent to him was written as follows: 39
“To King Darius: All greetings! 40 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the temple of the great God. It is being built with large stones, 41 and timbers are being placed in the walls. This work is being done with all diligence and is prospering in their hands. 5:9 We inquired of those elders, asking them, ‘Who gave you the authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?’ 5:10 We also inquired of their names in order to inform you, so that we might write the names of the men who were their leaders. 5:11 They responded to us in the following way: ‘We are servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are rebuilding the temple which was previously built many years ago. A great king 42 of Israel built it and completed it. 5:12 But after our ancestors 43 angered the God of heaven, he delivered them into the hands 44 of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and exiled the people to Babylon. 45 5:13 But in the first year of King Cyrus of Babylon, 46 King Cyrus enacted a decree to rebuild this temple of God. 5:14 Even the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and had brought to the palace 47 of Babylon – even those things King Cyrus brought from the palace of Babylon and presented 48 to a man by the name of Sheshbazzar whom he had appointed as governor. 5:15 He said to him, “Take these vessels and go deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its proper location.” 49 5:16 Then this Sheshbazzar went and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem. From that time to the present moment 50 it has been in the process of being rebuilt, although it is not yet finished.’
5:17 “Now if the king is so inclined, 51 let a search be conducted in the royal archives 52 there in Babylon in order to determine whether King Cyrus did in fact issue orders for this temple of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us a decision concerning this matter.”
[4:7] 1 tn Heb “And in the days.”
[4:7] 2 tn The LXX understands this word as a prepositional phrase (“in peace”) rather than as a proper name (“Bishlam”). Taken this way it would suggest that Mithredath was “in agreement with” the contents of Tabeel’s letter. Some scholars regard the word in the MT to be a corruption of either “in Jerusalem” (i.e., “in the matter of Jerusalem”) or “in the name of Jerusalem.” The translation adopted above follows the traditional understanding of the word as a name.
[4:7] 3 tc The translation reads the plural with the Qere rather than the singular found in the MT Kethib.
[4:7] 4 sn Artaxerxes I ruled in Persia from ca. 465–425
[4:7] 5 tc It is preferable to delete the MT’s וּכְתָב (ukhÿtav) here.
[4:7] 6 sn The double reference in v. 7 to the Aramaic language is difficult. It would not make sense to say that the letter was written in Aramaic and then translated into Aramaic. Some interpreters understand the verse to mean that the letter was written in the Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language, but this does not seem to give sufficient attention to the participle “translated” at the end of the verse. The second reference to Aramaic in the verse is more probably a gloss that calls attention to the fact that the following verses retain the Aramaic language of the letter in its original linguistic form. A similar reference to Aramaic occurs in Dan 2:4b, where the language of that book shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic. Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12-26 are written in Aramaic, whereas the rest of the book is written in Hebrew.
[4:8] 7 tn Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17.
[4:8] 8 sn Like Rehum, Shimshai was apparently a fairly high-ranking official charged with overseeing Persian interests in this part of the empire. His title was “scribe” or “secretary,” but in a more elevated political sense than that word sometimes has elsewhere. American governmental titles such as “Secretary of State” perhaps provide an analogy in that the word “secretary” can have a broad range of meaning.
[4:8] 9 tn Or perhaps “against.”
[4:9] 10 tn Aram “then.” What follows in v. 9 seems to be the preface of the letter, serving to identify the senders of the letter. The word “from” is not in the Aramaic text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[4:9] 11 tn For the qere of the MT (דֶּהָיֵא, dehaye’, a proper name) it seems better to retain the Kethib דִּהוּא (dihu’, “that is”). See F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 25, §35; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 36.
[4:10] 12 tn Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal.
[4:10] 13 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.
[4:10] 14 tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.
[4:11] 15 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.
[4:12] 17 tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.
[4:12] 18 sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.
[4:13] 19 tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.
[4:14] 20 tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”
[4:14] 21 tn Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”
[4:14] 22 tn Aram “and we have made known.”
[4:15] 23 tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”
[4:15] 24 tn Aram “of your fathers.”
[4:15] 25 tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.
[4:15] 26 tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”
[4:15] 27 tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”
[4:15] 28 tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.
[4:16] 29 tn Aram “will not be to you.”
[4:19] 31 tn Aram “from me was placed a decree.”
[4:19] 32 tn Aram “and they searched and found.”
[4:19] 33 tn Aram “are being done.”
[4:20] 34 sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.
[4:20] 35 tn Aram “were being given to them.”
[4:21] 36 tn Aram “until a command is issued from me.”
[4:23] 37 tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”
[4:23] 38 tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.
[5:7] 39 tn Aram “and it was written in its midst.”
[5:8] 41 tn Aram “stones of rolling.” The reference is apparently to stones too large to carry.
[5:11] 42 sn This great king of Israel would, of course, be Solomon.
[5:12] 44 tn Aram “hand” (singular).
[5:12] 45 sn A reference to the catastrophic events of 586
[5:13] 46 sn Cyrus was actually a Persian king, but when he conquered Babylon in 539
[5:14] 48 tn Aram “they were given.”
[5:15] 49 tn Aram “upon its place.”
[5:16] 50 tn Aram “from then and until now.”
