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Ezra 4

KJV · Chapter 4/10

1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel;

2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar–haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

3But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

4Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

7And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.

8Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

9Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,

10And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.

11This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.

12Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.

13Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.

14Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;

15That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.

16We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.

17Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.

18The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.

19And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.

20There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.

21Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.

22Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?

23Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

24Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Neighboring peoples offer to help build the temple, but are turned down, and then set about sabotaging the work with accusations to the Persian kings, managing to halt the rebuilding for years.

Explanation

This chapter blends events from different decades to show a pattern: whenever God's people try to rebuild something important, opposition arises, whether from outside or through political manipulation. The adversaries use official letters full of half-truths to convince the king that the Jews are dangerous, and succeed in getting an order to stop the work. It's a reminder that doing God's work rightly sometimes means refusing 'help' that is actually disguised control, and that opposition can come through legal and bureaucratic channels, not only through open violence.

Fun facts

  • The chapter temporarily switches to Aramaic (the diplomatic language of the time) at exactly the point where it reproduces the official letters exchanged with the king — a detail that confirms the authenticity of the documents quoted.
  • The references to different kings (Cyrus, Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes) show that Ezra inserts here, out of strict chronological order, examples of opposition from various periods to reinforce the pattern of resistance.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezra 4:1As soon as word spreads that the Jews are rebuilding the temple, people from the region who oppose them hear about it and decide to act.
  2. Ezra 4:2These neighbors offer to help build, claiming they too worshipped the same God ever since the Assyrian king Esarhaddon brought them to live in that land. It was a request that concealed other intentions.
  3. Ezra 4:3Zerubbabel and Jeshua refuse the offer, saying that the task of building the house of God belongs to the people of Israel alone, exactly as Cyrus himself had decreed.
  4. Ezra 4:4From then on, the people of the region set out to discourage the Jews and hinder the work whenever they can, in a campaign of resistance that stretches on for years.
  5. Ezra 4:5They even go so far as to hire counselors to sabotage the project from within, a strategy that holds steady through the whole reign of Cyrus, right up to the reign of Darius, decades later.
  6. Ezra 4:6Here the text jumps forward in time: it mentions a written complaint against the Jews already in the reign of Ahasuerus, the same king who years later would have Esther as queen, decades ahead of this chapter's main story.
  7. Ezra 4:7Here the text changes language without warning: the letter the adversaries send to King Artaxerxes was originally written in Aramaic, the official language of Persian diplomacy, not in Hebrew. Because of this, a good part of the following chapters, including letters and decrees, appears in this different language within the same book.
  8. Ezra 4:8Here two new characters enter, the official Rehum and the scribe Shimshai, who write a formal accusation against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes — another jump forward in time, decades ahead of the temple project.
  9. Ezra 4:9The letter is signed by a list of foreign peoples settled in the region — Dinaites, Archevites, Babylonians, and others — showing that the opposition to the Jews came from a quite diverse group of neighbors.
  10. Ezra 4:10These peoples had been brought to live in Samaria by a king called here Asnappar, probably the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who resettled the region after conquering it.
  11. Ezra 4:11Here the transcription of the letter itself begins, identifying its authors only as “the men on this side the river,” a standard formula used in official Persian correspondence.
  12. Ezra 4:12The letter accuses the Jews of rebuilding “the rebellious and the bad city,” trying to convince the king that Jerusalem had always been trouble. It is an example of how official letters between governments and provinces were used both to inform and to steer political decisions.
  13. Ezra 4:13The letter's main argument is financial: if Jerusalem is rebuilt, the Jews will stop paying toll, tribute, and custom, which would directly hurt the king's own treasury.
  14. Ezra 4:14The letter's authors present themselves as officials loyal to the palace, saying they are warning the king precisely because they do not want to see him dishonored by this rebuilding.
  15. Ezra 4:15They suggest the king have the royal records searched, assuring him he will find evidence that Jerusalem had already been a rebellious city in the past, destroyed for good reason.
  16. Ezra 4:16The letter's final threat is exaggerated: rebuilding the walls, it claims, would cost the king control of the whole region west of the Euphrates, not just Jerusalem.
  17. Ezra 4:17The king answers Rehum and Shimshai and the residents of Samaria directly, opening the letter with the usual formal greeting: “Peace, and at such a time.”
  18. Ezra 4:18Artaxerxes confirms that he had the letter translated and read aloud before him personally before making any decision on the matter.
  19. Ezra 4:19The search of the royal archives confirms the accusation: Jerusalem really did have a history of rebellion and sedition against earlier empires.
  20. Ezra 4:20The king recalls that Jerusalem had once had powerful kings who ruled that whole region and collected tribute as a matter of course — one more argument against letting the city regain its strength.
  21. Ezra 4:21Artaxerxes orders the rebuilding stopped at once, leaving open the possibility of reversing the decision later, should he himself authorize it.
  22. Ezra 4:22He stresses the urgency of the order, warning the officials not to let up on this, because every day of delay would cost the royal treasury more.
  23. Ezra 4:23As soon as they receive the answer, Rehum and Shimshai hurry to Jerusalem and use force to make the Jews stop the work at once.
  24. Ezra 4:24The work of rebuilding the temple stalls because of these accusations, and is only taken up again under the reign of Darius, Cyrus's successor. Between one king and the next, the project sat suspended for years, showing that the promise of returning and rebuilding did not come without real bureaucratic and political obstacles.

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