Ezra 4:1-12
EZRA 4:1
Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that
the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
As soon as the work of the LORD commences, the children
of Satan are right there to attempt to hinder and stop the work.
Here we have the adversaries which were the Samaritans.
The Samaritans were the mixed inhabitants whom
Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other
places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants
whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity.
And the king of Assyria
brought men from Babylon, and
from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed
them in the cities of Samaria
instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the
cities thereof. (2 Kings 17:24)
These strangers merged with the Jews still remaining in the land, and
gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion.
Since they were not fully Jews they were considered polluted.
EZRA 4:2
Then 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.
They tried the same trick the Gibeonites pulled on Joshua
so he wouldn’t destroy them.
(Joshua 9) They had come to
Zerubbabel and the chief fathers asking them if they could build the temple with
them. They had pretended to be true
followers of God but their motives were to find out what they were really up to
and then to bring accusations against them.
They had been in Samaria for about 150 years and they probably feared
that they would be removed from their homes and that the Jews would destroy
them. Esar-Haddon was the king of
Assyria and made Samaria one of his conquered territories.
EZRA 4:3
But 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.
Then Zerubbabel and Jeshua the High Priest did not trust
them and rejected their attempt to combine with them in the building of the
temple. Then they told them that
they have nothing to do with them especially in the building of the house of God
but Zerubbabel was the one who received the commandment from Cyrus and that they
would build the temple without any outside help, especially from heathens who
were vassals of Assyria. It is like
unbelievers who donate to churches or ministries thinking they are somehow
joining with God and winning some kind of points so they can get into Heaven
through their altruism instead of the cross of Christ.
EZRA 4:4
Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the
people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Then the Samaritans had begun to use threats and
intimidation to weaken the hands of the people causing them troubles.
They created an atmosphere of fear.
The word “weakened” in the Hebrew carries with it the meaning of “cease
or leave” the work. That is why at
this point they did not go past the laying of the foundation.
The goal of the Samaritans was to stop Judah from constructing the
temple.
EZRA 4:5
And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their
purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius
king of Persia.
Then within the provinces which were ruled by Cyrus,
there were local officers who ruled and reported back to the king as to what was
taking place in those areas. So the
Samaritans tried to get these local officers to withhold the needed materials to
build the temple and they wanted to get the edict revoked so the temple would
not be built. They did what they
could to hinder the progress on the temple.
There was also bribery to these officers to get them to stop the work.
These attacks continued all the days of Cyrus the king for the next eight
years till 529 B.C. who was succeeded by his son Cambyses who died in 522 B.C.
until Darius the son of Hystaspes began to rule.
He was known as the first Darius.
EZRA 4:6
And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his
reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah
and Jerusalem.
Ahasuerus was another name for Cambyses who reigned a
total of seven years. The
Samaritans had continued their tirade against the Jews by continual accusations
against them. It was probably
during this time that the building of the temple had stopped for the time being.
They had charged the Jews as disobedient and rebellious people.
EZRA 4:7
And 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.
Artaxerxes was also the name of Cambyses and was the name
given to many of the Persian kings.
It is not uncommon for the same person to have three names.
Jethro the father-in-law of Moses was also known by Hobab (Numbers 10:29)
and Reuel (Exodus 2:18). Bishlam
was an officer in the court of Artaxerxes.
Mithredath was another officer but it is not clear if this is the same
one mentioned in Ezra 1:8 who restored all the temple utensils.
Tabeel was a Persian official in Samaria who opposed the temple
rebuilding by the Jews. The Syrian
tongue would have been the Aramaic tongue which was also written in Hebrew
letters. They had attempted to
prejudice the king against the rebuilding of the temple.
EZRA 4:8
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a
letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
Rehum was the counselor of the Persian king which was a
title for a civil governor and Shimshai was his scribe or secretary.
These two also opposed the work of the Jews in the building of the
temple.
EZRA 4:9
Then 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,
The letter began with the naming of many of the allies of
Rehum showing solidarity by many people who were in opposition to the rebuilding
of the temple and Jerusalem.
The Dinaites were the people who occupied the land where the ten tribes had
lived. The Apharsites and the
Dehavites were Persian people. The
Susanchites came from the province of Susa.
The Apharsathchites were from Media.
Tarpelites were from Samaria in an unknown location.
The Archevites were people removed from Assyria and sent to Samaria.
The Elamites were inhabitants of Elam which was east of Babylon also
where Susa was located.
EZRA 4:10
And 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.
Asnappar was probably a chief in the army of Assyria who
was under Esar-haddon and had moved people from Assyria to the area of Samaria.
The river in view here would have been the Euphrates and at the timing of
the king who commanded these people be moved.
EZRA 4:11
This 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.
Then we are given the contents of the letter which was
sent to Artaxerxes the king. The
river here is also the Euphrates.
“And at such a time” may have been the greeting which preceded the body of the
letter.
EZRA 4:12
Be 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.