Ezra 4:21

Give ye now commandment) R.V. Make ye now a decree. Cf. 19. The Samaritan officials clearly held some authority over the whole adjoining territory.

andthat this city be not builded See notes on Ezra 4:12-13. The king's alarm lest a strong city should be made of Jerusalem agrees rather with the time of Nehemiah than with that of Zerubbabel. The naval victories of the Greeks had rendered the Persian coast frontier peculiarly vulnerable.

untilanother commandment shall be given from me R.V. until a decree shall be made by me. The A.V. by introducing the word -another" produced a needless ambiguity. The original has -the decree", i.e. the permission to build.