Ezra 4:17-22

3. Artaxerxes replies and orders the work stopped.

TEXT, Ezra 4:17-22

17

Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: Peace. And now

18

the document which you sent us has been translated and read before me.

19

And a decree has been issued by me, and a search has been made and it has been discovered that that city has risen up against the kings in past days, that rebellion and revolt have been perpetrated in it,

20

that mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem, governing all the provinces beyond the River, and that tribute, custom, and toll were paid to them.

21

So, now issue a decree to make these men stop work, that the city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me.

22

And beware of being negligent in carrying out this matter; why should damage increase to the detriment of the kings?

COMMENT

Ezra 4:17 is the heading and salutation of the letter. Rehum and Shimshai (cf. Ezra 4:8) are identified with the lands of Samaria and its neighbors. Peace (Shelam) would be the common greeting of their culture. Here again is the And now separating the salutation from the body of the letter.

Ezra 4:18 acknowledges receipt of the Samaritans-' letter. There is no mention of any defense offered by or sought from the people of Jerusalem. The handling of this case by Artaxerxes, who accepted the letter from Jerusalem's enemies at face value and did not go beyond the walls of his palace to check it for factual accuracy or to gather information from the other side, reveals something of the character of this man who had no legitimate claim to the throne but who pretended to be someone whom he was not.

Ezra 4:19-20 give us the results of the search. Usually when one looks for something long enough, he can find it; so evidence of Jerusalem's rebellious character was uncovered. It would be hard to find a record of any city in history which at some point had not resisted its conquerors.

The record of Jerusalem is unfortunate, however, in that much of the resistance and rebellion had been useless and ill-advised. The Prophets, and specifically Jeremiah, had cautioned against it from the times of Jehoiakim to Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21:8-9; Jeremiah 27:1-22). Their disobedience to God at that point surely added to their burden now. More than a half century has passed, and God's people still pay a price for the sins of their leaders. In truth, it had been the failure of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah to keep their words to their conquerors that had caused their city to be totally reduced to rubble. (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Kings 24:12; 2 Kings 24:20).

The mighty kings of Ezra 4:20 most likely were David and Solomon. It is interesting that Babylon had noticed and recorded the extensiveness of their reigns. Apparently the Persian king believed that David and Solomon's collecting tribute, custom and tolls justified the charge made in Ezra 4:13, that a healthy Jerusalem would endanger his ability to collect these for himself from this whole territory.

Ezra 4:21-22 order the official issuance of the command to stop all work, and require strict compliance in carrying it out.

TEXT, Ezra 4:23-24

4. The work comes to a halt.

23 Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes-' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.

24 Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

COMMENT

Ezra 4:23 speaks of the total stoppage of work by force of arms. It was now 520 B.C.; judging from Ezra 4:4 f., it had virtually stopped a minimum of nine years before.

In Ezra 4:24 it is the cessation of work on the Temple that is spoken of specifically; yet it was the wall and the city that were mentioned in the complaint. God's enemies often work by indirection and by subterfuge. Fortunately, it was but a few months till Darius, a more worthy king, ascended the throne. By the second year of his rule, his character would be known by his subjects even in Jerusalem, setting the stage for the events of the next chapter.

WORD STUDIES

1.

ENEMY: Tsar: Ezra 4:4; the basic idea in the word is to exert pressure: hence, to press in on, or oppress. It is the word used in Psalms 23:5. Of course, most of the people who do this are our enemies; but even our friends or relatives, consciously or unconsciously, can add pressure to us. Many of Israel's most bitter enemies were peoples most closely related to her. God prepares a table (provides) for us in the midst of all these situations.

2.

DISCOURAGE: Meraph Yadim: Ezra 4:4; literally, as in KJV, weaken the hands. It means to make the hands hang down, to relax, let fall, or weaken: thus, to discourage, The word is in the repetitive participial form indicating continuity of action; they continuously again and again weakened the hands.

3.

TRIBUTE: Mindah: Ezra 4:13; has the basic idea of a gift, i.e., the kind of a gift measured out; it is always used of another nation, for example to avoid military attack.

4.

CUSTOM: Belo: Ezra 4:13; payment in kind; i.e., a portion of the crops. This tax would usually be paid by a nation's own citizens.

5.

TOLL: Halak: Ezra 4:13; privilege to walk; hence, payment for passage through a land.

6.

SALT: Melach: Ezra 4:14. Possibly it means to be rubbed small, or pulverized. Since salt is used to preserve, it was used as a symbol of an enduring, permanent agreement, forever sacred and inviolable. Salt must always accompany offerings (Leviticus 2:13), as a symbol of a perpetual bond of friendship and loyalty.

SUMMARY

In chapter four, the Samaritans and other neighbors of Jerusalem offer their assistance to rebuild the Temple, but their help is refused. They therefore seek to interrupt the project by using influence in the Persian court, especially by having a deceptive letter written. Their complaint was that the people were rebuilding walls as a threat of rebellion; they made no mention that the Temple was being built. This resulted in a sixteen-year period of progressively intensified delay, and the eventual order to stop all work. The report of the stoppage in Ezra 4:24 may be intended to cover more than one single incident; it was the objective of the continued efforts throughout the time period of this chapter, and was the result of all these incidents. Thus matters stood till the second year of Darius-' reign.