EZRA 4:1 Enemies Stall the Project by Conspiring against It. The rebuilding project encounters opposition from other groups in the region, and the work ceases. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:3 WE ALONE WILL BUILD TO THE LORD. Their stated reason for refusing the offer of help was that Cyrus’s decree applied only to the returning exiles. No doubt they also understood that the actual intent of the offer was to sabotage the project. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getEleme... [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:4 The real attitude of these residents, now called THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND, becomes clear. They showed their opposition ALL THE DAYS OF CYRUS... EVEN UNTIL THE REIGN OF DARIUS, that is, right up to the completion of the temple in 516 B.C. They apparently turned local officials aga... [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:6 This section interrupts the historical narrative (Ezra 1:1), which resumes at Ezra 4:24. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:7 The author jumps forward again to another hostile episode, when leaders in the province sent a formal letter of complaint to King Artaxerxes I (reigned 464–423 B.C.). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:9 The people sending the letter give their names, professions, and national origins. Their ancestors were among the foreigners brought in by the conquering Assyrians to resettle the northern kingdom of Israel after 722 B.C. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img")... [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:11 BEYOND THE RIVER. See note on 4:1–2. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:12 THAT REBELLIOUS AND WICKED CITY. Actually, the kings of Israel and Judah had often sought compromise with their Assyrian and Babylonian oppressors. The writers of this letter assume that the Persian rulers will be easily convinced that the returned exiles are ready to rebel.... [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:13 The threat of an independence movement in Jerusalem is exaggerated. The imperial RECORDS would include those of Assyria and Babylon. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:17 The king allowed the work of rebuilding to be stopped by force. This may explain why it was later reported that the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins (Nehemiah 1:3). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:24 The word THEN picks up the story from v. Ezra 4:5, going back to the period soon after the first return. It is implied that the temple rebuilding had ceased soon after it began, within about two years after c. 537 B.C. (see Ezra 3:8). It resumed in the SECOND YEAR OF THE REIGN... [ Continue Reading ]