Ezra 4:20
There 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. There 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.
The record states that mighty kings over Jerusalem once ruled over all the lands beyond the Euphrates and received toll, tribute and customary payments from them. That finding in the royal records that Jerusalem had made insurrection and rebellion was used to persuade the Persian king that rebuilding would bring revolt and loss of revenue, so commandment was given that the city should not be built. The Artaxerxes who sent that reply was Gomates the false Smerdis, a Magian usurper opposed to the Jewish religion who reigned about seven months, and under him Samaritan adversaries who had been refused a part in the work hindered the Jews, hired counselors against them from Cyrus even to Darius, and made them cease by force and power until the second year of Darius. A later search confirmed the earlier decree of Cyrus authorizing the work, and Darius renewed it and directed that the house go forward speedily with help from the king's tribute and with offerings for the service, so the house was completed. That hindering decree is the one to be far removed when the walls were to be built, the decree of Cyrus concerned the temple and fell short of the restoration foretold, and with Ezra 7 this account shows that the decree of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 is the true beginning of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24.
Verse Setting and Meaning
The record search confirmed the charge against Jerusalem, finding that the city had made insurrection against kings and that rebellion and sedition had been found in it, and finding further that mighty kings over Jerusalem had once ruled over all countries beyond the River, or Euphrates, to whom toll, tribute, and custom or customary payments were paid. That finding was used to persuade the king that rebuilding would lead to rebellion and threaten his authority and revenue, and on that ground commandment was given that the city be not built and that the Jews be caused to cease. The Artaxerxes who sent this reply was Gomates the false Smerdis, an impostor and Magian usurper opposed to the Jewish religion, who reigned about seven months in 522 B.C.
The letter belonged to Samaritan opposition after the return from Babylon in B.C. 535, when Zerubbabel and Jeshua refused the Samaritan offer to join in rebuilding the temple and re-establishing worship. After that refusal the Samaritans hindered the work, hired counselors against the Jews at the Persian court all the days of Cyrus even until Darius, resisted the work in the king's name under Zerubbabel and Ezra, slandered the Jews to Cambyses called Ahasuerus, and weakened the hands of the people of Judah so they became discouraged in building. They troubled the Jews in building through the time of Cyrus and Cambyses without success while Cambyses lived from 529 to 522 B.C., then wrote a formal letter to Gomates and obtained a decree stopping the work.
On that finding Rehum and Shimshai and their companions went up in haste to Jerusalem and made the Jews to cease by force and power, so the work of the house of God ceased unto the second year of Darius Hystaspes, who began to reign in 521 B.C. with his second year in 520 B.C., a stop of about two years. The stoppage is also counted as a delay of fifteen years, fifteen years from the laying of the foundation, halted until the decree of Cyrus was found and the work was allowed to proceed, which those who so held identified as under Darius II. A later search of the royal records confirmed the earlier decree of Cyrus authorizing the work, and Darius renewed it with a decree agreeing with it, directing after an honest report from a new governor that the work go on and be speedily helped with money from the king's tribute and with bullocks, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, all that was needed at Jerusalem, so the house was completed.
The verse gives the historical background for the time of Haggai and Zechariah, when Jerusalem and its temple lay in a weakened condition under Persian rule and the work had stopped until Haggai and Zechariah prophesied and stirred the Jews to build again, which made God's promise of Jerusalem's safety and renewed life seem astonishing. The mighty kings who ruled beyond the river mark the full extent of later dominion, while David at the height of his glory extended his eastern frontier to the Euphrates but never perhaps beyond it. The statement about mighty kings and revenue was a true historical fact used deceptively to argue that rebuilding would threaten the Persian king's authority and revenue, and it does not support the claim that the returning Jews intended rebellion.
Prophecy and Doctrinal Bearings
The Artaxerxes of this account is the false Smerdis, whose brief reign is noted in prophecy, and Ezra 4:7-22 records his decree against the Jews. The former mighty kings of Jerusalem described here ruled lands beyond the Euphrates, where toll, tribute, and customary payments were brought to them. After the death of Cyrus and before the house of God was finished, the adversaries of the Jews prevailed upon the king to make a decree putting a stop to the building at Jerusalem. That hindering decree is the decree that Micah said would be far removed in the day the walls were to be built. Darius accomplished its removal by searching for the decree of Cyrus and passing a decree agreeing with it, so that the house was completed.
Cyrus had made a decree to return and rebuild the temple before this hindering in the reign of Artaxerxes the Magian. That decree concerned the temple and fell short of the restoration described in the prophecy. The account in Ezra 4 joined with Ezra 7 shows that the decree of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 is the true date for the beginning of the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24, rather than the decree of Cyrus or the decree of Darius.
Lessons for God's Work
The verse belongs to the time when powerful adversaries opposed the temple-building work led by Zerubbabel, leaving God's people with very limited resources against strong opposition so that finishing the temple appeared impossible. That opposition came from the Samaritans against the Jews during the rebuilding under Zerubbabel and Ezra. Their resistance helped kindle hatred between the two peoples.
The delay of the work teaches that earthly rulers cannot prevent work favored by God. Although the Jews faced a Persian king's order to stop, they could have answered the slander of their enemies. They should not have treated that royal order as sufficient reason to abandon the work.