Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe were Samaritan adversaries of Judah and Benjamin who wrote against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes after Zerubbabel and Jeshua refused their offer to join in rebuilding the temple. The Artaxerxes to whom they wrote was Gomates the impostor, the Magian falsely calling himself Smerdis son of Cyrus, who gained rule by fraud after Cambyses died and reigned briefly for seven months in 522 B.C. before Darius took the throne. Their letter falsely charged the Jews with rebuilding the rebellious and bad city and setting up its walls and foundations, warning that a walled Jerusalem would threaten the king's revenue and authority. The accusation succeeded where earlier hired counselors under Cyrus and Cambyses had failed, so the work of the house of God ceased by force until the second year of Darius in B.C. 520, when Darius found the decree of Cyrus and commanded speedy help with money, bullocks, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil. Comparison of the decrees in Ezra 4 and Ezra 7 proves that the decree of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 gives the true starting date for the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24, rather than the decree of Cyrus or the decree of Darius.
Letter and Historical Setting
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe were the men who wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king. The letter accused the Jews and opposed the rebuilding, and its complaint stopped the building work temporarily until the decree of Cyrus was found and the work was allowed to continue. In this setting Artaxerxes was the Persian ruler named in Ezra 4:7, and the opposition to Israel's rebuilding work led to a royal order stopping it and discouraging the people from God's work.
The verse belongs to the Chaldee section of Ezra, which begins at Ezra 4:8. It begins one of three small sections of the Old Testament written in Chaldean rather than Hebrew, extending to Ezra 6:18, the others being Jeremiah 10:11 and Daniel 2:4 to 7:28, while almost all the rest of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and all the New Testament was written in Greek. Why these three parts were written in a different language is not told and cannot be said with absolute certainty, but there was a special purpose in it.
The writers were the Samaritans, a mixed people who opposed the Israelites as they rebuilt the temple after returning from Babylonian captivity. They were the neighboring inhabitants of Palestine, the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin who opposed Zerubbabel and Jeshua or Joshua in rebuilding the temple. They acted after Zerubbabel and Jeshua refused their offer to join in the work and worship, first by seeking influence at the Persian court and hiring counselors against the Jews. That opposition to the Jews during the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and Ezra helped stir up hatred between the two peoples.
The Artaxerxes to whom they wrote was Gomates the impostor calling himself Smerdis son of Cyrus, known as pseudo-Smerdis or false Smerdis or Smerdis the Impostor. He was the Magian who gained undisputed rule by fraud after the death of Cambyses and gained the Persian throne by fraud. Because he opposed the religion favored by Cyrus and Cambyses, he issued an order halting the work. His setting is a brief reign of seven months before Darius the son of Hystaspes took the throne, and he was killed in 522 B.C.
The letter falsely represented the Jews as rebellious until the king ordered the temple work stopped. It charged that they were rebuilding the rebellious and bad city, setting up its walls and joining its foundations. It portrayed Jerusalem as rebellious and harmful to the empire, accusing the Jews rebuilding the city and its walls of threatening the king's revenue and authority. It was part of the enemies' complaint that the Jews would rebel once Jerusalem was walled.
Earlier efforts through hired counselors at the Persian court through the time of Cyrus and Cambyses had not succeeded, but at once after the usurper's accession this accusation succeeded. By royal decree enforced by force and power the work of the house of God ceased for about two years until the second year of Darius Hystaspes in B.C. 520. Elsewhere this is described as a fifteen-year delay, with the temple still lying as when its foundation was laid. When Haggai and Zechariah stirred the Jews to build again, an honest report by the new governor to Darius and a later inquiry confirmed that the work had been authorized. Darius found Cyrus's decree, permitted the work at Jerusalem to go on, and commanded speedy help from the king's tribute with money and with bullocks, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil.
Prophecy and Practical Lessons
Comparison of the decrees in Ezra 4 with the decree in Ezra 7 establishes that the decree of Artaxerxes recorded in Ezra 7 gives the true starting date for the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24. It is not the decree of Cyrus nor the decree of Darius that begins the period, but that later decree of Artaxerxes.
The letter belongs to the historical setting of the messages of Haggai and Zechariah, when the rebuilding of the temple was still languishing after opposition had succeeded in stopping it. The adversaries had sought influence at the Persian court and caused such trouble that the work ceased until Haggai and Zechariah prophesied and urged the discouraged people to begin building again. That was a time of opposition and hardship and poverty while restoring Jerusalem and the temple, with seemingly inadequate resources. After the prophets stirred the people to return to the work, a later inquiry confirmed that the work had been authorized, and the king renewed the decree. Against that background of trouble, God's promise of peace and security seemed astonishing.
The opposition of the Samaritans to the Jews during the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and Ezra helped stir up and foster hatred between the two peoples.
The royal order stopping the temple work did not make obedience impossible, and was not a sign from God to give up an unpleasant duty. God does not always make the path of duty smooth, and no earthly monarch can stop work that God favors. The Jews could have written to contradict the slander and falsely representing them as rebellious. Fifteen years after the return from Babylon the temple still lay as when its foundation had been laid with joy, because the people took the ban as proof that God did not want it built then.
Their yielding also covered self-interest, for while God's house lay in ruins they built fine finished houses for themselves and tended their fields and vineyards. God's reproof through Haggai showed that leaving His house in ruins while their own homes were finished displeased Him. Drought and pestilence were allowed to make that displeasure known as punishment for neglecting His house.
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe were Samaritan adversaries of Judah and Benjamin who wrote against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes after Zerubbabel and Jeshua refused their offer to join in rebuilding the temple. The Artaxerxes to whom they wrote was Gomates the impostor, the Magian falsely calling himself Smerdis son of Cyrus, who gained rule by fraud after Cambyses died and reigned briefly for seven months in 522 B.C. before Darius took the throne. Their letter falsely charged the Jews with rebuilding the rebellious and bad city and setting up its walls and foundations, warning that a walled Jerusalem would threaten the king's revenue and authority. The accusation succeeded where earlier hired counselors under Cyrus and Cambyses had failed, so the work of the house of God ceased by force until the second year of Darius in B.C. 520, when Darius found the decree of Cyrus and commanded speedy help with money, bullocks, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil. Comparison of the decrees in Ezra 4 and Ezra 7 proves that the decree of Artaxerxes in Ezra 7 gives the true starting date for the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24, rather than the decree of Cyrus or the decree of Darius.
Letter and Historical Setting
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe were the men who wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king. The letter accused the Jews and opposed the rebuilding, and its complaint stopped the building work temporarily until the decree of Cyrus was found and the work was allowed to continue. In this setting Artaxerxes was the Persian ruler named in Ezra 4:7, and the opposition to Israel's rebuilding work led to a royal order stopping it and discouraging the people from God's work.
The verse belongs to the Chaldee section of Ezra, which begins at Ezra 4:8. It begins one of three small sections of the Old Testament written in Chaldean rather than Hebrew, extending to Ezra 6:18, the others being Jeremiah 10:11 and Daniel 2:4 to 7:28, while almost all the rest of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and all the New Testament was written in Greek. Why these three parts were written in a different language is not told and cannot be said with absolute certainty, but there was a special purpose in it.
The writers were the Samaritans, a mixed people who opposed the Israelites as they rebuilt the temple after returning from Babylonian captivity. They were the neighboring inhabitants of Palestine, the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin who opposed Zerubbabel and Jeshua or Joshua in rebuilding the temple. They acted after Zerubbabel and Jeshua refused their offer to join in the work and worship, first by seeking influence at the Persian court and hiring counselors against the Jews. That opposition to the Jews during the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and Ezra helped stir up hatred between the two peoples.
The Artaxerxes to whom they wrote was Gomates the impostor calling himself Smerdis son of Cyrus, known as pseudo-Smerdis or false Smerdis or Smerdis the Impostor. He was the Magian who gained undisputed rule by fraud after the death of Cambyses and gained the Persian throne by fraud. Because he opposed the religion favored by Cyrus and Cambyses, he issued an order halting the work. His setting is a brief reign of seven months before Darius the son of Hystaspes took the throne, and he was killed in 522 B.C.
The letter falsely represented the Jews as rebellious until the king ordered the temple work stopped. It charged that they were rebuilding the rebellious and bad city, setting up its walls and joining its foundations. It portrayed Jerusalem as rebellious and harmful to the empire, accusing the Jews rebuilding the city and its walls of threatening the king's revenue and authority. It was part of the enemies' complaint that the Jews would rebel once Jerusalem was walled.
Earlier efforts through hired counselors at the Persian court through the time of Cyrus and Cambyses had not succeeded, but at once after the usurper's accession this accusation succeeded. By royal decree enforced by force and power the work of the house of God ceased for about two years until the second year of Darius Hystaspes in B.C. 520. Elsewhere this is described as a fifteen-year delay, with the temple still lying as when its foundation was laid. When Haggai and Zechariah stirred the Jews to build again, an honest report by the new governor to Darius and a later inquiry confirmed that the work had been authorized. Darius found Cyrus's decree, permitted the work at Jerusalem to go on, and commanded speedy help from the king's tribute with money and with bullocks, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil.
Prophecy and Practical Lessons
Comparison of the decrees in Ezra 4 with the decree in Ezra 7 establishes that the decree of Artaxerxes recorded in Ezra 7 gives the true starting date for the seventy weeks of Daniel 9:24. It is not the decree of Cyrus nor the decree of Darius that begins the period, but that later decree of Artaxerxes.
The letter belongs to the historical setting of the messages of Haggai and Zechariah, when the rebuilding of the temple was still languishing after opposition had succeeded in stopping it. The adversaries had sought influence at the Persian court and caused such trouble that the work ceased until Haggai and Zechariah prophesied and urged the discouraged people to begin building again. That was a time of opposition and hardship and poverty while restoring Jerusalem and the temple, with seemingly inadequate resources. After the prophets stirred the people to return to the work, a later inquiry confirmed that the work had been authorized, and the king renewed the decree. Against that background of trouble, God's promise of peace and security seemed astonishing.
The opposition of the Samaritans to the Jews during the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and Ezra helped stir up and foster hatred between the two peoples.
The royal order stopping the temple work did not make obedience impossible, and was not a sign from God to give up an unpleasant duty. God does not always make the path of duty smooth, and no earthly monarch can stop work that God favors. The Jews could have written to contradict the slander and falsely representing them as rebellious. Fifteen years after the return from Babylon the temple still lay as when its foundation had been laid with joy, because the people took the ban as proof that God did not want it built then.
Their yielding also covered self-interest, for while God's house lay in ruins they built fine finished houses for themselves and tended their fields and vineyards. God's reproof through Haggai showed that leaving His house in ruins while their own homes were finished displeased Him. Drought and pestilence were allowed to make that displeasure known as punishment for neglecting His house.