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Ezra 4

Chapter 4 in 30 seconds

The neighbors say, Let us help. Zerubbabel says, No thanks. So they spend the next years trying to stop the work, hiring advisers and writing letters to the king. Years later one letter works, and King Artaxerxes stops the building of the city. Back at the start, the temple work had sat still until Darius was king.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyBehistun · after verse 24 Field Notes · ArchaeologyXerxes · after verse 24 Field Notes · ArchaeologyArtaxerxes · after verse 24 The Big QuestionWhy Does Chapter 4 Jump? · after verse 24

Adversaries Hinder the Work

¹When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”

EZR 4:2[NOTE]ESAR HADDON. The king of Assyria who moved these people into the land, about 150 years earlier. 2 Kings 17:24 to 41 tells how an earlier group of newcomers worshiped Yahweh and their own gods too.

³But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for Yahweh, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

⁴Then the people of the land set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to build. ⁵They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

EZR 4:5[ARCHAEOLOGY]Darius the Great of Persia is named on his Behistun Inscription and on thousands of Persepolis tablets, see the Behistun Field Notes page

Opposition under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

⁶At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

EZR 4:6[ARCHAEOLOGY]Xerxes of Persia, called Ahasuerus in Hebrew, is named in his own inscriptions at Persepolis and Van, see the Xerxes Field Notes page
EZR 4:6[NOTE]XERXES. The Hebrew says Ahasuerus, the same king as in the book of Esther. Chapter 4 jumps ahead in time here. See the Big Question pages Why Does Chapter 4 Jump?

⁷And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.

EZR 4:7[ARCHAEOLOGY]Artaxerxes I of Persia is named in his own inscriptions and in dated Elephantine papyri, see the Artaxerxes Field Notes page

⁸Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

EZR 4:8[NOTE]ARAMAIC. From here to 6:18 the book is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. Aramaic was the language the Persian empire used for its letters, and 4:7 says the letter was written in Aramaic. Jesus spoke Aramaic too.

⁹From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, ¹⁰and the rest of the peoples whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and elsewhere west of the Euphrates.

EZR 4:10[ARCHAEOLOGY]Ashurbanipal of Assyria is named on his own prisms, tablets and palace reliefs from Nineveh
EZR 4:10[NOTE]ASHURBANIPAL. The Aramaic says Osnappar. Most scholars think it is Ashurbanipal, the last great king of Assyria, who ruled after Esar haddon.

¹¹(This is the text of the letter they sent to him.)

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:

¹²Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

¹³Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

¹⁴Now because we are in the service of the palace and it is not fitting for us to allow the king to be dishonored, we have sent to inform the king ¹⁵that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

¹⁶We advise the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, you will have no dominion west of the Euphrates.

The Decree of Artaxerxes

¹⁷Then the king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates:

Greetings.

¹⁸The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence. ¹⁹I issued a decree, and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has revolted against kings from ancient times, engaging in rebellion and sedition. ²⁰And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.

²¹Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. ²²See that you do not neglect this matter. Why allow this threat to increase and the royal interests to suffer?

²³When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

²⁴Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Behistun

Ezra 4:5 · 4:24 · 5:5 to 6:15 · Haggai 1:1 · Zechariah 1:1

King Darius, left, steps on a rebel, with nine more rebels tied together in front of him. The writing around them tells his story in three languages. Behistun, Iran. Photo Hara1603, public domain.

WHAT IT IS: A giant carving cut into a cliff on Mount Behistun in western Iran, high above the road. It shows King Darius and the rebels he beat. The writing tells how he became king, in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.
HOW OLD IT IS: About 520 BC, in the first years of Darius's reign. That is the same time Haggai and Zechariah were preaching and the temple work started again.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: It never moved. Henry Rawlinson, a British officer, climbed the cliff on ropes and ladders and copied it between 1835 and 1847. It is still there today.
THE KEY TO CUNEIFORM: Like the Rosetta Stone did for Egypt, Behistun helped scholars learn to read Babylonian wedge writing. That opened up thousands of Assyrian and Babylonian records that name Bible kings.
DARIUS IN EZRA: The work stopped until his second year, 4:24. Tattenai wrote to him, he searched the archives and found Cyrus's order, and he paid for the rest of the temple from his taxes, 6:1 to 12. It was finished in his sixth year, 6:15.
HIS WAY WITH REBELS: On this rock Darius says he impaled rebel leaders. His decree in 6:11 warns of the same thing for anyone who changed it.
AN ARAMAIC COPY: A copy of the same story in Aramaic, the language of Ezra 4:8 to 6:18, was found on papyrus at Elephantine, an island in the Nile where Jews served in a Persian fort. Darius sent his story across the empire, just as Persian kings sent letters in Ezra.
OUT OF REACH: The carving is high up the cliff, and many think the path up to it was cut away when it was finished, so no one could climb up and spoil it.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: Behistun never mentions the Jews or the temple. It shows that Darius, his reign and his ways were real, just as Ezra describes.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

Field Notes · Archaeology

Xerxes

Ezra 4:6 · Esther 1:1 to 2 · Daniel 11:2

Xerxes's inscription on the cliff at Van, Turkey, in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. Photo Björn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY SA 3.0.

WHAT IT IS: A large inscription carved into the rock of the castle hill at Van, in eastern Turkey, in three languages. In it Xerxes says his father Darius had a smooth place cut in the rock but left it empty, so Xerxes had his own words written there.
HOW OLD IT IS: From the reign of Xerxes, 486 to 465 BC.
WHERE IT IS: Still on the cliff at Van. Xerxes's name is also carved on the Gate of All Nations at Persepolis and on stone jars carried as far as the coast of Turkey.
ONE KING, THREE NAMES: In Old Persian he was Xshayarsha. The Greeks wrote Xerxes, and the Hebrew wrote Ahasuerus, the name in the KJV. Most scholars agree they are the same king.
WHO WAS XERXES?: The son of Darius. He invaded Greece in 480 BC and lost at sea at Salamis. The Greek writer Herodotus tells all about him.
IN EZRA: Just one verse, 4:6. At the start of his reign the enemies sent him an accusation against Judah. The book of Esther is all about him and his queen.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: No Persian record mentions the accusation in 4:6. It shows that Xerxes, son of Darius, ruled where and when Ezra puts him.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

Field Notes · Archaeology

Artaxerxes

Ezra 4:7 to 23 · 7:1 to 26 · Nehemiah 2:1 to 8

A silver bowl with one line of Old Persian around its rim naming Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, son of Darius. National Museum of Asian Art, Washington. Photo Daderot, CC0.

WHAT IT IS: A silver drinking bowl. The line around its rim says it was made in the house of Artaxerxes the great king, son of Xerxes the king, son of Darius the king. Those are the same three kings as Ezra 4:5 to 7: grandson, son and grandfather.
HOW OLD IT IS: From the reign of Artaxerxes I, 465 to 424 BC.
WHERE IT IS: In the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. Where it was found is not known for sure. A few bowls like it are known.
WHO WAS HE?: The son of Xerxes. He ruled 41 years. The Greeks called him Longhand, and Plutarch says his right hand was longer than his left.
IN EZRA AND NEHEMIAH: Enemies wrote him a letter, and he stopped work on the walls, 4:7 to 23. Ezra came home with his letter in his seventh year, 7:7. Nehemiah was his cupbearer in his twentieth year, Nehemiah 2:1.
MORE FINDS: Letters on papyrus from a Jewish colony at Elephantine in Egypt are dated by his years. One later letter, from 407 BC, names Johanan the high priest and the sons of Sanballat.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: The bowl does not mention the Jews. There were at least three kings named Artaxerxes, and scholars debate which one sent Ezra. See Why Does Chapter 4 Jump?

CONFIDENCE: HIGH FOR THE KING, DEBATED FOR EZRA 7

The Big Question

Why Does Chapter 4 Jump?

The Puzzle

Ezra 4:1 to 24 · 6:14 · 7:1

THE PUZZLE: Chapter 4 is about enemies, but it jumps around in time. Then 4:24 goes back to where it started. Here are the kings in order.
CYRUS: 4:1 to 5. The enemies try to scare the builders from about 536 BC on, all through Cyrus's reign.
DARIUS: 4:5 names Darius, who began to rule in 522 BC. The temple work starts again in his second year, 520 BC, 4:24.
XERXES: 4:6. At the start of his reign, 486 BC, the enemies write an accusation.
ARTAXERXES: 4:7 to 23. In his reign, after 465 BC, they write a letter about the WALLS of the city, not the temple. The king orders the work stopped.
BACK TO DARIUS: 4:24 says the house of God stood still until Darius's second year. That jumps back about 70 years, to the time of 4:5.
THE LANGUAGE: The letter in 4:8 starts the first part of Ezra written in Aramaic. It goes on to 6:18.

Why Does Chapter 4 Jump? · Every View

Ezra 7:7 to 8 · Nehemiah 2:1 · 8:9 · 12:26

VIEW 1: GROUPED BY TOPIC: Most scholars, and most Bible teachers, say the writer gathered all the opposition into one chapter, like a file folder, to show the enemies kept fighting God's people for nearly 90 years. Then 4:24 picks the main story back up.
VIEW 2: OTHER NAMES: Some older writers kept it in order by saying the kings in 4:6 to 23 are other names for the kings between Cyrus and Darius. Josephus, about 93 AD, calls the king of 4:7 Cambyses. Few hold this today.
WHICH ARTAXERXES SENT EZRA?: Ezra came in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, 7:7. Most say Artaxerxes I, so Ezra came in 458 BC, before Nehemiah in 445 BC. Some say Artaxerxes II, so Ezra came in 398 BC, after Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8:9 and 12:26 put Ezra and Nehemiah in Jerusalem together, which fits the first view.
WHY TELL IT THIS WAY?: The first readers lived after all these kings. Seeing the whole fight in one place told them their own troubles were not new, and that God had carried His people through every one.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Opposition kept coming, but God's work got done. The temple was finished in 515 BC, and the walls later under Nehemiah.

Ezra 4

Adversaries Hinder the Work

Opposition under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

The Decree of Artaxerxes

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