ADVERSARIES - i. e., the Samaritans, a mixed race, partly Israelite but chiefly foreign, which had replaced to some extent the ancient inhabitants after they were carried into captivity by Sargon (see 2 Kings 17:6 note).... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare 2 Kings 17:24 notes. SINCE THE DAYS - Esar-haddon reigned from 681-668 B.C. Thus, the Samaritans speak of what had taken place at least 130 years previously. There appear to have been at least three colonizations of Samaria by the Assyrian kings. The first is mentioned in 2 Kings 17:24. Lat... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH US - Because the Samaritans had united idolatrous rites with the worship of Yahweh 2 Kings 17:29. To have allowed them a share in restoring the temple would have been destructive of all purity of religion. AS KING CYRUS ... COMMANDED US - The exact words of the edict gave... [ Continue Reading ]
HIRED COUNSELORS - Rather, “bribed” officials at the Persian court to interpose delays and create difficulties, in order to hinder the work. DARIUS - i. e., Darius, the son of Hystaspes... [ Continue Reading ]
AHASUERUS - Or, Cambyses, the son and successor of Cyrus. Persian kings had often two names.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARTAXERXES - Gomates, the Pseudo-Smerdis. He succeeded Cambyses (521 B.C.), and reigned for seven months, when he was deposed and executed by Darius Hystaspis. WRITTEN IN THE SYRIAN TONGUE ... - Or, “written in Syriac characters and translated into Syriac.” On the use of this tongue as a medium of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHANCELLOR - literally, “Lord of judgment;” the title, apparently, of the Persian governor of the Samaritan province. Every Persian governor was accompanied to his province by a “royal scribe” or “secretary,” who had a separate and independent authority.... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses form the superscription or address of the letter (Ezra 4:11, etc.) sent to Artaxerxes. The Dinaites were probably colonists from Dayan, a country often mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions as bordering on Cilicia and Cappadocia. No satisfactory explanation can be given of the name Aph... [ Continue Reading ]
TOLL, TRIBUTE, AND CUSTOM - Rather, “tribute, provision, and toll” (so Ezra 4:20). The “tribute” is the money-tax imposed on each province, and apportioned to the inhabitants by the local authorities; the “provision” is the payment in kind, which was an integral part of the Persian system; the “tolI... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE MAINTENANCE - See the margin. The phrase “to eat a man’s salt” is common in the East to this day; and is applied not only to those who receive salaries, but to all who obtain their subsistence by means of another. The Persian satraps had no salaries, but taxed their provinces for the support... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BOOK OF THE RECORDS - Compare Esther 2:23; Esther 6:1; Esther 10:2. The existence of such a “book” at the Persian court is attested also by Ctesias. OF THY FATHERS - i. e., thy predecessors ripen the throne, Cambyses, Cyrus, etc. If Artaxerxes was the Pseudo-Smerdis (Ezra 4:7 note), these perso... [ Continue Reading ]
HATH BEEN ... READ - It is doubtful if the Persian monarchs could ordinarily read. At any rate, it was their habit to have documents read to them (compare Esther 6:1). This is still the ordinary practice in Eastern courts.... [ Continue Reading ]
The archives of the Babylonian kingdom would contain accounts of the insurrections raised, or threatened, by Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah 2Ki 24:1, 2 Kings 24:10, 2 Kings 24:20. It does not appear that there had ever been any rebellion against Persia.... [ Continue Reading ]
MIGHTY KINGS ... - If this reference can scarcely have been to David or Solomon (see marginal reference), of whom neither the Babylonian nor the Assyrian archives would be likely to have had any account - it would probably be to Menahem 2 Kings 15:16 and Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:6; 2 Chronicles 35:18... [ Continue Reading ]
IT CEASED - The stoppage of the building by the Pseudo-Smerdis is in complete harmony with his character. He was a Magus, devoted to the Magian elemental worship, and opposed to belief in a personal god. His religion did not approve of temples; and as he persecuted the Zoroastrian so would he natura... [ Continue Reading ]