Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible
Ezra 4:8
Rehum the chancellor. — The lord of judgment, the counsellor of the Persian king, a conventional title of the civil governor.
Shimshai the scribe — The royal secretary.
Rehum the chancellor. — The lord of judgment, the counsellor of the Persian king, a conventional title of the civil governor.
Shimshai the scribe — The royal secretary.
Verse Ezra 4:8. _REHUM THE CHANCELLOR_] With this verse the _Chaldee_ part of the chapter begins; and the same language continues to the end of Ezra 6:18. These men wrote to Darius in their own langu...
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...
CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The offer of the Samaritans refused (Ezra 4:1)_ 2. The letter to King Artaxerxes (Ezra 4:7) 3. The king's reply (Ezra 4:17) 4. The work is stopped ...
EZRA 4:8 TO EZRA 6:18. EXTRACT FROM AN ARAMAIC DOCUMENT. Ezra 4:8 contains a letter, together with the king's reply to it, written by adversaries of the Jews to Artaxerxes for the purpose of frustrat...
REHUM. From here to Ezra 6:18 is in Syriac, which was like the French of today. Compare 2 Kings 18:26. From Ezra 6:19 -- Ezra 7:11 is Hebrew; and Syriac again from...
Note on Ezra 4:7-23 The names of the Persian kings which occur in this chapter occasion special difficulty. Upon their right identification necessarily depends our understanding of the whole passage....
At this verse begins the first long section (Ezra 4:8 to Ezra 6:18) written in the Aramaic language (see Introd.), which the Compiler has probably extracted bodily from Aramaic records. Ezra 4:8 intr...
2. Israel's enemies write letters to prevent rebuilding. TEXT, EZRA 4:6-16 6 Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah...
_REHUM THE CHANCELLOR AND SHIMSHAI THE SCRIBE WROTE A LETTER AGAINST JERUSALEM TO ARTAXERXES THE KING IN THIS SORT:_ Rehum the chancellor, х_ Bª`EEL_ (H1169) _ Tª`EEM_ (H2942), lord of judgment]. A...
FEUD BETWEEN THE JEWS AND SAMARITANS This chapter describes the desire of the Samaritans to take part in the rebuilding of the Temple, and their successful opposition to the Jews on their request bei...
REHUM.. SHIMSHAI] It is not clear whether Ezra 4:7 refer to more than one letter sent on different occasions by the enemies of the Jews, or to a single letter written by the persons named in Ezra 4:7...
THE *JEWS RETURN TO JERUSALEM EZRA _ROBERT BRYCE_ CHAPTER 4 V1 The enemies of the *descendants of Judah and Benjamin heard that they had returned from the *exile. Their enemies heard that they we...
רְח֣וּם בְּעֵל ־טְעֵ֗ם וְ שִׁמְשַׁי֙ סָֽפְרָ֔א...
THE COST OF AN IDEALIST'S SUCCESS Ezra 4:6 THE fourth chapter of the Book of Ezra contains an account of a correspondence between the Samaritan colonists and two kings of Persia, which follows sharpl...
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE OPPOSED Ezra 4:1 So long as you lead a languid and unaggressive life, the enemy will leave you alone, but directly you begin to build God's temple, you may count on His str...
In this chapter we have the story of the opposition of the Samaritans, and the consequent cessation of work on the Temple for a time. The historic chronology presents difficulties. The subject is not...
_Beelteem. Syriac, "the son of Baltam." The term designates the office of Reum, "the master of reason," president of the council, treasurer, &c. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "chancellor." --- From. Prote...
It should seem that Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes are both names of the same person: probably meaning the same as King. And it should seem that the enemies of the church caught at the first moment in the o...
But, in such a case, difficulties do not arise only from the weakness of the remnant; they proceed, also, from elements with which the remnant are outwardly connected, and which, at the same time, are...
REHUM THE CHANCELLOR, AND SHIMSHAI THE SCRIBE, WROTE A LETTER AGAINST JERUSALEM TO ARTAXERXES THE KING IN THIS SORT. This means the same letter as before; which, according to Jarchi, was sent in the n...
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort: Ver. 8. _Rehum the chancellor_] Or, president of the council. It is of the Chaldee t...
_Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter,_ &c. These two, as it was their office, put into writing, or drew up, a letter, agreeable to what had been resolved on in a council of the...
1 The aduersaries, being not accepted in the building of the Temple with the Iewes, endeauour to hinder it. 7 Their Letter to Artaxerxes. 17 The decree of Artaxerxes. 23 The building is hindred. 1...
Rehum, the chancellor, and Shimshai, the scribe, apparently Persian officials in Samaria, WROTE A LETTER AGAINST JERUSALEM TO ARTAXERXES THE KING IN THIS SORT....
THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE HINDERED...
PRETENDED FRIENDSHIP AND OPPOSITION (vv. 1-5) Satan is subtle in the way he attacks a work of God. He appears to be friendly, as is seen in the way the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin came to Zeru...
SCRIBE: Or, Secretary...
6-24 It is an old slander, that the prosperity of the church would be hurtful to kings and princes. Nothing can be more false, for true godliness teaches us to honour and obey our sovereign. But wher...
No text from Poole on this verse....
Ezra 4:8 Rehum H7348 commander H1169 H2942 Shimshai H8124 scribe H5613 wrote H3790 (H8754) a H2298 letter...
THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE ENMITY REVEALED AGAINST THE RETURNEES UP TO THE TIME OF NEHEMIAH (EZRA 4:6). What follows up to Ezra 4:23 goes beyond the question of building the Temple. The writer now...
CONTENTS: Work hindered by adversaries. CHARACTERS: Zerubbabel, Ahasuerus, Jeshua, Artazerxes, Rehum, Shimshai. CONCLUSION: God's work cannot be advanced but Satan will rage and the gates of hell wi...
Ezra 4:1. _The adversaries of Judah._ These were the Samaritans; that is, Jews of the ten tribes, apostate from the religion of their fathers, now intermarried with the heathen, who were worshippers o...
_Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah._ THE HOSTILITY OF THE SAMARITANS TO THE JEWS I. The tactics of the wicked. If they cannot bend the good to their wishes and ai...
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. ⇐...
EZRA—NOTE ON EZRA 4:6 This section interrupts the historical narrative (Ezra 1:1), which resumes at Ezra 4:24....
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.)....
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.] In this chapter we have—(i.) The proposal of the Samaritans to unite with the Jews in building the Temple, and its rejection (Ezra 4:1). (ii.) The opposition of the Sa...
EXPOSITION EZRA 4:7 AND IN THE DAYS OF ARTAXERXES. See the comment on Ezra 4:6. If Artaxerxes be the Pseudo-Smerdis, we can readily understand why an application was not made to him at once, and how...
And when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity [had built the towers,] started to build the temple of the Lord unto the LORD God of Israel; they came to Zerubb...
2 Kings 18:18; 2 Samuel 20:25; 2 Samuel 8:17; Ezra 4:9...