Ezra 4:7

_AND IN THE DAYS OF ARTAXERXES WROTE BISHLAM, MITHREDATH, TABEEL, AND THE REST OF THEIR COMPANIONS, UNTO ARTAXERXES KING OF PERSIA; AND THE WRITING OF THE LETTER WAS WRITTEN IN THE SYRIAN TONGUE, AND INTERPRETED IN THE SYRIAN TONGUE._ In the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam ... The three officers named are supposed to have been deputy-governors appointed By the king of Persia over all the provinces subject to his empire west of the Euphrates. THE SYRIAN TONGUE - or Aramaean language, called sometimes in our version Chaldee. This was made use of by the Persians in their decrees and communications relative to the Jews (cf. 2 Kings 18:26; Isaiah 36:11). The object of their letter was to press upon the royal notice the inexpediency and danger of rebuilding the walls of Jerusal

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 where the command of God requires one thing and the law of the land another, we must obey God rather than man, and patiently submit to the consequences. All who love the gospel should avoid all appearance of evil, lest they should encourage the adversaries of the church. The world is ever ready to believe any accusation against the people of God, and refuses to listen to them. The king suffered himself to be imposed upon by these frauds and falsehoods. Princes see and hear with other men's eyes and ears, and judge things as represented to them, which are often done falsely. But God's judgment is just; he sees things as they are....

Verse Ezra 4:7. _IN THE DAYS OF ARTAXERXES_] After the death of Cambyses, one of the _Magi_ named _Oropaestus_ by Trogus Pompeius, _Smerdis_ by Herodotus, _Mardus_ by AEschylus, and _Sphendatates_ by Ctesias, usurped the empire, feigning himself to be _Smerdis_, the brother of Cambyses, who had been put to death. This is the person named Artaxerxes in the text: or, following the Hebrew, _Artachshasta_. It is generally believed, that from the time of Cyrus the great, _Xerxes_ and Artaxerxes were names assumed by the Persian sovereigns, whatever their names had been before. _WRITTEN IN THE SYRIAN TONGUE_] That is, the Syrian or Chaldean _character_ was used; not the _Hebrew_. _INTERPRETED, IN THE SYRIAN TONGUE._] That is, the _language_, as well as the _character_, was the Syria

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 communication between the Jews and their Eastern neighbors, see 2 Kings 18:26 note....

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 it came about that the Jews recommenced their building, as they appear from Ezra 4:12, Ezra 4:13 to have done. The Pseudo-Smerdis was a usurper; his reign was a time of partial anarchy; in a distant part of the empire it would not be known for a while who was king. Men would be thrown on themselves, and would do as it seemed good in their own eyes. Later, there may have been some doubt whether a king, who was known to be

AND IN THE DAYS OF ARTAXERXES,.... The same with Ahasuerus, in the preceding verse; and who also is Cambyses, which is his name in Heathen authors, Artaxerxes being a common name to the kings of Persia; though some f think this was Smerdis, the magician and impostor, who was between Cambyses and Darius; but as he reigned but seven months, it is not very likely that he should be wrote unto, and an answer received from him; besides he sent to every nation he ruled over g, and so to the Jews, and proclaimed to them freedom from tribute and the militia for three years, to ingratiate himself to them: WROTE BISHLAM, MITHREDATH, TABEEL, AND THE REST OF THEIR COMPANIONS; or his company; for Jarchi thinks only one person is meant; that Mithredath Tabeel is the name of one of the adversaries of Judah; and that Bishlam is an appellative, and signifies that he wrote in peace, or in a way of salutat...

ARTAXERXES The Artaxerxes of (Ezra 4:7) is identical with Ahasuerus of (Ezra 4:6); that is, the Cambyses of profane history. The Artaxerxes of (Ezra 7:1) is the Longimanus of secular history, BC 418. But (_ See Scofield) - (Daniel 5:31). _...

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 4:23) Ezra 4:1. The adversaries were the Samaritans. (There is an interesting correspondence with the book of Acts. After the Spirit of God had begun His blessed work, the enemy from without and then within started his hindering work.) They had watched silently the work of restoration and then appeared before Zerubbabel and the chief of the fathers and said unto them, “Let us build

EZRA 4:6 F. These are two stray verses which have been left in the text here by mistake. This offers a good example of the way in which fragments of sources are jumbled together in our book. Ezra 4:6 refers to a letter (the writer is not mentioned) written to Xerxes, who is not mentioned elsewhere in the book, containing an accusation, not specified, against the Jews. Ezra 4:7 refers to another letter written in Aramaic by Mithredath (mentioned in Ezra 1:8 as the treasurer of Cyrus) and others to Artaxerxes; but it does not say what the letter was about. In Ezra 4:5 we are in the reign of Cyrus, 536, an

ARTAXERXES. the great king. Used here of the Cyrus of Ezra 4:3. See App-57, and p. 618. Ezra 4:7 may also be retrospective of Nehemiah 2:20 Nehemiah 6:5, COMPANIONS. colleagues or associates. THE SYRIAN TONGUE: i.e. in Aramaic characters as well as in the Aramaic language. Compare Esther 1:22; Esther 8:9, where "writing" (Hebrew. _kathab,_ to grave) is the same word as in this book....