MPV Commentary

7. During the reign of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and his companions wrote to him.

These three officials were deputy governors appointed by the king over all the provinces west of the Euphrates River.

They used the Aramaic language in their letter, which was also used by the Persians in official decrees and communications related to the Jews (compare 2 Kings 18:26; Isaiah 36:11).

Their goal was to persuade the king that rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem would be unwise and potentially dangerous.

9. The people referred to as the Dinaites were colonists sent by the Babylonian monarch to occupy the territory of the ten tribes. "The great and noble Asnappar" was actually Esar-haddon, who had recovered Babylon and subdued its rebellious dependents after they threw off the Assyrian yoke.

12. The Jews who returned from exile referred to themselves as such because they belonged mainly to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Although some Israelites took advantage of Cyrus's edict to return, most of those who settled in Judea were men from Judah.

13. They claimed that the returning Jews were exempt from taxes, including a poll tax, property tax, and excise dues on trade and merchandise. The letter and subsequent edict commanding an immediate halt to the city wall construction are the focus of the narrative at Ezra 4:7-23.

14. In reality, they received financial support from the king's palace, which was an Oriental phrase equivalent to "receiving maintenance from him."

24. As a result, the work on the house of God came to a standstill. This event marked the beginning of the strong religious animosity between Jews and Samaritans, which would later be exacerbated by the construction of a rival temple on Mount Gerizim.