Ezra 4, Opposition

With enthusiasm, work has begun rebuilding Jerusalem and also rebuilding the temple. The new temple is the "second temple" in Jerusalem and so this is the beginning of the Second Temple Period in Jewish history.

Ezra 4: 1-5, Enemies
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."

But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us."

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The local people have been practicing their own religious sacrifices and are disturbed by the temple renewal. They claim that they too are part of this renewal and say they have been worshiping in Jerusalem since the reign of Esarhaddon (681-669 BC). However, Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest, aware of the prophetic reasons for the captivity, want to rebuild Jerusalem under the Mosaic Covenant, as specifically commissioned by Cyrus. (These Jewish leaders respond to the request of the local people with a Hebrew idiom, "Not for you, and for us", translated here as "you have no part with us".) The local peoples are angered by this response and oppose the reconstruction in a variety of disputes that continue through the reign of Cyrus (who died in 530 BC) and the reign of Darius (522-485 BC.)

Ezra 4: 6-7, Accusation lodged

At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.
 

We begin a digression to detail later opposition to rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. During the reign of Cyrus any complaints against the people of Judah fall on deaf ears. But during the later reigns of Xerxes (485-465) and Artaxerxes I (465-424 BC), that changes. The enemies of the Jews lodge an accusation against the rebuilding of Jerusalem, complaining first to Xerxes and later to Artaxerxes I.  

The language of the Babylonian Empire was Aramaic, not Hebrew and so the text of the next few chapters, Ezra 4: 8 - Ezra 6: 18, is in Aramaic, not Hebrew. This is one of the few places where the  TaNaKh is not in Hebrew.

Ezra 4: 8-10, Writers against Jerusalem

Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates--the judges and officials over the men from Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.

The local leaders are Rehum And Shimshai, who address the letter to Artaxerxes.

Ezra 4: 11-16, "These rebellious people"

(This is a copy of the letter they sent him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the men of Trans-Euphrates: The king should know that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations. Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and the royal revenues will suffer.

Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place of rebellion from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. 

We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

The letter warns Artaxerxes that this city building is just the beginning of rebellion and that he will lose all power over these people.  These Jews in Jerusalem are a threat! The letter writers suggest that the king check the archives to see what a rebellious lot these Jews are.

Yamauchi says that the Aramaic, translated here "we are under obligation to the palace", is literally "we eat the salt of the palace." The preservative salt (from which we get the word "salary") was an important item of trade in the ancient Near East and was used in the ratification of covenants (see Numbers 18: 19 and 2 Chronicles 13: 5.) Thus "eating [the king's] salt" was a statement of allegiance.

Ezra 4: 17-22, Artaxerxes agrees

The king sent this reply: To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates: Greetings. The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition.

 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?

After checking the archives, Artaxerxes agrees. Yes, stop this work at once!

Ezra 4: 23-24, Standstill

As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop. Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The response of Artaxerxes forces to a standstill the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.

The Hebrew word translated "Jews" in verse 23 is Yehudi. Until the exile, it was rarely used (only occuring in 2 Kings 16: 6 and 2 Kings 25: 25) but the term will now occur many times throughout Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther.

The author of our text has been jumping around in the timeline. The opposition to the rebuilding of Jerusalem begins in the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes, during the period 485-424 BC. However suddenly the author jumps back to the time of Darius who ruled from 530 to 486 BC. King Darius is the grandfather of Artaxerxes I. We flashback to that time here so that we can describe the construction of the temple.