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Ezra 4:23

in Ezra 4

When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

KJV

Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

This verse in Ezra 4

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

As they abused the king in obtaining this order by their mis-informations, so they abused him in the execution of it; for the order was only to prevent the walling of the city, but, having force and power on their side, they construed it as relating to the temple, for it was that to which they had an ill will, and which they only wanted some colour to hinder the building of.

This site's exposition

they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem

on Ezra 4:23-24

Verse 24 closes the parenthesis where it opened, returning to the temple, whose work ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius. Keil takes verses 6 to 23 as a deliberate aside on opposition, since chapter 5 resumes the work already halted at 4:5.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah · Written before 735.

proposed

Therefore, the example of the decree of King Artaxerxes was read, etc. Moreover, the sequence of history is clear, that the enemies of the people of God first obstructed the holy work by persecution, then attempted to dissipate the plan of their righteous intention with …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The gospel kingdom was, in like manner, to be set up with much struggling and contention. In this respect the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former, and it was more a figure of the temple of Christ's church, in that Solomon built his temple when there was no adversary nor evil occurrent, ( 1 Kings

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Made them to cease by force and power - Commanded them on pain of the king’s displeasure not to proceed, obliging all to remit their labors, and probably bringing an armed force to prevent them from going forward.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • אֱדַ֗יִןthen

    ʾedayinH116 →57 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4481 →109 times

  • דִּ֞יthat

    diH1768 →345 times

  • פַּרְשֶׁ֤גֶן[the] copy of

    parshegenH6573 →3 times

  • נִשְׁתְּוָנָא֙letter the

    nishtevana'H5407 →3 times

  • דִּ֚יof

    diH1768 →345 times

  • אַרְתַּחְשַׁ֣שְׂתְּArtaxerxes

    ʾartachshasteH783 →15 times

  • מַלְכָּ֔אking the

    malka'H4430 →180 times

  • קֱרִ֧יit was read aloud

    keriH7123 →

  • קֳדָם־before

    kodom-H6925 →42 times

  • רְח֛וּםRehum

    rechumH7348 →8 times

  • וְשִׁמְשַׁ֥יand Shimshai

    veshimshaiH8124 →4 times

  • סָפְרָ֖אscribe the

    safera'H5613 →8 times

  • וּכְנָוָתְה֑וֹןand associates their

    ukhenavatehonH3675 →7 times

  • אֲזַ֨לוּthey went

    ʾazaluH236 →7 times

  • בִבְהִיל֤וּin haste

    vivhiluH924 →

  • לִירֽוּשְׁלֶם֙to Jerusalem

    lirushelemH3390 →26 times

  • עַל־to

    ʾal-H5922 →104 times

  • יְה֣וּדָיֵ֔אJews the

    yehudaye'H3062 →10 times

  • וּבַטִּ֥לוּand they made to cease

    uvatiluH989 →6 times

  • הִמּ֖וֹthem

    himoH1994 →12 times

  • בְּאֶדְרָ֥עwith force

    beedra'H153 →

  • וְחָֽיִל׃ סand power

    vechayilH2429 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Romans 3:15

    “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 1:16

      For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 59:7–8

      Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

  • Through

    Micah 2:1

    Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 36:4

      Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Isaiah 32:7

      The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

    • Psalms 7:14–16

      Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.

    • Hosea 7:6–7

      For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait; all night their anger smolders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

    • Nahum 1:11

      From you, O Nineveh, comes forth a plotter of evil against the LORD, a counselor of wickedness.

  • Through

    Proverbs 4:16

    For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.

    it leads to

    • Micah 2:1

      Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

Where this verse is studied

About Ezra

Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Cyrus Restores the Vessels of the Temple, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. F. Adeney, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Expositor's Bible).