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Ezra 4:8

in Ezra 4

Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

KJV

Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:

This verse in Ezra 4

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
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 name of Mithredath Tabeel and his company, was endited by Rehum, master of words or sense, and written by Shimshai the scribe, whom he makes to be a son of Haman (i); but it was written rather in all their names. (i) So Midrash Esther, fol. 85. 3.

This site's exposition

wrote the letter against Jerusalem

on Ezra 4:8-10

Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe write against Jerusalem. Verse 10 traces them to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who settled them in the cities of Samaria, the policy 2 Kings 17:24 records. The signers come from the same population that offered to help build in verse 2.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Rehum the chancellor - With this verse the Chaldee part of the chapter begins; and the same language continues to the end of Ezr 6:18. These men wrote to Darius in their own language; and the king in the same dialect returns an answer, chap. 5. This circumstance adds authenticity to what is written: so scrupulous was the inspired penman, that he not only gave the words which each spoke and wrote, but he gave them also in the very language in which they were conceived and in the character peculiar to that language.
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 “secretary,” who had a separate and independent authority.

The words behind it

13 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.

  • רְח֣וּםRehum

    rechumH7348 →8 times

  • בְּעֵל־lord of

    beel-H1169 →3 times

  • טְעֵ֗םcommand

    teemH2942 →28 times

  • וְשִׁמְשַׁי֙and Shimshai

    veshimshaiH8124 →4 times

  • סָֽפְרָ֔אscribe the

    safera'H5613 →8 times

  • כְּתַ֛בוּthey wrote

    ketavuH3790 →8 times

  • אִגְּרָ֥הa letter

    ʾigerahH104 →3 times

  • חֲדָ֖הone

    chadahH2298 →14 times

  • עַל־concerning

    ʾal-H5922 →104 times

  • יְרוּשְׁלֶ֑םJerusalem

    yerushelemH3390 →26 times

  • לְאַרְתַּחְשַׁ֥שְׂתְּאto Artaxerxes

    leartachshaste'H783 →15 times

  • מַלְכָּ֖אking the

    malka'H4430 →180 times

  • כְּנֵֽמָא׃as follows

    kenema'H3660 →5 times

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

    2 Samuel 8:17

    Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe;

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 18:16

      Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was the scribe;

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Chronicles 6:8

      Ahitub was the father of Zadok, Zadok was the father of Ahimaaz,

  • Through

    Ezra 4:9

    From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

    it leads to

    • Ezra 6:6

      Therefore Darius decreed: To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region: You must stay away from that place!

    • Ezra 5:6

      This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius.

    • 2 Kings 17:24

      Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in…

    • 2 Kings 17:30–31

      The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,

    • Esther 1:2

      In those days King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the citadel of Susa.

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:18

    Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 19:2

      And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz

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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).