Ezra 4:17

Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
sent	שְׁלַ֣ח she.Lach	H7972	to send away · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
king	מַלְכָּ֗א mal.Ka'	H4430	a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
answer	פִּתְגָמָ֞א pit.ga.Ma'	H6600	a word · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
unto	עַל 'al-	H5922	above · preposition
Rehum	רְח֤וּם re.Chum	H7348	Rechum · proper noun, a man's name
chancellor	בְּעֵל be.'el-	H1169	a master · noun, common both genders singular construct
Shimshai	וְשִׁמְשַׁ֣י ve.shim.Shai	H8124	Shimshai · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
scribe	סָֽפְרָ֔א sa.fe.Ra'	H5613	a scribe (secular or sacred) · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
rest	וּשְׁאָר֙ u.she.'Ar	H7606	a remainder · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
companions	כְּנָוָ֣תְה֔וֹן ke.na.Va.te.Hon	H3675	a colleague (as having the same title) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
dwell	יָתְבִ֖ין ya.te.Vin	H3488	to sit or dwell · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Samaria	בְּשָֽׁמְרָ֑יִן be.sha.me.Ra.yin	H8115	Shomrain · preposition + proper noun, a place name
rest	וּשְׁאָ֧ר u.she.'Ar	H7606	a remainder · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
beyond	עֲבַֽר 'a.var-	H5675	properly · noun, common both genders singular construct
river	נַהֲרָ֛ה na.ha.Rah'	H5103	a river · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Peace	שְׁלָ֖ם she.Lam	H8001	prosperity · noun, common both genders singular absolute
time	וּכְעֶֽת u.khe.'Et	H3706	thus (only in the formula 'and so forth') · conjunction + adverb

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

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 w…
Ezra 4:9-11 Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelite…
Ezra 5:7 They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace.
Ezra 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
Luke 10:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Acts 23:26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.
Romans 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:17–end

Here we have, I. The orders which the king of Persia gave, in answer to the information sent him by the Samaritans against the Jews. He suffered himself to be imposed upon by their fraud and falsehood, took no care to examine the allegations of their petition concerning that which the Jews were now doing, but took it for granted that the charge was true, and was very willing to gratify them with an order of council to stay proceedings. 1. He consulted the records concerning Jerusalem, and found that it had indeed rebelled against the king of Babylon, and therefore that it was, as they called it, a bad city (Ezr 4:19), and withal that in times past kings had reigned there, to whom all the cou…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:14

we have maintenance from the king's palace--literally, "we are salted with the salt of the palace." "Eating a prince's salt" is an Oriental phrase, equivalent to "receiving maintenance from him."

Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:17

Peace, and at such a time - The word וכעת ucheeth is like that which we have already considered on Ezr 4:10, and probably has the same meaning.

John Gill on Ezra 4:17

Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe,.... This affair, upon examination, being found to be of importance, the king of Persia thought fit to send an answer to the above letter, which was doing them an honour, and gave them the power and authority they wished to have: and to the rest of their companions that dwelt in Samaria; in the kingdom, province, and cities of Samaria: and unto the rest beyond the river; the river Euphrates, the rest of the nations before mentioned, Ezra 4:9. Peace, and at such a time: that is, all health and prosperity, &c.

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 4:6-23

Complaints against the Jews to Kings Ahashverosh and Artachshasta. - The right understanding of this section depends upon the question, What kings of Persia are meant by Ahashverosh and Artachshasta? while the answer to this question is, in part at least, determined by the contents of the letter, Ezr 4:8-16, sent by the enemies of the Jews to the latter monarch. Ezr 4:6-7 And in the reign of Ahashverosh, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. שׂטנה, not to mention the name of the well, Gen 26:21, occurs here only, and means, according to its derivation from שׂטן, to bear enmity, the enmity; hence here, the accusation. ישׁבי על…

The Church Fathers

The king sent word to Rehum the commander and to Shimshai the scribe, etc. The sense of the letter is clear, and so is the allegory; because the profane king, namely the ancient adversary, most gladly supports the wishes of those who persecute the Church, and prohibit it from being built. But the enemies of Jerusalem dwell in Samaria, which is interpreted as guardian; not because they can in any way keep the precepts of faith and truth, who are proven by obstinate mind to oppose the true vision of peace, but because they themselves boast that the custody of virtues remains with them when they fight against the walls of peace through heresy.
— Bede, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Chancellor — One who has judicial authority, literally, a “lord of judgement;” a title given to the Persian governor of Samaria (Ezra 4:8, 9, 17).
Darius — The holder or supporter, the name of several Persian kings. (1.) Darius the Mede (Dan. 11:1), “the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes” (9:1). On the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean he…
Persia — An ancient empire, extending from the Indus to Thrace, and from the Caspian Sea to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The Persians were originally a Medic tribe which settled in Persia, on the eastern…
Rehum — Merciful. (1.) One of “the children of the province” who returned from the Captivity (Ezra 2:2); the same as “Nehum” (Neh. 7:7). (2.) The “chancellor” of Artaxerxes, who sought to stir him up against…
Shimshai — The shining one, or sunny, the secretary of Rehum the chancellor, who took part in opposing the rebuilding of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 4:8, 9, 17-23).
Shimshai, Or Shimshai — (sunny), the scribe or secretary of Kehum, who was a kind of satrap of the conquered province of Judea and of the colony of Samaria, supported by the Persian court. (Ezra 4:8,13,17,23) He was…
Artaxerxes · .Prohibits the rebuilding of — .Prohibits the rebuilding of
Bishlam · A Samaritan who obstructed the rebuilding of the temple at — A Samaritan who obstructed the rebuilding of the temple at
Chancellor · A state officer — A state officer
Persia · Artaxerxes I — Artaxerxes I
Rehum · him against the Jews — him against the Jews

Ezra 4:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:14

Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:17

John Gill on Ezra 4:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 4:6-23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezra 4:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ezra 4:14

Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:17

John Gill on Ezra 4:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 4:6-23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 4:15-16

Rashi on Ezra 4:17