Ezra 4:23

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Now	אֱדַ֗יִן 'e.Da.yin	H116	then (of time) · adverb
when	מִן min-	H4481	properly · preposition
copy	פַּרְשֶׁ֤גֶן par.She.gen	H6573	a transcript · noun, common both genders singular construct
king	מַלְכָּ֔א mal.Ka'	H4430	a king · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
Artaxerxes’	אַרְתַּחְשַׁ֣שְׂתְּ 'ar.tach.shas.te	H783	Artachshasta (or Artaxerxes) · proper noun, a man's name
letter	נִשְׁתְּוָנָא֙ nish.te.va.Na'	H5407	an epistle · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
read	קֱרִ֧י ke.Ri	H7123	to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before	קֳדָם ko.dom-	H6925	before · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Rehum	רְח֛וּם re.Chum	H7348	Rechum · proper noun, a man's name
Shimshai	וְשִׁמְשַׁ֥י ve.shim.Shai	H8124	Shimshai · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
scribe	סָפְרָ֖א sa.fe.Ra'	H5613	a scribe (secular or sacred) · noun, common both genders singular determined + particle of affirmation
companions	וּכְנָוָתְה֑וֹן u.khe.na.va.te.Hon	H3675	a colleague (as having the same title) · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
up	אֲזַ֨לוּ 'a.Za.lu	H236	to depart · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine plural
haste	בִבְהִיל֤וּ viv.hi.Lu	H924	a hurry · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
Jerusalem	לִירֽוּשְׁלֶם֙ li.ru.she.Lem	H3390	Jerusalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
unto	עַל 'al-	H5922	above · preposition
Jews	יְה֣וּדָיֵ֔א ye.Hu.da.Ye'	H3062	a Jehudaite (or Judaite) · noun, gentilic masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
them	הִמּ֖וֹ hi.Mo	H1994	they · personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine plural
cease	וּבַטִּ֥לוּ u.va.Ti.lu	H989	to stop · conjunction + verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine plural
force	בְּאֶדְרָ֥ע be.'ed.Ra'	H153	an arm · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
power	וְחָֽיִל ve.Cha.yil	H2429	an army · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute

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 4:8-9 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
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 Samari…
Proverbs 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Micah 2:1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of…
Romans 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

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…

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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 4:23

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.

John Gill on Ezra 4:23

Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions,.... By him or them to whom it was particularly directed: they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews; not only in obedience to the king's command, but from an eagerness of spirit to put a stop to the proceedings of the Jews, to whom they had an aversion, instigated by the Samaritans: and made them to cease by force and power; from going on with the building of the temple, which they reckoned a part of the city, and within their commission; this they did by showing the power and authority they had under the king's hand, and by the forces they brought with them to compel the…

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The Church Fathers

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 wicked counsels, and yet they were not able to entirely withdraw them from the work of the house of the Lord until, fortified by royal assistance, they opposed them with public authority. Notable is their deceit in accusing, as they complained that those who were building the house of God were constructing a city against the kingdom of the Persians; and with the king commanding that the city should not be built, they immediately, having received the authority of the royal letters, resisted the rebuilding of the temple with harmful power; although they had only accused them of building the city, not of constructing the temple, and the king had only prohibited the city from being built.
— 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

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, 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
Persia · Artaxerxes I — Artaxerxes I
Rehum · him against the Jews — him against the Jews
Shimshai · A scribe — A scribe

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ezra 4:23

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 4:23

John Gill on Ezra 4:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ezra 4:23

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 4:23

John Gill on Ezra 4:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ezra 4:6-23

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ezra 4:23

Rashi on Ezra 4:23