Ezra 4:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezra 4:9
Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
an Elamite or inhabitant of Elam · noun, gentilic masculine plural determined + particle of affirmation
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 5:6 The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on…
Ezra 6:6 Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are beyond the river, be ye f…
2 Kings 17:24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in th…
2 Kings 17:30-31 And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
Genesis 10:22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Esther 1:2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
Esther 2:3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan…
Isaiah 21:2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Med…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezra 4:6-16
Cyrus stedfastly adhered to the Jews' interest, and supported his own grant. It was to no purpose to offer any thing to him in prejudice of it. What he did was from a good principle, and in the fear of God, and therefore he adhered to it. But, though his reign in all was thirty years, yet after the conquest of Babylon, and his decree for the release of the Jews, some think that he reigned but three years, others seven, and then either died or gave up that part of his government, in which his successor was Ahasuerus (Ezr 4:6), called also Artaxerxes (Ezr 4:7), supposed to be the same that in heathen authors is called Cambyses, who had never taken such cognizance of the despised Jews as to con…
the Dinaites--The people named were the colonists sent by the Babylonian monarch to occupy the territory of the ten tribes. "The great and noble Asnappar" was Esar-haddon. Immediately after the murder of Sennacherib, the Babylonians, Medes, Armenians, and other tributary people seized the opportunity of throwing off the Assyrian yoke. But Esar-haddon having, in the thirtieth year of his reign, recovered Babylon and subdued the other rebellious dependents, transported numbers of them into the waste cities of Samaria, most probably as a punishment of their revolt [HALES].
Adam Clarke on Ezra 4:8
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.
John Gill on Ezra 4:9
Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions,.... who all signed the letter; namely, the governors of the following nations:
the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites; which were colonies from several parts of Chaldea, Media, and Persia, and were settled in the several cities of Samaria, as several of their names plainly show, as from Persia, Erech, Babylon, Shushan, and Elimais; some account for them all, but with uncertainty; according to R. Jose (k) these were the Samaritans who first were sent out of five nations, to whom the king of As…
Dictionary and topics
Apharsathchites, Apharsites, Apharsacites — the names of certain tribes, colonies from which had been planted in Samaria by the Assyrian leader Asnapper. (Ezra 4:9; 5:6) The first and last are regarded as the same. Whence these tribes came is…
Apharsites — Another of the tribes removed to Samaria (Ezra 4:9), or perhaps the same as the preceding.
Archevite — One of the nations planted by the Assyrians in Samaria (Ezra 4:9); the men of Erech.
Archevites — perhaps the inhabitants of Erech, some of whom had been placed as colonists in Samaria. (Ezra 4:9)
Babylonians — the inhabitants of Babylon, a race of Shemitic origin, who were among the colonists planted in the cities of Samaria by the conquering Assyrian. (Ezra 4:9)
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).
Dehavites — Villagers, one of the Assyrian tribes which Asnapper sent to repopulate Samaria (Ezra 4:9). They were probably a nomad Persian tribe on the east of the Caspian Sea, and near the Sea of Azof.
Dinaites — (Ezra 4:9) the name of some of the Cuthaean colonists who were placed in the cities of Samaria after the captivity of the ten tribes.
Elamites — This word is found only in (Ezra 4:9) The Elamites were the original inhabitants of the country called Elam; they were descendants of Shem, and perhaps drew their name from an actual man Elam.…
Erech — (LXX., “Orech”), length, or Moon-town, one of the cities of Nimrod’s kingdom in the plain of Shinar (Gen. 10:10); the Orchoe of the Greeks and Romans. It was probably the city of the Archevites, who…
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…
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…
Adding greetings from an assortment of key political figures and local ethnic leaders would give credibility to the letter’s accusations and ensure that the message would have maximum political weight. • Judges were trusted court officials who knew the Persian laws. • Having the support of people from the Mesopotamian cities of Babylon and Erech and the Persian city of Susa would make the case against the Jews more persuasive.
Rashi on Ezra 4:9
Then Aram. אֱדַיִן, equivalent to the Hebrew אָז.
Rehum the name of a man.
the secretary Aram. בְּעֵל טְעֵם secretary and master of words.
the Dinites, the Apharesattechites, etc. All these are names of nations whom Sennacherib repatriated in the cities of Samaria.
the Apharesites They are the Persians whom Sennacherib settled in the cities of Samaria.
the Archevites They are the people of Erech, as it says (Gen. 10:10): “and Erech and Accad and Calneh.”
the Babylonians the people of Babylon.
the Shushanchites the people of Shushan, the capital.
the Elamites the people of Elam. Sennacherib settled all of these peoples in the land of Israel, and all of them were settling and concurrin…
Samaritans — The name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original…
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).
Susanchites — The inhabitants of Shushan, who joined the other adversaries of the Jews in the attempt to prevent the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 4:9).
Tarpelites, The — A race of Assyrian colonists who were planted int he cites of Samaria after the captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel. (Ezra 4:9) They have not been identified with any certainty.
Accusation, False · .Against Jews, returned un — .Against Jews, returned un
Apharsathchites · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Apharsites · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Archevites · Inhabitants of Samaria — Inhabitants of Samaria
Artaxerxes · .Prohibits the rebuilding of — .Prohibits the rebuilding of
Ava · See — See
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
Dehavites · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Persia · Artaxerxes I — Artaxerxes I
Rehum · him against the Jews — him against the Jews
Samaria · of Assyria — of Assyria
Samaria, Modern · Inhabitants of: Their true descent — Inhabitants of: Their true descent
Shimshai · A scribe — A scribe
Slander · Exemplified: Enemies of the Jews — Exemplified: Enemies of the Jews
Susanchites · The inhabitants of Samaria — The inhabitants of Samaria
Tarpelites · Colonists in Samaria — Colonists in Samaria
Temple, The Second · The Samaritans: Wrote to Artaxerxes Smerdis to interrupt the building — The Samaritans: Wrote to Artaxerxes Smerdis to interrupt the building
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).
