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Ezra 4
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'''Ezra 4''' is the fourth chapter of the [[Book of Ezra]] in the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bible]], or the book of [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]], which treats the book of Ezra and [[book of Nehemiah]] as one book. Jewish tradition states that [[Ezra]] is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the [[Book of Chronicles]],<ref>Talmud Babylonia ''Baba Bathra'' 15a, ''apud'' Fensham 1982, p. 2</ref> but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from 5th century BCE (so-called "the Chronicler") is the final author of these books. This chapter records the opposition of the non-Jews to the temple building projects and their correspondence to the kings of Persia that eventually brought a stop to the project until the reign of Darius. The section comprising [[Ezra 1|chapter 1]] to 6 describes the history before the arrival of [[Ezra]] to the land of Judah.
==Text==
The original text is written in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew language]]. [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|This chapter is divided into]] 24 verses.
===Textual witnesses===
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] are of the [[Masoretic Text]], which includes [[Leningrad Codex|Codex Leningradensis]] (1008).</ref>}}
There is also a translation into [[Koine Greek]] known as the [[Septuagint]], made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the [[Septuagint]] version include [[Codex Vaticanus]] ('''B'''; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math><sup>B</sup>; 4th century), and [[Codex Alexandrinus]] ('''A'''; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math><sup>A</sup>; 5th century).
==An offer for help (4:1–5)==
The non-Jewish inhabitants of the land offered to help with the building, but regarding it as a 'proposal of compromise', the leaders of Judah rejected the offer. Due to the rejection, the surrounding inhabitants mounted opposition to the building project.
===Verse 1–2===
:'' Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity built the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefs of the fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."''<ref> [[Modern English Version|MEV]]</ref>
*"Adversaries" or "enemies".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 4:1 in NKJV</ref>
*"[[Zerubbabel]]": is the leader of the group and of Davidic line (), so he is associated with the messianic hope in the [[book of Zechariah]], although none of it is mentioned in this book. His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the "governor of Judah" in [[Haggai 1:1]], ; .
The enemies of the exiles try to destroy that community by assimilation, pointing out important similarities among their peoples (verse 2), wanting the exiles to be entirely like them, but the enemies don't have allegiance to Yahweh and assimilation for the exiles would have meant destruction of the covenant with God. The reference to the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] king recalls the story in that after the fall of Samaria in 721 BC, the genuine Israel inhabitants of the northern kingdom were deported elsewhere and the Assyrians planted people from other places (bringing their own gods; cf. ) to the region of Samaria, initiated by [[Sargon]] (722–705 BC), but from this verse apparently extended to the reign of [[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC).
===Verse 3===
:''But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, "You may do nothing with us to build a [b]house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.".''<ref> [[New King James Version|NKJV]]</ref>
*''[[Jeshua the High Priest|Jeshua]]'': or "Joshua".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 3:2 in NKJV</ref> His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the "[[High Priest of Israel|high priest]]" in [[Haggai 1:1]], , ; ; .
*"House" refers to "Temple".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 4:3 in NKJV</ref>
The rejection of Zerubbabel was based on "spiritual insight".
===Verse 4–5===
:'' Then the people of the land demoralized the people of Judah and terrified them while building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.''<ref> MEV</ref>
==Historical divergence (4:6–23)==
The story of Zerubbabel was interrupted by the list of some accounts of hostilities which happened in a long period of time to illustrate the continuous opposition by non-Jews of the area to the attempts of the Jews to establish a community under the law of God.
===Verse 9–10===
:'' then Rehum the chancellor, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.;''<ref> [[World English Bible|WEB]]</ref>
The mention of "Osnappar" (referring to "[[Ashurbanipal]]") the last of the great Assyrian kings, considered by people in the imperial provinces simlpy as a predecessor of Artaxerxes (despite the changes of the power), is a tactic to scare king of less income from the population in that area if they are rebelling against him. Evidently troubled by the thought of losing revenue (verses 20, 22) and with the Assyrian and Babylonians annals available for him, possibly containing records of the "chronically rebellious city" of Jerusalem, Artaxerxes was convinced and ordered the work to be stopped (verse 23).
==The story resumed (4:24)==
With the repetition of the essence in verse 5, the story of Zerubbabel and Jeshua is continued again to the next chapter.
==See also==
<!--*[[Ahasueros]]-->
*[[Artaxerxes I]]
*[[Ashurbanipal]]
*[[Jerusalem]]
*Related [[Bible]] parts: [[Ezra 3]], [[Haggai 2]]
==Notes==
==References==
==Sources==
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*
==External links==
* [[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
** [https://ift.tt/3211kGX Ezra - Chapter 4 (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
* [[Christianity|Christian]] translations:
** [https://ift.tt/2JEjk3E ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
** [https://ift.tt/2BYZqMs Book of Ezra Chapter 4. Bible Gateway]
<!---->
<!--[[Category:Ezra 4| ]]-->
[[Category:Book of Ezra chapters|04]]
'''Ezra 4''' is the fourth chapter of the [[Book of Ezra]] in the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Bible]], or the book of [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]], which treats the book of Ezra and [[book of Nehemiah]] as one book. Jewish tradition states that [[Ezra]] is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the [[Book of Chronicles]],<ref>Talmud Babylonia ''Baba Bathra'' 15a, ''apud'' Fensham 1982, p. 2</ref> but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from 5th century BCE (so-called "the Chronicler") is the final author of these books. This chapter records the opposition of the non-Jews to the temple building projects and their correspondence to the kings of Persia that eventually brought a stop to the project until the reign of Darius. The section comprising [[Ezra 1|chapter 1]] to 6 describes the history before the arrival of [[Ezra]] to the land of Judah.
==Text==
The original text is written in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew language]]. [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|This chapter is divided into]] 24 verses.
===Textual witnesses===
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] are of the [[Masoretic Text]], which includes [[Leningrad Codex|Codex Leningradensis]] (1008).</ref>}}
There is also a translation into [[Koine Greek]] known as the [[Septuagint]], made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the [[Septuagint]] version include [[Codex Vaticanus]] ('''B'''; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math><sup>B</sup>; 4th century), and [[Codex Alexandrinus]] ('''A'''; <math> \mathfrak{G}</math><sup>A</sup>; 5th century).
==An offer for help (4:1–5)==
The non-Jewish inhabitants of the land offered to help with the building, but regarding it as a 'proposal of compromise', the leaders of Judah rejected the offer. Due to the rejection, the surrounding inhabitants mounted opposition to the building project.
===Verse 1–2===
:'' Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity built the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chiefs of the fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."''<ref> [[Modern English Version|MEV]]</ref>
*"Adversaries" or "enemies".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 4:1 in NKJV</ref>
*"[[Zerubbabel]]": is the leader of the group and of Davidic line (), so he is associated with the messianic hope in the [[book of Zechariah]], although none of it is mentioned in this book. His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the "governor of Judah" in [[Haggai 1:1]], ; .
The enemies of the exiles try to destroy that community by assimilation, pointing out important similarities among their peoples (verse 2), wanting the exiles to be entirely like them, but the enemies don't have allegiance to Yahweh and assimilation for the exiles would have meant destruction of the covenant with God. The reference to the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] king recalls the story in that after the fall of Samaria in 721 BC, the genuine Israel inhabitants of the northern kingdom were deported elsewhere and the Assyrians planted people from other places (bringing their own gods; cf. ) to the region of Samaria, initiated by [[Sargon]] (722–705 BC), but from this verse apparently extended to the reign of [[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC).
===Verse 3===
:''But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, "You may do nothing with us to build a [b]house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.".''<ref> [[New King James Version|NKJV]]</ref>
*''[[Jeshua the High Priest|Jeshua]]'': or "Joshua".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 3:2 in NKJV</ref> His office is not named in this book, but he is identified as the "[[High Priest of Israel|high priest]]" in [[Haggai 1:1]], , ; ; .
*"House" refers to "Temple".<ref>Notes [a] on Ezra 4:3 in NKJV</ref>
The rejection of Zerubbabel was based on "spiritual insight".
===Verse 4–5===
:'' Then the people of the land demoralized the people of Judah and terrified them while building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.''<ref> MEV</ref>
==Historical divergence (4:6–23)==
The story of Zerubbabel was interrupted by the list of some accounts of hostilities which happened in a long period of time to illustrate the continuous opposition by non-Jews of the area to the attempts of the Jews to establish a community under the law of God.
===Verse 9–10===
:'' then Rehum the chancellor, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over, and set in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote.;''<ref> [[World English Bible|WEB]]</ref>
The mention of "Osnappar" (referring to "[[Ashurbanipal]]") the last of the great Assyrian kings, considered by people in the imperial provinces simlpy as a predecessor of Artaxerxes (despite the changes of the power), is a tactic to scare king of less income from the population in that area if they are rebelling against him. Evidently troubled by the thought of losing revenue (verses 20, 22) and with the Assyrian and Babylonians annals available for him, possibly containing records of the "chronically rebellious city" of Jerusalem, Artaxerxes was convinced and ordered the work to be stopped (verse 23).
==The story resumed (4:24)==
With the repetition of the essence in verse 5, the story of Zerubbabel and Jeshua is continued again to the next chapter.
==See also==
<!--*[[Ahasueros]]-->
*[[Artaxerxes I]]
*[[Ashurbanipal]]
*[[Jerusalem]]
*Related [[Bible]] parts: [[Ezra 3]], [[Haggai 2]]
==Notes==
==References==
==Sources==
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)
*
==External links==
* [[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
** [https://ift.tt/3211kGX Ezra - Chapter 4 (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
* [[Christianity|Christian]] translations:
** [https://ift.tt/2JEjk3E ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
** [https://ift.tt/2BYZqMs Book of Ezra Chapter 4. Bible Gateway]
<!---->
<!--[[Category:Ezra 4| ]]-->
[[Category:Book of Ezra chapters|04]]
October 31, 2019 at 11:44AM
