Now when the adversaries of Judah and Binyamin1 heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to YAHWEH2, the God of Israel; 2then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as you do; and we sacrifice to him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
3But Zerubbabel, and Yusha3, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to YAHWEH, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
4Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, 5and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
7In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Aramaic script, in the Aramaic language. 8Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows. 9Rehum 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, 10and 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.
11This is the copy of the letter that they sent to Artaxerxes the king:
Your servants the men beyond the River, and so forth. 12Be it known to the king, that the Jews who came up from you are come to us to Jerusalem; they are building the rebellious and the bad city, and have finished the walls, and repaired the foundations. 13Be it known now to the king that if this city is built, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings. 14Now because we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and informed the king; 15that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers: so shall you find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; for which cause this city was laid waste. 16We inform the king that, if this city be built, and the walls finished, by this means you shall have no portion beyond the River.
17Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River:
Peace, and so forth. 18The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19I decreed, and search has been made, and it is found that this city of old time has made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. 20There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll, was paid to them. 21Now make a decree to cause these men to stop, and that this city not be built, until a decree shall be made by me. 22Take heed that you are slack in this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
23Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to stop by force of arms. 24Then the work stopped on the House of God at Jerusalem; and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
- 4:1 Binyamin, or Benjamin, derived from the Hebrew name Benyamin, meaning “Son of the right hand.” ↩︎
- 4:1 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 4:3 Yusha, this Arabic name and the names Joshua and Jeshua are derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means “YAHWEH saves.” Yeshua also gives rise to the Arabic names ‘Isa and Yesu, as well as the Greek name Iesous, which is rendered Jesus in English. ↩︎