Ezra 4

Ezra · Chapter 4

Ezra 4:13

1Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.3But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath 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.6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.7And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.8Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:9Then 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,10And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnapper brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.11This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.12Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.13Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.14Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;15That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.16We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.17Then 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.18The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.19And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.20There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.21Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.22Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?23Now 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.24Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
13Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful unto the kings.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Aramaic words

This passage was written in Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian and Persian empires, which the Jews of the exile also spoke. It uses the same alphabet as Hebrew.

EnglishAramaicSay itStrong'sMeaning
nowכְּעַ֗ןke-'ANH3705
now

כְּעַן (ke.an) now, at this time, until now Aramaic equivalent: ke.e.net (כְּעֶ֫נֶת "now" H3706)

knownיְדִ֙יעַ֙ye-DI-a'H3046
to know

יְדַע (ye.da) 1) to know 1a) (P'al) to know 1b) (Aphel) to let someone know, communicate, inform, cause to know

let it beלֶהֱוֵ֣אle-he-VE'H1934
to be

הֲוָא (ha.va) 1) to come to pass, become, be 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to come to pass 1a2) to come into being, arise, become, come to be 1a2a) to let become known (with participle of knowing) 1a3) to be

to king theלְמַלְכָּ֔אle-mal-KA'H4430
king

מֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) king Aramaic of me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4428) § 1) king

thatדִּ֠יdiH1768
that

דִּי (di) part of relation 1) who, which, that mark of genitive 2) that of, which belongs to, that conj 3) that, because

ifהֵ֣ןhenH2006A
if

הֵן (hen) behold, if, whether Aramaic of hen (הֵן "look!" H2005)

city theקִרְיְתָ֥אkir-ye-TA'H7149
town

קִרְיָה (qir.yah) city Aramaic of qir.yah (קִרְיָה "town" H7151)

thisדָךְ֙doKhH1791
this

דֵּךְ (dekh) this Aramaic of zeh (זֶה "this" H2088)

it will be builtתִּתְבְּנֵ֔אtit-be-NE'H1124
to build

בְּנָה (be.nah) 1) to build 1a) (P'al) to build 1b) (Ithp'il) to be built

and walls theוְשׁוּרַיָּ֖הve-shu-rai-YAH'H7792
wall

שׁוּר (shur) wall Aramaic of shur (שׁוּר "wall" H7791A)

they will be finishedיִֽשְׁתַּכְלְל֑וּןyish-takh-le-LUNH3635A
to complete

כְּלַל (ke.lal) 1) to finish, complete 1a) (Shaphel) to finish 1b) (Ishtaphel) to be completed

tributeמִנְדָּֽה־min-dah-H4061
tribute

מִנְדָּה (mid.dah) tribute Aramaic of mid.dah (מִדָּה "tribute" H4060B)

taxבְל֤וֹve-LOH1093
tribute

בְּלוֹ (be.lo) tribute

and tollוַהֲלָךְ֙va-ha-loKhH1983
toll

הֲלָךְ (ha.lakh) toll, custom duty, tribute Aramaic of ha.lakh (הָלַךְ ": walk" H1980)

notלָ֣אla'H3809
not

לָא (la) no, not, nothing Aramaic of lo (לֹא "not" H3808)

they will giveיִנְתְּנ֔וּןyin-te-NUNH5415I
to give: give

נְתַן (ne.tan) : give/deliver/send/produce 1) to give 1a) (P'al) 1a1) to give 1a2) to give, allow 1a3) to give, pay

and certainlyוְאַפְּתֹ֥םve-'a-pe-TOMH0674
revenue

אַפְּתֹם (ap.p.tom) 1) treasury, treasuries 2) (CLBL) revenue

kingsמַלְכִ֖יםmal-KHIMH4430
king

מֶ֫לֶךְ (me.lekh) king Aramaic of me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4428) § 1) king

it will injureתְּהַנְזִֽק׃te-han-ZIKH5142
to suffer injury

נְזַק (ne.zaq) 1) to suffer injury 1a) (P'al) to suffer injury 1b) (Aphel) to injure

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.