Ezra 4:13-14

4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury ¹  will suffer loss. 4:14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, ²  and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, ³  we are sending the king this information ⁴ 

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¹ tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.

² tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”

³ tn Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”

⁴ tn Aram “and we have made known.”