Discovery BoxEzra 4:10-11 
Context4:10 and the rest of nations whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal 1 deported and settled in the cities 2 of Samaria and other places in Trans-Euphrates. 3 4:11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)
“To King Artaxerxes, 4 from your servants in 5 Trans-Euphrates:
Ezra 4:20
Context4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates 6 and who were the beneficiaries of 7 tribute, custom, and toll.
Ezra 6:13
Context6:13 Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly – with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions. 8
1 tn Aram “Osnappar” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), another name for Ashurbanipal.
sn Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon as king of Assyria in 669
2 tc The translation reads with the ancient versions the plural בְּקֻרְיַהּ (bÿquryah, “in the cities”) rather than the singular (“in the city”) of the MT.
3 tn Aram “beyond the river.” In Ezra this term is a technical designation for the region west of the Euphrates river.
4 tn The Masoretic accents indicate that the phrase “to Artaxerxes the king” goes with what precedes and that the letter begins with the words “from your servants.” But it seems better to understand the letter to begin by identifying the addressee.
5 tn Aram “men of.”
6 sn The statement that prior Jewish kings ruled over the entire Trans-Euphrates is an overstatement. Not even in the days of David and Solomon did the kingdom of Israel extend its borders to such an extent.
7 tn Aram “were being given to them.”
8 tn Aram “sent.”
