Discovery BoxEzra 4:8-9 
Context4:8 Rehum the commander 1 and Shimshai the scribe 2 wrote a letter concerning 3 Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows: 4:9 From 4 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues – the judges, the rulers, the officials, the secretaries, the Erechites, the Babylonians, the people of Susa (that is, 5 the Elamites),
Ezra 4:17-23
Context4:17 The king sent the following response:
“To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and other parts of Trans-Euphrates: Greetings! 6 4:18 The letter you sent to us has been translated and read in my presence. 4:19 So I gave orders, 7 and it was determined 8 that this city from long ago has been engaging in insurrection against kings. It has continually engaged in 9 rebellion and revolt. 4:20 Powerful kings have been over Jerusalem who ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates 10 and who were the beneficiaries of 11 tribute, custom, and toll. 4:21 Now give orders that these men cease their work and that this city not be rebuilt until such time as I so instruct. 12 4:22 Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”
4:23 Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem 13 and stopped them with threat of armed force. 14
1 tn Aram “lord of the command.” So also in vv. 9, 17.
2 sn Like Rehum, Shimshai was apparently a fairly high-ranking official charged with overseeing Persian interests in this part of the empire. His title was “scribe” or “secretary,” but in a more elevated political sense than that word sometimes has elsewhere. American governmental titles such as “Secretary of State” perhaps provide an analogy in that the word “secretary” can have a broad range of meaning.
3 tn Or perhaps “against.”
4 tn Aram “then.” What follows in v. 9 seems to be the preface of the letter, serving to identify the senders of the letter. The word “from” is not in the Aramaic text but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn For the qere of the MT (דֶּהָיֵא, dehaye’, a proper name) it seems better to retain the Kethib דִּהוּא (dihu’, “that is”). See F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 25, §35; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 36.
6 tn Aram “peace.”
7 tn Aram “from me was placed a decree.”
8 tn Aram “and they searched and found.”
9 tn Aram “are being done.”
10 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.
11 tn Aram “were being given to them.”
12 tn Aram “until a command is issued from me.”
13 tn Aram “to Jerusalem against the Jews.”
14 tn Aram “by force and power,” a hendiadys.
