Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 4:8
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
8. At this verse begins the first long section (Ezr 4:8 to Ezr 6:18) written in the Aramaic language (see Introd.), which the Compiler has probably extracted bodily from Aramaic records.
Ezr 4:8 introduces briefly the description of the letter of accusation against the Jews sent by Rehum and Shimshai.
Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe ] Rehum was probably the chief official of the Samaritan community. The name is considered by some to be of Persian origin, and a contraction of some longer Persian name, e.g. Rheomithres, which is found in Arrian. It appears also in Jewish lists (see Ezr 2:2; Neh 3:17; Neh 10:25), but that need not exclude its foreign origin.
the chancellor ] Literally ‘the lord of judgement’. Sayce suggests ‘lord of official intelligence’, the Aramaic word for ‘judgement’ being practically identical with the Assyrian word ‘dhem’, used of the official reports sent to the king by provincial rulers. Here the title apparently belongs to the chief officer of the district.
In the LXX., Syr. and Vulg. the title not being understood appears as a proper name; 1Es 2:16 makes the same error ‘Rathumus and Beeltethmus’.
Shimshai ] Perhaps the same name as the Persian ‘Sisamnes’.
the scribe ] i.e. the governor’s secretary. Each governor of a Persian province was attended by this official (Herod. III. 128), who acted as a check upon the governor as well as for administrative purposes.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The chancellor – literally, Lord of judgment; the title, apparently, of the Persian governor of the Samaritan province. Every Persian governor was accompanied to his province by a royal scribe or secretary, who had a separate and independent authority.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. Rehum the chancellor] With this verse the Chaldee part of the chapter begins; and the same language continues to the end of Ezr 6:18. These men wrote to Darius in their own language; and the king in the same dialect returns an answer, chap. v. This circumstance adds authenticity to what is written: so scrupulous was the inspired penman, that he not only gave the words which each spoke and wrote, but he gave them also in the very language in which they were conceived and in the character peculiar to that language.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort. This means the same letter as before; which, according to Jarchi, was sent in the name of Mithredath Tabeel and his company, was endited by Rehum, master of words or sense, and written by Shimshai the scribe, whom he makes to be a son of Haman i; but it was written rather in all their names.
i So Midrash Esther, fol. 85. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) Rehum the chancellor.The lord of judgment, the counsellor of the Persian king, a conventional title of the civil governor.
Shimshai the scribeThe royal secretary.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. The chancellor Hebrew, Lord of counsel, that is, a royal counsellor. He seems to have been the Persian governor and judge of the district of Samaria, and of the colonists mentioned in the next verse. The Sept. and Vulg. take the word as a proper name Baaltam.
The scribe Probably the secretary of the governor, or chancellor, and the one who translated this letter against Jerusalem into the Aramaean language.
In this sort The two following verses (9-10) are to be regarded, not as an exact transcript, but a running paraphrase, giving the sentiment and general form of expression at the beginning of the letter. The introduction to the letter was in this sort, or after this manner. Hence the repetition in Ezr 4:11, after which follows what we may regard as an exact copy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 4:8 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
Ver. 8. Rehum the chancellor ] Or, president of the council. It is of the Chaldee termination; the whole history also following to Ezr 6:19 , is Chaldee, transcribed, as some think, out of the rolls and registers of the Chaldees, and here inserted.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rehum. From here to Ezr 6:18 is in Syriac, which was like the French of today. Compare 2Ki 18:26. From Ezr 6:19 — Ezr 7:11 is Hebrew; and Syriac again from Ezr 7:12-27; then Hebrew.
the chancellor = the master of judgments or decrees.
the scribe: or secretary.
in this sort = after this manner.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
scribe: or, secretary, Ezr 4:9, 2Sa 8:17, 2Sa 20:25, 2Ki 18:18
Reciprocal: 1Ki 21:8 – she wrote Ezr 2:2 – Rehum Ezr 4:7 – the Syrian tongue Ezr 4:23 – Rehum
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 4:8-9. Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter, &c. These two, as it was their office, put into writing, or drew up, a letter, agreeable to what had been resolved on in a council of the great men, or governors, mentioned in the foregoing verse. The Dinaites, &c. These nine nations came out of Assyria, Persia, Media, Susiana, and other provinces of that vast empire; who, with one consent, joined in this letter or petition.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ezr 4:8 to Ezr 6:18. Extract from an Aramaic Document.
Ezr 4:8-23 contains a letter, together with the kings reply to it, written by adversaries of the Jews to Artaxerxes for the purpose of frustrating the building of the city walls. The writers are different from those mentioned in Ezr 4:7 as writing to Artaxerxes; two letters are, therefore spoken of, so that what is said in Ezr 4:7 cannot be in reference to the letter now dealt with. Moreover, this letter has nothing to do with the events recorded in Ezr 4:1-5, for it refers to the building of the Temple, while Ezr 4:8-23 refers to the building of the city walls. Ezr 4:8-23 is, therefore, out of place here.
Ezr 4:8. Rehum and Shimshai are probably both foreign names. The chancellor = the governor of the province; scribe = here the governors secretary.
Ezr 4:9. The names of these nationalities to which the Samaritans belonged show the non-Jewish origin of the latter, or at least of the bulk of them.
Ezr 4:10. Osnappar: i.e. Assurbanipal, 668626 B.C., the son and successor of Esarhaddon.
Ezr 4:12. and have finished the walls: see note on Ezr 3:8; this was the point of supreme importance, for with the walls of the city complete, Jerusalem could defy her enemies.
Ezr 4:13. if . . . finished: cf. Ezr 4:16; these words do not agree with what is said in Ezr 4:12, where the walls are spoken of as completed.
Ezr 4:14. we eat the salt of the palace: i.e. since we are in the service of the king and receive maintenance from him.
Ezr 4:15. the book of the records of thy fathers: cf. Ezr 6:1 f., Est 2:23; Est 6:1; Est 10:2; the words show the care with which the records of the past were kept by the Persian kings.
Ezr 4:16. . . . thou shalt have no portion beyond the river: i.e. he will lose his Syrian province.
Ezr 4:18. hath been plainly read: cf. Neh 8:8, and see note there; read translated, the king was not likely to understand Aramaic.
Ezr 4:22. why . . . kings: read lest damage should increase to the kings loss; there is no interrogative in the Aramaic.