Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 4:10

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest [that are] on this side the river, and at such a time.

10. and the rest of the nations ] Implying that the number was not nearly exhausted by these nine names.

whom the great and noble Asnappar ] R.V. Osnappar. This name is nowhere else mentioned in the O.T. Who this Osnappar was, has been much disputed. Some have identified him with Esarhaddon, conjecturing that this was either another name or an honorific title. Others have supposed him to be a general commanding Esarhaddon’s armies. But the name nowhere occurs in the Inscriptions as a second name or as a title of Esarhaddon, even if it were probable that having been called Esarhaddon in Ezr 4:2 he should here be called by a different name or title without any explanatory word. No general appears of this name. And the manner of the allusion presupposes his royal dignity. Moreover, neither Esarhaddon nor any general of his invaded Elam.

Scholars now begin to accept the ingenious and most probable suggestion that ‘Osnappar’ is the Aramaic attempt to reproduce the name of Assur-bani-pal, the great Assyrian king. He was the only Assyrian king who captured Susa and could carry off ‘Susanchites’; no king so fully deserved the titles of ‘great and noble’; this name (‘Assur the father of the son’) by a strong contraction of the middle word, is not so far removed from the sound of ‘Osnappar’, especially if the final ‘1’ of ‘pal’ is changed to ‘r’ (cf. ‘Prus’ for ‘Pul’, or ‘Babiru’ for ‘Babilu’), and the ‘r’ of ‘Assur’ is weakened to ‘n’ (cf. Nebuchad r ezzar and Nebuchad n ezzar) = Assun par.

Assur-bani-pal reigned 42 years (668 626). The records of his brilliant and successful reign have recently been deciphered (G. Smith’s Assurbanipal, p. 187). His arms were everywhere victorious. The severest contest in which he was engaged was with his own brother Sassumukem, governor of Babylon, who rebelled against him. The rebel’s death and the capture of Babylon (646) ended the struggle. But this fact in conjunction with his great conquest of Elam explains the joint mention of Babylonians, Susanchites and Elamites among the colonists, whom he transplanted into Samaritan territory.

It appears then that Assur-bani-pal by introducing his colonists into Samaria was the author of the fourth colonization. It would be wasted labour to try to identify the nationalities of Ezr 4:9 with the names recorded in 2Ki 17:24 in connexion with a different colonization.

in the cities of Samaria ] R.V. ‘ in the city of Samaria ’. The word in the Aramaic is singular, cf. Ezr 4:17. The other cities are covered by the next phrase.

and the rest that are on this side the river ] R.V. and in the rest of the country beyond the river. In these words two things deserve to be noted. (1) The words ‘beyond the river’ clearly indicate the country W. of the Euphrates. The names of the nationalities who send the letter are presented in the light in which they would appear to the receiver, i.e. the king, at Susa to the E. of the Euphrates. The phrase ‘The country beyond the river’ (the Abhar-Nahara) was a recognised geographical name for the Syrian satrapy. (2) The wideness of the expression ‘in the rest of the country’ may be compared with the version given in 1Es 2:17 where ‘the Dinaites, &c.’ are compressed into ‘the judges that are in Clesyria and Phnice’. The word ‘judges’ is a mistranslation. But the mention of Clesyria and Phnica corresponds with the indefinite language used in this verse. It is not impossible that the letter of accusation against the Jews may have been the joint production of many communities throughout the satrapy of Syria, who felt themselves aggrieved at privileges accorded to the Jews, or imperilled by the revival of their strength.

and at such a time ] R.V. and so forth. The A.V. regarded this word as a brief way of expressing the date of the letter. The LXX. omitted it. The Vulgate rendered it as a salutation ‘in pace’. It signifies the suppression of matter that is unimportant = ‘et ctera’.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 10. The great and noble Asnapper] Whether this was Shalmaneser, or Esar-haddon, or some other person, learned men and chronologists are not agreed. The Syriac terms him Asphid; but of this person we know no more than we do of Asnapper. He might have been the military officer who was appointed to escort this people to Judea.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Asnappar; either Esar-haddon, or some other person then of great eminency, especially with his subjects and followers, who was captain of this colony, and conducted them hither.

On this side the river, to wit, Euphrates.

At such a time: the date of the epistle was particularly expressed in the epistle, but here it was sufficient to note it in the general.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over,…. The river Euphrates:

and set in the cities of Samaria; placed there in the room of the Israelites carried captive; this Asnappar was, according to Jarchi and others l Sennacherib; but, with Grotius, Shalmaneser; rather he was Esarhaddon, the son of the former, and grandson of the latter; so Dr. Prideaux m; though he might be only some commander of the Assyrian monarch, who carried them over by his orders:

and the rest that are on this side the river; the river Euphrates:

and at such a time; which may respect the date of the letter, which, no doubt, was expressed, though not here given; or this, as some think, was the same with our c. something following, unto King Artaxerxes greeting, or something like that though David de Pomis n takes it to be the general name of the people beyond the river.

l Kimchi Sepher Shorash. fol. 166. 2. & Vajikra Rabba in ib. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1. m Connexion, &c. vol. 1. p. 30. n Tzemach David, fol. 63. 3.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(10) Asnapper cannot be Esar-haddon, but was probably his chief officer.

And at such a time.And so forth.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

10. The great and noble Asnapper Some have supposed that Asnapper is another name, or another form of the name, of Shalmanezer, or of Esar-haddon, and such a supposition is especially plausible here, as the name occurs in a document written in a different language, in which the form of the name might suffer change. But it is, perhaps, better to understand the name as the title of the Assyrian general or satrap by whom these nations were brought over and settled in Samaria. Thus it was Esar-haddon’s “captains” that carried Manasseh to Babylon. 2Ch 33:11. To such an officer these nations would naturally apply the epithets great and noble.

On this side the river Better, beyond the river, that is Euphrates. The writer employs the usus loquendi of the Persians, who would speak of the country west of the Euphrates as beyond the river. Furst renders it, the (western) bank district of the river. Syria and Palestine probably formed one satrapy under the Persian kings, and was under the charge of one governor. Compare Ezr 5:3, note.

And at such a time Chald. , and so forth; compare Ezr 4:11; Ezr 4:17; Ezr 7:12: a sort of abbreviation where certain items or forms of statement are assumed to be understood, and, therefore, not expressed, but simply indicated. Hence it indicates not the date of the letter, but the omission of certain formularies of introduction, and is equivalent to our et cetera and so forth.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments