Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezra 4:5
And hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
5. This verse describes one effectual method of opposition, ‘hired counsellors against them’. This will not necessarily imply that bribes were given to the king’s ministers referred to elsewhere (Ezr 7:28, Ezr 8:25) as ‘his counsellors’. We should in that case have had the word more definitely expressed as ‘ the counsellors’ or ‘the king’s counsellors’.
It rather means that ‘the people of the land’ paid officials (probably connected with the satrapy of Syria) to make unfavourable reports at the king’s Court respecting ‘the people of Judah’.
hired ] Cf. the application of Samaritan money within the Jewish community, Neh 6:12-13. The word used with special reference to Balaam in Deu 23:4; Neh 13:2.
to frustrate their purpose ] i.e. to render fruitless their cherished scheme of rebuilding the Temple. ‘Frustrate’ = ‘break’, Ezr 9:14. ‘Purpose’ = ‘counsel’ Ezr 10:3; Ezr 10:8; Neh 4:15. The two words occur together Psa 33:10 ‘The Lord bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought’.
all the days of Cyrus, &c.] Cyrus died in 529.
even until the reign of Darius king of Persia ] Cyrus was succeeded by Cambyses, who died in 522. Pseudo-Smerdis then reigned for 7 months, and was succeeded by Darius Hystaspes 522. (Upon the disputed question of chronology raised in this verse, see the note on Ezr 4:7.) Darius, Darayavus, ‘the Preserver’ (Herod. VI. 98 translates ) gave order and system to the Persian Empire, of which he was the second founder. Darius consolidated the successes of Cyrus. Like Augustus following upon Julius Csar, he gave, as a statesman, system and cohesion to the Empire, which he had inherited from his predecessor’s military genius.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hired counselors – Rather, bribed officials at the Persian court to interpose delays and create difficulties, in order to hinder the work.
Darius – i. e., Darius, the son of Hystaspes
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Hired counsellors] They found means to corrupt some of the principal officers of the Persian court, so that the orders of Cyrus were not executed; or at least so slowly as to make them nearly ineffectual.
Until the reign of Darius] This was probably Darius the son of Hystaspes.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hired counsellors against them; who by their artifices and interests in the Persian court should give some stop to their work.
All the days of Cyrus king of Persia; for though Cyrus still favoured the Jews, yet he was then diverted by his wars, and his son Cambyses was left his viceroy, who was a very wicked prince, and an enemy to the Jews and their religion.
Even until the reign of Darius, Heb. and until, &c., i.e. not only in the reign of Cyrus, but also of Cambyses, and of the magician, after whom was this Darius; of whom see Ezr 5; 6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose,…. Either to advise and persuade the king of Persia’s officers in those parts not to supply them with money, or to influence the great men at his court to get the edict revoked: and this they did
all the days of Cyrus king of Persia; who, though the hearty friend and patron of the Jews, yet being engaged in wars abroad with the Lydians and Scythians, and leaving his son as viceroy in his absence, who was no friend unto them, the work went on but slowly, attended with interruptions and discouragements:
even until the reign of Darius king of Persia; who was Darius Hystaspis, between whom and Cyrus were Cambyses the son of Cyrus, and Smerdis the impostor, who pretended to be Smerdis, the brother of Cambyses; a space of about fifteen years.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose (of building the temple). still depends on the of Ezr 4:4. is a later orthography of , to hire, to bribe. Whether by the hiring of we are to understand the corruption of royal counsellors or ministers, or the appointment of legal agents to act against the Jewish community at the Persian court, and to endeavour to obtain an inhibition against the erection of the temple, does not appear. Thus much only is evident from the text, that the adversaries succeeded in frustrating the continuance of the building “all the days of Koresh,” i.e., the yet remaining five years of Cyrus, who was for the space of seven years sole ruler of Babylon; while the machinations against the building, begun immediately after the laying of its foundations in the second year of the return, had the effect, in the beginning of the third year of Cyrus (judging from Dan 10:2), of putting a stop to the work until the reign of Darius, – in all, fourteen years, viz., five years of Cyrus, seven and a half of Cambyses, seven months of the Pseudo-Smerdis, and one year of Darius (till the second year of his reign).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(5) And hired counsellors against them.They adopted a systematic course of employing paid agents at the court: continued for eight years, till B.C. 529. Cambyses, his son, succeeded Cyrus; he died B.C. 522; then followed the pseudo-Smerdis, a usurper, whose short reign Darius did not reckon, but dated his own reign from B.C. 522. A comparison of dates shows that this was the first Darius, the son of Hystaspes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Hired counsellors against them This is to be understood of such men as Bishlam and his companions, (Ezr 4:7,) who were commissioned and employed by the enemies of Judah to work with the officers of the Persian empire, and obtain their help to hinder the building of the temple.
To frustrate their purpose Namely, the purpose of the Jews to rebuild the house of God at Jerusalem. These counsellors probably prevailed on the governors of the neighbouring provinces to hinder the Jews from obtaining the material necessary for their work. This would greatly weaken and trouble the returned exiles, especially if the governor of Phoenicia had been prevailed on to oppose their obtaining cedar wood from Lebanon.
All the days of Cyrus Who reigned, according to Herodotus, twenty-nine years. During his reign they obtained no reversal of his edict to have the temple rebuilt, but he was probably so much engaged in wars that the matter was left largely in the hands of the governors of the neighbouring provinces.
Until the reign of Darius In his second year, Ezr 4:24. This Darius was the son of Hystaspes, famous in Persian history for his assassination of Smerdis the Magian, who had usurped the throne of Cyrus, assuming to be Cyrus’s son. See note on Ezr 4:24. Between Cyrus and this Darius two other kings reigned over Persia. The first was Cambyses, Cyrus’s son, (the Ahasuerus of the next verse,) who succeeded his father, and reigned seven years. The other was Gomates, one of the Magi, who took advantage of Cambyses’s absence to usurp the throne, and reigned seven months. So from the first year of Cyrus to the second of Darius was a period of thirty-eight years, during which hardly any thing was done towards rebuilding the temple except the laying of its foundation.
Ezr 4:6-23 . These verses are regarded by a number of recent critics as an interpolation, consisting of a document belonging to the times of Nehemiah and Artaxerxes Longimanus, when, it is assumed, the Jews made an attempt to rebuild the walls and city of Jerusalem, but were made to cease, as herein described. The arguments by which this position is maintained are ingenious and plausible, but by no means conclusive. 1. It is said that Ahasuerus (Ezr 4:6) is the Scripture name of Xerxes, who was the son and successor of Darius Hystaspes; and that Artaxerxes (Ezr 4:7) is in this same book (Ezr 7:1) the name of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the son and successor of Xerxes. But it does not follow from this that Cambyses, and Smerdis the Magian, may not also have been known to the Jews under the names, respectively, of Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes. 2. It is urged that nothing is said in this document about the temple, but the Jews are charged with rebuilding the walls of the city. Comp. Ezr 4:12-13; Ezr 4:16. Now, as Nehemiah, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, is informed that the walls of Jerusalem are broken down, and the gates burned with fire, (Neh 1:3,) it is assumed that in the earlier part of the reign of that king the Jews were rebuilding the city of Jerusalem, and were complained of in this letter to the king, and by his decree, as given in Ezr 4:21-22, the work was forcibly stopped, and the walls and gates, newly built, were again demolished. So this section, Ezr 4:6-23, belongs, chronologically, at the beginning of the Book of Nehemiah. But all this is at best a very doubtful hypothesis, and too easily set aside to be of any force. The fact that in this letter the enemies of the Jews do not mention the temple, but represent that the walls of the city are being rebuilt, is in perfect keeping with the inimical and crafty designs of those enemies. We naturally expect them to misrepresent the Jews before the king, and their letter contains just truth enough to blind the king, and prevent him from understanding all the facts in the case, for he would not be likely to inquire whether the Jews were building the foundations and walls of the city, or only of the temple. Further, it is hardly supposable that if Artaxerxes Longimanus had written the letter in Ezr 4:17-22, he would so soon afterwards have shown Ezra such favours and such authority as is recorded in chapter vii, favours of such a character as caused Ezra to class him among those who even helped to complete the temple. See note on Ezr 6:14. Nor would the same king have been likely, a few years later, to have commissioned Nehemiah to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 3. It is also claimed by some that after the mention of Darius in Ezr 4:5, the writer goes forward to record the success of these enemies of Judah, subsequent to the times of Darius. But, on the contrary, it is much more evident, both from the words of Ezr 4:5 and Ezr 4:24, that in Ezr 4:6-23 the writer describes what took place between the time of Cyrus and the second year of Darius. The emphatic statement of Ezr 4:24, “ Then ceased the work of the house of God,” can only refer to the statement immediately preceding, that upon receiving the king’s letter the enemies of Judah “went up in haste to Jerusalem and made them to cease by force and power.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 5. Until the reign of Darius The most probable opinion is, that the Darius here meant was Darius Hystaspes, whose second year was the eighteenth after the first of Cyrus, according to Huet. And it is plain that Ahasuerus, mentioned in the sixth verse, was Cambyses; and Artaxerxes, mentioned in the seventh, the false Smerdis; because they were kings of Persia, who reigned between the time of Cyrus and the time of that Darius by whose decree the temple was finished. But, as that Darius was the son of Hystaspes, between whom and Cyrus there reigned none in Persia but Cambyses and Smerdis, it must hence follow, that none but these could be the Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes that are said in this chapter to have put a stop to the work. See Prideaux, Ann. 522. Houbigant renders this verse thus: And because they had determined that they would prevent their undertaking, they hindered them all the days of Cyrus, &c.
REFLECTIONS.Whoever sets his heart zealously to serve God, must expect opposition. Christ’s church is never built, but Satan rages. No sooner do Zerubbabel and the children of the captivity (for yet the scars of this yoke were not healed) begin to build, than the Samaritans throw obstacles in their way. Note; Pretenders to religion are generally the bitterest enemies to true godliness.
1. They first, under pretence of joining in the work, desired to be incorporated among them professing to serve the same God; but they were liars, and meant only to sow discord, or to mar the service by introducing their own mongrel worship. Note; We must not believe every spirit; the darkest designs often lurk under the fairest professions.
2. The chief of the fathers, with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, aware of their design, refused any connection with them, and resolved to keep united among themselves; and while the law of God enjoined them to separate themselves from the nations, the king’s commission authorized them. Note; (1.) Nothing so dangerous as bad connections. (2.) It is prudent to make use of our privileges as men, when they serve as a barrier to guard our religion.
3. The failure of this plot discouraged not their restless foes: at home, they sought to discourage the building, by ridiculing the attempt, or threatening to fall upon them, or preventing the necessary supplies from Tyre; while by bribing the counsellors who were about the persons of the king of Persia’s governors, or the great men at his court, they sought to retard or stop the work; and this they continued till the reign of Darius. Note; (1.) The devil and his servants are restless in their attempts; the people of God must expect no truce. (2.) Many a wicked counsellor, for the sake of the fee, little cares how bad the cause is that he is engaged in.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ezr 4:5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ver. 5. And hired counsellors against them ] But good counsellors would not have been hired, either to bolster out a bad cause, or to outface a good; to justify the wicked for a reward, or to take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. There is a notable instance of this in Papinian, a Pagan counsellor. Thou mayest (said he to Antoninus, the fratricide) command my neck to the block, but not my tongue to the bar. I prize not my life to the pleading of an ill cause. These sordida poscinummia in the text were none such. Some think they were courtiers and counsellors to the king; such as by whom the king was even bought and sold, as Aurelian, the good emperor was, who might know nothing but as his counsellors informed him. This made Alphonsus, king of Aragon, say, that kings were herein most miserable, that whereas they abounded with all things else, the truth of matters they could seldom come by.
All the days of Cyrus king of Persia
Even until the reign of Darius
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Cyrus. The son of Astyages and Esther. See App-57.
Darius: i.e. Darius Hystaspis (see App-57, App-58). “Darius” being only an appellative (= the maintainer), needs “Hystaspis” to be added, to identify him; as Astyages, when called Darius, needs the addition of “the Mede”. See App-58, and notes on p. 618.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
hired: Psa 2:1, Psa 2:2, Nah 1:11, Act 24:1-27
Darius: Ezr 4:24, Ezr 5:5-17, Ezr 6:1-18
Reciprocal: Dan 8:3 – one Dan 10:1 – Cyrus Dan 11:2 – three
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ezr 4:5. And hired counsellors against them Bribed some of the kings council, in order that by their artifices, and interests in his court, they might give some stop to the work, and frustrate the purpose of the Jews. All the days of Cyrus king of Persia For though Cyrus still favoured the Jews, yet he was then diverted by his wars, and his son Cambyses was left his viceroy, who was a wicked prince, and an enemy to the Jews. Even until the reign of Darius The son of Hystaspis, who, having killed the magi, (that, after Cambyses, had possessed themselves of the kingdom,) was made king; and marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, and loving her very much, confirmed the decree of Cyrus, and followed his steps, that he might stand the safer himself.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:5 And {c} hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
(c) They bribed the governors under the king to hinder their work, thus they that hinder cannot understand that God would be purely served.