Ezra 4:23

Ezr 4:23 Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter [was] read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.

Ver. 23. They went up in haste] Perurgente diabolo, the devil driving them, and their own malicious dispositions egging them thereunto (Bern.). So, when Queen Mary lay a dying, Harpsfeild, arch-deacon of Canterbury, being at London, made all post-haste home to dispatch those martyrs whom he had then in his cruel custody (Acts and Mon. 1562). So ambitious are wicked men of hell, they take long strides, and mend their pace, as if they feared lest it should be taken up before they come thither.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ezr 4:23. And made them to cease by force and power — As they abused the king by their misinformations, in the obtaining of this order, so they abused him in the execution of it; for the order was only to prevent the building of the city and its walls. But, having power in their hands, they on this pretence stopped the building of the temple. See what need we have to pray, not only for kings, but for all in authority under them; because the quietness of our lives depends much on the integrity and wisdom of inferior magistrates as well as the supreme.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:23 A military unit probably forced the Jews to stop building and enforced the king’s wishes. Part of the rebuilt wall might have been torn down at this time (cp. Neh 1:3). • This verse ends the parenthetical section that began in Ezra 4:6.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Made them to cease by force and power.] Commanded them on pain of the king's displeasure not to proceed, obliging all to remit their labours, and probably bringing an armed force to prevent them from going forward.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Now] R.V. Then, i.e. Thereupon.

read before] cf. 18.

they went up in haste] R.V. they went in haste.—Far from being slack in executing the king’s decree: gratified malice made them prompt as well as desirous to stay the work.

made them to cease by force and power] Literally ‘with an arm and with troops’. Vulg. ‘in brachio et robore’, cf. Eze_17:9, ‘without great power’ (lit. arm); Dan_11:15; Dan_11:31 (‘arms’ = strength). The LXX. render ‘with horses and force’ (ἐν ἵπποις καὶ δυνάμει). The Samaritans stopped the Jews from building “by main force”. If the Jews resisted, resistance was useless in the face of the royal decree.

Perhaps we may see in the reference to the ruinous condition of the walls and defences of Jerusalem, Neh_1:3, the results of the forcible means taken by the Samaritans to cause the work to cease.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then ceased the work of the house of God, which is at Jerusalem,.... How far they had proceeded is not said, whether any further than laying the foundation of it; though probably, by this time, it might be carried to some little height; however, upon this it was discontinued:

so it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia; not Darius Nothun, as some think, for from the first of Cyrus to the sixth of his reign, when the temple was finished, was upwards of one hundred years; yea, according to some, about one hundred and forty; which would carry the age of Zerubbabel, who both laid the foundation of the temple, and finished it, and the age of those who saw the first temple, to a length that is not probable; but this was Darius Hystaspis, who succeeded Cambyses the son of Cyrus, there being only, between, the short usurpation of Smerdis for seven months.

Next: Ezra Chapter 5

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Beelteem, is not in Chaldean. --- Arm, or "force." (Protestants) (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

23. Went up in haste — The haste was the more necessary that the Jews might have no opportunity to learn and expose their misrepresentations of their work. Had they had an opportunity to show that they were building not the city but the temple, the Samaritans might not have been so successful with the king.

By force and power — Literally, by arm and might, that is, by sheer violence. They forced them to cease work.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They went up in haste. The "adversaries" lost no time. Having obtained the decree which forbad further building, they proceeded with it to Jerusalem, and by a display of force compelled the Jews to submission. No doubt resistance might have been made, but resistance would have been rebellion.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To cease. &c. - As they abused the king by their misinformations, in the obtaining of this order, so they abused him in the execution of it; for the order was only to prevent the walling of the city. But having power in their hands, they, on this pretense, stopt the building of the temple. See what need we have to pray, not only for kings, but for all in authority under them: because the quietness of our lives depends much on the integrity and wisdom of inferior magistrates as well as the supreme.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

King Artaxerxes' decree was read

This can be translated in active form, in which case you will need to make explicit who read the decree from the king to the officials. AT: "The messengers from King Artaxerxes read his decree" (See: Active or Passive and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Rehum

See how you translated this in Esra 2:1.

Shimshai

See how you translated this in Esra 4:7.

the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius

This delay lasted about 16 years.

translationWords

king

Artaxerxes

Jew

house of God

Darius

Persia

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

then [as translated,] then.

since the interpretation Since the interpretation of the writ of the letter of Artaxerxes the king—he is Cyrus—this incident took place.

was read before for the writ of this letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai and their companies, and they went with speed and haste to Jerusalem, to the Jews, and stopped them with force and might from continuing the construction of the edifice.

to the Jews Aram. עַל יְהוּדָיֵא, lit. On the Jews.

and they Aram. הִמוֹ, equivalent to הֵם.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.