Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Ezra · About this commentary
The Work Ceased
Ezra 4:17-24
17 Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who live in Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River: Peace. · WEB
The king checks the record, finds the accusation true, and stops the work with a clause that leaves the decision open.
The reply is quoted with its formalities intact, down to the single-word greeting: Peace.
And the king did what he was asked. I decreed, and search has been made, and it was found that this city has made insurrection against kings in the past, and that rebellion and revolts have been made in it.
The accusation was accurate. Jerusalem's record did contain revolt — against Babylon, more than once — and the letter had invited exactly this verification because its writers knew the file would support them. A community whose legal standing rested on royal goodwill is undone by its own history, honestly reported.
Verse 20 adds a detail the informers had not supplied, and it cuts deeper: there have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the country beyond the River; and tribute, custom, and toll was paid to them. The archive shows that this city had once been the capital collecting the taxes, not the province paying them. That is a stronger argument for caution than anything in the letter.
The order follows: make a decree now to cause these men to cease, and that this city not be built until a decree is made by me.
The last clause is easy to pass over and it is the hinge of the next two chapters. The prohibition is not permanent. It holds until a decree is made by me — the file is left open, which is precisely the gap a later search of the records will exploit Ezra 6:3.
Then an instruction about diligence — be careful that you not be slack doing so — and a question that shows the whole matter has been reduced to accounting: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
Verse 23 reports the enforcement, and it is not procedural: they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force of arms. The letters end in soldiers.
And verse 24 states the outcome in one line: then work stopped on God's house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. The verb is repeated, and the interval is left unmeasured.
settled What this mark means