The Letter to the King
6 In the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in Syrian and delivered in the Syrian language. 8 Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows. 9 Then Rehum the chancellor, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, and the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanchites, the Dehaites, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over and settled in the city of Samaria, and in the rest of the country beyond the River, and so forth, wrote. 11 This is the copy of the letter that they sent: To King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the people beyond the River. 12 Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and bad city, and have finished the walls and repaired the foundations. 13 Be it known now to the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and in the end it will be hurtful to the kings. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not appropriate for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore we have sent and informed the king, 15 that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will see in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings and provinces, and that they have started rebellions within it in the past. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and the walls finished, then you will have no possession beyond the River.
A letter is quoted in full, and its argument is that a rebuilt Jerusalem is a tax problem.
The narrative breaks its own chronology here. Accusations under Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes are gathered together, though the building in question belongs to earlier reigns — the compiler groups the opposition by kind rather than by date, filing every hostile letter in one place.
The senders are listed with care: Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe, then a roll of peoples — Dinaites, Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, and the rest — identified as those whom the great and noble Osnappar brought over and settled in the city of Samaria. Resettled populations again, as in the offer to help Ezra 4:2.
Then the letter itself, quoted from its address down: to King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the people beyond the River.
Its argument is not religious. Nothing in it objects to a temple or to the God of Israel. It is about revenue and security, and it is competently built.
First the characterization: the Jews are building the rebellious and bad city, and have finished the walls and repaired the foundations. Note what has changed — the complaint has moved from a temple to walls, which is a military matter rather than a cultic one.
Then the consequence a treasury would care about: if this city is built and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll. Three named revenue streams. A fortified city can withhold payment; an unwalled one cannot.
Then the writers' credentials, in a phrase that gives the whole letter its tone: because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not appropriate for us to see the king's dishonor. They present themselves as loyal dependents raising an awkward matter reluctantly.
And then the move that makes the letter work: that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. They do not ask the king to take their word. They invite him to check the archive, which they know contains a record of rebellion — the same instrument that will later rescue the project when a different archive is searched Ezra 6:1–2.
The closing threat is territorial: you will have no possession beyond the River.
settled What this mark means