Reading for November 9th

Read Ezra 4.17-24. In verse 19: I made a decree and someone searched: The command was to investigate the charge the Jerusalem had a history of rebelllion. Brief accounts of major events were kept for administrative purposes, such as the Babylonian Chronicles, which record the succesive revolts of Jerusalem against the Babylonian empire until the city's destruction. In verse 20: Jerusalem has had mighty kings who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River: This would seem to refer to either David or Solomon, who exercised control over a large territory. This makes little sense, however, either in the context or in the kinds of records avaialble to the Persian monarch. The same wording could ne translated, "Morover, there have been powerful kings over jerusalem who ruled over the whole province ... ," placing Artaxerxes in a series of imperial rulers who had successfully controlled Jerusalem and Beyond the River. In verse 21: This city not be rebuilt, until I make a decree: By stopping the rebuilding, Artaxerxes was not making a permanent decision. A future royal decree is exactly what the narrative concerning Nehemiah envisions. In verse 23: By force and power made them cease: The prompt response of Rehum and Shimshai is accompanied by terms that may refer to infantry and cavalry units whose presence would underscore the imperial concern over the rebuilding effort. In verse 24: At that time the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped: If read as a historical narrative, the phrase at that time makes lttle sense. Artaxerxes I makes the decision to have the work halted some time after 465 BCE, butlater the note until the second year of the reign of King Darius would have to be 521 BCE. Either the author is hopelessly confused reguarding chronology, or the purpose of the narrative is not historical but thematic. The notation here returns the narrative to the issue of rebuilding the Temple, bringing it back to v. 5. Comments or Questions..