Reading for April 9th

Read Ezra  4.17-24. In verse 19: I made a decree, and someone searched: The command was to investigate the charge that Jerusalem had a history of rebellion. Brief accounts of major events were kept for Administrative purposes, such as the Babylonian Chronicles, which record the successive revolts of Jerusalem against 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 to refer to either David or Solomon, who exercised control over a large territory. This makes sense, however, either in the context or in the kinds of records available to the Persian monarch. The same wording could be translated, "Moreover, there have been powerful kings over Jerusalem who also 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 that may refer to infantry and cavalry units whos presence would have 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 little sense. Artaxerxes I makes the decision to have the work halted sometime after 465 BCE, but later the note until the second year of the reign of King Darius have to be 521 BCE. Either the author is hopelessly confused regarding chronology, or the purpose of the narrative is not historical by thematic. The notation here returns the narrative to the issue of rebuilding the Temple, bringing it back to v. 5. Comments or Questions..