The Mystery of Ephraim

The Samaritans are adversaries to the returning Jews because of (a) difference in defining what time at ben ha’arbayim when the Pascha lamb should be killed: the Jewish definition of ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings” is “after noon and until nightfall,” whereas the Samaritans is sunset or dusk; (b) when is omer, which translated to English is rendered “wave sheaf” offering to be made: the Jews definition has it on the annual Sabbath after Pascha, whereas the Samaritans has it the day after the weekly Sabbath during the days of unleavened bread;

— (c) after counting seven weeks after the omer, on what day Shavuot is to be kept: the Jews have it on Sivan 6th, whereas the Samaritans always have it on a weekly Sabbath; (d) the three annual feasts are to be kept in Jerusalem, whereas the Samaritans have their feasts on Mount Gerizim, which they consider a sacred mountain; and (e) once in roughly three years, the Samaritan calendar starts one month later than the Jewish calendar.

Ezra 3

¹ And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. — and when the seventh month was come; the month Tisri, when the Feast of Tabernacles was; or when it “was approaching” for before it was actually come some following things were done, the people met and an altar was built; for on the first day of it sacrifices were offered, Ezra 3:6,

— and the children of Israel were in the cities; their respective cities, settling their domestic affairs; the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem; the thing was universal and done with as much dispatch as if only one man was concerned; and it seems to denote as if they were under a divine impulse and came together without any consultation and without summons.

² Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. — the name Jeshua is a mere variant of Joshua; his brethren the priests, as being all of them equally descended from Aaron, the priests were “brethren.”

— Zerubbabel; he was the chief or governor of the first band of returning exiles; accompanied by Joshua, the high priest and Nehemiah;

— and built the altar of the God of Israel; and to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses.

³ And they set the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries; and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. — they set the altar upon his bases; they built the new altar upon the foundations of the old one, making it exactly conform to them. This was done, no doubt, to indicate that the religion which the exiles brought back from Babylon was in every respect identical with that which they had possessed before they were carried thither;

— for fear was upon them. Or, “though fear was upon them.” Notwithstanding their fear of the surrounding nations, they set up the altar; their neighbours were not Persians, but descendants of various idolatrous nations: Hamathites, Babylonians, Susianians, Elamites, Cuthaeans, who bitterly opposed to anything like a pure spiritual religion;

— they offered burnt offerings; morning and evening; it was their duty and they did not wait till the temple should be rebuilt and dedicated; but at the outset they resumed the daily service prescribed by the law (Exodus 29:38,39, Leviticus 6:9,11), as well as observed the annual seasons of solemn observance.

⁴ They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the custom, as the duty of every day required; — it was the autumn or vintage feast, the most joyous of all the annual festivals, the feast of tabernacles as it is written; according to the rules prescribed for the observation of it in Leviticus 23:34 this began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month:

— and they offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, even burnt offerings, morning (at 9 AM) and evening (at 3 PM); the daily sacrifice, as directed in Exodus 29:38. The heretic Sun-worshipping Samaritans interpret evening (ben ha arbayim) as sunset or dusk, at 6 PM as the Sun began to set.

⁵ and afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of every one who willingly offered a freewill offering unto the Lord. — the new moons, the three feasts and the freewill offerings, added to the daily sacrifice, made up the essentials of the sacrifices; all being, like the arrangements in the Book of Leviticus, observed even before the Temple was built and afterwards continually.

— Q, was the new moons observed by the priests only or by all the people, and if observed by all the people, how?

⁶ From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. — the altar service, with the daily morning and evening sacrifice, began on the first day of the seventh month; this daily sacrifice was regularly offered, according to the law.

⁷ They gave money also unto the masons and to the carpenters, and meat and drink and oil unto those of Sidon and to those of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia. — they gave money also to the masons, and to the carpenters; to buy stone and timber with for the building of the temple:

— and meat and drink and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre; which were more agreeable to them than money because there was not plenty of such things in their country as in the land of Israel:

— to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa; as they did at the first building of the temple by Solomon; they cut down cedars at Lebanon, which belonged to them and sent them by sea to Joppa, the nearest seaport to Jerusalem, about forty miles from it: see II Chronicles 2:16;

— according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia; for Tyre and Zidon being under his dominion as well as Judea, he not only gave leave to the Jews to get cedar wood from Lebanon, but gave orders to the Zidonians and Tyrians to furnish them with it, paying a valuable consideration for it; and so some render the word, “according to the commandment of Cyrus.”

⁸ Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and they appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward, to press forward the work of the house of the Lord. — the building of the temple was begun as soon as ever the season of the year would permit, and as soon as they had ended the solemnities of the Passover. They took little more than half a year for preparing the ground and materials; so much were their hearts upon the work; 

— and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upwards to set forward the work of the house of the Lord; to put men to work upon it, and direct them what to do, and urge them to attend closely to it; ever since David’s time the Levites were employed at twenty years of age, when before not till thirty, or twenty five; see 1 Chronicles 23:24.

⁹ Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah together, to supervise the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites.

¹⁰ And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. — after the ordinance of David, king of Israel; all goes back to earlier times. As the first offerings on the altar were according to what was “written in the law of Moses, the man of God,” so the musical ceremonial of this foundation is according to the precedent of David (see 1 Chronicles 6, 1Chronicles 16:25).

¹¹ And they sang together by course, praising and giving thanks unto the Lord: “Because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

¹² But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were elderly men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy, — but many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men; seventy or eighty years of age:

— that had seen the first house; the temple built by Solomon, as they very well might, since then it had been destroyed but fifty two years; for the seventy years captivity are to be reckoned from the fourth of Jehoiakim, when it began, and which was eighteen years before the destruction of the temple;

— that had seen the first house; not when first founded, for that was five hundred years ago, but in “its foundation” – they saw it standing upon its foundation, in all its glory, as the Septuagint version says;

— this house was before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; seeing what it was like to be by the foundation now laid, and was in their sight as nothing in comparison of the former; see Haggai 2:3, 

¹³ so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. — there was a remarkable mixture of emotions upon laying the foundation of the temple. Those that only knew the misery of having no temple at all, praised the Lord with shouts of joy;

— to them, even this foundation seemed great. We ought to be thankful for the beginnings of reinstatement, though it be not yet perfect. But those who remembered the glory of the first temple and considered how far inferior this was likely to be, wept with a loud voice;

— for the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off; the shouting being of young people, whose voice was strongest, and their shouting prevailed over the noise of weeping; and it was heard further, and at a distance appeared more distinctly to be the noise of shouting, that of weeping not reaching so far; but Rashi is of opinion that the noise of weeping was heard further than the noise of shouting, which seems unlikely.

Ezra 4

¹ Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple unto the Lord God of Israel, — the adversaries; the Samaritans, so identified by Nehemiah (Ezra 4:10). These were a mixed race, the original Israelite element of which was nearly lost in the tribes imported into the northern part of the land by Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esar-haddon;

— the Samaritans are adversaries to the returning Jews because of (a) difference in defining what time at ben ha’arbayim when the Pascha lamb should be killed: the Jewish definition of ben ha’arbayim “between the two evenings” is “after noon and until nightfall,” whereas the Samaritans is sunset or dusk; (b) when is omer, which translated to English is rendered “wave sheaf” offering to be made: the Jews definition has it on the annual Sabbath after Pascha, whereas the Samaritans has it the day after the weekly Sabbath during the days of unleavened bread;

— (c) after counting seven weeks after the omer, on what day Shavuot is to be kept: the Jews have it on Sivan 6th, whereas the Samaritans always have it on a weekly Sabbath; (d) the three annual feasts are to be kept in Jerusalem, whereas the Samaritans have their feasts on Mount Gerizim, which they consider a sacred mountain; and (e) once in roughly three years, the Samaritan calendar starts one month later than the Jewish calendar.

— these adversaries, being not accepted in the building of the temple with the Jews, endeavour to hinder it; their false and malicious letter to Artaxerxes, Ezra 4:7-16. Artexerxes’ decree: the building is hindered, Ezra 4:17-24.

² then they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do; and we have done sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.” — as ye do; indeed, “They feared the Lord, but worshipped their own gods” (2Kings 17:33): thus they came either in the spirit of hypocrites or with an intention to unite their own idolatries with the pure worship of Yehovah. In any case, they are counted enemies of the God of Israel.

³ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said unto them, “Ye have nothing to do with us in building a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.” — you have nothing to do with us to build an house to our God; being neither of the same nation, nor of the same religion:

— but we ourselves together will build to the Lord God of Israel; we and we only, who are together as one man, united in one body of people, and in the same religious sentiments, being Israelites; we separately, without admitting strangers among us, will build a temple to the God of Israel.

⁴ Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, — every attempt to revive true religion will stir up the opposition by Satan; the adversaries were the Samaritans, who had been planted in the land of Israel, II King 17. It was plain that they did not mean to unite in the worship of the Lord, according to his word. Let those who discourage a good work, and weaken them that are employed in it, see whose pattern they follow.

⁵ and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. — the Samaritans endeavored by every means to molest the workmen as well as obstruct the progress of the building; and, though they could not alter the decree which Cyrus had issued regarding it, yet by bribes and clandestine arts indefatigably plied at court, they labored to frustrate the effects of the edict.

— their success in those underhand dealings was great; for Cyrus, being frequently absent and much absorbed in his warlike expeditions, left the government in the hands of his son Cambyses, a wicked prince, and extremely hostile to the Jews and their religion. In consequence of the difficulties and obstacles thus interposed, for a period of twenty years, the progress of the work was very slow.

⁶ And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. — and wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem; full of hatred and enmity, spite and malice, charging them as a turbulent, disobedient, and rebellious people.

⁷ And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their companions wrote unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue. — and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue; or Chaldee, of which Ezra gives a copy in the Chaldee language; the meaning either is, that it was written both in Syriac letters, and in the Syriac language; for sometimes words are written in one language and in the character of another.

⁸ Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king of this sort:

⁹ Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Shushanites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites, — Rehum the chancellor; the lord of judgement, the counsellor of the Persian king, a conventional title of the civil governor.

¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapper brought over and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest who are on this side of the river and at such a time: — and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time;

— On this side the river – literally, “beyond the river,” a phrase used of Palestine by Ezra, Nehemiah, and in the Book of Kings, as designating the region west of the Euphrates.

¹¹ (This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king.) “Thy servants, the men on this side of the river, and at such a time. — this is the copy of the letter they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king, which Ezra brought with him from Babylon, and is contained in the five following verses: thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time; this was the inscription of the letter, or the beginning of it.

¹² Be it known unto the king that the Jews who came up from thee to us have come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. — be it known unto the king; the intent of this letter was, that it might be known to the king what follows:
that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem;

— this they observe partly out of contempt of the Jews, having been lately captive in Babylon and partly to insinuate what ingratitude they were guilty of; that having got their liberty and come to Jerusalem, they made use of it to the king’s detriment;

— building the rebellious and the bad city; as they suggest it had been to kings, even his predecessors, in former times, Ezra 4:15; and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations, which was a falsehood; for the most they had done was setting up the walls of their houses in Jerusalem and laying the foundation of the temple; as for the walls of the city, they had not as yet done anything unto them.

¹³ Be it known now unto the king that, if this city be built and the walls set up again, then they will not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt bring damage to the revenue of the kings. — toll, tribute, and custom; the first was a poll tax, the second was a property tax, the third the excise dues on articles of trade and merchandise;

— their letter and the edict that followed, commanding an immediate cessation of the work at the city walls, form the exclusive subject of narrative at Ezra 4:7-23.

¹⁴ Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore have we sent and certified this to the king, — now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace; in the Hebrew it is, we are salted with the salt of the palace; that is, are sustained by the king’s munificence, or have a stipend from the king’s exchequer. In ancient times it appears usual to allow those who had deserved well and on that account were honourably provided for at the king’s charge, among other things, a daily quantity of salt; it being a thing very necessary in human life;

— and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour; to see any thing done injurious to his crown and dignity, to his honour and revenues, when we are supported by him; this would be ungrateful as well as unjust;

— therefore have we sent and certified the king; of the truth of what is before related; and, for the further confirmation of it, refer him to the ancient records of the kingdom. What a hypocrite!

¹⁵ that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers. So shalt thou find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same in old times, for which cause this city was destroyed. — the book of the records of thy fathers; “the book of the records of the Chronicles” which in Esther 6:1 is “read before the king.” This extended beyond his own fathers back to the times of the predecessors of the Medes and Persians empire;

— so shalt thou find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city and hurtful unto kings and provinces and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time; against the king of Babylon, particularly in the times of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah: for which cause was this city destroyed; as it was by Nebuchadnezzar; see II Kings 24:1.

¹⁶ We certify to the king that if this city be built again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side of the river.” — We certify the king, that if this city be rebuilt and the walls thereof set up; as it formerly was, and now attempted, as they suggest:

— by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river; the river Euphrates; intimating that the Jews would not only shake off his yoke, and refuse to pay tribute themselves, but would seize on all his dominions on that side the river, and annex them to their own.

¹⁷ Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river: “Peace, and at such a time. — then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe; this affair, upon examination, being found to be of importance, the king of Persia thought fit to send an answer to the above letter, which was doing them an honour, and gave them the power and authority they wished to have:

— and to the rest of their companions that dwelt in Samaria; in the kingdom, province, and cities of Samaria: and unto the rest beyond the river; the river Euphrates, the rest of the nations before mentioned,  Ezra 4:9.

¹⁸ The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me. — hath been plainly before the king by such that understood both the Syrian and Persian languages; the letter was written in the Syrian language, and the king being a Persian, it was necessary it should be interpreted and explained to him.

¹⁹ And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city in old times hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. — the archives of the Babylonian kingdom would contain accounts of the insurrections raised, or threatened, by Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah II Kings 24:1, II Kings 24:10, II Kings 24:20. It does not appear that there had ever been any rebellion against Persia.

²⁰ There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom were paid unto them. — there have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; as David and Solomon, and the account of these they had in their records, see II Samuel 8:1,

— and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them; as appears from the places referred to; and this served to strengthen the insinuation made to the king, that if these people were suffered to go on building, he would lose his tribute and taxes in those parts.

²¹ Give ye now command to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not built until another command shall be given from me. — Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease; thus he suffered himself to be imposed upon by their fraud and falsehood, and took no care to examine the allegations of their petition concerning what the Jews were now doing;

— but took all they had asserted for matter of fact and therefore was very ready to gratify them with an order of council to stay proceedings. Until another commandment shall be given; so that perhaps he kept his ears open to further information; which if he should receive, different from theirs, he might give other orders.

²² Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?” — take heed now that ye fail not to do this; to put his orders into execution and at once, without any loss of time, oblige the Jews to desist from rebuilding the walls of their city, which he was told they were doing, though a great falsehood:

— why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings? of him and his successors to be deprived of their toll, tribute, and customs, and to have insurrections, mutinies and rebellions in the dominions belonging to them.

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 cease by force and power. — 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;

— instigated by the Samaritans, 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.

²⁴ Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. — 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; the suspension of the general enterprise—called “the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem”—lasted nearly two years; but it must be remembered that the altar was still the centre of a certain amount of worship; which would carry the age of Zerubbabel, who both laid the foundation of the temple and finished it, Zechariah 4:9. 

~ by Joel Huan on May 9, 2022.

Posted in Ezra