References (14)
Even during the days of [his successor] Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta) [the first] [465-425 BC], Bishlam, Mitredat, Tavel, and the rest of their relatives wrote a letter in Aramaic that was translated.
[Here in , the text shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic until . The Jews were bilingual at this time, so to avoid switching between Aramaic (in which the Persian documents quoted were written) and Hebrew, the comments between the letters are also written in Aramaic. were probably the summary of the contents that was on the outside of the scroll.]
Rechum, the commander (literally: lord of commands), and Shimshaj, the city secretary, wrote a letter concerning Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste) [here with an "e" at the end] with the following content:
This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:
"To King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste).
From your servants, the men on the other side of the river [west of the Euphrates].
When the letter from King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste) had been read to Rechum, the scribe Shimshai, and their fellow brothers, they went to the Jews in Jerusalem and prevented them by force and power.
The elders of the Jews continued to build and made progress in the work through the prophetic words of Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They built and completed it as the God of Israel had commanded and as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste) [who reigned from 465 to 424 BC, see , ], king of Persia, had commanded.
[Chapter 6 ended with the temple finally being dedicated in 516 BC by the first group that returned from exile. Chapter 7 picks up 58 years later (458 BC), see . Zerubbabel had led the first group, and now, 80 years later, Ezra leads the second group back. Eventually, Nehemiah will lead the third group (444 BC), see .]
Now, after all this, during the reign of Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta), king of Persia, Ezra, son of Seraiah, son of Azariah (Hebr. Azarjah), son of Hilkiah,
And some of the children (sons) of Israel and some of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta). [Artaxerxes I came to power in 465 BC after the satrap Artabanos had murdered his father Xerxes I and his older brother Darius had also been killed. Seven years after this is the year 458 BC.]
Now this is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta) gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a teacher of the law of the Lord (Yahweh) and his statutes for Israel.
[ are in Aramaic:]
" [From:] Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste), king of kings [a popular title at the time – describing rule over many peoples],
to Ezra the priest, teacher of the commandments of the God of heaven (Aramaic: dat).
I, King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste), now issue a decree to all the treasurers in the land beyond the river: Whatever the priest Ezra, teacher of the law of the God of heaven, asks of you, it shall be done and given,
These are the leaders (the leading fathers, patriarchs, heads of the returnees) and their records, their genealogy (names of their ancestors), who came with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta).
And it happened in the month of Nisan [the first month, corresponding to March/April in our calendar] in the 20th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta) [the first], [445 BC], when the wine was before him, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king. I had not previously shown myself sad in his presence. [It has now been four months since Nehemiah received the report about the distress in Jerusalem, see Neh 1:1.]
Furthermore, from the time I was appointed governor of the land of Judah, from the 20th year [445 BC] to the 32nd year [433 BC] of King Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta), which is 12 years, my brothers and I have not eaten the bread (food) of the governors.
[These 12 years refer to a mission as governor that Nehemiah receives from the king. It is not the time he spends in Jerusalem; based on the dialogue with King Artachshasta, it is implied that it is a shorter period of about a year, see , .]
While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the 32nd year of the reign of Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshasta), king of Babylon [around 433 BC], I had returned to the king. But after some time, I asked the king for permission
