Ezra 4:13

Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Adversaries of Judah address the Persian king to warn that Jerusalem's restoration will cost the crown revenue. They write during the city's initial rebuilding phase to halt the project by appealing to royal financial interests.

The words — כְּעַן (ke'án) translates literally as "now," and יְדִיעַ (yediʿa) means "known," framing the appeal as an urgent official notice. The phrase לְמַלְכָּא (ləmalkâ) directly targets "to the king," emphasizing the political leverage behind the warning.

The thread — The concern over royal tribute echoes Ezra 7:24, which limits taxation authority, and Nehemiah 5:4, where citizens borrow to pay the king’s tax. The duty to render revenue to governing authorities later appears in Romans 13:6.

Why it lands — The verse demands a reader to recognize how financial self-interest drives political opposition to God’s work. It asks the reader to weigh earthly revenue against divine mandate without excusing the opponents’ manipulative framing.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כְּעַ֗ןke.'Annow יְדִ֙יעַ֙ye.Di.a'known לֶהֱוֵ֣אle.he.Ve'let it be לְמַלְכָּ֔אle./mal.Ka/'to/ king/ the דִּ֠יdithat הֵ֣ןhenif קִרְיְתָ֥אkir.ye.Ta/'city/ the דָךְ֙doKhthis תִּתְבְּנֵ֔אtit.be.Ne'it will be built וְשׁוּרַיָּ֖הve./shu.rai.Yah/'and/ walls/ the יִֽשְׁתַּכְלְל֑וּןyish.takh.le.Lunthey will be finished מִנְדָּֽה־min.dah-tribute בְל֤וֹve.Lotax וַהֲלָךְ֙va./ha.loKhand/ toll לָ֣אla'not יִנְתְּנ֔וּןyin.te.Nunthey will give וְאַפְּתֹ֥םve./'a.pe.Tomand/ certainly מַלְכִ֖יםmal.Khimkings תְּהַנְזִֽק׃te.han.Zikit will injure

King James Version

Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.

Cross-references

Ezra 7:24 And be advised that you have no authority to impose tribute, duty, or toll on any of the priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
Nehemiah 5:4 Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.
Romans 13:6 This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
Ezra 4:20 And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
Psalms 52:2 Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
Psalms 119:69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
Matthew 17:25 “Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”