Bible Strands
Ezra 4:23
When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates act immediately after King Artaxerxes’ decree is read to them, targeting the Jewish builders in Jerusalem.
The words — אֱדַ֗יִן ('e.Da.yin) translates as “then,” marking immediate action, while פַּרְשֶׁ֤גֶן (par.She.gen) means “copy,” specifying the official royal document.
The thread — This enforcement follows the earlier petition in Ezra 4:8 and the king’s written response in Ezra 4:17, culminating in the halted construction noted in Ezra 4:24.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political power, once activated, directly dictates the pace of religious work, leaving builders subject to imperial decree.
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
King James Version
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 to cease by force and power.
Cross-references
- Ezra 4:8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
- Ezra 4:17 Then the king sent this reply: To Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of your associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in the region west of the Euphrates: Greetings.
- Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
- Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Romans 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;