Bible Strands
Ezra 4:6
At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this event at the start of Xerxes’s reign, noting a formal opposition to Judah and Jerusalem following earlier resistance during the reigns of Cyrus and Darius.
The words — The Hebrew כָּתְבוּ שִׁטְנָה (katav sitnah) literally means "they wrote an accusation," indicating a formal written complaint rather than a verbal dispute.
The thread — Written opposition against God’s people appears in Daniel 9:1 during the transition of Mede rule and in Matthew 27:37 with the written charge placed above Jesus.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that institutional resistance to God’s work operates through documented legal and political channels, requiring readers to track how opposition shifts form across generations.
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
And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- Esther 1:1 This is what happened in the days of Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Cush.
- Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans—
- Matthew 27:37 Above His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
- Acts 24:5 We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
- Acts 24:13 Nor can they prove to you any of their charges against me.
- Acts 25:7 When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they could not prove.
- Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.