Ezra 4:21

Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Ezra 4:21. 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, it appears, however, he kept his ears open to further information; which if he should receive, different from theirs, he might give other orders.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:6-24 It is an old slander, that the prosperity of the church would be hurtful to kings and princes. Nothing can be more false, for true godliness teaches us to honour and obey our sovereign. But where the command of God requires one thing and the law of the land another, we must obey God rather than man, and patiently submit to the consequences. All who love the gospel should avoid all appearance of evil, lest they should encourage the adversaries of the church. The world is ever ready to believe any accusation against the people of God, and refuses to listen to them. The king suffered himself to be imposed upon by these frauds and falsehoods. Princes see and hear with other men's eyes and ears, and judge things as represented to them, which are often done falsely. But God's judgment is just; he sees things as they are.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Mighty kings ... - If this reference can scarcely have been to David or Solomon (see marginal reference), of whom neither the Babylonian nor the Assyrian archives would be likely to have had any account - it would probably be to Menahem 2 Kings 15:16 and Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:6-7; 2 Chronicles 35:18).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. we have maintenance from the king's palace—literally, "we are salted with the salt of the palace." "Eating a prince's salt" is an Oriental phrase, equivalent to "receiving maintenance from him."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease,.... From building:

and that this city be not builded until another commandment shall be given from me; he might suspect that this case, in all its circumstances, was not truly stated, and that hereafter he might see reason to recede from the present orders he gave; and the rather, as by searching, and perhaps on his own knowledge, must have observed, that his father Cyrus had shown favour to the Jews, and had not only set them at liberty, but had encouraged them to rebuild their temple; which might be what they were about, and was the case, and nothing else, except their houses to dwell in.

Geneva Study Bible

Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21. Give ye now commandment) R.V. Make ye now a decree. Cf. 19. The Samaritan officials clearly held some authority over the whole adjoining territory.

and that this city be not builded] See notes on Ezra 4:12-13. The king’s alarm lest a strong city should be made of Jerusalem agrees rather with the time of Nehemiah than with that of Zerubbabel. The naval victories of the Greeks had rendered the Persian coast frontier peculiarly vulnerable.

until another commandment shall be given from me] R.V. until a decree shall be made by me. The A.V. by introducing the word ‘another’ produced a needless ambiguity. The original has ‘the decree’, i.e. the permission to build.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 21. - Until another commandment shall be given. It can scarcely be supposed that the Pseudo-Smerdis had any intention of issuing "another commandment;" but, since "the laws of the Medes and Persians," as a general rule, "altered not" (Esther 1:19; Daniel 6:15), it may well be that the clause before us was one inserted as a matter of form in most decrees, to prevent them from being irrevocable. Ezra 4:21

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Give ye now commandment to hinder these people (to keep them from the work), that this city be not built until command (sc. to build) be given from me." יתּשׂם, Ithpeal of שׂוּם.