Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites,
Ezra 4:9 is the signature block of a letter. Officials and resettled peoples put their names to a complaint against the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the list raises two questions: who were these groups, and why did so many of them unite against one small band of returned exiles?
A coalition against one city
The verse names not one enemy but a bloc. What could pull peoples this different into one letter?
Edward DennettThere are several lessons to note in the record of what they did. The first is the union of all the various races of the land "against Jerusalem"... all these were banded together to frustrate the work of the Lord in the building of His house. The carnal mind is enmity against God. So when God and His testimony are in question, there is no difficulty in securing unity of aim and purpose among His enemies. However much they differ among themselves, and even hate one another, they have but one mind when God appears on the scene.
The same writer gives a well-known example:
Edward DennettEven Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends through their shared contempt of Christ.
Names chosen for effect
Two officials head the list: Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe. Behind them stands a crowd of peoples, and the size of the list was the point.
F. B. HoleTime and their earlier failure had not reduced the opposition. It had increased instead, as verses 7-9 make clear. The letter went up in the names of certain men who were prominent among the people of the land. Behind them stood no fewer than nine tribes or citizens or peoples who were living then in the country around Palestine. It was clearly a very imposing document.
Whether they truly spoke for all those groups is another matter.
Leslie M. GrantThey speak of themselves as representatives of many peoples whom Osnapper had taken captive and settled in the cities of Samaria. Whether they really represented those nations, as their letter claimed, may be very questionable. But they wanted their letter to look convincing.
Who the listed peoples were
The names are not native to the land. So where did these peoples come from?
H. L. RossierThey belonged to the nations that the kings of Assyria, as was their custom, moved to other countries after conquering them. Esar-haddon, the son of Sennacherib, followed the policy of Shalmaneser. The tribes of Israel that were never subdued went into captivity, and in their place he settled people from many different lands. He made them live in the cities of Samaria and in the land west of the Euphrates. The second book of Kings tells us about the religious condition of these nations. They kept their gods, and at the same time acknowledged the God of Israel: "So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images."
The returning exiles had refused to let these people build with them. That refusal was not pride:
H. L. RossierIn speaking this way, they show no spiritual pride. They admit that they are under the king of the Gentiles because of their own unfaithfulness. But they have understood that they alone are called to this work, since they cannot in any way associate with the religious character of the people around them.
The hand behind the alliance
The list names no one as the real author of the campaign. Commentators point past the signatures.
Edward DennettSo in our chapter, Satan, though concealed, is the active agent in stirring up these various peoples in their action against the work of the remnant.
Why the letter worked at all
The coalition looked strong. But the real weakness lay on the other side.
Edward DennettIt must still be stressed that these adversaries could have had no power against the people of God, if the people themselves had not lost faith in God and heart for their work... It would have been the same with the remnant, but for their own laziness and unbelief. As already pointed out, it seems they stopped their work before the ban ever came.
The outcome was settled from the start:
The Bible TreasuryThe enemy could only delay their purpose, not frustrate it, for it was of God.
Summary
- United — peoples who differ and even hate each other agree at once when God's work is the target.
- Impressive — two officials and nine peoples made the letter look weighty. Their claim to speak for all those nations is questionable.
- Imported — Assyrian kings had resettled these peoples in Samaria. They feared the LORD and served their own idols at the same time.
- Concealed — the letter names no real author. Behind the signatures Satan stirs up the peoples against the work.
- Limited — the enemy could delay the work but not defeat it. What really stopped it was the exiles' own loss of faith.