They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace.
Work on the temple had restarted. The Persian officials who came to inspect it now put the question to King Darius in writing. This verse is the letter's opening line. Its polite greeting of peace comes from men who had the power to stop everything — yet their report would serve the very work they questioned.
The Letter and Its Contents
The letter reports what the officials found in Jerusalem, and it repeats the answer the builders gave them:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThen Tatnai and his associates sent a letter to King Darius. It gives details of their visit to Jerusalem that we are not told elsewhere. Zerubbabel and his companions had answered Tatnai's questions like this: "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth." So they bore witness to who they were. Then they told what had happened, and how Cyrus had made the decree to build the house of God… The builders must have had perfect peace about this letter, knowing that the LORD was with them.
A Different Tone from the Earlier Complaint
An earlier letter about Jerusalem had already gone to a Persian king in a hostile tone. This one is different:
Leslie M. GrantTattenai then wrote a letter to King Darius. It was not hostile, like the one Rehum and his companions had written to Artaxerxes (ch. 4:12-16). He was simply asking whether what the Jews had told him was true. The message came from the governor of the region beyond the river (Tattenai), Shethar Boznai and their companions, the Persians beyond the River.
The Opponents Report the Facts
The men writing had every interest in halting the building. Yet what they set down was accurate, and their own words praise the workers:
Edward DennettThey were clearly impressed with the work of the weak Jews, for they tell the king, "We went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is being built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goes on fast, and prospers in their hands." Unlike the letter in the earlier chapter, this one at least reports the facts faithfully. Both letters aimed to stop the work. Yet here the enemy testifies to the hard work and devotion of the builders.
Even the way these officials named Israel's God carries weight:
Leslie M. GrantThey did not consider the God of Israel as similar to one of the idols of the nations, but recognized Him as the great God. They put the whole matter in a restrained and fair way. They did not demand that the work be stopped. They only asked whether the king of Persia had permitted it.
Why the Builders Could Answer Boldly
The Jews had started building again before any new royal permission arrived. Their ground was the earlier decree of Cyrus:
William KellyHow bold faith is! And God justifies the faith that He gives. This looked like a lack of respect for the royal authority. But in fact they had at least as good an authority for going on with the work. If Artaxerxes stops the building of the house here, Cyrus had already authorized the building of it… They go back to what Cyrus had commanded. They knew one of the great rules of the Persian kingdom well: the laws of the Medes and Persians did not change. It was Artaxerxes that had changed.
The Outcome
The opponents' plan failed completely:
William KellySo the adversaries were fully refuted and stopped in their evil work. The house of God received — I will not say a push forward, but — its completion. For the beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to start building the house again before they got this fresh decree. "And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered [not through the commandment of the king, but they prospered] through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo."
Summary
- Inquiry. The letter to Darius was measured and truthful, unlike the hostile complaint sent to Artaxerxes earlier.
- Testimony. It was written to question the work. Instead it recorded how hard the builders worked, and it called Israel's God "the great God."
- Authority. The Jews stood on the older decree of Cyrus. Persian law did not change, so their boldness was also their defence.
- Peace. The letter opens by wishing the king peace. The builders had the real thing, because the Lord was with them.
- Power. The work prospered through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, not through the king's permission. The decree only confirmed what faith had already begun.