Ezra 5:6

GOVERNOR TATTENAI'S LETTER TO DARIUS I

"The copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and his companions the Apharsachites, who were beyond the River, sent unto Darius the king; they sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus: Unto Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goeth on with diligence and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who gave you a decree to build this house, and to finish this wall? We asked them their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were at the head of them. And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was builded there many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and finished. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God. And the gold and silver vessels also of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; and he said unto him, Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be buUded in its place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundations of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time, even until now, hath it been in building, yet it is not completed. Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure-house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem; and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter."

One must admit that this letter is a fair and honorable presentation of the truth as Tattenai laid it out before Darius the king. What a contrast there is here with that prejudiced and derogatory letter that the evil governor Rehum would, at a later time, send to Artaxerxes.

"Builded with great stones" (Ezra 5:8). "The Hebrew here is rolling stones, that is, stones so large that they would have to be moved by rolling them on rollers."[5] Dummelow gave the dimensions of some of those stones as "Sixty-seven feet long, seven and one half feet high, and nine feet wide."[6]

"Sheshbazzar" (Ezra 5:14). This is the man to whom was counted the sacred vessels that he restored to Israel, even those that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Temple of Solomon. He was evidenly Cyrus' man in charge of that first expedition to Jerusalem; and scholars differ on just what connection he had with Zerubbabel. Hamrick thought that he might have been the same person as Zerubbabel,[7] in which case his Babylonian name might have been Sheshbazzar. However, the opinion of Cundall may be correct: "If Sheshbazzar was the Persian appointed leader, it would account for the fact that in this official communication he would be tactfully mentioned as the one who laid the foundations of the Temple, whereas Zerubbabel, the popular leader would be given the prominence in the domestic account."[8]

"Let there be search made ... whether it be so ... that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build the house of God at Jerusalem" (Ezra 5:17). This was the key request of Darius by Tattenai. If indeed it was true that Cyrus had made such a decree, then according to the Medo-Persian tradition it was impossible to change it. Daniel twice referred to the "Law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not" (Daniel 6:8,12). Daniel commented that, "It is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed" (Daniel 6:15). If the projected search proposed by Tatrenal revealed that Cyrus indeed had made such a decree as the Jews claimed, then it was settled; the law could not be changed.