Ezra 4:14 - Exposition

We have maintenance from the king's palace . The marginal rendering is better, and shows the true sense. "Eating a man's salt" in the East is deriving one's subsistence from him. The man who eats another's salt is bound to look after his interests . It was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour. Rather, "the king's detriment or loss"— it was not meet for us to stand by tamely and see the king stript of his due.