Ezra 4:19 - Exposition

I commanded, and search has been made . The Pseudo-Smerdis, who was a fanatical adherent of Magism, which disallowed temples altogether (Herod; 1.130), and who had already destroyed the temples of Ormuzd in Persia ('Behistun Ins.,' col. 1. par. 14, 5), was naturally willing enough to do as the Samaritans desired, and stop the restoration of the Jewish temple. Accordingly, he had a search made among the state records, and found, as they had expected he would, evidence of insurrections on the part of the Jews against the foreign countries to which they had been subject, as Assyria ( 2 Kings 18:7 ) and Babylon ( 2 Kings 24:1 ; Jeremiah 52:3 ), and also proof of the formidable power possessed by certain Jewish or Israelite kings; upon which he thought himself justified in complying with the Samaritan request, and ordering the work that was going on at Jerusalem to cease (see Ezra 4:21 ).