2 The building of the Temple is hindered, and how,   11 Letters to Artaxerxes, and the answer.

But [a]the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard, that the children of the captivity built the Temple unto the Lord God of Israel.

And they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief fathers, and said unto them, We will build with you: for we seek the Lord your God as ye do, and we have sacrificed unto him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, which brought us up hither.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezra 4:1 Meaning, the inhabitants of Samaria, whom the king of Assyria had placed in the stead of the ten tribes, 2 Kings 17:24 and 19:37. These professed God, but worshipped idols also, and therefore were the greatest enemies to the true servants of God.

Opposition to the Rebuilding

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building(A) a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon(B) king of Assyria, who brought us here.”(C)

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