The Bible — notes and cross-references in Ezra | Interpretation and commentary to chapter 4

4:1^1a adversaries

cf. Neh. 4:1-11

These were people brought from Babylon and Assyria by the king of Assyria to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24 and note 2 Kings 17:24^1b; John 4:9 and note John 4:9¹). Imitating Israel in seeking God and sacrificing to God, they pretended to help the rebuilding of the house of Jehovah, but they were rejected by Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses (vv. 1-3).
4:2^a Assyria

2 Kings 17:23-24
4:3^a nothing

cf. Neh. 2:20
4:4^a weakened

Neh. 6:9; Jer. 38:4
4:6^a Ahasuerus

Esth. 1:1
4:7^a Artaxerxes

Ezra 7:1
4:7^b Aramaic

2 Kings 18:26; Dan. 2:4
4:8¹ Rehum

From here through 6:18 the text is in Aramaic, not in Hebrew.
4:10^a Samaria

Matt. 10:5
4:12^a Matt. 10:5

cf. Neh. 2:17; 6:15
4:14¹ we

A figurative expression meaning to be supported by the king.
4:20^a ruled

1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chron. 9:26