Study note

Ezra 4:7

  • The exact date of these events is unknown. They might have happened around the same time as an Egyptian revolt in 448 BC. This was a few years before Artaxerxes I sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem in 445 BC. If this is true, the enemies of Judah and Artaxerxes likely believed the Jews would revolt like the Egyptians did.

  • Aramaic was the international diplomatic language of the Persian Empire.