Ezra 4:2

Then they came to Zerubbabel, and the chief of the fathers,.... These they addressed, as knowing that if they could not prevail with them, they could never succeed in their design; and these were no

Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon

Let us build with you: this they spake not sincerely, as appears from their disposition and designs discovered in the following history; but that by this conjunction with them they might pry into their counsels, and thereby get an opportunity to find some matter or pretences of accusation against them. We seek your God, as ye do; for so they did, though in a mongrel way: see , &c. Esar-haddon king of Assur; son of Sennacherib, and after him king of Assyria, ; who brought or sent these persons hither, either, 1. In the days of Salmaneser, who lived and reigned in Assyria but eight years before Esar-haddon’ s reign; and so Esar-haddon might be one of his most eminent commanders, and the man by whom that colony was sent. Or, 2. In the reign of Esar-haddon, who sent this second colony to supply and strengthen the first.

Ezra 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye [do]; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.Ver. 2. Let us build with you] Craftily and treacherously do they offer their cost and pains, ut illis intermixti personas committerent, atque ita opus interverterent, saith one well; that, mingling with them, they might set them together by the ears, and so put a stop to the work. Thus Julian, to spite the Christians, first set the Jews to work to rebuild their temple; and when that would not be, he called home the Arian bishops out of banishment, to breed new broils in the Church. The Jesuits have a practice at this day of running over to the Lutheran Church, pretending to be converts, and to build with them; but it is only to keep up that bitter contention that is between the Calvinists and the Lutherans. And what ill offices they do among us at this day to heighten our divisions, and hinder the Reformation (by their wiles, much ensnared and hindered), good men are very sensible of. The Lord detect and defeat them. For we seek your God, as ye do] Nay, not as ye do. See 2 Kings 17:32-34, they feared the Lord, not filially, but for his lions; as the old Romans worshipped their Veiones, lest they should hurt them; and as the Caffrani (a people in India) worship devils in most terrible figure, that they may not punish them. Since the days of Esarhaddon] Son and successor to Sennacherib, 2 Kings 19:37, grandson to Salmaneser; after whom, it seems, he brought a new colony into the land of Samaria, who proved deadly enemies to God’ s people.

(2) As ye do.—“They feared the Lord, and worshipped their own gods” (2 Kings 17:33): thus they came either in the spirit of hypocrites or with an intention to unite their own idolatries with the pure worship of Jehovah. In any case, they are counted enemies of the God of Israel. We do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esar-haddon.—He ended his reign B.C. 668, and therefore the Samaritans speak from a tradition extending backwards a century and a half. Which brought us up hither.—Thus they entirely leave out of consideration what residue of Israel was yet to be found among them.

Verse 2. Let us build with you] We acknowledge the same God, are solicitous for his glory, and will gladly assist you in this work. But that they came with no friendly intention, the context proves.

2. then they came &c.] R.V. then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ houses.for we seek your God, as ye do] The claim to cooperate in the work of building the Temple is based upon the assertion of common worship. The phrase ‘to seek’ in the sense of ‘to worship’ is not uncommon in these books and in Chronicles. Cf. Ezra 6:21; 1 Chronicles 22:19; 2 Chronicles 15:13; 2 Chronicles 17:4; 2 Chronicles 31:21; 2 Chronicles 34:3. and we do sacrifice unto him] so R.V. text. R.V. margin. ‘Another reading is, yet we do no sacrifice since &c.’ The Hebrew words for “unto him” and “not” though written with a different second letter are pronounced in the same way, ‘lô’. The context as a rule makes it easy to distinguish the meaning. But there are some fifteen instances, in which the Hebrew Bibles preserve the tradition of confusion between the two words. It is even possible that the word ‘lô’ (‘unto him’) may have sometimes been written with the same second letter as the negative (e.g. Exodus 21:8; 1 Samuel 2:3; 2 Samuel 16:18; 2 Kings 8:10). In this verse the Hebrew text has the letters of the negative; the margin has the letters of the pronoun. The external evidence is in favour of the pronoun ‘unto him’, being supported by the K’ri, by the LXX. (áὐ ?ôῷ), the Vulgate (‘nos immolabimus victimas’ without a negative), the Syriac, Versions and by the parallel text in 1Es 5:69 (‘and do sacrifice unto him’). Internal evidence may thus be summarized. In favour of the negative (‘yet we do no sacrifice’), it may be alleged (1) that the statement contained in the alternative reading ‘we do sacrifice unto him’ would have no weight, since the Jews would at once reject as idolatrous sacrifices not offered at Jerusalem: (2) that the Samaritan argument requires the negative. Having pleaded sameness of worship, they regret the omission of sacrifice and proceed to entreat that they may obtain this privilege by becoming sharers in the work. In favour of the pronoun (‘unto him’) it may be replied (1) that had the disputed word been the negative, it would stand in the Hebrew in the wrong place, i.e. before the pronoun ‘we’ instead of before the verb ‘sacrifice’: (2) that the affirmative clause (‘and we do sacrifice unto him’) expands the force of the plea for common worship. That they had not sacrificed at Jerusalem hitherto, was, they could plead, either due to ignorance or a fault which they now wished to rectify: (3) that the argument is strengthened by the assertion of long-established custom of sacrifice: (4) that the pronoun ‘unto him’ was very liable to be altered to the negative by patriotic scribes who could not tolerate or credit the statement that their hated enemies had at such an early time done sacrifice to the God of Israel. We conclude that the balance of probability preponderates for the reading ‘and we do sacrifice unto him’.

Compare 2 Kings 17:24-28 notes. Since the days - Esar-haddon reigned from 681-668 B.C. Thus, the Samaritans speak of what had taken place at least 130 years previously.

2. Let us build with you — Did they honestly desire to unite with the Jews in rebuilding the temple, or was this proposition made with evil design to provoke a quarrel, and find an occasion of hindering the work of the exiles?