of Xerxes. But if the command to cease from building reached Jerusalem three months after the death of Smerdis, not even two full years* could have elapsed before the recommencement of the work, according to Haggai. It may be observed, however, that the letter in question might have been despatched by a courier, and that, taking the shorter route through Damascus and Palmyra over the desert, he might have performed the journey in much less time. than has been supposed. To this conjecture I would merely oppose the authority of the Septuagint translation, which differs from the Chaldee in this passage, and states how this communication from the governors was really made, viz. through * Whether we reckon the years of Darius according to the Jewish or Chaldæan mode, from the first of Nisan, or first of Thoth, the sixth month of the second year will not fall eighteen months after the accession, unless the accession should happen to fall in the course of either of those months. See Note 23. * the means of the collector of tribute and not by a courier; a most natural and propitious mode of gaining the king's attention, but the opportunity for which occurred probably only once, or at most twice in the course of a year. This use of the collector of tribute would seem, therefore, to imply not more than ordinary haste on the part of the rulers of Samaria upon the occasion; and it is not unreasonable to assume, that, encumbered as he must have been by a conside * Ο φορολόγος ὃν ἀπεστείλατε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐκλήθη ἔμπροσθεν ἐμοῦ.Grabes. Alex. MS. Ὁ Ἱερεύς Β. Κεφ. Δ. 18. Also Vat. MS. Τότε ὁ φορολόγος τοῦ Αρτασασθὰ βασιλέως ἀνέγνω ἐνώπιον Ῥεοὺμ καὶ Σαμψαί. &c. &c. Ibid. 25. Possibly the mention of the collector of tribute was purposely dropped in the later copies of the book of Ezra, from the increasing jealousy of the Jews of any record of their subjection to a foreign nation. "We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man." John viii. 33.—That the Jews have not scrupled to make alterations in this book we know from Justin, who charges them with the omission of a passage relating to Christ. Just. Dialog. cum Tryph. p. 297, 298. rable train and treasure, his journey was not one of extraordinary expedition. This subject of the tribute, however, leads me to another consideration, which to my mind is convincing, not only that this Artaxerxes of Ezra was not Smerdis, but that he must have been Darius Hystaspis. We have hitherto proceeded upon the supposition that Ahasuerus (17), the second king mentioned by Ezra, was the Greek Cambyses, according to the general opinion. But it is probable that this Ahasuerus is the same king with Artaxerxes, the third on the list. For we find the verse in which Ahasuerus is mentioned in canonical Ezra*, entirely omitted in the parallel passage in apocryphal Esdrast, and it has probably been put in from the margin; no mention is made of this king by Josephus; and in the Latin translation, and by Philo, + Esdras ii. 16. v. 73. See Note 19. * Ezra iv. 6. they are said to be one and the same king. If, however, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes are one, why may we not consider them to represent Cambyses, according to the supposition of Josephus? In which case, as he reigned nearly eight years, there would remain no difficulty as to sufficient length of reign for the completion of events mentioned under it. But I think the king alluded to must be Darius Hystaspis, for the following reasons. We find the whole burthen of the letter to king Artaxerxes, from the rulers of Samaria, was upon the subject of his tribute and revenue. "If this city be builded and the wall set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, or custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings *."-"We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river." Now one of the leading features of the reign of Darius Hystaspis was the imposition of fixed tributes upon all the pro vinces subject to Persia, by which both he and his successor, Xerxes, were so greatly enriched. Three hundred and fifty talents were laid by Darius upon Phoenicia and Palestine*, though up to this reign, according to Herodotus, Strabo, and other historians, that is, during the reigns of Cyrus, Cambyses, and Smerdis, the provinces had been left to themselves, as was the common custom in the East, to bring gifts, each according to the produce of *Herod 1. iii. 91. That it was the custom, in early times, for the subject nations to bring gifts or presents, we find from many passages in scripture. Thus we see the king of Assyria finding cause of complaint against Hosea, that "he had brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year." 2 Kings xvii. 4. And in the days of David," the Syrians became David's servants, and brought gifts." 1 Chron. xviii. 6. But in the latter times of the Persian government we find the common term in use was no longer gifts or presents, but the very expression made use of in this letter to Artaxerxes, i. e. toll, tribute, and custom. Ezra vii. 24.-This change of term |