Ezra 5:17

King James Version (KJV)

Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

The - treasure house - גנזיא ginzaiya . This is a Persian word, gunji, a treasury.

There is a great deal of good sense and candour in this letter. Nothing of passion or prejudice appears in it. They laid before the king a fair statement without any attempt to prejudice his mind, and gave him those directions which were most likely to lead him to the truth, and to form a correct judgment on a business which, however it issued, must be of considerable importance to the state. God was in all this business; he was now giving an additional proof of his continued regard for a disobedient people, whom, though he had punished in his justice, he had spared in his mercy.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Let there be search made … at Babylon - They perhaps doubted whether proof of the decree of Cyrus remained in the archives. The Pseudo-Smerdis had had the records in his power for seven months; and, when he reversed the policy of his predecessors, might have been expected to destroy their edicts. The decree was not found at Babylon, the most natural place for it, but in the provincial capital of Ecbatana, which Tatnai and his friends had not asked Darius to have searched (see Ezra 6:2).

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

While employed in God's work, we are under his special protection; his eye is upon us for good. This should keep us to our duty, and encourage us therein, when difficulties are ever so discouraging. The elders of the Jews gave the Samaritans an account of their proceedings. Let us learn hence, with meekness and fear, to give a reason of the hope that is in us; let us rightly understand, and then readily declare, what we do in God's service, and why we do it. And while in this world, we always shall have to confess, that our sins have provoked the wrath of God. All our sufferings spring from thence, and all our comforts from his unmerited mercy. However the work may seem to be hindered, yet the Lord Jesus Christ is carrying it on, his people are growing unto a holy temple in the Lord, for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

17. The king’s treasure house. Excavations have shown that documents of religious or literary nature were preserved in temple archives or in palaces, and economic and political documents in palace libraries. Numerous large archives consisting of many thousands of cuneiform tablets have been found in the ruined sites of the ancient world. The most famous of these archives is the so-called library of Ashurbanipal, found in one of his palaces at Nineveh. Other state libraries or archives have been found in the royal palaces at Mari on the central Euphrates, in the Hittite capital city of Khattushash (BoghazkoÃŒË†y), in the palace of Ugarit (Ras Shamrah), the palace of Ikhnaton at Amarna, and elsewhere. Whether royal treasures were kept in the same places is not yet certain, but this may easily have been the case. Hence, it was probably on the basis of good information that Tatnai proposed a search of the royal treasury for the decree of Cyrus, to determine whether the claim of the Jews was true.

At Babylon. Thinking that the decree had been issued at Babylon, Tatnai suggested an investigation of the files kept there. It is probable that neither the Jews, who suggested the search, nor Tatnai himself knew that the decree actually had been made at Ecbatana, the former capital of Media. It seems strange that the Jews were not able to produce a copy of the document to establish the truth of their claims. It is possible that their enemies, in a surprise attack, had stolen and destroyed their official files. This would have left the Jews without any legal evidence by which they could prove their right to rebuild the Temple.

It should be noted in this connection that Tatnai must have gained a favorable impression of the sincerity and good faith of the Jews. He did not stop the work, but allowed them to continue to build until a thorough investigation would determine the validity of their claims and the present king had had an opportunity to render a decision.

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Cross References

A. M. 3485. B.C. 519. let there be

a decree

The Return of the Jewish Exiles to Judah

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Ezra 5:17