It is believed by many Biblical scholars that Tatnai of Ezra 5 & 6 and Rehum of Ezra 4 are men holding the same position of authority over all the provinces west of the Euphrates, Tatnai having replaced Rehum. I don’t hold to this position, simply because, whenever Tatnai’s name is mentioned, his title is also mentioned (Ezra 5:3, 6; 6:6, 13), without fail. He is, without question, the governor of all the provinces on the west side of the river, Euphrates.[1] As for Rehum, his title is chancellor or chief, but over what, isn’t said. Whenever his name is mentioned, his title is mentioned with it, and it is always chancellor (Ezra 4:8-9, 17), except in Ezra 4:23, where no title is given. Nowhere in the text, does it show Rehum had any authority on his own to stop the rebuilding process at Jerusalem, but it does seem as though Tatnai had such authority. However, once Zerubbabel informed him the Jews were acting in obedience to the decree of Cyrus, Tatnai needed higher authority to stop the rebuilding process.
My point is this, Tatnai acted solely upon the laws of the Persians, questioning Zerubbabel’s right to begin building the city of Jerusalem and the Temple again. Then he wrote to the king to find out, if the things mentioned were so (Ezra 5:3, 6-14). Rehum, on the other hand, whether or not he was equal in authority to Tatnai, was clearly prejudiced against the Jews. He knew, already that the king had permitted the rebuilding process to begin again at Jerusalem (Ezra 4:12), but he wrote to the king informing him of Jerusalem’s history as a rebellious city (Ezra 4:13, 15). How did he know that? If he were Persian, he had to have been informed of this, and, therefore, influenced by the Samaritans, who hated the Jews. If he were not Persian, but simply a Samaritan with the same authority as Zerubbabel, then Rehum’s ancestors were of the gentile nations brought into Samaria by the king of Assyria over a century prior (Ezra 4:1-2, 9-10), then he was an enemy of the Jews from the beginning. So, the two, Tatnai and Rehum, are different kinds of men. Tatnai acted with integrity, while Rehum acted with prejudice.
In this context, then, Darius, the King of Persia, received the letter from Tatnai and made a search of the records at the palace in Province of the Medes (Ezra 6:2), as Tatnai had suggested (Ezra 5:17), and there he found the decree made by Cyrus, which couldn’t be altered (cp. Daniel 6:8, 12)[2] Therefore, Darius, the king, wrote to Tatnai, commanding him not to hinder the rebuilding process at Jerusalem (Ezra 6:6-7), and Tatnai, together with his companions, acted to speedily enforce the king’s wishes (Ezra 6:13).
Therefore, the building of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem prospered and was completed during the reign of Darius, the king (Ezra 6:14-15). Since Darius cursed anyone who might hinder the rebuilding process (Ezra 6:11-12), he completely disarmed the Jews’ enemies in Samaria and elsewhere. Thus, the building process probably made more progress during his reign than during the previous three kings’ reigns combined. After all, if it took Solomon only 7 ½ years to build the first Temple (1Kings 6:37-38), but 48 ½ years to build the second Temple, 4 ½ of which occurred during the reign of Darius, the fourth king according to the chronology of Daniel 11:2, then is stands to reason that more building took place during those 4 ½ years than during the troublous times of the previous 44 years (cp. Daniel 9:25).[3]
Moreover, we need to keep in mind, that the Jews, including the Jewish leaders, Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, were programmed to expect a lot of trouble from their surrounding enemies, especially Samaria. Their hearts were encouraged to trust in the Lord through the preaching and prophesying of Haggai and Zacharia, the son of Iddo, the priest. Under the influence of Haggai, the rebuilding process had begun (Haggai 1:1, 12-15). No doubt, the building process continued through his encouragement about a month later (Haggai 2:1), when, presumably, Tatnai had first come to question Zerubbabel’s authority to begin the building process at Jerusalem, after it had been shut down about three years prior by Darius Hystaspes (Ezra 5:3; cp. 4:24). It was also about this time, while they awaited an answer to Tatnai’s letter to Darius the king, that Zechariah began preaching and prophesying to encourage the Jews as they continued in the work of God to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple (Zechariah 1:1-6). Moreover, probably just after the letter arrived from Darius approving of the rebuilding process, Haggai once more prophesied to encourage the people as they renewed their efforts to complete the work of God (Haggai 2:10-23).
Finally, after the Temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar (the 12th month of the Jewish calendar) in the sixth year of Darius’ reign (Ezra 6:15), it was dedicated with great celebrations of joy, offering the sacrifices, and ministering to the labor of the Temple, according to the Law of Moses (Ezra 6:16-18).
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[1] In other words, Tatnai seems to be a Persian noble holding the position of satrap.
[2] The words in Daniel alters not (H5709 and H3809 respectively) are the same words used of the Kingdom of God given to the Son of Man in Daniel 7:14 that will not pass away (H3809 and H5709 respectively).
[3] See my chart in my previous study: The Decree of Darius.
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