What Does Ezra 4:6 Mean in the King James?
And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word translated “accusation” shares its root with “adversary,” revealing this writing as opposition made portable.
THE MEANING
A written charge can set a community before authority as suspect and press against its future. Here, “accusation” carries the posture of opposition: the writing does not merely describe Judah and Jerusalem; it presses against them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that a formal written charge is neutral simply because it is written down; its root carries the force of an adversary.
THE ROOT
שִׂטְנָה
śiṭnāh
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
To oppose or act as an adversary; by extension, to accuse.
The written charge is more than a description: its root family names the one who stands against. The word lets you see accusation as opposition given a document and aimed at a people.
ALSO GROWS
śāṭān: An adversary; one who opposes.
שָׂטָן
The same root names the posture behind the charge: standing against someone.
Sitnah: Hostility or adversity; the name given to a well amid strife.
שִׂטְנָה
The root can name opposition itself, whether it appears as a written charge or as conflict around a well.
THE PATTERN
Accusation turns words into an instrument positioned against a person or community.
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.THE THREAD
And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.Ezra’s word for accusation and Zechariah’s word for adversary share the root שׂטן. Zechariah makes visible the force compressed in Ezra’s noun: accusation takes the posture of standing against someone.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us