Ezra 4:9

“Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, etc.] who all signed the letter; namely, the governors of the following nations; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites; which were colonies from several parts of Chaldea, Media, and Persia, and were settled in the several cities of Samaria, as several of their names plainly show, as from Persia, Erech, Babylon, Shushan, and Elimais; some account for them all, but with uncertainty; according to R. Jose f45 these were the Samaritans who first were sent out of five nations, to whom the king of…”

“the Dinaites--The people named were the colonists sent by the Babylonian monarch to occupy the territory of the ten tribes. "The great and noble Asnappar" was Esar-haddon. Immediately after the murder of Sennacherib, the Babylonians, Medes, Armenians, and other tributary people seized the opportunity of throwing off the Assyrian yoke. But Esar-haddon having, in the thirtieth year of his reign, recovered Babylon and subdued the other rebellious dependents, transported numbers of them into the waste cities of Samaria, most probably as a punishment of their revolt [HALES].”

“These verses form the superscription or address of the letter (Ezra 4:11, etc.) sent to Artaxerxes. The Dinaites were probably colonists from Dayan, a country often mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions as bordering on Cilicia and Cappadocia. No satisfactory explanation can be given of the name Apharsathchites (see Ezra 5:6 note). The Tarpelites were colonists from the nation which the Assyrians called Tuplai, the Greeks “Tibareni,” and the Hebrews generally “Tubal.” (It is characteristic of the later Hebrew language to insert the letter “r” (resh) before labials. Compare Darmesek for Dammesek, 2 Chronicles 28:23 margin). The Apharsites were probably “the Persians;” the Archevites, natives…”

“4:9 Adding greetings from an assortment of key political figures and local ethnic leaders would give credibility to the letter’s accusations and ensure that the message would have maximum political weight. • Judges were trusted court officials who knew the Persian laws. • Having the support of people from the Mesopotamian cities of Babylon and Erech and the Persian city of Susa would make the case against the Jews more persuasive.”

“companions: Chal, societies the Dinaites: Kg2 17:24, Kg2 17:30, Kg2 17:31 Apharsathchites: Ezr 5:6, Ezr 6:6, Apharsachites Susanchites: Est 1:2, Est 2:3; Dan 8:2 Elamites: Gen 10:22; Isa 21:2; Jer 25:25, Jer 49:34; Eze 32:24; Act 2:9 Ezra 4:10”