But in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians: Artaxerxes I was the emperor of Persia from 465 to 424 B.C. For king of the Persians, see 1 Esdras 2.1. We may render this phrase as “Later, when Artaxerxes had become king of Persia” (Contemporary English Version) or “When King Artaxerxes was ruling over Persia.”

Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates are the subjects of the verb wrote in the second half of this verse. The people named here are otherwise unknown. Almost all of them are mentioned in the parallel passage of Ezra 4.7-8. Mithridates is not the same man named in verse 11, who lived in the previous century. For the form of this name, which Good News Bible renders “Mithredath,” see the comments on verse 11. A scribe in those days was a royal official who had charge of writing official documents. He may be called “writing officer,” “royal secretary,” or even “official government writer.” Good News Bible says “secretary of the province.” The rest of their associates are called “the other judges of their council” in the next verse (see the comments). Samaria is another name for the former northern kingdom of Israel. After the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians in 721 B.C., peoples from other nations were forced to live there. In 1 Esd 5.72 the Jewish opponents are called “the peoples of the land,” which probably refers to people other than the Samaritans.

Wrote him the following letter, against those who were living in Judea and Jerusalem: The men mentioned in the first half of this verse wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes against the Jews. The letter is quoted in verses 17-24.

The translator may need to reorder some material in this verse, and expand on it a little, for the reader to be clear what is happening. The main translation problem is to keep the long list of personal names as much out of the way as possible. The following model suggests one possible approach:

• When Artaxerxes was the king of Persia, a group of men from Samaria and other places wrote the king a letter urging him to put a stop to the building activity of the Jews who were living in Jerusalem and [the rest of] Judah. Among these men were Bishlam, Mithridates, Tabeel, Rehum, Beltethmus, and Shimshai. Shimshai was an official scribe [or, secretary] for the government. There were others as well.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.