And mighty kings …: Mighty is from a verb meaning “to be great” or “to be powerful.” The mighty kings had power over Jerusalem and the whole province Beyond the River. The word whole has not been previously used with reference to the province. It is not clear from the Aramaic text who the mighty kings are. If it is referring to kings of Israel, the greatest geographical extent of Israel’s rule was in the time of David and Solomon and their rule did not include the whole province that was now known as Beyond the River. In addition, there would not be records about them in Assyrian and Babylonian archives because they ruled before that time. Also, they would not have been involved in rebellion and sedition. It is more likely that the reference is to Assyrian and Babylonian kings who ruled over Jerusalem, who collected tribute, custom, and toll from there, and against whom the kings of Israel rebelled. For the text to be read in this way the Aramaic connective conjunction (And in Revised Standard Version) at the beginning of the verse needs to be understood as adversative and translated as “However.”

Have been over Jerusalem: Many translations understand this verse as an exaggerated reference to Jerusalem at the time of the kingdom of David and Solomon (see the Bible de Jérusalem footnote). Some therefore have translated this phrase as “have reigned in Jerusalem” (so New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). The Handbook does not recommend this for the reasons given in the previous paragraph.

To whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid: The three kinds of taxes that were mentioned in the first letter are repeated here with reference to the kings over Jerusalem and the rest of the province west of the Euphrates (see verse 13).

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Ezra. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .