We have maintenance - See the margin. The phrase “to eat a man’s salt” is common in the East to this day; and is applied not only to those who receive salaries, but to all who obtain their subsistence by means of another. The Persian satraps had no salaries, but taxed their provinces for the support of themselves and their courts.
Related Commentaries of Ezra 4:14
Ezra 4:14
14 Now because we haveh maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;