Artaxerxes. the great king. Used here of the Cyrus of Ezra 4:3. See App-57, and p. 618. Ezra 4:7-23 may also be retrospective of Nehemiah 2:20 Nehemiah 6:5,
companions. colleagues or associates.
the Syrian tongue: i.e. in Aramaic characters as well as in the Aramaic language. Compare Esther 1:22; Esther 8:9, where "writing" (Hebrew. kathab, to grave) is the same word as in this book.