In the days of Artaxerxes; either,
1. Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes. Or,
2. Smerdis the magician. Or rather,
3. The same Cambyses, called by his Chaldee name Ahasuems, Ezra 4:6, and here by his Persian name Artaxerxes; by which name he is here called in the inscription of this letter, because so he was called by himself and others in the letters written either by him or to him. Interpreted, or exposed, or declared. The sense is, It was written in the Chaldee or Syrian language, and in the Syrian character; for sometimes the Chaldee or Syrian words are written in the Hebrew character, as Hebrew words are oft written in an English character.